Faculty of Business and Management

BBA/DBA213 Entrepreneurship & E-commerce assignments

Starting Time: Monday 16th May 2022 at 8am.
Ending time: Sunday 22nd May 2022 at 12pm.

INSTRUCTIONS
a) Read through the case study below and carefully answer the questions that follow.
b) All questions are compulsory and must be answered by all students.
c) All questions carry equal marks.
d) Upload and submit your MICROSOFT WORD Answer file on or before 29th May, 2022.
Additional Instructions and Guidelines
1. Make efforts that your answers are relevant to the case study by making references to the
specific paragraphs and line numbers that contain the facts of your arguments that you are
presenting as evidence from the case study.
2. Whenever theory of entrepreneurship and e-commerce acquired through your classes in
the course of the semester has to be employed, it should be done as a way of giving support to
your arguments presented as facts from the case. Do not copy and paste answers from the
internet.
3. At no point should the answers to any of your question go beyond 3 pages. The
maximum is therefore 12 pages for all the four (4) questions.
4. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will lead to loss of the entire marks for the parties
involved.
A Cheese Producer Pursues a New Market Through E-Commerce: The Case of Mohamed
Bakkar
Mohamed Bakkar, an entrepreneur running a business called Besma (“joyful” in Arabic), fled to
Turkey in 2016. Bakkar had been an electrical engineer in Syria, but he was unable to find a job
in his field upon arrival in Turkey due to the Arabic-Turkish language barrier. He decided to
pursue a cheese business instead, making the cheese the same way his mother did when he was a
child. He produced the cheese in bulk and prepared it for distribution to local Syrian-owned dairy
stores.
After about five years, Bakkar had built a customer base of 10 Syrian-owned stores in Istanbul,
but the Syrian-style cheese market had become increasingly crowded. He needed a strategic plan
for growth, and was considering selling directly to individual customers and creating an e-
commerce website to expand his reach to include Turks.

Q. 1.
a) Given Bakkar’s choices and approach to entrepreneurship what personal traits make
him fit for an entrepreneurial career? (10 marks)
Motivation: Hard-working business owners are incredibly motivated to succeed. Adopting this
mindset and being able to demonstrate your motivation to an employer is crucial. You need to
bring enthusiasm to everything you do at your job. Fortunately, showing you’re highly motivated
is simple: Show up to work every day with a positive attitude.
Creativity: It’s important to be creative—to always be thinking of new ways you can improve
your company’s workflow, productivity, and bottom line. No matter what industry you’re in,
employers want workers with out-of-the-box ideas. They want to hire people to not only carry
out assignments, but to also come up with better ways of doing things.
Persuasiveness: Persuasiveness can make you a better negotiator, which gives you an edge
when going after a plum assignment, raise, or promotion. There will come a time when you need
to convince a client, a coworker, or your boss to take certain actions, so you need to be
persuasive when presenting your ideas.
Vision: Successful entrepreneurs always keep one eye on the big picture, and this ability can
make you a better employee. Vision is primarily about strategic planning. If one can see what
direction the industry is going; identify challenges for the company and be able to tackle their
day-to-day job responsibilities, while staying focused on long-term goals and initiatives, then
they are good to go on with their entrepreneurial career.
Versatility: Although one is hired for a specific set of skills, it’s important that one can shift as
needed. You want to be someone that your boss can go to in a pinch, so be prepared to tackle
work that’s outside your job description. Among the leading characteristics of entrepreneurship
is being an early adopter of new technology and keeping your skills current.
Risk Tolerance: Every employer wants to grow their business, and that involves embracing
change. It’s advisable not to be afraid to take risks when pursuing new clients, for example, or
testing a new product.
Flexibility: Like an entrepreneur, you have to be able to adapt to change and solve problems as
they arise. A good team player can shift their priorities to help out whenever the team needs
assistance. Thus, flexibility means being receptive to other people’s needs, opinions, and ideas
and being open-minded to feedback from your manager.
Decisiveness: As an entrepreneur, one needs to exercise sound judgment under pressure simply
because you don’t have room to procrastinate and the same is true for employees. You have to be
comfortable taking action when needed. This means knowing how to prioritize tasks and make
decisions quickly.
Collaboration: As an entrepreneur you are not only a brilliant leader, but also a great
collaborator, so you have to be an effective team player. Ultimately, using entrepreneurial skills
at work entails adjusting to other people’s work styles, avoiding office politics, celebrating your
peers’ successes, meeting your deadlines, and putting your company’s goals first.
b) Different people are driven into entrepreneurial ventures for different reasons, and what
are these reasons for Bakkar and many others like him? (15 marks)

