Reference no: EM132860944

The business environment in the downtown area of many small U.S. cities does not seem to favor the small businesses that once thrived there. big companies come to the outskirts of a town and draw business away from the town center. It is not unusual, therefore, that the Main Street Market, the only grocery store in Truman, Minnesota, went out of business. What is unusual is what happened next.

Nico Grey was a high school senior in Truman. He thought he could provide a community service and create profitable enterprise by reopening the grocery store. That meant taking some risk, of course, but Nico was ready for the challenge. The community was thrilled, and people came to the Main Street Market to volunteer to do everything from stock the shelves to mop the floor. They were happy to have the store back because the nearest supermarket was 14 miles away-a distance that proved a hardship for older folks.

But where does a 17-year-old boy get the money to buy a grocery store? Truman Development Corporation, a community investment group, approved Grey's $11,000 loan to buy the store building and fixtures. Since the teen wasn't legally old enough to buy property, the group let him lease the building until he turned 18. Grey got the additional $1000 he needed to stock the store by shingling roofs and by working on his uncle's turkey farm.

When Grey was only 4, his dad died; he and his mom moved to Iowa when he was 7, and at 15 Grey returned to Truman to live with his grandmother. He works in the Main Street Market every day and has one clerk to help. He carries bags out to the car for his customers, and on Wednesdays he delivers orders to residents at the local retirement home, putting the groceries away if necessary. Everyone appreciates his good service, and customers flow through the door each day.

Grey did so well with his first store that by the end of the first year he was able to pay off his loan and buy another store, Armstrong Foods, in Armstrong, Iowa. He's looking for a pharmacy for his town and has thought of putting a fitness center in the old post office. He bought a refrigerated truck and delivers food to his Truman store and other stores in the area. On delivery days, Grey hits the road by 5:30 a.m.

A normal workweek for him is 90 to 110 hours, but he thrives on long days and hard work. "I enjoy what I do," grey says. "Rural America is an underserved market. The challenges are harder, but you're overlooked by the competition, too."

The business environment is constantly changing, as evidenced by the recent economic decline, but along with those changes come opportunities for new entrepreneurs like Grey. Entrepreneurs like Nico Grey contribute much to the communities they serve, and they also make a good living doing so. That's what business is all about.

Q1. Success in business is often based on the strategy of finding a need and filling it. What need did Nico Grey find and how did he fill it?

Q2. Nico Grey took a risk reopening the Main Street Market in hopes of enhancing the quality of life of the citizens to make a profit. Describe the relationship of risk and profit.

Q3. What makes Nico Grey a good entrepreneur? What makes Nico Grey's enterprise a business?

Each Answer needs to be around hundred word count or depend on your explanation, you can write more or less. So i can go over and learn.