Horse Photography of Berkshire
“Photo Shoot, Rain or Shine!”
Effectual Entrepreneurship
MM3013
March 21st, 2014
Assignment #2
Student ID: 20225672
Word Count: 2,800
Business Presentation:
Horse Photography of Berkshire began with a simple idea to combine a love for horses and the outdoors with basic photography skills as a new addition in the leisure sector for the people of Berkshire. Through effectual planning and brainstorming, this simple idea that people have thought of time and time before transformed into not just a photography business; but a service of entertainment for bridal portraits, bridal parties, stag parties, graduations, birthdays, corporate team building, the list is really endless. Using our means, deciding what we were willing to lose, transforming obstacles into successes and the downside into gains Horse Photography of Berkshire has incorporated personal ideas from all group members all the while growing into an entrepreneurial venture and creating a market of its own.
“Photo Shoot Rain or Shine” is the slogan for the new venture—where we plan to take pictures and celebrate with our clients for various special occasions all the while making sure our horses and clients feel at ease throughout the process. We’ll dress the horses up in funny hats or glamorous accessories to match the theme of the shoot; if it’s raining we offer a white tent with “fairy lights” (white sparkly lights) to enhance the mood of the rain, puddles, etc. For a more humorous take on the rain, we will provide an umbrella hat for the horse and plastic covers for hooves and lower legs to make it look like the horse is wearing rain boots.
Following the practice of effectual entrepreneurship when planning Horse Photography of Berkshire my team worked through each principle one at a time to insure all of the group’s means were incorporated. There were definitely challenges especially since we were confined to certain business sectors and to a particular region (Berkshire). Using the means of one group member, Laura, who has past experience in working with horses and photography of animals, we decided to incorporate her means to start a business centered around photography. The first step in expanding the original idea was through the bird in hand principle, using who we were, what we knew and whom we knew to construct the basis for our business. By identifying those three questions we successfully could start up the “Photo Shoot Rain or Shine” business without no need for extensive investments, initial planning, or market research.
Through Bird-In-Hand principle my group identified the following means among the group: 1 horse, driving license, Nikon Camera, experience with horses, experience in photography, IT knowledge, beauty advice, and entertainment experience with children. Some challenges faced were lack of key recourses needed for start up. We didn’t have a horse trailer, and although I had much experience working with children, members of the group were unsure how to approach throwing adult parties with horses and photography. As expert entrepreneurs we went through who we were, what we knew and whom we knew and then tried to imagine as many possibilities that could originate from our idea however we found that if we didn’t posses a skill, we couldn’t necessarily list it as an option on our company’s website. (effectuation.org) Entrepreneurs limit risk by understanding what they can afford to lose during each aspect of new ventures. Instead of large start ups involving all or nothing benefits, the principle of Affordable Loss emphasizes the importance of choosing goals and implementing ideas that can be manipulated into gains even during periods of loss (effectuation.org). Entrepreneurs use a given set of means; therefore initial investments are low resulting in low risk but possible high gains. Each case differs on the amount of “loss” required. In the case of Horse Photography of
