Entrepreneurship Background and Traits

The term “entrepreneurship” has acquired currency over time and today it is used to refer to the process of creating, putting into place, and successfully running a new company entity. Entrepreneurship, in the opinion of Post (2017), offers products, services, and procedures for purchase or employment. According to this definition, entrepreneurs are people who establish such commercial companies. When a business first launches, there could be significant dangers. However, genuine entrepreneurs has the aptitude and capacity to spot opportunities, perform analyses, and take use of the available channels to launch successful new businesses and sectors. A small mistake in the actualization of a business may lead to heavy losses and eventually closure of the company (Hisrich et al., 2011). In Australia, some of the most successful companies begun through inspiration, friendship ideas and so on. Of these firms, women entrepreneurs have also shown their capacity to excel and develop empires from small and humble beginnings. In a publishing by SmartCompany, one of the top listed female entrepreneurs is Mrs. Lesley Gillespie, the founder, and CEO of Bakers Delight Holdings Ltd. Bakers Delight is a Public Company with its main base in Australia (Koehn et al., 2017). The nature of business includes food production including bread, savouries, and sweets (IBISWorld, 2016). This paper takes an in-depth outlook on this woman’s beginnings, advancements, the current market situation of her business as well as recommendations on areas that may require improvement.

Background

Bakers Delight was initiated in the year 1980 by the Roger and Leslie Gillespie couple as well as another friend by the name Gary Stephenson. The initial business was in Hawthorne, Melbourne. The firm’s name, Bakers Delight was selected because the founders possessed the belief that each product should be delightful in its preparation, distribution to customers and also consumption. According to the company’s website, the founders emphasize on their passion for baking fresh and delicious bread, an aspect that possibly fuelled the establishment of the enterprise. Mrs. Lesley Gillespie is the Chief Executive while her husband, Roger Gillespie is the Executive Chairman (Bakers Delight, 2017). Bakers Delight has come a long way, particularly with the nature of the products (bread, sweets, and savouries) which culturally familiar foods in Australia and also other countries. Additionally, the affordability of bread cuts across the socio-demographic aspect of the market thus a boost to the company.

At the moment, Bakers Delight has become a renowned firm throughout Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States of America and the entrepreneurship skills of Mrs. Lesley Gillespie receive most of the credit. Currently, the company is present in over 700 locations across the countries mentioned above all which generate approximately 595 million dollars annually. In the year 2016, the firm had 510 employees in Australia alone and revenues reaching 90 million dollars. The company is also ranked at number 1940 out of the 2000 highest rated organization in Australia. Mrs. Lesley Gillespie notes that her basis for passion and success of the company is embedded in the participation in community initiatives for over 37 years (Bakers Delight, 2017). Such activities include the partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia, supporting local schools and supporting other charitable organizations (IBISWorld, 2016).

Entrepreneurial Traits

According to Amiri and Marimaei (2012, p.153), entrepreneurs have certain personality traits which distinguish them from other individuals who are not business-oriented. Such characteristics include competitiveness, determination, authoritative, independent, broad intelligence, a sense of self and most of all, humor and vibrancy. Most often than not, entrepreneurs do not focus on money alone. On the contrary, passion is what drives such individuals to either solve a challenge or make certain things easier. Mrs. Lesley Gillespie possesses a good number of these characteristics. The company was grown from scratch through dedication, determination and insurmountable energy from the owners. Gillespie’s passion for baking quality products and helping those in need also contribute to her entrepreneurial traits.

Other crucial traits include resilience, flexibility, and vision (Rampton, 2014). Mrs. Lesley Gillespie possesses these qualities as she has withstood emerging competition, she has ensured that the company adapts to the emerging changes and challenges and also seized the available opportunities to make sure that her products remain at the top of the consumer list.

