This post is an analysis of the case study "Young Entrepreneurs - Seizing

Opportunities and New Directions" using the case study method.

Summary

The case shows Melodie Stewart and Kim Doherty starting a company called Pro-
Net, which provides networking opportunities and training to businesses and
individuals, and establishing a convincing business model.

Melodie established Pro-Net to bring her business idea to fruition, inviting her friend
Kim to join as an equal business partner, making all decisions jointly. Business went
well, however, as the range and volume of work became excessive in trying to meet
the needs of various clients, the two became tired and stressed, and they began to
have some disagreements about their work. So, after much deliberation, they
decided to reduce the burden on each other by dividing the decision-making roles
and to maintain an equal relationship. In addition, they looked at their own goals
and values in order to protect their health and well-being without pushing
themselves too hard. They both reaffirmed that traveling, working smarter, and
continuing to learn were important in their lives. To pursue these values, they
decided to focus on training, Pro-Net's greatest strength and source of income, and
to downsize their business. The result was a new business opportunity aligned with
their values (Hurst, n.d.).

Identify the Underlying Problem and Diagnose the Cause

In this case, Melodie and Kim have decided to downsize their business because they
believe that they cannot pursue their health and happiness with the way they have
been working. There are two possible causes for this. The first is that Melodie and
Kim were making all decisions together as equal partners. By having each of them
analyze, research, and reconcile their opinions in all decision-making, their work was
duplicated, and their energy and time were unnecessarily consumed. Therefore,
after thorough discussions, they decided that Melodie would make the final
decisions on marketing, sales, and promotions, and Kim would make the final
decisions on logistics and finance, thereby reducing duplication of work and
streamlining operations. This also brought their relationship, which had been
strained, back on good terms again.

The second cause was that Melodie and Kim took on all kinds of work without
clearly defining the demands of Pro-Net's target clients. This caused them to be
physically and mentally driven. They sat down and had a heart-to-heart discussion
about the values most important to them personally and to Pro-Net, then decided
to focus their business on training and maintaining a work-life balance.

Considering Alternatives

One possible alternative to making Pro-Net a success is to hire employees. Melodie

and Kim could remain in equal positions as co-CEOs to focus on more important
decisions and hire department heads for marketing, sales, promotions, logistics,
and finance, respectively. Alternatively, they can retain each other's roles but hire
advisors in each area to get various advice, saving time for both while increasing
productivity and efficiency in each area (Sicard, 2023).

Another is to consider how to screen customers effectively. Pro-Net has too many
clients, so they can use RFM analysis to identify essential clients and focus on doing
business with them. RFM analysis is based on three factors: Recency, Frequency,
and Monetary. RFM analysis can be used to analyze, for example, VIPs, new, low-
frequency, and low-monetary customers, and prioritize those clients that will lead to
better transactions in the future (Mailchimp, n.d.).

Evaluating the Plan of Action

In this case, as noted above, Melodie and Kim shared roles on an equal footing and
reduced the size of their business by concentrating on what they do best and most
profitably. This allowed them to take on new business opportunities that fit their
values. Pro-Net was awarded the Service Excellence Award by Royal Bank and
nominated for the Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Hurst, n.d. ; Nova Scotia, 1999).
In other words, their choice was the right one for success. They could have chosen
this because of their intense passion, fortitude, and belief in their product. It is also
important to note that even as their relationship changed from friends to business
partners, they maintained an equal relationship and continued to value the
openness that allowed them to talk openly when faced with difficulties.

Importance and Relevance of this Case in Business Research

This case illustrates an important concept in business. It is clear that strategy,

passion, mentality, communication, and motivation are all important when starting
a business, and they were successful because they had many of these things in
abundance. The case also shows us the steps in entrepreneurship.
Motivation, a vital element in business, is considered here using Maslow's hierarchy
of needs theory. This is based on the idea that basic human needs have a five-level
hierarchical structure, with higher-level needs emerging when lower-level needs are
satisfied (Lægaard & Bindslev, 2006).

Melodie suddenly lost her job one day and was in danger of being unable to pay her
credit card bill. Her second-lowest need, the “Safety Needs” was severely shaken,
and she decided to start her own business to achieve financial independence. This
need was satisfied when she successfully raised funds to start her own business,
and the third need, “Social Needs” was awakened. This was satisfied by Melodie's
constant recognition by her family and by Melodie and Kim's continued open-
mindedness and friendship-based relationship. The fourth need is “Esteem Needs”
which satisfied by being needed by society with an unmanageable amount of work.
When faced with the last need is the “Self-Actualization Needs”, They realized that
their ideal and reality were far apart, and after careful discussion, they decided to
downsize their business to pursue this ideal.

That this case can be explained by Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory also gives us
an important insight. While it is unclear whether Melodie and Kim understood at the
time which level of the hierarchy of needs they were pursuing, we can find early
clues to solving the problem by understanding where we, others, and our
organizations are in the hierarchy.

Final Thoughts

Melodie and Kim grew their business driven by high qualities and motivation but
ultimately downsized their business to respect their values. This decision after much
discussion was crucial in moving the business in a better direction. This case
suggests that high motivation is essential in business, as well as strategy, passion,
mentality, and communication skills, and that understanding the motivational
drivers can also help. And it shows that open-minded relationships are important
for flexible business.

References

Hurst, D. (n.d.). Young entrepreneurs - Seizing opportunities and new directions. Acadia
Institute for Case Studies. Acadia
University. https://my.uopeople.edu/pluginfile.php/1805618/mod_book/chapter/
467620/U1%20Pronet%20Case%20Study.pdf?time=1633549741734
Lægaard, J., & Bindslev, M. (2006). Organizational Theory.
Bookboon.com. https://bookboon.com/en/organizational-theory-ebook?
mediaType=ebook

Mailchimp. (n.d.). What is

RFM? https://mailchimp.com/resources/rfm-analysis/#:~:text=Recency%2C
%20Frequency%2C%20Monetary%20Value%20(,monetary%20value%20of%20a
%20transaction.

Nova Scotia. (1999, April 22). Region’s Young Entrepreneurs to be

Honoured. https://novascotia.ca/news/release/?id=19990421004

Sicard, L. (2023, November 6). The benefits of hiring experts to help your business
succeed. Inspire to Thrive. https://inspiretothrive.com/the-benefits-of-hiring-experts-
to-help-you-in-your-business/