Entrepreneurship - McGraw-Hill Introduction to Business

Birchbox Shows the Downsides of Subscription Selling Model

November 9, 2021

Birchbox launched in 2010 with a business model that was quite novel at the time: for a recurring fee, the company shipped small samples of beauty products to customers every month. The idea was to recreate the experience of shopping at a department store’s makeup counter where customers try out a variety of items before deciding what to buy. Once the subscriptions started rolling in for Birchbox, so did venture capital investment, with the startup raising nearly $100 million in Continue reading →

Sampling, Product Development, Promotions, Marketing, Product Distribution, Entrepreneurship, Subscriptions, Business models

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

[VIDEO] How Retail Cheese Prices Weather Market Volatility

October 15, 2021

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With supply chains snarled across the globe, food prices are on the rise as businesses contend with interminable shipping delays. Unlike many other items at the supermarket, though, cheese prices have remained relatively stable thanks to a number of factors discussed in the video below.

Questions:

Why does cheese maintain a relatively stable price compared to other staple foods like ground beef and apples?
What is “price smoothing” and how does it keep prices stable at supermarkets for consumers?

Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand, Entrepreneurship

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

Restaurants Look to Improve Their Outdoor Dining Options this Winter

October 7, 2021

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When summer came to a close last year, restaurants across the country scrambled to keep diners eating outdoors even as the weather turned cold. This led to improvised setups with shelters and gas heaters that sometimes brought about more problems than they solved. For example, every night Ellen Yin’s restaurant in Philadelphia would burn through more than 10 propane tanks for their heat lamps, with staff often changing the tanks throughout the evening. “A couple of times I went to Continue reading →

Product Development, Promotions, Entrepreneurship, Product Distribution, Restaurants, Food & Drink, Coronavirus, Pandemic, Infrastructure investment

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 16: Place and Promotion

[VIDEO] How a New Generation of Card Enthusiasts Are Transforming a Market

September 24, 2021

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Over the course of the pandemic, sports card trading has transformed from a niche hobby to a booming market as people started turning old collections into big money. This video looks at how appraisal companies and online trading platforms have changed collecting forever while attracting the interest of Wall Street investors in the process.

Questions:

How did sports card collecting transform from a fading hobby into a lucrative and vibrant market?
Do you think the market for cards will Continue reading →

Securities, Sports, Marketing, Entertainment, Ethics, Entrepreneurship, Product Distribution, Supply & Demand, Stock Market

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Chapter 19: Securities Markets, Videos

Big Tech Case Results in Split Decision

September 15, 2021

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Over the last year, Apple has been engaged in a legal battle with Epic Games, the software developer behind the blockbuster video game Fortnite. The company sued Apple after the tech giant removed the mobile version of Fornite from its App Store, alleging that Epic encouraged customers to purchase the game on different platforms. Apple claimed that this prevented it from collecting the commission it earns on every sale through the App Store, which Epic then accused of being anti-competitive Continue reading →

Regulation, Legal, Apple, Monopolies, Ethics, Antitrust, Entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

[VIDEO] What One Winemaker’s Pricing Decisions Tell Us About Inflation

September 10, 2021

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Although demand for wine from California’s Napa Valley has never been higher, supply is low across the region after years of drought, wildfires, and then the pandemic disrupted production. This video looks at the inflationary pressures currently weighing on winemakers as they consider whether or not to raise prices on the latest vintages.

Questions:

What inflationary factors are driving winemakers to raise prices on their products?
What are the potential advantages and disadvantages for businesses when they raise prices?

Manufacturing, Labor Relations, Product Distribution, Food & Drink, Supply & Demand, Economics, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Pricing

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 12: Labor Management and Unions, Chapter 13: Marketing, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Videos

FTC Inquires about Broken McFlurry Machines

September 3, 2021

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It’s a scenario that plenty of fast food fans have faced before: they pull up to the drive-thru speaker at McDonald’s and ask for their favorite frozen treat, only to hear the reply, “Sorry, but the machine is broken right now.” Responsible for about 60 percent of the chain’s desserts, the McFlurry machine is a vital asset for Golden Arches franchises across the country, even though their unreliability has become something of a running joke. Along with serving as the Continue reading →

McDonald’s, Operations Management, Regulation, Ethics, Product Distribution, Franchising, Food & Drink, Entrepreneurship, Forms of Business

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Large Companies Overtook Smaller Rivals during Pandemic

August 17, 2021

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The economic disruptions of the past year and a half caused small businesses to lose an average of 11 percent of their revenues. This was not the case for the globe’s big corporations, though. According to a McKinsey study of 5,500 “big, highly productive” U.S. and European companies, all surveyed firms reported that they experienced no declines in sales during the pandemic.

Although large companies had already been overtaking their smaller rivals before 2020, economists say that the pandemic widened Continue reading →

Supply & Demand, Antitrust, Corporations, Global, Ethics, Product Development, Entrepreneurship, Regulation, Product Distribution

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 5: Forms of Business Ownership, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 14: Product and Price, Chapter 15: Distribution, Bonus Chapter A: Business Law

Some Smartphone Apps Access Users’ Contact Lists

July 15, 2021

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Those who have concerns about privacy on smartphones often focus on apps that track users’ internet browsing history or even their movements through GPS. But while such violations of privacy are becoming more well-known to users, many others appear to be unaware that some apps have open access to their contact lists. For instance, therapist Gabriela Buendia was shocked to discover that the payment app Venmo had shared a list of her phone contacts as well as data about everyone Continue reading →

Startups, Marketing, Security, Ethics, Privacy, Entrepreneurship, Data Collection, Social Media, Silicon Valley

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 4: Ethics and Social Responsibility, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 13: Marketing, Bonus Chapter B: Technology and New Media

Shortage of Patio Furniture Reflects Wider Economic Issues

July 8, 2021

NickelsMcHughMcHugh

Yesterday, we looked at how cost-cutting measures used by rental car companies to survive the pandemic have now led to supply problems that are affecting travelers across the country. But rental cars aren’t the only items that are in short supply these days. For instance, a garden supply store called Valley View Farms experienced record sales of patio furniture in March as customers began to emerge from the extended stays at home. Soon after this boom, though, the Maryland retailer Continue reading →

Supply chains, Economics, Product Distribution, Operations Management, Supply & Demand, Global, Entrepreneurship

Chapter 1: Taking Risks and Making Profits, Chapter 2: Economics, Chapter 3: Globalization, Chapter 6: Entrepreneurship, Chapter 9: Production and Operations Management, Chapter 15: Distribution