Sherisse Woodley

G. Anderson
Creativity in Business
July 15, 2014
Case Study 1 p.35
1. Prior to starting the EET, what types of things did Michael and Sheena do to help
themselves build entrepreneurial knowledge/skills?
Michael started his own business in high school, and used online class scholarship which
helped him to learn more about running a business and helped him overcome fear of
public speaking. He also wrote his first book The Student Success Manifesto. He got
involved in teaching inner-city high school students about entrepreneurship and decided
to get his education at NYU.

Sheena started at the age of 17 by working at GreenHills Ventures.

2. What motivated Michael and Sheena to start the EET?
They wanted to help college students realize their dreams through entrepreneurship.

3. How did Michael and Sheena determine that the EET was a sound idea? Did they
use a feasibility analysis? What ideas did they discard before deciding on the EET?
They first started but publishing the book Michael wrote, but they came to the realization
that they needed to sell a lot of units in order to make publishing profitable enough to
support them full time. They started to look for bulk purchasers and decided to talk to
groups of students when the schools purchased the books, which helped them discover
that people will pay them to speak.

4. What are the key messages that the EET delivers to prospective entrepreneurs?
Successful young How they did it stories
Dream/idea creation with action plan and accountability
A tour focuses either on entrepreneurship or dream action

5. Is the EET a business model that would be conducive to franchising? Why or why
not?
It can, but I wouldnt want to franchise it out. They could outsource their employees to
different locations, but franchising wouldnt be conducive to franchise. Theyre not like a
McDonalds, or restaurant chain.

6. EET is a family business. How do Michael and Sheena address the issues of
balancing the demands of the business with those of the family?
Specific times are set aside for work, family, and personal time. They also decided
beforehand if dinner is to discuss work or just time to be together and have fun.