Biz Cafe Reflections
This paper will cover a reflection of my experience with the Biz Cafe simulation. After reading this paper, one should have an idea of what I learned from the simulation and how it works. I will be talking about the challenges my team and I dealt with and how we overcame these challenges. Most importantly, I will be talking about how we made Coffee Connection run as a successful coffee shop.
In this paper, I will also discuss my thoughts on teamwork and the significant factors of running a small business. My Biz Cafe Simulation Learning Experience Taking part in the Biz Cafe simulation has been one of the most motivating, enjoyable and enriching learning tools that I have ever been given the opportunity to utilize. It actually gives you the surreal feeling that you are really running your own coffee shop business. I appreciate the creativeness of the simulation and the fact that it provided a fun, delightful educational experience for me.
Biz Cafe has allowed me to become familiar with the significant factors of successfully starting and running a small business. Some of the significant factors include management, marketing, operational and accounting decisions. The Biz Cafe simulation provided hands-on experience that allowed my group members and I to make the imperative business decisions that contribute to the making or breaking of a business. Overall, I have certainly developed a better understanding of the management of a small business and what it possibly feels like to become an owner.
Having the opportunity to start and run a simulated coffee shop from a practical standpoint, I have been able to broaden and strengthen my knowledge of the day-to-day operational functions of a small business. With the help of my team, we were able to make the careful decisions needed in order to run as a successful coffee shop business. Coffee Connection In the start-up decisions, the name we chose for our cafe was Coffee Connection. We agreed upon the name, Coffee Connection because we thought that the name was nice and appropriate for our cafe.
The furniture we chose for our coffee shop was the used furniture which was cheaper for us. Choosing the used furniture proved to be a good choice that in the long run worked for our coffee shop. We also decided that purchasing the high capacity espresso machine would be very convenient for the business. The machine turned out to be a great investment that served Coffee Connection very well. Challenges We Overcame A challenge that we faced with our coffee shop was making the staffing decisions. We struggled with trying to figure out a sufficient number of managers and servers to hire and an appropriate pay for them.
Around the beginning of the simulation, we had a nice amount of servers which resulted in us receiving an award for best staff. After we extended hours, things seemed to go downhill with our staff. As a result, this had an effect on the overall service of the workers. They were not as happy or productive as we had hoped. Our managers were becoming stressed out and our servers were being overworked and even a couple of our servers quit. This lead to us hiring more servers, another manager and giving our managers a raise. These necessary adjustments were a must in our attempt to increase productivity.
We also thought that by giving the managers a pay raise, it would make them feel appreciated and motivate them to work. Recognition is what is needed to inspire employees to do their best. According to Business Now (Shah, 2009), “People are willing to work—and work hard—if they think their work makes a difference” (p. 284). After all, a company’s employees are their most valuable resource. During each round of the Biz Cafe simulation, we tried to exercise a realistic way of thinking when making important decisions that would have an impact on our business.
When purchasing coffee, one thing we did not take advantage of was sales forecasting which was probably our biggest mistake. As a result, our coffee purchases were constantly off. Not taking advantage of sales forecasting caused it to be difficult to determine an adequate amount of coffee to order for just about every round. What Made Us Successful Early on in the beginning of the simulation, I think we did a great job as far as brand awareness. We were sure to take advantage of the radio and newspaper advertisements. Before long, business was booming.
The advertisements were one of best decisions we decided upon due to how much business we brought in by simply marketing our cafe and product. By investing in the advertisements, our sales were definitely increased. Good marketing is undeniably one of the keys to the success of a business. As a team, it is most important to always work together if you plan to succeed. Throughout the Biz Cafe simulation, my teammates and I each put forth an awesome team effort by working together. We all brought different ideas and thoughts to the table.
Communication is one of the most vital aspects in working as a team. We made it our business to meet on our group’s discussion board to discuss our weekly decisions and goals for our coffee shop. Each of us was determined to run our cafe successfully. It was pretty fun participating in the simulation with them. Constantly keeping track of the other cafes helped us determine where we should be. Our ultimate goal was to grow and run as a successful cafe. Overall, I think we did a good job!
References
- Shah, A. J. (2009). Business Now (p. 284). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
