WEEK 5: Halfway there…LIVING ON A PRAYER
Hi guys and welcome to week 5! We are already halfway through, which is crazy! I have noticed that over time my interviews have become more interactive and I have some new additions to my plethora of questions. Some new questions are:
- How did you come up with your name?
- What did you study in college? (If you attended college of course).
- What is your hiring process and how do you make sure you hire the right employees?
This week, I only had 2 interviews so let me tell you a little about them:
My first interview was with Anne from Cakes by Anne. She works full time at a different job, so this business is a side hustle for her. With Anne’s competition, she noticed that she is the youngest. Because of this, Anne believes that her younger age brings a new perspective and new ideas to compete with the others, but of course there is a very friendly competition and relationship with the competition! Just like Hayley from Primrose Board Co., Anne noticed that customers from Facebook tend to be more detail-oriented and picky whereas people from Instagram are more carefree. Interesting difference, huh?
My second interview was with Nancy at Pinguis Housekeeping. I actually had to cut this interview short because I had to run to work, but we were still able to have some good discussions on her management. She has a big emphasis on serving her clients and building personal relationships with them and believes that this connection gives her a one-up from her competition. Nancy likes her employees to have a clean look and to be reliable and honest about when they are free. She values a work-life balance with family and wants her employees to do the same! Nancy believes that in order to make sure an employee is who they say they are, she makes sure to have a test period of 45 days before officially hiring someone. That way, she can ensure that they fit the job perfectly!
As we move into the second half of the project, I am hoping to add some new elements to help my research into small business management. I am drafting up a survey that some businesses will give to their customers! This survey will be asking them their age, how they found the business, why they are satisfied with the business, and if they would be interested in a soda shop in town. This way, I can see what age groups would mainly be my focus. I am also hoping to maybe talk to some employees as well so that I can get an idea of what it is like to work at a small business and what motivates them. I am so excited to start getting responses and interviews with these people!
My business plan is also moving along pretty well! This week, I focused on the management structure and the location for The Sip Shop. My management structure has 4 key members. I, Zoey Call, am the founder and CEO of the company. My other employees are Lindsay Call as the business manager, Curtis Call as the financial manager, and Matthew Corradi as the Marketing Manager. Once the business grows, I hope to gain more employees that will work under these key members, but for the start of the business this is all.
I also looked a little more into my location. There is an extensive process for getting a building downtown that I am starting to look into and I do not have much information yet. But I did scout out the building to check out where it is. There was a previous business that owned the building so I scribbled that out but here is where the soda shop would be located!
Thank you guys for checking in with me for 5 weeks, and I can’t wait to see what the next 5 weeks will bring! See you guys next week!
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