They want to make a difference: Entrepreneurs have visions of pursuing their dreams, even if
they are unconventional. Things that are not considered on the normal path of life, they
may pursue. Nevertheless, they push on to change the world one dream at a time.
They embrace having a path of their own: Entrepreneurs are leaders, they embrace having a
path of their own to fulfill their dreams. However, creating their own path is not always by
choice. The lack of challenge and opportunity in the job market may push an entrepreneur to
their pursuits. They create their own opportunity and use their skills that were neglected, by
those they worked for and capitalize on them.
They desire challenges: Entrepreneurs desire challenges. They are problem solvers, innovators
and game changers. Given the right opportunity they can turn around a project, company or
anything, they put their mind to. They are hardworking and dedicate the effort to making a great
change in the tasks they pursue. They have the ability to see things that others do not.
They crave flexibility: Entrepreneurs crave flexibility they don’t prefer your typical 8-5 work
schedule. They may work more or longer hours when working for themselves, but the flexibility
will make all the difference. They will appreciate having a schedule that they have a better
control over.
They want more stability: Whether it’s for their family or themselves entrepreneurs like the
idea of more stability. The facts are that you can work at a company today and be laid off
tomorrow. Entrepreneurs like the idea of being the determiner of their outcomes and financial
security.
They want to create jobs: A driving factor to some entrepreneurs is that their passion may be
able to create jobs. The thought that if they make enough money, their family members won’t
have to go looking for jobs when they are laid off. Their family can always have a job when
times get tough.
They are underestimated and overlooked: A lot of companies don’t understand what kind of
amazing possibilities this type of person can bring to their company. Managers often overlook
and underestimate the potential of this employee but sometimes don’t know this person exists.
They are passionate about change: Entrepreneurs can be passionate people because they
actually care. They can see the difference in their minds before it is actually implemented. They
can also see the destruction that will occur if something is not done about the situation.
Although, passion doesn’t always exhibit itself in the form of frustration. Passion can also be
displayed in hard work, being focused and determined.
They are limited in the job market: Entrepreneurs at some point have felt stuck while working
for others. With little room to advance, concerns not being heard or addressed, feeling
undervalued and unappreciated by the management of companies they have worked for, they are
likely to be tempted to start their own business. Many entrepreneurs leave their employment to
fulfill their own destiny and succeed.
They know they can make a difference: Entrepreneurs know the power they possess to make a
difference. They have high confidence in their abilities. Although, others sometimes can’t see the
power in their abilities. Entrepreneurs can see their vision so vividly as if it was right in front of
them. This is sometimes the motivation that keeps them determined, they can see the end result
as if it already were in existence.
Addicted to risk: Risk is unavoidable, so it becomes a question of attitudes towards it. Risk
addicts can find themselves in tremendous trouble, but high risks can yield high returns.
Entrepreneurship is one sector in which risk has to be as finely calculated as possible, but where
risk takers can be rewarded.
Too ambitious: There’s no such thing as “too ambitious”, though there is such a thing as being
too ambitious for the circumstances one is thrown into, or for the task at hand. The point of
ambition is to spread it across multiple activities over time for it to yield returns upon which to
build further.
Resourceful: When one is naturally good at things, it usually doesn’t take long before a skill
becomes a business idea. Solving problems and fixing things suggests an aptitude for doing so on
a greater scale, as everyone possesses skill sets others may need and not have.
Can’t keep a job: Some people are just not good at keeping jobs. But current economic
afflictions, the elimination of traditional jobs and the explosion of the part-time economy hurts
people who are perfectly capable of holding jobs but are not being allowed to. Entrepreneurship
may be the way out of the evil circle.
Too creative: A creative soul cannot be contained, or it will be deeply unhappy.
Entrepreneurship by definition requires a high degree of creativity, whether in the invention of
products, the execution of marketing, or, especially, problem-solving. The need for creativity
cannot be underestimated.
Too impatient: Impatience is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it indicates a restless
individual, eager to accomplish objectives and move full steam ahead. On the other, any
entrepreneurial effort is going to require a great deal of patience, irrespective of the widespread
obsession with instant success.
Q. 2.
“Bakkar needed a strategic plan for growth, and was considering selling directly to
individual customers and creating an e-commerce website to expand his reach to include
Turks.”
a) Many people who are not innovative and enterprising tend to give an excuse of lack of
capital resource, given the evidence from the case study, should it be capital that should be
the driving force behind new enterprises or unique ideas? Discuss this statement giving
clear arguments for your answer. (10 marks)
I would rather unique ideas be the driving force behind new enterprises based on the following
arguments;
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the future of work. Much of the time, these conversations
are fueled by the anxiety many of us share as we try to understand the impact new technologies
will have on our industries. We tend to reduce these discussions to binary arguments -- how
smart machines will do extraordinary things to improve our lives, or how this or that innovation
will make human labor obsolete, creating a jobless dystopia. Both conclusions strike me as
somewhat specious. It’s not that these concerns aren’t valid, but they oversimplify a more
complex phenomenon. Entrepreneurism is seen as a route to upward mobility a way for average
people to build wealth.
Investing in products and services people need: What motivates a person to start a new
business? According to traditional models, entrepreneurs create new businesses in response to
unmet needs and demands in the market. That is, there is an opportunity to provide a product or
service that is not currently in existence, or otherwise available. Economists refer to these
business-starters as “opportunity” entrepreneurs in order to distinguish these individuals from
those who start businesses for lack of better work opportunities. So-called “opportunity”
entrepreneurs, who launch new enterprises in response to market needs, are key players when it
comes to fostering economic growth in a region. They enable access to goods and services that
populations require in order to be productive. This is not to ignore “necessity” entrepreneurs that
launch enterprises because they have no other options. Both can and do contribute to economic
growth.
Providing employment opportunities: New businesses need to hire employees. They create
jobs and these economic opportunities uplift and support communities through increasing the
quality of life and overall standard of living.
Commerce and regional economic integration: Technology has made it possible for small,
entrepreneur-led businesses to expand into regional and global markets. When new businesses
export goods and services to nearby regions, these enterprises contribute directly to a region’s
productivity and earnings. This increase in revenue strengthens an economy and promotes the
overall welfare of a population. Economies that trade with one another are almost always better
off. Politics aside, engaging in regional and international trade promotes investment in regional
transportation and infrastructure, which also strengthens economies. This has never been truer
than it is today, as we live in an increasingly interconnected global economy.
New technologies promote efficiency: The ability to turn ideas into new products and services
that people need is the fount of prosperity for any developed country. Economic growth,
generally speaking, is driven by new technologies and their creative applications. Periods of
rapid innovation historically have been accompanied by periods of strong economic growth. The
impetus of innovation is the greatest natural resource of all: the human mind. Creating innovative
products and solutions requires an educated population and an environment where collaborative
work can take place. In addition to being good for business, education increases workforce
creativity and quality of life.
Addressing environmental challenges: Innovation is (and will continue to be) crucial when it
comes to addressing the enormous environmental challenges we face today: combating climate
change, lowering global greenhouse gas emissions, and preserving biodiversity in the
environment. Without power for extended periods of time, commerce comes to a halt.  Without
water, we cannot live. Reliable access to these innovations (such as irrigation technology,
electricity, and urban infrastructure) increases productivity and enhances economic development.
Innovation impacts socio-economic objectives: Innovative business practices create efficiency
and conserve resources. Innovation in agriculture is especially relevant for addressing
socioeconomic challenges in addition to encouraging economic growth. Hopefully, new ideas
and innovations in the future will address these problems, resulting in further reforms.
Innovation happens where there is competition: In essence, there is a positive feedback loop
among innovation, entrepreneurship, and economic development. New and growing businesses
represent the principal sources of job creation and innovative activity in an economy, two factors
that generally result in the rising standards of living for all.
b) Using your knowledge of the business Canvas model, design for Bakkar an appropriate
strategic plan for the growth of his cheese business (15 marks)
The Business Model Canvas is a great way of mapping out an idea, allowing it to be understood,
tested and improved.
Step 1: Naming the purpose of the business
This can be whatever you like, such as:
To earn a passive income from home
To prevent the destruction of Indonesian rainforests
To improve the financial stability of our parent organisation
To provide stable livelihoods for young people at risk of being homeless
To improve the job-hunting process
The great thing about this is that we now have a criterion for assessing our ideas, and have some
inspiration for creative ways to reach this purpose.
Step 2: Customers and Value Propositions
There’s no particular order you have to follow on a canvas, although I’ve found this to be the
best place to start.
Your business is centered around your customers, the people who you believe will be motivated
enough to try your new product/service in order to receive some sort of compelling benefit.
This is a real person, someone who is walking around right now. They’re looking for solutions to
their current problems, and like finding ways to make their lives easier.
Step 3: Channels and Customer Relationships
Now that we have a clear picture of who we’re serving and how we’ll delight them, we get to
design three things: how we acquire them, how we keep them, and how we interact with them.
The Channels box is our chance to explain how we first encounter our customers, as well as how
we deliver our Value Proposition.
For example, your business might find customers through Google Ads or Facebook, then serve
customers through face-to-face workshops or drop-shipped packages.
The Customer Relationships box outlines how our interactions will unfold.
Are we hoping for a long term relationship, or a short term relationship?
Does each customer need to speak to a person, or use technology?
If so, does it need to be a particular person, or the same one each time they come back?
Step 4: Key Resources, Key Activities and Key Partners
These three boxes describe how the business will work “behind the scenes” – all of the
operational components that make the Value Propositions a reality.
We want to list all of the vital ingredients, important processes and invaluable allies that enable
our business to exist.
Key Resources are the people, places, machines, patents and intangible assets that are used
every week. This is not a complete inventory, but a list of the resources that, if lost, would
prevent the business from functioning.
Key Activities are the processes and tasks that must be completed in order for our customers to
be served. These might include sales calls, workshop delivery, meal preparation or writing
reports.
Key Partners are the people and organisations that take some of the responsibility off your
shoulders. They might supply raw materials or finished goods, send customers your way, or act
as a sponsor/enabler.
Step 5: Cost Structure and Revenue Streams
The bottom line of the canvas represents the bottom line of your business: Money in, money out,
hopefully some money left over. We want to understand the ways in which money moves
through the business. That means understanding the quantities (how our costs/prices are set) and
frequencies (how often we get repeat customers/bills).
Step 6: Telling the Story: Presenting a full canvas to a new person is not a good idea – there’s
too much to take in. Instead, it’s best to fill in each box as you explain the idea. This makes the
business much easier to understand, and creates a much richer appreciation of the model at the
end. Even if you just list a few words in each box, this will take about 6-8 minutes to explain the
full concept, and will remove a lot of misconceptions.

