芝麻開門文教公司成立於1997年,是一個單點營運的兒童美語補習班,從一人公司到現在教師團隊12人,設有教務專員,並且營收年年成長,突破四千萬元,在少子化日趨嚴重的環境下,績效卓越,近日更因人語工程教材開發獲得創投關注。創辦人邱泰元先生雖然高中未畢業,但豐富的人生經歷讓他累積許多無形資產,在被公司派赴至美求學時期種下了創業的種子,回國工作後沒多久拒絕他人的創業邀約,自己創立了補習班。本個案在描述邱先生的工作經歷、創業的經過,以及創業後遭遇的大小困境和因應做法。此個案可以幫助學員學習創業家人力資本累積過程,以及創業家如何在創業歷程運用這些無形的資源,因應環境挑戰,並進行較適策略選擇。
Open Sesame Co., an English-learning cram school for children, was founded in 1997. Over the past decades, it has grown from a one-man company to a professional working team of 12 English teachers, with annual earnings of more than NTD 40 million. It has continued to experience revenue growth in spite of Taiwan’s low fertility rate and the competition with other chains of branded educational institutes. Recently, the “Language Ergonomics Engineer (LEE)” app developed by Open Sesame Co. has also attracted venture capitalists to invest in the company. The founding CEO, Jimmy Chiu, did not obtain a high school diploma, but his abundant life experience has permitted him to own many intangible assets. When the company with which he was previously employed sent him to the US for his studies, he developed the idea of becoming an entrepreneur and established a company of his own. On his return to Taiwan, he refused the invitation to establish a company with others, and established his own English cram school. By describing how Mr. Chiu’s human capital influenced his entrepreneurial process, this case study enables readers to understand the process of this entrepreneur’s human capital accumulation and the ways through which he made the best use of intangible resources to overcome challenges and form proper strategic decisions.