Week 2 – CASE STUDY
Katiuska Montenegro
Entrepreneurship New Ventures
Professor Erin McLaughlin
January 16, 2016
Alison Barnard CASE STUDY
1. Does Alison have enough experience to start a boutique jeans business?
In my opinion, she has experience from working for the boutique and was able to do her research for her own business. In addition as a woman it is easier for her to get into the retail for business because she knows what women want being a woman herself. However, if I were Alison I would have invested more in classes for accounting. It doesn’t have to be her doing all the accounting, but it is still best that she has more knowledge in it and more involvement in it because she is the owner of the company and as the owner she should be able to read and understand her books.
2. How important is it to have experience in an industry before you start a business in that same industry?
I think that it helps a lot to have an experience in the industry that an entrepreneur is interested in venturing. for example, if I notice that the company I’m working for is missing some factors that make a customer decide whether to a product or not. I can adapt my own business to make the changes need in order to answer the needs of customers.
3. Describe the market; how will Alison differentiate the business from the other premium jean stores in the area?
Alison was carrying different brands, different styles, and large selection of jean brands, targeted towards different ages. She was no expert when it came to jeans (creating them) but she was an expert when it came to fit. She designed the atmosphere of the store to look more welcoming, as she described it “as if you were going into a friends place”. Her difference from the other companies around the area is, she didn’t carry her private brand and most of the brands that she was carrying weren’t considered as a brand name company. She was also one only one of the...