b) Design a strategy for Bakkar on how he can employ e-commerce to improve the
performance of his business (15 marks)
The e-commerce also known as electronic commerce relies heavily on the internet and various
technologies to run many businesses and organizations.
On the surface, an e-commerce platform is just another company's use of technology to sell
products or services. Many of these platforms are user-friendly to the buyer - all you have to do
is just click and buy.
Analyze demographic data through web contacts and social media: In order to avoid issues
to do with not making enough sales or attracting the right customers, as a business owner, use the
analytics feature to understand your buyer. This could be a costly mistake for any start-up or a
well-established company, however, target communication relevant to your customers.
Maximize the marketing: Many e-commerce sites have built-in marketing systems to help you
reach prospective and established customers. Email marketing can be made personal especially
for ecommerce websites.
Customize the shopping experience: Provide your customers with user-friendly tools that will
enliven their shopping experience. Rather than spend hours trying to find the right product to
buy, help your buyers find that right product with customized search tools. Offer them the ability
to compare shop and find the product with the right features and price that suits their pocket.
Provide readily available information with the right e-commerce platform: An e-commerce
isn't just a shopping experience, but an informative way to help your customers make the right
purchase. Whether you're launching a new product or service or helping with existing orders,
provide detailed information that limits endless questioning.
Operate 24/7: Your customers might be shopping in South Africa while your American buyers
might be sleeping, and that's the joy of being open 24/7 - you serve everyone all the time. Your
online customer service can work around the clock which can substantially increase your
profitability especially at peak seasons.
Expand your global reach: With increased visibility and sales, you can reach a target audience
all across the globe. Your geographical limits don't have to define your global reach.
Go niche: Niche products can be hard to find, but in creating an e-commerce site, you are also
creating a market for your niche and business.
Keep more of your profits: An e-commerce site operates on little or no overhead such as
physical space and large numbers of employees needed to run an e-commerce platform. An e-
commerce platform already has the automation process built-in including checkout, payments
and other operational processes. These lowered costs can then be offered in the form of
discounted prices which will keep your customer coming back. Consider also advertising,
marketing, organic search engine traffic, pay-per-click, and social media as effective ways to
lower your operational costs.
Q. 3.
a) Given that Bakkar is just new in the market, what would you describe as his best
distribution channel? And what marketing options does he have to advertise and
popularize his product while leveraging on the advantages of technology given that he is
still operating on small scale? (10 marks)
Content Marketing: Content marketing emphasizes education over selling to influence buying
behavior. This strategic marketing approach focuses on creating and distributing information
relevant to prospects’ needs in order to attract those best aligned with — and most likely to
purchase — your product or service. Since communication is ongoing, content can be tailored to
reflect what you learn about leads over time, and may include varied formats like infographics,
webpages, podcasts, videos, blogs, white papers, webinars, and eBooks. 
Inbound Marketing: Inbound is far and away the most effective B2B marketing
strategy because it leverages the strengths of the majority of the other nine strategies to attract,
engage, and delight customers. Unlike traditional marketing methods — even the other strategies
listed here — inbound marketers earn the attention of customers and pull them to a company
website by producing and providing meaningful content. Because messaging is relevant and
appears in the right place at the right time, inbound invites visitors in rather than annoying them
with interruptive traditional advertising.
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing focuses on providing users with content they
find valuable and want to share across their social networks, resulting in increased visibility and
website traffic. Social media shares of content, videos, and images also influence SEO efforts in
that they often increase relevancy in search results within social media networks like Facebook,
Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Instagram as well as search engines like Google and Yahoo.
Account Based Marketing and Retargeting: Account Based Marketing (ABM) is a B2B
strategy that focuses on a targeted set of accounts using highly personalized campaigns. It
provides marketing and sales teams with a number of advantages, including a faster sales
process, cost effectiveness, and a more efficient use of marketing resources. With all of the
things ABM is, though, it’s important to remember that ABM is not the same as targeted
outbound marketing. It’s much more strategic, using methods like online retargeting to
personalize marketing efforts.
Earned Media: Earned media (or “free media”) is publicity that’s created through efforts other
than paid advertising. It can take a variety of forms — a social media testimonial, word of
mouth, a television or radio mention, a newspaper article or editorial — but one thing is constant:
earned media is unsolicited and can only be gained organically. It cannot be bought or owned
like traditional advertising.

