Entrepreneurship Katie Page

Question: Discuss about the Entrepreneurship for Katie Page. Answer: Introduction The purpose of the study is to evaluate the characteristics of an entrepreneur. An Entrepreneur is the person who is responsible for starting his or her business or has helped in the development of an existing business. For this particular study, Katie Page has been selected as the entrepreneur. She is the existing CEO of Harvey Norman and has been ranked among the successful entrepreneurs of Australia (Carmody et al. 2016). Although she might not be given the credit of establishing her own business but she has been responsible for the expansion of the business of Harvey Norman. Right from the beginning of her career with Harvey Norman she has been able to identify the right platform for the expansion of the business and has been successful in doing so (Cew.org.au 2016). A detailed investigation of the entrepreneurial characteristics of her shall be discussed in this report. The study also includes the background of Katie Page and the farsightedness that has helped her to become a successful entrepreneur even in the competitive era. The later part of the study, shall also suggest some of the evident features that Page might undertake to improve her business and entrepreneurial skills. Background of the Entrepreneur: Kay Leslie Katie Page is the Australian business executive and the Chief Executive Officer of the retail company Harvey Norman. She was born in 1956 in Queensland, Australia. Graduated from the Brisbane State High School in 1973, Katie has been always a courageous and surveyor in her life (Cew.org.au 2016). When she was 21 years old, she moved to Sydney where she participated in raising funds for the autistic children. There she met Gerry Harvey, as he was one of the judges of the panel. After six years, Gerry offered her a job at a new Harvey Norman store. She was responsible the sales and marketing department and publicity of the firm. Later the couple married (Cew.org.au 2016). Katie Page has been working as an assistant at Harvey Norman since 1983 but became the Chief Executive for over 200 stores in Australia and 86 stores abroad (Kruger 2014). She has been referred as the mastermind behind the success of the retail stores in major media interviews. She might not have created her own business brand or a new venture but she is responsible for the overall business development of this brand (Powell 2016). Thus, she is an entrepreneur in her own terms. It is the ability and the farsightedness of this business woman that has given her the name and fame of an entrepreneur. Characteristics of the Entrepreneur: Katie Page has a strong attitude that has helped her to reach her the position where she belongs to. She has effective leadership capabilities that have made her capable of working with around 200 retail stores of Harvey Norman. It was under the leadership of Katie that Harvey Norman expanded into New Zealand in 1996, in Singapore in 2000 and in Malaysia and Slovenia in 2003 (Lehmann 2016). In addition to this, the Company has entered in the online retail market as well in 2014. Some of the entrepreneurial characteristics that she enjoys are versatility, creativity and persuasiveness, superb business skills, risk tolerance along with flexibility and open mindedness (Kozubkov et al. 2015). It can be said that all these entrepreneurial characteristics are present in her and this is the reason that has made her capable of dealing with the competitive situation of the market and bring her own company out for all the success (Lehmann 2016). Processes of Opportunity Recognition and Idea Development: Page has been found to come up with a new business idea. She identified that womens sport has been most undervalued in the country. In addition to this, the womens sports products have been most undervalued. Therefore, the alarming need to improve the situation was felt. In the mean time, it was found that the women sports team has been doing well in the sport. The Rugby Sevens team won gold in Rio (Lehmann 2016). The AFL also planned to launch the national womens league and the female cricketers have been found to come up with a bash (Powell 2016). However, as it was evident that no matter how well the women performed in the sports, all the sponsorship goes to the mens team of cricket or football. This was the time, Katie got the opportunity to speak for the women and show participation in the field of women sports. She insisted on pushing the barrow of gender equality as not a matter of fairness but something that the women should be given. In 2005, Katie was appointed to the board of the National Rugby League (Carmody et al. 2016). She was the first woman to be appointed to such a high post in a major sport board in Australia. She has always encouraged women for sports and their role in various activities. She has also served as the Director of Rebel Sports Limited and is currently the Director of Pertama Holdings Limited Singapore. It has to be noted that her powerful entrepreneurial skills has also lead her to become a proprietor