http://ezinearticles.com/?11-Reasons-to-Reject-the-Recession-and-Grow-Your-Business&id=2501202

Since we are currently working on our semester project, The Broadway Cafe, I thought it would be good to research other companies and see what they have done to reinvent their business. I know that with the company I work for, WB Mason, they were going through turmoil and had to reinvent themselves and did an outstanding job. But this article I have found gives a few pointers on how to reinvent your company through tough times, which is exactly what the Broadway Cafe needs.

In 11 simple steps, you are shown the ways to grow your business. The first step is getting yourself into the right state of mind for growth. Maybe this means a vacation or even some training in an unfamiliar field. The second step is to do some audits of the business maybe to update some training or employee manuals or figure out renegotiations with the landlord. The third step includes reviewing your business insurance and the 4th is to talk to your employees and get them motivated for better production and growth.

5th,6th, and 7th all involve upgrades. 5th is to upgrade your office equipment, 6th is to upgrade your computer network and 7th is to upgrade your accounting system. All of these upgrades will be beneficial to the company and to the employees to decrease manual labor. The 8th step is to talk to your customers and find out how they are feeling and what they prefer. This will give you a better idea of what changes to make.

The 9th step is to update your website and make it more presentable for the customers. The 10th step is to contribute locally in your community because a successful business owner should always give back. Finally, step 11 involves creating a communications plan. This involves the way you treat your customers in every aspect. Even if you have been great to them, be better because they are what will determine the growth of your company.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqpMyQMi0to

In this clip, Association Labratory President and CEO Dean West discusses data mining and how it can be applied to associations. We read about data mining in chapter 11. Data mining is the process of selecting, exploring, and modeling larg amounts of data to discover previously unknown relationships that can support decision making. Data mining is an extremely important part of a decision making process.

You can collect information on anything about your customers. For instance, demographics where you look at customers age or location population size. With data mining, once you gather all of your information, you then have to figure out what you are going to do with this information. I found this interesting because it gave knowledge to ways companies go about some of their distribution and selling of products. It shows how they target their customers.

Customer Relationship

As we all know, the relationship between a seller and a buyer is key to a business. I recently purchased a car and I would like to tell the story to show how it relates to topics discussed in class. I took all of the necessary steps to making a purchase. I shopped around for what I was specifically looking for and then I evaluated the criteria that I found from my search. After finding the best available deal, I went ahead and made my purchase. After the purchse, the dealership told me that the car would most likely be ready in 2 days. Well 2 days passed (it is now friday) and I called to find out what was going on with the car. They told me that it hasnt yet been serviced and that it will be ready on Monday. Monday comes and they give me another excuse and tell me it will be ready on Tuesday. Finally, excuses after excuse, they car was ready to be picked up on Wednesday, which mean that I waited an entire week for my car to be ready.

I have had the car for 3weeks with no problems. One day I have a problem with something in the car and I took it to the dealership because it has a 30 day warranty through the dealership and then an extended warranty through the manufacturer. Well the dealership tells me that the problem with my car isn't covered under warranty and they refused to fix it. It was an inexpensive fix but something so little should be taken care of by the dealership. This is bad business. I have felt cognitive dissonance, doubts after a purchase, for the entire 3 weeks that I have owned the car.

I am almost tempted to contact the Better Business Bureau and plead my case. The company has terrible social responsibility because they have made a larger negative impact on me than they have a positive one. I feel as if they think along the lines of "we received the money and they deal is done so we dont have to worry about anything from here on out", which to me is horrible ethics. They are making it easy for their company to be perceived as a "bad business" because they are terrible at satisfying customers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFido3aznpY

Previously in the semester, Chapter 5, we discussed Business Software. This clip provides an example of Business Software with the company LawnPro. In this clip, LawnPro walks you through the sections of the company, making it very easy to follow along. Also, the comapny displays how organized and flexible the software has allowed them to be.

I like the fact that LawnPro added Excel into their Business Software. This makes it easier to manage and maintain. However, this can be difficult sometimes. For instance, when you are dealing with a person who is not exactly "computer-savvy", it can be problematic for a person to operate the software. The best idea is most likely to train that person to work with a computer.

After watching this walkthrough video of the LawnPro company, I believe Business Software is very convenient to the Business. The possibilities are endless because every aspect of the comapny is covered and much more easily managed. Also, it eliminates paperwork.

Telecommunications

In chapter 6, we discussed the issue of Telecommunications and Business Networks. Nathan Lumpkin has taken his survival skills to the homebased marketplace and helped victims who have lost their jobs recently to recreate their careers with his new Telecommunications Business.

Nathan Lumpkin has served time for his country in the Military and then worked in the Information Technology sector. He was a victim of company cutbacks and had no idea what to do. He was faced with many legal and financial problems due to his lack of work. He used his technology based background to find a way out of his slump, creating a telecommunications business based from his home. He now offers a wide variety of products and services to consumers, such as cellphones, DSL, and videoconferencing.

Nathan has pulled himself all the way out of his financial slump and is now beginning to expand his business to different countries. He has completed his road to success through hardwork and dedication.