Managing a small business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Managing a small business - Essay Example In Australia, for a business to be referred to as small, it must have fewer than 15 people employed in it. In addition to the above-mentioned criteria, other classification of businesses also takes into consideration the aspect of total assets, sales or the net profit of the business. All over the world, small businesses forms a substantial number of businesses and it is dependent on the economic system prevailing. Small businesses supplement the ‘big’ businesses in commercial activities as they ensure that products reach the remotest parts of the country. Typically, most small businesses include; convenience stores, restaurants and pubs, hairdressers, tradesmen, and guest houses among others. In this regard, this paper endeavors to find out a number of issues related to small businesses (PUB) in Canterbury by interviewing the proprietors. Methodology The mode of information collection in this research paper was direct interview of the proprietors. Since the information was to be gathered on a single business premises, the proprietors were contacted prior and agreement was reached on the best time and day. In this case, I chose to consider a Pub in Canterbury named Dolphin. Dolphin is a modernized dining pub that provides a range of services to their customers. The information relating to the business was collected using a radio recorder coupled with note taking, the proprietors were found to be six and because of the nature of the question and considering time, all the proprietors were assigned sections of the inquiry to respond to so that the interview could not be skewed to an individual. Interviewing one person on all the areas of concern could lead to inaccurate information from the interviewee given fatigue and boredom. The questioned were then designed separately and spread amongst the six proprietors in Dolphin business from which the information regarding the business was collected. Market Research – Information Gathering Market res earch involves identifying what the people want and conform to it so that you can have a business competitive edge over the competitors. Market research is thus a very important tool in business survival as it enables one to make a determination on how to do marketing of their product. In this case, I interviewed the first proprietor and collected the following information about the market research. I. Primary Research Dolphin realized that they have to cut themselves a niche in the business environment by standing out as the best provider of services to the customers. They decided to do a primary research that was aimed at giving them insights on the taste of the people on varieties of foodstuffs, peak period of the business, and on issues of references. To acquire all these information, the management used questionnaire to source for information, in some instance, they asked the customers to rate their performance on specific issues like hygiene, satisfaction and so on. Rating of Dolphin’s performance was considered against what customers considered the best pub in the area where the business is situated. The information obtained from such responses is to be used for making the necessary improvement on the customer’s satisfaction. II. Secondary Research: A part from primary research for improving the performance of the business, Dolphin also relies on the secondary sources in its effort to understand the management of the business such that customer can be satisfied