Sprting' Life



An Assessment of

“Sportin’ Life”: A Minority Entrepreneur’s Creation

Heather Eylar

BUSA 358: Entrepreneurship

Professor Matthaei

October 4, 2006

Recommendation

I recommend that George Huggins finishes his business plan, which will make his offer much more attractive to potential investors. He has done well conducting surveys and collecting information, but he needs to finalize and conclude his business plan before any investors will take him seriously. He currently doesn’t have enough funding to start his Sportin’ Life doll line, and cannot find the right investors. By finishing his business plan, or at least adding to it, it will look more professional and investors will be able to see his vision more clearly. He will also have a definite plan of action. This will allow investors to be more confident in his idea, and may spur them on to investing more capital.

Huggins should also consider moving his manufacturing operations overseas. This is by far the cheaper option, as is evident by the lack of doll manufacturers in the United States. This would require some research, and a good deal of networking skills, but would benefit the production in the long run because the cost is much lower. In order to find out the costs, Huggins could look into production from another company. To ensure he got the correct information he would need to choose a company that makes a product that does not compete with his, such as Barbie. They might be able to give him some insight to overseas costs and common practices, and would not be opposed to giving him that information as long as he did not take away from their business.

As well as sheer manufacturing costs, Huggins should consider decreasing his supplementary programs. They cost a fair amount of money, which he could be using to further his doll business. However, if he wanted to change his tactic from merely “doll sales” to an “after school program” that uses the doll every now and then, he can...