Business Management 1A
BSM1501
Assignment 02 for Semester 02 (compulsory)
Semester 02
DUE DATE: 12 September 2019
UNIQUE NUMBER: 816085
PLEASE NOTE
Study Chapters 1 to 6 thoroughly before you answer this assignment.
Read the case study and answer all the questions that follow.
Case Study: Living Well With Michelle
Michelle started Living Well with Michelle, six years ago in Moreletapark in Pretoria
East. Michelle is a qualified personal trainer who specialises in working with clients
who need instructions and coaching in areas of exercise, physiology, injury
prevention, recovery and rehabilitation, nutrition, supplementation, fitness
assessment, exercise programming, sports conditioning and flexibility techniques.
Michelle trains both one-on-one and in-group instruction.
After the birth of their first child, Michelle and her husband, Thom, decided that she
should resign from her job as a personal trainer at Virgin Active. Michelle identified
the need for mothers who struggle to find the time to stay or get back in shape while
,pregnant or after childbirth. These mothers also struggle to find a sitter for an hour
for the baby while they are away at the gym. She started her own enterprise and
registered it as a sole proprietorship. Michelle started by only training clients
individually in the comfort of their own homes. Michelle contributed R20 000 of her
savings to purchase some of the training equipment for her new enterprise.
Michelle is an observant and detail-oriented personal trainer and begins her work
with each client by doing an assessment. By having a conversation, she gathers
information about the client’s health and medical status, lifestyle, expectations, and
preferences and then completes a few forms. Then she is able to establish realistic
and measurable short- and long-term goals and she then develops an exercise
program for that specific client. Michelle sets up a series of short-term goals that the
client can work toward, so they can stay motivated until they reach their ultimate goal
and then Michelle focuses on the maintenance of that goal. Michelle has a high
emotional IQ and has an understanding of basic “people skills” and psychology and
she also has a desire to help people, all of which is necessary to process the subtle
but important signals her clients may give her along the way. As an add-on service,
Michelle also offers customised eating plans and a support and motivational group
session for those clients who need it.
Michelle’s service became so popular, that she could not accept any more clients, as
she did not have any more timeslots left open. Michelle then did some market
research and asked some of her current clients whether they would consider a group
training session with others in similar life stages. She had to employ a training
assistant, Natasha, as well as an administrative assistant, Niche. Administration
plays an important role in this enterprise. As Michelle works with each client, she has
to monitor and evaluate progress and make adjustments in the program if necessary.
Michelle must, therefore, keep a record of each client’s “before, during and after”
measurements as well. Niche had to handle the record-keeping, schedule all
Michelle’s appointments and answer the phone.
Michelle’s target market is in Pretoria East and surrounding areas, and she
competes with big brands such as Virgin Active and Planet Fitness. Although her
services are just as expensive as those of Virgin Active and Planet Fitness, she has
the competitive advantage that she offers personal one-on-one training in the
comfort of the clients own home. She also has group training sessions aimed at
mothers with babies and toddlers, which include a sitter. This makes her group
training sessions unique. Although Michelle’s services are original, she has to be
aware of the latest trends in health and fitness, and overseas trends and major
sports events such as the Comrades Marathon, which plays an extremely big role in
the preferences and goals of her clients.
Training techniques change constantly and Michelle has to be aware of new moves,
equipment, and techniques. Michelle decided to advertise in fitness magazines and
she established a website for free, on which she advertises her services. The name
of her business, her website and her contact details are also displayed on her car.
However, most of Michelle’s clients are referrals from previous and current, satisfied
clients.
, MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
We recommend submitting your assignment online on myUnisa. You may also use
a markreading sheet to answer and submit the assignment.
Chapter 1
1. Michelle can be seen as a/an _______ because she _______.
1) intrapreneur; is an employee
2) small business manager; is interested only in profit and the survival of the
enterprise
3) entrepreneur; started her own enterprise
4) franchisor; is responsible for growth
Note page 2 of the prescribed textbook:
Entrepreneurs can be described as those people who:
start their own business
manage the business
identify new products or opportunities
seize opportunities
create and innovate
organise and control resources of capital, labour and materials to realise profit
have the ability and insight to market, produce and finance a service or product
have the financial means, or access to finance, to realise the business
are willing to take calculated risks.
2. Michelle registered her enterprise as a sole proprietorship, which indicates that it
is operated as a/an _______ enterprise. An advantage of such an enterprise is that
Michelle _______.
1) informal; does not have to keep financial records
2) formal; has to pay tax
3) formal; has easier access to finance
4) informal; does not need to have recognised business premises
Page 5 of the prescribed textbook:
The formal small business
The small and micro business sector
In the National Small Enterprise Act 102 of 1996 as amended by the National Small
Business Amendment Act 26 of 2003, a micro business is defined as a business with five or
fewer employees with a turnover of up to R100 000 per annum. A very small business
employs between one and ten employees, and a small business between 11 and 50
employees.
Page 136 of the prescribed textbook: