Exercise 1

Liam's Mobile Pet Grooming Service

Your friend Liam loves pets and has experience grooming his own dogs and cats.

He noticed that many pet owners in your city struggle to find time to take their pets to the groomer. Liam sees an opportunity to launch a mobile pet grooming service that:

• Brings professional grooming directly to the customer's doorstep
• Operates out of a customized van equipped with all the necessary tools and supplies
• Allows customers to book appointments online or by phone, choosing from service packages for different pet sizes and coat types.

To start, Liam envisions targeting affluent neighborhoods where residents are more likely to spend on pet care services. He plans to differentiate his service through convenience and exceptional customer care.

But despite his excitement, Liam is hesitant. The financial investment needed to turn his idea into reality would require him to seek financial support from banks, investors, his family or friends.

Being aware of your Entrepreneurial studies, Liam approaches you for advice and guidance on his endeavor.

Tasks

1. Help Liam develop a roadmap for his business idea. Provide clear, concise suggestions that Liam can act upon. Incorporate the theory and concepts learned in class, primarily idea validation, iterative solution design, and adaptive risk management. Ensure that all of your suggestions comply with the following constraints:

   1. Actionable: contain clearly defined steps that can be executed
   2. Realistic: steps are feasible within the given constraints of time and budget
   3. Time: can be completed within a 2-months timeframe
   4. Budget: total cost should not exceed HKD 100,000

2. Liam has always been curious about all things in life. To help him understand the idea and intention behind your suggestions, write a short commentary (about 100 words) for each.

   Examples

   • “Step 1 allows us to achieve/understand (...), which helps us manage/mitigate (...)”
   • “Step 2 is important, because it helps estimate/measure (...) faster, cheaper, with less risk than by doing (...)”
   • “Step 3 enables us to analyze / conduct (...), which is important because (...)”

Exercise 2

The single biggest reason why start-ups succeed

Bill Gross has founded numerous start-ups and incubated many others. He became curious about why some succeeded while others failed.

In his research, he collected data from hundreds of companies, both his own and those of others, and ranked each based on five key factors. He discovered one factor that stood out from the rest, surprising even him.

Tasks

1. Watch and summarize Bill's TED talk "The single biggest reason why start-ups succeed."

   Use fewer than 200 words and include only information that are essential for the reader of your assignment to understand the nature and context of the TED talk as well as its conclusion.

   Be as precise as possible. Avoid information that distracts from Bill's core message and key takeaway.