The two college students who started Newbury Comics have become serious business owners. Mike Dreese and John Brusger started Newbury Comics in 1978 with $2,000 and a valuable comic book collection. Their first store was actually a tiny apartment on Boston's popular Newbury Street, which they rented for $260 per month. Three decades later, the company operates twenty-six stores in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. It still does business on Newbury Street-in a spacious storefront that rents for $23,000 per month.
1. This chapter cites five advantages of small business. Which of these seems to apply to the owners' experience with Newbury Comics?
2. This chapter cites three disadvantages of small business. Based on what you know of Newbury Comics, which of these is likely to be the biggest problem in the coming years?
3. Newbury Comics was started without a formal business plan. If you were writing its plan today, what critical risks and assumptions would you examine-and why?