La Trobe University

Student Name:
Vu Anh Thu LE
Student ID:
20431216
Word count:
1092 words
Campus:
Bundoora
Class day &
time: Tuesday
10 am
Tutor’s name:
From Izhar Basha by EY. (2023). EY Australia. Retrieved Quan Nguyen
March 20, 2023, from https://go.ey.com/3gWJPBE

assessment 1
Individual entrepreneur analysis
Introduction

The entrepreneurs are increasingly developing new ideas that are both economically valuable

and meaningful to the community. The young community not only wants to learn from the

entrepreneur from their stories, but also wants to discover how they act and the decision

making to learn to become an entrepreneur according to Mahto and McDowell (2018). One

of the entrepreneurs recognized by EY Australia (2021) in the Entrepreneur of The Year

finalists list is Izhar Basha. This report will discuss about this young entrepreneur due to his

background, his entrepreneurial trait and recommendation for Izhar Basha.

Background of Izhar Basha

At a podcast with Glaveski (2020), Izhar Basha shared that he was an Indian descent born

and raised on the small island of Fiji, until he moved to Australia when he was 5 years old.

From his childhood difficulties, family problems and being a refugee, he has formed a

mindset that is always ready to accept and conquer any challenge. Fleck and Asmuth (2021)

believe that the disadvantages or difficulties in childhood not only practice problem solving

but also practice creativity and curiosity to gradually grasp opportunities as an entrepreneur.

Moreover, Schaper (2014) highly appreciates people of Indian origin, as they are often very

good and hardworking, especially in seizing opportunities to achieve upper-level jobs or

entrepreneurs.

Izhar was originally just a poor refugee boy with sub-optimal grades and culture shock who

strived to graduate from High Distinction at the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Law

(1st Class Honors) and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Accounting) (Basha, 2023). So

he had stepped out of his comfort zone and reach his goals many times. Also, with his

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degrees, he also got all background knowledge, skill and ability about business and

entrepreneurship.

Australia's environment is also diverse, encouraging creativity with many opportunities, very

suitable for entrepreneurs to be more confident and creative, according to Shaper (2014).

In addition, the previous generations of his family were very poor and purely agricultural, so

they were not businesspeople but they had a way to improvise with the life-or-death situation

which is applying for a full scholarship for the father in Australia and moved the whole

family to Australia (Glaveski, 2020). So, like Looi and Khoo-Lattimore (2015) commented,

people are not entrepreneurs from birth, but they become entrepreneurs after many ups and

downs, learning and seizing opportunities, here he is not taught how to be an entrepreneur but

his family taught him how to find and seize opportunities.

Autoimmune disease diagnosis is the catalyst that change his life to encourage him to change

his career path from a successful legal career to the pursuit of protecting human health. He

opened a retail store in Sydney and found an opportunity for a shortage of sport supplements.

And as defined by entrepreneurship Shane and Venkataraman (2000, as cited in Schaper,

2014), he seized this opportunity to open his own brand of sport supplements- EHPlabs,

which is converting the opportunity into a marketable product.

Overall, with many factors from family, experience, and education, he has become an

entrepreneur as an innovator.

His entrepreneurial characteristics

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As commented above, according to Schaper's economic perspective (2014), Izhar Basha is an

innovator, so with the behaviorist approach, does he have any characteristics of an

entrepreneur?

He is a total risk-taking propensity when he left a coveted position in the law industry to

follow his dream. This is a very risky move, especially when the job market for foreigners is

not easy to find and advance (Carangio et al., 2021); as well as financial risk when he is

spending a lot of money on his illness.

Profit-orientation is the word for Founder and CEO of EHPlabs. Because he has directed

EHPlabs to be affordable but effective in terms of protecting health and achieving health

goals (Glaveski, 2020). Both qualities, but delicious, easy to use is not a simple thing to keep

it affordable.

Like his family, Izhar is certainly an initiative when he thinks and comes up with ideas about

creating new products instead, he could just import and sell as an arbitrageur. Hicks (2009)

even emphasizes that initiative is what makes an entrepreneur different from a businessman,

when they sometimes use creativity to create value.

His good graduation with good grades while studying at the University of Sydney, as well as

his good position as a senior associate at a leading law firm show us that he has a hard work

ethic. and perseverance, especially with the legal profession, is never easy. Thomas and

Mueller (2000) emphasized that sometimes an entrepreneur's hard work ethic and

perseverance is far more decisive for an entrepreneur’s success than intelligence.