Q. 4.
a) Opportunities are always everywhere anywhere as evidence in the case above. Identify
the window of opportunities associated with his cheese business that Bakkar has not yet
exploited and advise him on how he can fully exploit them to his advantage. (15 marks)
Exploit new business opportunities
Discovering business opportunities, in itself, does not create value. To achieve the benefits, you
have to choose to pursue the opportunities and take steps to exploit them.
This makes recognition and exploitation of opportunities distinct, but consecutive steps in the
entrepreneurial process. Both steps are necessary for creating business growth.
Begin by identifying new business opportunities. You can carry out a SWOT (strength,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to help you find favourable options.
You should then research and determine the viability of each opportunity to determine if it is
worth pursuing. When assessing an opportunity, you can decide to:
 exploit it
 share it (e.g., by way of a joint venture)
 ignore it
Don't cast your net too widely when searching for opportunities. Use a targeted approach to
preserve time and resources for options with the greatest potential for return.
Exploitation strategies
There are many approaches to opportunity exploitation. For example, you can:
 make use of new technologies or adapt existing ones
 explore new business models
 use consumer insights to update your products or improve your service
 extend your customer base and attract new prospects
 increase customer loyalty
To create a unique competitive position for your business, you should also:
 Monitor your competitors closely - identify areas they don't operate in and find out who
they sell to - these are potential customers for your business as well. Examine their
product range or the services they offer, check out their marketing and investigate their
pricing. A competitor's poor performance could create an opportunity for your product or
service.

