prompt #8 3

I recall that I have spent a summer helping out at a coffee shop when I was younger. The coffee shop was located at a city famous for tourism and sight seeing spots. When I chatted with the owner, he told me about difference in profit due to season change, climate change, new trending, and many other possible elements. I learnt during this hands-on experience that having a business requires such broad knowledge in many subjects within the field of business, such as business analytical skills and profit prediction experiences. After this experience, I was determined to acquire as much as knowledge I can as a business major.

            The owner of the coffee shop told me about the major difficulties he had encountered before. He told me that once a movie was filmed by a local sight seeing spot, which brought the town, including his coffee shop, unimaginable profit. He had failed to purchase enough supplies, so he was forced to close the shop before the trend was over, and lost a lot of profit. Another time, a blogger posted a picture taken in front of his coffee shop, and that picture went viral for a few weeks, which brought a rush in his coffee shop. However, the rush was followed by the harsh winter. He overestimated the rush and purchased too much supply left to expire, which resulted in insufficient budget for the shop’s redecoration. In conclusion, from this hands-on experience, I truly realized how difficult and complex it is to run a business. Careful consideration is required everyday just to keep a business functioning. I also learnt the importance of each position and department, such as human resources and analytical departments, in a corporate company. However, when I was just reading about these materials in a book, I question them or fail to take them seriously because I haven’t seen them for myself. This hands-on experience assisted me when I am learning.

riki chen