Weekly Business Review #3 - Coursework Example

Running head: BizCafe Business Review week 3 Insert Insert Insert 22 August Business Review Week 3 In theseventh period of this business, the major changes made in the operations sector were in opening hours in which the business open an hour earlier. Such changes were made with an aim of increasing sales by targeting early customers. We have enough inventory, hence no need for more; however, the change in opening hours contributed to high demands and longer queues as expected, hence increasing on our sales.

However, our net income stands at $13,247.48, which is not a favorable amount. Therefore, in order to increase our income, more sales need to be made. According to the local labor report, the turnover rate has increased from 12% to 14% in a month; this is a bad sign for the business. The message section indicates that one of our servers quit, probably due to the long queues, hence causing biasness. Customer survey also indicates that customer service is good and so are the prices and the coffee; indeed, most customers see the worth of their money once in our café.

There is evidence of customer loyalty in our business, which is very essential for any business, as it guarantees the retention of customers. Nevertheless, customer satisfaction is vital for any business and it should be made the number one priority (Cochran, 2003, p.2). There have been a number of challenges for our café; first, customer satisfaction has reduced following price increase of the small and medium cup coffee. According to the customer survey, some customers view the price as friendly while others view it as too expensive, therefore lowering the satisfaction rate, which is our main target.

The café will however work towards acquiring a high-level customer satisfaction by emphasizing on product differentiation strategy, which involves differentiating our services from those of our competitors. According to Margin (2006, p.111), product or service differentiation strategy provides protection against tour rival competitors. Another pressing issue occurred when a server quit this week; the reason could be low motivation and work overload due to the high demand that is resulting to long queues.

The management however has resulted to hiring one more server and providing on-the-job training to ensure effectiveness in customer service. Nevertheless, in order to ensure that our employees are motivated, there will be overtime wages, such that, they do not have to feel overworked. Our weekly receipts stand at $5,458.50, but still portrays that the large cups whose prices are highest are on low demand. In conclusion, it is evident that our strengths overweigh the weaknesses regarding out café, therefore proving that our business is in the right track.

Some of the café’s strengths include relevant customer satisfaction, fair prices, high demand, and great customer service and competitiveness. Nevertheless, to ensure that our business operates at a profit, our sales must be high so that they may cover the incurred costs. However, in order to maintain our strengths, our main strategy will be aimed at customer satisfaction in order to gain customer loyalty, hence maintaining customers, as they are the main determinants of the business returns.

References Cochran, C. (2003). Customer satisfaction: tools, techniques, and formulas for success. NY: Paton Professional Publisher. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Q6cu3Wnr1LMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=how+to+attain+customer+satisfaction&hl=en&ei=JfVRTpW1HYqXhQeIzLz1Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q&f=true. Margin, V. (2006). Competition in marketing: two essays on the impact of information on managerial decisions and on spatial product differentiation: [dissertation] NY: DUV Publisher.

Retrieved from http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BNOnVCaG5qkC&pg=PA111&dq=product+differentiation+strategy&hl=en&ei=QSVSTv6zM4eq-gbj5Pn5Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=product%20differentiation%20strategy&f=true.