Scenario

Wanda comes to you because she is discouraged and needs to talk. Her parents learned that she is thinking of expanding her business and possibly even taking out a second mortgage on her home to fund the expansion. They have never been overly supportive of her business, but as long as it seemed like a hobby, they didn’t have much to say. Recently Wanda’s mother called and expressed strong reservations about Wanda taking such a large step. This made a big impression on Wanda. She tells you that she doesn’t want her business to cause a rift in the family. Perhaps she should take her parents’ advice and just forget about expanding the business. Moreover, she doesn’t understand why her parents aren’t as excited about the prospects for the business as she is.

Your Task

You decide that you are going to take matters into your own hands and go directly to the source of the problem: Wanda’s mother! In this assignment you will write a letter to Wanda’s mother and explain to her the positive characteristics of entrepreneurs that Wanda exhibits and how you know she will be successful. You can compare Wanda’s Salty Pawz start-up to other more well-known entrepreneurs who took a risk and succeeded, or you can recount your actual experiences with an entrepreneur you know personally. The key is for Wanda’s mother to understand that (1) it is not unusual for “non-entrepreneurs” to see things differently from the entrepreneurs, and (2) Wanda possesses many of the characteristics shared by successful entrepreneurs.

Grading Rubric