Gerry Harvey Entrepreneur

Harvey Norman

Name of original Entrepreneur: Gerry Harvey

History of The Business

Harvey Norman was founded by two partners named Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman in 1961 when the two started selling electrical gear. Business grew bigger and bigger when an infamous businessman bought the business and fired both the founders in the early eighties.

Harvey and Norman soon came back by opening the first "Harvey Norman" branded store in the year 1982. The number of stores quickly grew and the company became public in 1987 when it was listed on the Australian stock exchange. They now are one of the largest electrical stores that sell electrical products, computers, gaming, bedding and furniture.
The Characteristics of Gerry Harvey the main founder:

Gerry Harvey is always a great person to talk to; he is always willing to have a chat. He shows Self-confidence because even when his original company was bought and he was fired he still had the confidence in his idea to start up another shop. He shows self determination because he was determined to start his own business and he learned from his mistake of selling his business to another man. He also shows drive and energy because he saw his opportunity and he went to make the things he needed then he had the energy to start his own company.

What Were The Challenges?

Gerry Harvey has faced many challenges throughout his life one of the major challenges he has had to face is selling his company to the crook Alan Bond. Harvey quotes "I worked extremely hard and at the end of that I looked at it and I thought, 'Well, there's my life's work gone... I'm not happy about all this because, you know, it ended up with a bloke like Alan Bond. I was calling him a crook long before anyone else was..." As mentioned earlier Alan bond soon fired Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman.

Production Cycle And Type of Industry

Harvey Norman sells goods and is classified as a retailer in the production cycle because they buy products from the wholesaler and they distribute them to the customers (consumers) which consume the product. They are a tertiary industry because they provide goods to consumers and they don't make goods from raw materials themselves.

The Current Ownership Structure

Since 1961 when Gerry and Ian first started their store together they have now expanded into a very big company. After their fight with Alan Bond they started another business and in 1987 they were listed on the Australian stock exchange which makes them a public company.

Category Of Franchise

It is a business format franchise because Harvey Norman is a company indoors and it is a big company and the people give the information they need to start the store. Also it is because every Harvey Norman store looks the same and sells the same products to the consumers.