Enterprise, Business Growth and Size - Enterprise and Entrepreneurship

© 2023
1.3 Enterprise, business growth and size
Enterprise and entrepreneurship

An entrepreneur is a person who starts a business, usually because they have an idea for
a new product or because they have found a way to meet the needs of customers that
have not been previously met. They then take responsibility for the risk involved. There
have been many famous entrepreneurs throughout history, for example:
1. Anita Roddick began selling beauty products in 1976 in order to

support her family. She created The Body Shop
(https://www.thebodyshop.com) and chose to use natural
products that had not been tested on animals and were sold in
refillable containers.
2. Elon Musk can be described as a ‘serial entrepreneur’ because he
has created several businesses throughout his career, including
PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/uk/home) and Tesla, Inc.
(https://www.tesla.com/en_gb)
3. Malamine Koné is the creator of Airness
(https://www.airness.com/), a sportswear brand. A former boxer
whose career plans in the police were ruined by a car accident, he
began producing football gear in 1999. The company now has
annual sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
There are a number of common characteristics that successful entrepreneurs share, as

shown in Table 1.
Table 1. Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.
Risk-takers Above all, entrepreneurs are willing to take on the risk

of starting a new organisation. They may have had to
give up secure jobs and use their personal funds in
order to get started.
Ko
Self- Starting up a new business takes discipline (the ability
motivated to control yourself). Many entrepreneurs begin their
companies alone. Working long hours without a
manager and an existing structure in place requires
motivation and commitment.
Confident All new businesses face challenges, and

entrepreneurs must be confident and optimistic (hope
that good things will happen in the future) in order to
deal with these issues.
Innovative New businesses face the challenge of making their

product or service offering different from other
businesses so that they can be competitive. Even
opening a new coffee shop requires developing an
offering that is different from those already in the
local area – it requires innovation .
Leadership Entrepreneurs will not only have to produce their

product, but they will also likely have to manage a
team of people and lead them in a way that motivates
their employees. They may also have to work with
partners with skills in other areas.
Creative Entrepreneurs need to use their imagination to create

something that is an original idea. With creativity, an
entrepreneur can be first to market with a new
product or service which helps them gain a
competitive advantage. Creativity can help
entrepreneurs to solve problems like how to reduce
waste and become more efficient.
Case study
Hilary Devey
Ko
Hilary Devey is one of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs. She began her
business, PALL-EX (https://www.pallex.co.uk/), a transportation (haulage) company,
in 1996. Although she had worked in the sector for many years and had a detailed
business plan, banks were not willing to lend her the money to start her own
business. Instead, she raised the £112 000 ($145 000) she needed by selling her
house, car, jewellery and other personal items.
Eventually, Hilary established her business in an old building. Within seven years of
starting the company, she moved location twice until she ended up in the location
where PALL-EX is currently based. In October 2019, the business was valued as
turning over £85 million ($110 million) worth of revenue , with over 500 employees.
Sources: Adapted from Dragons' Den star Hilary Devey sells Pall-Ex haulage business
(https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/dragons-den-star-hilary-devey-
3453857), Tom Pegden, Leicestershire Live and THE ROAD TO PALL-EX
(http://www.hilarydevey.com/business-interests/pall-ex/), Hilary Devey.
Question
Explain two characteristics that made Hilary Devey a successful entrepreneur. [6

marks]
Business plans
A business plan is a report that outlines the objectives of a business and how the
business plans to achieve them. Table 2 shows which areas this report would include.
Table 2. Features of a business plan.
Aims and What is the business trying to achieve?

objectives Is the business only aiming for survival or
does it want to expand in the future?
Are the short-term and long-term aims the
same or different?
The product What is the product?

What are the needs or wants that are being
met? How are they being met?
What is the unique selling point (USP)?
Ko
The market How many potential customers are there?
How many competitors are there? What
products do they offer? How are they similar
to/different from the product the business is
selling?
How has the market changed? How will this
affect the business?
The structure of How will the business be owned?

the business How many owners will there be? What will
their roles be?
Is there going to be any government
involvement?
Human How many employees will the business have?

resources What will their roles be?
Production and How will the product be produced?

operations Where will the resources come from?
Finance How will the business raise the money it

needs to get started?
How will it make a profit? What will it do with
the profit?
Activity
Ko
Imagine your classmates and you have been invited to open up a stationery shop
within the school. Using the points in Table 2, draw up an outline for a business plan.
Present your ideas in the form of a project.
There are many ways in which entrepreneurs can benefit from business plans:
They allow the entrepreneur to set clear objectives and identify

what they want to achieve and then specify how they are going to
do it.
They can be used to support applications for bank loans (see
section 5.1.2 (/study/app/2025-igcse-business-studies-ig1/sid-
181-cid-251207/book/choosing-an-appropriate-source-of-
finance-id-28503)). If the bank can see how and when the
business will make a profit, it will be more likely to lend money.
They can help the entrepreneur to identify gaps in their
information. This ensures that they do enough market research
for their product.
They can identify the risks involved in starting the business. The
entrepreneur can then put plans in place to avoid them.
They can ensure that the business will be profitable because
the costs and revenue are identified from the beginning.
Ko
Government support for entrepreneurs
Figure 2. The reasons why governments support entrepreneurs.
Many of the factors involved with starting a new business (increased disposable income
, increased production , new products) will lead to increased spending across the
economy. This will improve the standard of living for the country’s citizens in the long
term.
There are several ways in which a government can help entrepreneurs, as shown in
Table 3.
Table 3. Government support available to entrepreneurs.
Grants These are government payments made to businesses

that offer a product that can improve the quality of
life for its citizens or that will increase employment in
an area that needs it. The entrepreneur can get
additional capital to start the business or cover the
running costs. However, these grants are only
available in areas where the government sees a need.
Training The government can provide training programmes for

schemes entrepreneurs, teaching them the skills involved in
running a business. For example, the US and UK
Ko
governments both provide specialist agencies that
train entrepreneurs in finance and business
management (known as Growth Hubs
(https://www.lepnetwork.net/growth-hubs/) in the
UK and Business Incubators in the US). This training is
usually free, but some governments charge for this
service.
Tax breaks This is a system whereby entrepreneurs pay a lower

rate of tax than established businesses to help them
get started. This will reduce their running costs.
However, these breaks are only available for a limited
period of time.
Activity
Use the internet to identify what forms of government support are available to
entrepreneurs in your country.
Ko

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© 2023

1.3 Enterprise, business growth and size

Enterprise and entrepreneurship

1. Anita Roddick began selling beauty products in 1976 in order to

There are a number of common characteristics that successful entrepreneurs share, as

Table 1. Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.

Risk-takers Above all, entrepreneurs are willing to take on the risk

Confident All new businesses face challenges, and

Innovative New businesses face the challenge of making their

Leadership Entrepreneurs will not only have to produce their

Creative Entrepreneurs need to use their imagination to create

Explain two characteristics that made Hilary Devey a successful entrepreneur. [6

Table 2. Features of a business plan.

Aims and What is the business trying to achieve?

The product What is the product?

The structure of How will the business be owned?

Human How many employees will the business have?

Production and How will the product be produced?

Finance How will the business raise the money it

They allow the entrepreneur to set clear objectives and identify

Figure 2. The reasons why governments support entrepreneurs.

Table 3. Government support available to entrepreneurs.

Grants These are government payments made to businesses

Training The government can provide training programmes for

Tax breaks This is a system whereby entrepreneurs pay a lower

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