Pls come a titan, or instructor or something, need help

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A survey of entrepreneurs who started companies last year shows that while virtually all did substantial preparatory research and planning, only half used that work to produce a formal business plan. Since, on average, the entrepreneurs without formal plans secured the capital they needed in half the time of those with plans, these survey results indicate that, in general, formal plans did not help the entrepreneurs who produced them to secure the capital they needed.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A. Companies started by entrepreneurs who had used formal business plans to attract investment were on the whole as profitable in their first year as were companies started by entrepreneurs who had not produced such plans.
B. In surveys of entrepreneurs who have attempted without success to raise sufficient capital, more than half of the respondents indicate that they have produced a formal business plan.
C. Among the entrepreneurs surveyed, those who did not produce formal business plans sought and received a much larger proportion of their capital from investors with whom they had a long-standing business relationship.
D. The entrepreneurs surveyed who did not produce a formal business plan spent nearly as much time doing preparatory research and planning as the entrepreneurs who produced plans.
E. The entrepreneurs who produced business plans generally reported later that the process of writing the plan had increased their confidence that their company would succeed.

Why not A?? I think A really weakens, I think C is wrong???

Pls explain me and thank you
Source: — Critical Reasoning |

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by CappyAA » Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:33 am
The argument says that formal plans did not help the entrepreneurs who produced them to secure the capital they needed because, on average, the entrepreneurs without formal plans secured the capital they needed in half the time with those plans.

So for our weakener, we should look to find an alternative explanation for why the entrepreneurs without formal plans secured the capital.

C does exactly this. It states that the entreprenaurs without plans raised a large proportion of its capital from investors whom they already had a long-standing business relationship. This offers an alternative explanation for why they got the money that is unrelated to whether or not they have a formal business plan.

A is wrong because it shifts the scope of the argument. A talks about profitability, which is not in scope for the argument. The argument is simply concerned about raising capital.

B slightly strengthens the argument saying that more than half of those that could not raise capital produced a formal business plan.

D does not talk about raising capital and only brings up the preparatory research.

E is a scope shift again and discusses whether a company would succeed - not whether it would raise capital.
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by GmatKiss » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:48 am
Between A and C.

A deals only with PROFIT(not CAPITAL) and for the FIRST YEAR.
C is a contender for having "much larger proportion of their capital" and "long-standing business relationship"

C is correct!

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by knight247 » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:14 am
Hi Tracy,
A) If any thing, this option actually strengthens the argument. If the companies that had a business plan and the companies that did not have a business plan were both equally profitable and successful then it only lends credence to the authors claim that formal plans did not help the entrepreneurs. Also, this kinda goes a little off topic in discussing profits when the subject of debate is the raising of capital and the timeframe for the same.