 Anticipate a market need for a new type of product or service - for example, new
legislation can create opportunities for business consultants or advisers. Events like
mergers and acquisitions may open up prospects for all types of services and trades.
 Explore new markets - looking beyond your sector or established market can open up
business opportunities. Use market research and market reports to analyse new
opportunities and diversify your sales channels to reach your customers.
  Consider working in partnership with other businesses that offer complementary services
to yours or target similar customer groups. This may help extend your market reach,
allow you to pool resources and negotiate better deals with suppliers. Find out how to
create growth through strategic partnering.
Manage business opportunities
You will need to manage any business opportunity you decide to pursue. Be careful that you
don't develop the business beyond your means. Have a clear plan for growth and the necessary
resources, capabilities and technologies to make the most of the opportunity. Securing too much
new business, without being able to deliver on it, could put your company at risk.
b) Discuss the major entrepreneurship lessons that you pick from Bakkar’s story (10
marks)
You are the boss: It is as simple as it looks. You don't have to take orders from anyone or report
to anyone. It's all about your thoughts, potential, actions, and plans. This feeling is indeed
amazing.
You can work at your own pace: You don't have to meet any deadline; you can work whenever
you wish to work. You can manage your time accordingly.
Work without fear: When you are working under somebody else, there is a fear of being fired if
you fail. This fear is not there when you have your enterprise. You can take the risk you want
without any fear of losing your job.
Achieve personal satisfaction: When you work for yourself, you don't work on the things you
don't feel passionate about. And when you enjoy your work there is very little chance of failing.
You do not have a guaranteed paycheck: You don't have a guaranteed paycheck waiting for
you at the end of every month. You have to chase your money by putting action on your ideas
and plans. 
Constant risk: An enterprise demands lots of risks and there is no surety of being successful
when you take risks. In the entrepreneurship world, risk-taking leads you to success, but it is not
always the success you get.

