Month: November 2010

Recently I was informed that the clothing store ( will be referred to as “N”) which I used to worked went bankrupt. Honestly, I was not surprised when I found out. With numerous problems occurring at the same time, being bankrupted is just a matter of time. Referring to what we learned in business fundamental, failure of small business can be caused by many factors. Lack of research and over expansion are they main reasons that caused the store to go down hill.
Like many other business owners in the field, my former boss mistaken success with how fast she can expand her business. Within one year, three chain stores were opened in different areas. Without establishing solid customer base and good cash flow, the profits made in the original store just could not keep up with the losses from other locations.
Also, the company failed on forecasting due to lack of research and planning. Nowadays, customers’ demands can change rapidly. It is hard to predict what they want. But instead of conducting researches on previous data to estimate the possible outcomes, the owner just imported products that she likes.
I believe these are the reasons that led to bankruptcy for “N”.

Jamie Oliver is accounted to be one of the most influential social entrepreneurs in the present days. This British chef, restaurateur, and media personality, known as the Naked Chef, is famous for his food-focused television shows. Years ago, Oliver successfully trained fifteen young people to work in the hospitality industry under his Fifteen charity restaurant. From that point, many other Fifteens have established around the globe.
Fifteen restaurant, created my Jamie Oliver is named after the first cohort fifteen young people. It is more than just a restaurant, it is a global social enterprise that inspire disadvantaged youth and giving them a second chance to establish their place in the world.
Jamie Oliver, in this case demonstrated a clear example of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone that recognizes a social issue and uses entrepreneurial principles to counteract such problem and manage a venture to achieve social change. Profits gained from Fifteen is used to raise awareness of living healthy lifestyles by implementing changes in school menus. Over the past few years, he puts the value of benefiting the society over himself; sharing his knowledge and fortune with the less unfortunates in the hope for a better future.

http://www.fifteen.net/restaurants/fifteenlondon/fifteenfoundation/Pages/jamieoliverfoundation.aspx

Most people find the picture above to be unrealistic,but that might actually be what you are putting into your stomach. Those type of food are called genetically modified food. The process of genetically modifying product involves artificially transferring the genes of one crop to another from a different species. a new gene is inserted into the plant’s DNA. Genetically modified crops can be highly profitable for companies who use the process to make crop grow faster or resist weeds. Such products have only been around in the market for a relatively short period, so there may be some long term effects which we don’t know about yet.
Unfortunately the government and the consumer’s association of Canada refused to label genetically modified food against the will of up to 95% Canadians. Consumers like us have the right to know and chose what we eat. The government and C.A.C. in this case is acting unethically by hiding information from customers to protect the market economy. so unless consumer opinions manages to persuade the government to order mandatory labeling, you still won’t know exactly what you are putting in your grocery cart.

http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/food/topics/1597/

Recently our comm 101 lectures covered topics like entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs which refreshed my memory of being a part of Junior Achievement back in high school. The program which I was involved is called The Company Program. It gives us high school students the opportunity to create and run our own business with professionals from the business field. After weeks of preparations, our company “Y Change” was created. We sold over 200 t-shirts and donated half of the profits to The Surrey Firefighter Association.

Although the program ended with great success, the last two lectures really made me think about the fields which we could’ve improved on to yield a better outcome. Our product was not innovative, in fact, most companies under J.A. are selling t-shirts. Although we considered ourselves to be social entrepreneurs with a common goal to raise awareness for charity, we mainly focused on maximizing profits . In my opinion, we should have chosen an innovative but relatively more risky product that stands out among competitors (which defines entrepreneurship). And also keeping a balance between making profits and serving social purposes. Decisions could’ve being made with the motivation from social mission rather than profits.

Website for our company “Y Change”:
http://www.freewebs.com/ychange/thecharity.htm

Mark Zuckerberg is not doubt, one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the 21st century. Over the past six years, his company “Facebook” made him the world’s youngest billionaire with net worth of $6.9billions of dollars. Zuckerberg’s “product”, a social networking website, is a revolutionary idea for people around the globe to enjoy an alternative socializing experience. It is the fastest way for people to connect with their friends, share personal information and more. Unlike regular email, Facebook creates instant connection with all your friends without all the formality .
On the contrary of the company’s instant wealth and recognition, Facebook encountered high risk of shutting down during its developing stage. A poorly explained new feature brought howls of protests from 700,000 users.  Lawsuits were filed again Zuckerberg regarding to political issues evolved from the freedom of speech on the website. Several communist countries such as China, Vietnam even blocked all access to Facebook through the countries’ internet firewall.
Unfriendly lawsuits did not put an end to Facebook’s growth in popularity. It came back stronger than ever. With Zuckerbergs’ entrepreneur spirit and innovative ideas, what used to be a small online social network for local university students soon became a global hit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Zuckerberg