Opportunity Recognition and Idea Development

Entrepreneurs are people who can start, organize and manage an enterprise regardless of the risks and rewards. Such a person tends to have the capacity to observe and anticipate business opportunities as well as a risk-taking attitude that facilitates the exploitation of that chance. In fact, Amiri and Marimaei (2012, p.155), explain that entrepreneurs are required to exploit business opportunities through their responsibility to control commercial activities, production, human resource and financial aspects. Opportunity exploitation involves business planning, garnering human resources, obtaining financial capital, leadership, risk aversion and responsibility for failure and success. Lesley Gillespie’s success is a strong indicator of her ability to identify the opportunity in the food industry, the possibility of expansion to other markets and the need to diversify products. The fact that Bakers Delight has survived for over 37 years and is currently rated as a successful business is a clear sign that Lesley Gillespie has opportunity, detection and utilization capabilities, leadership and also risk prevention capacity.

Competitive Advantage

Lesley Gillespie’s business is typically food production, and the market is wide as it targets those who consume bakery products. By its nature, the industry also targets the aging population with high disposable income as well. Bakers Delight also depicts expertise and authenticity in its methods and products which are not only fresh but also handcrafted from scratch on a daily basis. Another competitive advantage is the establishment of markets in countries other than Australia including New Zealand, The United States, and Canada and over 700 bakeries worldwide. The company also has a virtual bakery which showcases the main products. Furthermore, the presence of highly trained managers and the staff is a plus for the firm’s position over competitors (Bakers Delight, 2017). One other element that establishes Bakers Delight’s competitive advantage is the passion for conducting corporate social responsibility activities including support to local charities and community groups, cancer and school fundraisings as well as using environmentally sustainable production methods (WikiWealth, 2017).

Recommendations

Despite having a competitive advantage, sustainable revenue and establishment in the Market, Lesley Gillespie’s company can still reap more by introducing new technologies, and improved products and services that meet consumer needs. The entrepreneur can also make the company’s presence to be felt in emerging markets especially in the developing world. Online shopping, which is currently a popular business approach can also be increased coupled with tie-ups with various hotels and restaurants. The introduction of new products and services may also be beneficial to widen the scope of the firm hence increase market share. Aghazadeh (2015, p.125), mentions that prior knowledge is essential for steering enterprises to greater heights. As such Lesley Gillespie must consider conduction of research, skills development, and adoption of relevant strategies that will give the business a competitive edge (Githaiga et al., 2016, p.22).

References

Aghazadeh, H., 2015. Strategic marketing management: achieving superior business performance through intelligent marketing strategy. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 207, pp. 125-134.

Amiri, N. S. and Marimaei, M. R., 2012. Concept of Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurs Traits and Characteristics. Scholarly Journal of Business Administration, 2(7), pp. 150-155.

Bakers Delight, 2017. Company Profile: The rise and rise of Bakers Delight. [Online] Available at: https://www.bakersdelight.com.au/company/[Accessed 14 Septmber 2017].

Githaiga, R. W., Namusonge, G. and Kihoro, J., 2016. Marketing Strategies Adoption andCompetitiveness of Micro and Small Enterprises in Food Processing Sub-Sector: An Empirical Review. IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science, 21(2), pp. 18-22.

Hisrich, R. D., Peters, M. P. and Shepherd, D. A., 2011. Entrepreneurship. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.

IBISWorld, 2016. Bakers Delight Holdings Ltd - Premium Company Report Australia. [Online] Available at: https://www.ibisworld.com.au/australian-company-research-reports/manufacturing/bakers-delight-holdings-ltd-company.html[Accessed 14 September 2017].

Koehn, E., Powell, D. and Dias, D., 2017. Australia’s top 30 female entrepreneurs 2017. [Online] Available at: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/lists/australias-top-30-female-entrepreneurs-2017/ [Accessed 14 September 2017].

Post, J., 2017. What is Entrepreneurship?. [Online] Available at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2642-entrepreneurship.html[Accessed 14 September 2017].

Rampton, J., 2014. 5 Personality Traits of an Entrepreneur. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2014/04/14/5-personality-traits-of-an-entrepreneur/#6be669093bf4 [Accessed 14 September 2017].

WikiWealth, 2017. Bakers Delight SWOT Analysis. [Online] Available at: http://www.wikiwealth.com/swot-analysis:bakers-delight [Accessed 14 September 2017].