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Recommendations

Although I have been running EHPlabs for over ten years, Izhar Basha should absorb some

recommendations to grow the business and reach its missions and goals sooner.

Firstly, EHPlabs should cooperate with gyms to put their products into vending machines or

drink bars. The association with gyms to sell raw and dry products such as boxes of whey

powder is quite uncommon, but it has a high price and requires customers prepare it

themselves, which is very inconvenient. According to Druker and Gesser-Edelsburg (2017).

Currently, only a small number of high-end gyms have drink bars with bartenders, while in

the rest of the gyms, gym goers must bring their own water. And Arsenio (2023) also

emphasizes that drink bars are the future of the gym industry because the needs of gym

people are very high. So, EHPlabs may consider the simpler and cheaper method of vending

machines. Vending machines can focus on selling EHPlabs ready-to-drink products and a few

small samples of dried whey. Thus, the brand can provide fast and convenient drinks for

customers, advertise the brand, and increase sales and customer perception.

Second, EHPlabs should put their products on online food ordering apps like their own app or

Uber eats, Door Dash. Food Delivery App is a new trend when people are increasingly busy

with modern life and do not have time to prepare their own meals according to Chakraborty

et al. (2022). To be more accessible to customers, EHPlabs can combine with several

restaurants selling healthy food with EHPlabs drinks as accompanying drinks. Thus, this is

the optimal choice for those who are pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Along with that, loyalty

programs or subscription basis for meals with a 7-day - 1-month cycle with reusable

containers is a new trend among young people according to Agarwal et al. (2020). Thus,

EHPlabs can get new, potential, and very good brand advertising.

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Reference list

Agarwal, R., Gera, Y., Amar, A., & Thomas, M. R. (2020). Generation Z preference on

reusable food container on subscription basis. Indian Journal of Commerce and

Management Studies, XI(2), 53–62. https://doi.org/10.18843/ijcms/v11i2/05

Arsenio, R. (2023). Why opening a juice bar at the gym is the future of fitness. Smoothie

Juice Bar, for Business and Home, Low Sugar. Retrieved March 26, 2023, from

https://drinkfit.com/opening-a-juice-bar-at-the-gym/

Basha, I. (2023). Izhar Basha - CEO and Founder - EHPlabs | LinkedIn. Linkedin. Retrieved

March 20, 2023, from https://au.linkedin.com/in/izhar-basha-03407328

Carangio, V., Farquharson, K., Bertone, S., & Rajendran, D. (2021). Racism and White

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Studies, 44(1), 77–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870.2020.1722195

Chakraborty, D., Kayal, G., Mehta, P., Nunkoo, R., & Rana, N. P. (2022). Consumers' usage

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& Management, 31(5), 601–619. https://doi.org/10.1080/19368623.2022.2024476

Druker, I., & Gesser-Edelsburg, A. (2017). Identifying and assessing views among

physically-active adult gym members in Israel on dietary supplements. Journal of the

International Society of Sports Nutrition, 14(1), 37–37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-

017-0194-7

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EY Australia. (2021). Meet our entrepreneur of the year finalists. EY Australia. Retrieved

March 26, 2023, from

https://www.ey.com/en_au/entrepreneur-of-the-year/australia/2021-finalists

EY. (2023). Izhar Basha. EY Australia. Retrieved March 20, 2023, from

https://go.ey.com/3gWJPBE

Fleck, E., & Asmuth, J. (2021). Building Capacity for Creativity: Rediscovering the Inner

“Superhero” as a Mechanism for Developing a Creative Mindset for Entrepreneurial

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Glaveski, S. (2020, November). FROM FIJIAN REFUGEE TO BILLION DOLLAR

SUPPLEMENT EMPIRE WITH IZHAR BASHA. Audacy. other. Retrieved March 20,

2022, from https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/future-squared-with-steve-glaveski-

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billion-dollar-supplement-empire-with-izhar-basha-350309921.

Hicks, S. R. (2009). What business ethics can learn from entrepreneurship. Journal of Private

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Looi, K. H., & Khoo-Lattimore, C. (2015). Undergraduate students' entrepreneurial intention:

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journey to become an entrepreneur. International Entrepreneurship and Management

Journal, 14(3), 513–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11365-018-0513-8

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Schaper, M. (2014). Entrepreneurship and small business (4th Asia-Pacific ed..). John Wiley

and Sons Australia.

Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of

research. Academy of management review, 25(1), 217-226.

Thomas, A. S., & Mueller, S. L. (2000). A case for comparative entrepreneurship: Assessing

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