Answers to Part b
Faster buying process
Customers can spend less time shopping for what they want. They can easily browse through many
items at a time and buy what they like. When online, customers can find items that are available in
physical stores far away from them or not found in their locality.

Store and product listing creation

A product listing is what the customer sees when they search for an item. This is one advantage in
ecommerce meant for the seller. This online business plus point is that you can personalise your
product listing after creating them. The best part? Creating a listing takes very little time, all you
require is your product name or codes like EAN, UPC, ISBN or ASIN.

Cost reduction
One of the biggest advantages of ecommerce to business that keep sellers interested in online selling
is cost reduction. Many sellers have to pay lots to maintain their physical store. They may need to pay
extra up front costs like rent, repairs, store design, inventory etc. In many cases, even after investing
in services, stock, maintenance and workforce, sellers don’t receive desired profits and ROI.

Affordable advertising and marketing

Sellers don’t have to spend a lot of money to promote their items. The world of ecommerce has
several affordable, quick ways to market online. Ecommerce marketplaces are visual channels – and
sellers can really show off their product.

Flexibility for customers

An important advantage of ecommerce to business is that sellers can provide flexibility to customers.
One highlight is that the product and services are ready 24x7. The result is that seller can offer his
item any place, any time.

Product and price comparison

In ecommerce, sellers can compare the products using tools or on their own. This gives them a good
idea of product alternatives available, the standard rates, if a product need is unfulfilled.
No reach limitations
A seller with a physical store may only be able to reach a certain number of buyers. They can deliver
to the customers’ homes but there can be distance limitations. Several e-commerce marketplaces
have their own logistics and delivery system.

Faster response to buyer/market demands

Every interaction is faster when you begin selling online. Ecommerce marketplaces offer you a
streamlined logistics or delivery system. What this means is that the buyers order gets delivered
efficiently. Product returns management is one more plus point that can be handled quickly – you
either refund the payments or give a replacement.

Several payment modes

Buyers like personalisation – the same goes for paying for their orders. Ecommerce marketplaces
permit multiple payment modes that include UPI, cash on delivery, card on delivery, net banking,
EMIs on credit or debit card and pay-later credit facility.