Global Metal Company: The Challenges of Scaling Up in the Unorganized Sector

The chief executive officer and founder of Global Metal Company (GMC), had been in the business of antique reproduction hardware for more than three years, having quit his successful corporate career to start GMC in his hometown of Aligarh in northern India. After seeing the initial response to the business, he was confident that within three years, GMC would realize the annual revenue of US$1 million he had envisioned. In 2018–2019, upon completing three years in business, GMC closed the year with $0.15 million in annual revenues. The CEO wondered what had gone wrong in those years. Had his target of $1 million been over-ambitious? Or had his assessment of the overall market potential been off the mark? During those three years, he had expanded his operations in baby steps from Europe—which was overly price competitive and served by a large number of exporters from Aligarh—to the United States. Now he was wondering whether he should plunge deeply into the US market to grow GMC, or seriously consider quitting this business and moving back into his corporate career.

This case can be taught in courses on entrepreneurship and small business, new venture creation, or international marketing in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Working through the case and assignment questions will give students the opportunity to do the following:<ul><li>Understand the challenges of operating in a highly unorganized sector.</li><li>Understand how the personal motivations of an entrepreneur can cloud his or her judgment about the sector’s attractiveness.</li><li>Understand the importance of conducting a thorough analysis of a sector to evaluate an opportunity before pursuing it.</li><li>Understand how an entrepreneur’s background can at times lead to a certain degree of overconfidence in the entrepreneur’s ability to create a successful new venture.</li><li>Evaluate the various stages of growth of a small business or new venture, as well as the challenges of moving from one stage to the next.</li><li>Discuss when an entrepreneur should persist in the wake of adversity versus opting out and moving on.</li></ul>

• Entrepreneurship and Small Business, International Marketing, Strategy