Essay on Assignment: Entrepreneur Deborah Meaden

Submitted By April-Fergus
Words: 608
Pages: 3

GCE AS Business Studies – Year 12

1a. Describe briefly what is meant by the term Entrepreneur
An Entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.
1b. What skills and personal qualities/characteristics do you think are necessary to be a successful entrepreneur? Describe Four.
Firstly entrepreneurs need passion for their product or service because without a belief that their goods can benefit society they will not be able to succeed. Secondly, I think entrepreneur’s need to be able to take risks because without taking and risks they won’t be able to make a profit on their business. Also I believe that entrepreneurs need to have a vision. If an entrepreneur has a vision for their business they will be able to spot opportunities that other entrepreneurs may miss such as gaps in the market so that they can get maximum profit for their good or service. Lastly a good skill for an entrepreneur is the motivation to achieve, without this they may not persevere when times get hard and their business will not make a profit.
1c. An Entrepreneur Deborah Meaden was born on February 11, 1959 in Somerset and studied at Godolphin School in Salisbury, after which she became a boarder in Trowbridge High School. After her parents separated she went to live with her mother and discovered that her family did not have a lot of money. She then learned to appreciate the value of money and knew then that she wanted to set up her own business so that she would always have an ample amount of money. Around the time, her mother and stepfather founded an amusement park that eventually went on to become Weststar, the famed arcade company.
According to Deborah Meaden, she was only sixteen when she left school after completing her O-levels. Thereafter, she enrolled in Brighton Technical College, a business college where she completed her graduation and simultaneously worked as a salesroom model in a fashion house.
Soon after, she shifted to Italy and established her very first venture, a glass and ceramics export company. Her business did well, and Meaden sold products to top-notch companies like Harvey Nichols. However, after a year and a half, her business failed because the products were seen in other top-tier stores, and Deborah had little financial strength to fight for her sole agency rights.
Deborah Meaden then partnered with a friend, and