of Magic Millions, where she eventually owned 25% but now owns 50% of the business (Carmody et al. 2016). Type of Business Developed and the Competitive Advantage(s) of the B usiness Compared to that in the market: Apart from the contribution that Katie made in the retail outlet of Harvey Norman, she has been active as a backer of several professional sports. Along with Harvey, she owns the Magic Million Thoroughbred racehorse auction house along with four breeding studs and 1000 racehorses (Carmody et al. 2016). She is also an active supporter of women sports. The credit for the retail success of the Harvey Norman can be easily given to her. Even in the competitive age, she has managed to keep pace with the other marketers. The idea of going online has fetched the company huge profit and the complete credit can be given to her (Carmody et al. 2016). She also took the advantage of the market and purchase Magic Millions. The Company has not been found to suffer any kind of loss or back lag in the recent time. The value of the Company has risen to billions. If similar businesses are compared that are present in the market, it can be said that the expansion and the idea of going online along with the presence of marketing and advertisement using the social media platforms have been the most effective steps undertaken by Page that has benefitted the Company a lot. The expansion of the business in Asian and European market at the right time has added more value to the Company. The credit for these activities can be given to Page (Carmody et al. 2016). It is her entrepreneurial skills and ability that has helped her to take the business to that point where one can see only success. Future Suggestions for the Entrepreneur As it has been evident that Katie has been quite active to support womens sports, it can be recommended that she tries her business luck in the sports industry. Katie has enough knowledge about the retail business and has been successful in her career. Therefore, it can be recommended that she starts her own sportswear brand for women. She has been well known for her participation in women sports activities (Rojas and Huergo 2016). Therefore, she might come up with a retail clothing brand of sportswear for the women. As for the sales and marketing, it is recommended that she use the online platform. She might also come up with retail outlet where sportswear and outfits would be sold along with other sports activities. The social media tools like Facebook, Twitter can be used for the purpose of marketing the product. It is also expected that since Harvey Norman has its presence in domestic and international platform, the newly formed business can also be expanded in these countries (Kozubkov et al. 2015). This shall increase the value of the brand by many folds and Page can become a more successful entrepreneur in her later stage of her life. Conclusion: With the detailed analysis of entrepreneurship has been conducted. Katie Page, the CEO of Harvey Norman has been identified as one of the successful entrepreneur in Australia in the recent time. The success of the retail store and the expansion of the business in domestic and foreign land can be easily given to her. It has also been identified that she has all the event entrepreneurial characteristics has helped her to reach the point where she or the Company is right at the moment. In addition to this, she has shown interest in women sports as well. Keeping this perspective into consideration, it has been suggested that she might undertake the approach of expanding her career in the womens sportswear and other related items. This study has provided the opportunity to know about the quality of a successful entrepreneur. References: Carmody, B., Richards, R. and Keating, E., 2016 Australias top 30 female entrepreneurs 2016 Available at: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/lists/top-female-entrepreneurs/australias-top-30-female-entrepreneurs-2016/ [Accessed on: 13-4-2017] Cew.org.au 2016 Katie Page Available at: https://cew.org.au/members/katie-page/ [Accessed on: 13-4-2017] Kozubkov, L., Bels, J., Bilan, Y. and Bartos, P., 2015. Personal characteristics of entrepreneurs in the context of perception and management of business risk in the SME segment.Economics Sociology,8(1), p.41. Kruger, C., 2014 Harvey Norman CEO Katie Page Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/cbd/harvey-norman-ceo-katie-page-a-bargain-at-207m-20141122-11s0b6.html [Accessed on: 13-4-2017] Lehmann, M., 2016 She's CEO of a retail empire and a powerful agent for change in women's sport. Katie Page means business. Available at: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/tight-reins/news-story/95652c6094e51c55d75c4d4ecec39774 [Accessed on: 13-4-2017] Powell, L., 2016 Australias Most Successful Female Entrepreneurs, Revealed Available at: https://www.mydomainehome.com.au/most-successful-australian-female-entrepreneurs [Accessed on: 13-4-2017] Rojas, F. and Huergo, E., 2016. Characteristics of entrepreneurs and public support for NTBFs.Small Business Economics,47(2), pp.363-382.