| Course | BUSI 4002 Small Business Ventures |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 1 |
| Paper type | Discussion post |
| Length | About 510 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BUSI 4002 Week 1
Week 1 Discussion: A Small Business That Has Survived
Forty Years on One Block: Why a Neighborhood Shoe Repair Shop Has Outlasted Three Shopping Centers, and the Commercial Accounts Behind the Story Everyone Tells About Loyal Customers
The business I picked is a shoe and leather repair shop on the east side of Des Moines that has been open on the same block for about forty years. I will not use its name, since I have not asked the owner, but the details below come from talking with her when I picked up a pair of boots last month. Most people in the neighborhood say the shop survives because of loyal customers. I think the more specific reason is that it does work almost nobody else in the area can do, and that a few large accounts pay its rent.
The shop resoles shoes and boots, repairs zippers on jackets and bags, and stretches and dyes leather. The owner told me that walk-in repairs have declined for years, as people replace cheap shoes rather than fix them. What keeps the shop open is a handful of commercial customers: a uniform supplier that sends police and security boots for resoling, two hospitals whose staff clogs need straps replaced, and a riding stable that sends tack. Those accounts, she said, cover most of her fixed costs before a single walk-in customer comes through the door.
That fits a point from this week's reading. Headd (2003) found that many businesses that close were not failures in their owners' eyes, and that survival depends on more than whether customers like a business. Brüderl et al. (1992) found that a founder's experience and the firm's initial strategy shaped its chances of surviving. Here, the owner's specialized skill created a position competitors could not easily copy, and the commercial accounts turned that skill into steady revenue.
I plan to ask her more about those accounts on my next visit. What business near you has survived for a long time, and do you know which customers actually pay its bills?
If the commercial accounts left, I doubt the walk-in trade alone would keep the shop open, which makes those few accounts both the reason it survives and its biggest single risk.
Reply to Corinne
Corinne, you said the family diner on your street survives "because of its community feel." How could we tell that apart from simpler explanations, like owning the building outright or having no debt? If the family owns the property, the diner may survive at margins that would close a renter. Shane and Venkataraman (2000) describe entrepreneurship as discovering and exploiting opportunities, and it would help to know which advantage the diner is actually exploiting.
Reply to Malik
Malik, the bike shop you described has survived two big-box openings. Your post mentions that it does repairs for a delivery company's cargo bikes. Do you know how much of its revenue those repairs bring in? If it is a large share, the shop's survival may depend less on enthusiasts and more on that one account, which would also be its biggest risk.
References
Brüderl, J., Preisendörfer, P., & Ziegler, R. (1992). Survival chances of newly founded business organizations. American Sociological Review, 57(2), 227-242. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096207
Headd, B. (2003). Redefining business success: Distinguishing between closure and failure. Small Business Economics, 21(1), 51-61. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024433630958
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 217-226. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2000.2791611
What the BUSI 4002 Week 1 instructions ask for
The first discussion in this course asks for one business that has survived and a plain statement of why. Name the business, or describe it if you would rather not name it, and give its age and setting. State the reason you think it has lasted in the first paragraph, then support that reason with something more than affection for the place: who its customers are, what it does that others cannot, what it owns or avoids owing. Tie the argument to the week's reading in a way that tests your claim rather than decorating it. Leave the group a question at the end. Expect 250 to 400 words, then two replies a few days on, each pressing on a classmate's reasoning.
How the BUSI 4002 Week 1 example is put together
The sample introduces an unnamed east-side Des Moines repair shop and explains that the details came from a conversation with its owner. It states the common explanation, loyal customers, and replaces it with a more specific one: rare repair skills and commercial accounts. A paragraph names those accounts and notes that walk-in trade has declined. The tie to the reading cites Headd on success at closure and Brüderl and colleagues on how founders' experience and strategy affect survival. A short note admits that the shop's dependence on a few accounts is also its biggest risk. The reply to Corinne asks how to distinguish a diner's community feel from owning its building, citing Shane and Venkataraman. The reply to Malik asks how much of a bike shop's revenue comes from one delivery company.
Where the marks sit in the BUSI 4002 Week 1 rubric
Marks in this opening week go to a claim that can be tested. A post that names a business and says it survives because people love it gives the grader little to assess; one that names the customers who pay the bills or the capability competitors lack offers evidence. Graders look for the reason to appear early and for the reading to be used to examine it, for example by asking whether experience, assets or strategy explain survival. Acknowledging what could disprove the claim, or what risk comes with it, shows judgment. Replies earn credit for nudging a classmate's explanation toward something checkable, ideally by naming a simpler alternative or asking for a figure that would settle it.
BUSI 4002 Week 1 help from the desk
Choose a business you can learn something concrete about, by visiting, asking the owner or reading local news. Ask who actually pays its bills, what it does that others nearby do not, and whether it owns its building or carries debt. Write the reason it survives in one sentence, then give the facts behind it. Use the reading to test that sentence. Weak posts praise the business, rely on atmosphere or describe its history without an argument. Others pick a chain, where survival depends on the parent company. Keep the post near 300 words. In replies, ask for one fact that would distinguish the classmate's explanation from a simpler one. A model post on a business in your own area can be drafted from what you know of its customers and history.
Get a BUSI 4002 Week 1 example written to your instructions
Send whatever the Week 1 board shows, prompt and rubric both, and a finished post comes back written to them, first one free, in 24 to 48 hours. Name the kind of business it should be built around, or leave that open and the desk picks one specific enough to defend. Replies drafted alongside on request.
More BUSI 4002 papers and BS in Business Administration samples
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- BUSI 4002 Week 3: Venture Concept Statement
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- BUSI 4002 Week 5: Disconfirming Evidence Peer Replies
- BUSI 4002 Week 6: Business Plan Market Section
- BUSI 4002 Week 7: First-Year Startup Cost Estimate
- BUSI 4002 Week 8: Venture Risk Register
- BUSI 4002 Week 9: Startup Funding Section
- BUSI 4002 Week 10: One-Page Pitch Summary
- BUSI 4002 Week 11: Complete Venture Report
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BUSI 4002 Week 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free BUSI 4002 Week 1 sample paper?
The shoe repair survival post and both replies are reproduced in full below the facts table, free to read.
What business does the BUSI 4002 Week 1 example discuss?
A shoe and leather repair shop that has operated on the same Des Moines block for about forty years.
What does the post say keeps it open?
Repair skills few nearby businesses offer, and commercial accounts such as a uniform supplier and two hospitals that cover most of its fixed costs.
How does the reading test the claim?
Headd shows survival depends on more than customer affection, and Brüderl and colleagues link survival to founders' experience and strategy.
What do the replies ask?
Whether a diner's survival comes from community feel or owning its building, and how much a bike shop depends on one delivery account.