Dollinger index

120 ENTREPRENEURSHIP

the major entry wedges with the minor ones. For example, we see that “tapping under-

utilized resources” can be part of either a new product/service wedge or a parallel

wedge strategy.

Exploiting Partial Momentum. Sometimes the entrepreneur already has sufficient

market and product information to indicate that the new venture will be successful. This

information acts as the impetus for the launch. The entrepreneur can exploit this exist-

ing momentum in three ways: by geographic transfer, by filling a supply shortage, or by

putting an underutilized resource to work. A geographic transfer occurs when a busi-

ness that works in one area is started in another. For example, Miho Inagi has opened a

bagel bakery and store in Tokyo. She first learned about bagels as a student in New York.

She took a job at Ess-a-Bagel (translation: Eat a Bagel) where she learned the business

from the floor (sweeping) up (baking). But would Japanese eat hard bread? Most

Japanese bakeries focus on soft-bread items and quasi-bread and cake concoctions. Inagi

has made few concessions to Japanese tastes, offering mostly traditional, New York-style

bagels. Her father (who later helped finance the business) lamented that, “We must have

Exploiting partial momentum

1. Geographic transfer


2. Supply shortages


3. Tapping underutilized resources


4. Creating or modifying existing
   channels

Customer sponsorship

5. Customer contract


6. Second sourcing

Parent-company sponsorship

7. Joint venture


8. Licensing


9. Market relinquishment


10. Spin-off
    Government sponsorship


11. Favored purchasing


12. Rule change


13. Direct assistance

X X X X X X

X X X X X X X X X

X

Minor Entry Wedges Major Entry Wedges

New Product/

Service

Parallel

Competition

Franchising

System

TABLE 4.3 Major and Minor Entry Wedges

SOURCE: Adapted from K. Vesper, New Venture Strategies (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1980).