The owner Mrs. Gursoy controls the business and she also makes decisions. She can employ as many workers as she wishes.
Mrs. Gursoy is a sole trader because she used her own capital to set up and get started the business. The sole trader is the simplest business to develop as it initially consists of only one owner.
Advantages of Decorium being a Sole trader:
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It was easy to start up the business for owner of Decorium because she only needed a small amount of capital.
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The owner of Decorium don’t have to share profits, she gets all the profit that the business made.
- The owner can make decision quickly in emergency because only one person has more control over the business.
- The owner can keep simple record however it has to be proper accounting record.
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The owner of Decorium can keep their financial information private.
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As a sole trader the owner of Decorium able to give a more personal service to its customers and able to make changes within your business very quickly. Personal services mean they trying to be friendlier to the customers than the other business usually does.
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As small business Decorium has little or no legal formalities which mean they don’t have to resister their business or they don’t have many different department. For example they don’t have to have an accountant to keep their financial record or make payment to their employees.
Disadvantages of Decorium being a Sole trader:
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The owner of Decorium have Unlimited Liability, it’s means if she lose a capital she lose an unlimited amount of money because she is the only person who invest in the business
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As sole trader Decorium might find hard to raise its capital by obtaining loans.
- The owner has to work in the business for long time.
- There is no one who can take the responsibility of the business, so that taking time off could be problem.
Aims and objective of Decorium
The aims of Decorium:
Like every business Decoruim’s main aims to make a profit, so that they also have to aim for increase their sales. Decorium aims to survive as successful business in the community and expand the store in future. Decorium is willing to open more store in next few year.
The objectives of Decorium:
Decorium provide new style of gifts every month to get the customers attention to the shop.
Decorium’s main objective is to provide very unique gift to the customers so customers will have an attraction to the shop. It has a wide range of products than the other gift shops, this enable Decorium to make more profit and then they will have enough money to consider expanding their business.
Level 1 1B
Describe the type of work done in the functional areas of each business and how ICT is used within these functional areas.
Functional areas of Decorium
In small companies like Decorium the business functional area is not widen in different functional area. Usually one person is responsible for everything that happening in the business. In Decorium Mrs. Mine Gursoy is responsible for the whole functions of the business as she is the owner of the small business.
Human resource: If Decorium need new staff the owner of the business looking for an employee within her relatives and the people she knows. If she can’t find this way she advertises for new staff in the shop window.
Usually Mrs. Gursoy recruits female staff with good communication skills so that the staff can communicate well with the customers.
Finance: the owner of Decorium Mrs. Gursoy is responsible for organize the account but her son also helps her to check the account. She is also deal with the wages as she got only 2 employees. Dcorium doesn’t use IT to help produce their account.
Customer service: Decorium provide a delivery service when some on purchase products from their website. Staffs in Decorium are always welcome people whoever visits the store and they are friendly to all kind of customers. They provide service of telling the customers a bit more about the product that they buy. Decorium provide receipt when someone buy an expensive products so if there anything wrong with the product they will refund.
Marketing and sales: Decorium have an online shop which include all their products that they have in the shop. In its website, this includes a brief description about every single product that they have. So people can know what they are buying.
There is a questioner in the website which for carry out market research market research doesn’t affect the business. It makes the business better because its find out about the customers expectation.
They used ICT in this fictional area because they have online shop.
Administration: The owner of Decorium Mrs. Goursoy tries to do all maintenance work but if she cant do it she ask for help in her family members. Some times she arranges a mini meeting with her two employees to make sure their duties responding all enquires.
Decorium have well security in the shop, they have burglar alarm at the front door so they ensure that nobody can stole anything from the shop.
Again the business didn’t use ICT for its administration.
Research and development: Decorium trying to develop the shop by importing new style of products from Turkey and they always keep updated shop.
The use of ICT in Decorium: Decorium use ICT because they used computer to produce their website, where people can shop online. They are also using an electric till which is connect to the store computer. Most of the things they by hand such as maintain the account, administration.
Level 1-1C: (small business)
Make an oral presentation that shows the different method of oral and written communication, including ICT, used by each business and give examples of when would be used.
Business communication in DECORIUM
Small businesses like DECORIUM do not use wide range of method for communication. However, DECORIUM use oral and written communication to send and receive massage within the business and out side of the business.
Use of oral communication in DECORIUM:
Face to face: Face to face communication can be use for both internal and external communication. The owner of DECORIUM Mrs. Mine Gursoy gives instructions to her assistant and tell her the day to day task, this communication is face to face because they both are in the same place and they can see each other face. This is an internal communication because their communication takes place within the same business.
The store assistant often has to talk to the customers’ about their products, while the customers visit the store, and this an external communication.
Mobile phone: Telephone is an easy and quick way of communication both inside and outside of the business. The owner of DECORIUM use telephone to make an order for products, which is an external communication.
She also uses telephone to call the employee, if she has any emergency massage about the business; this is an example of internal communication.
Interviews: when someone apply for a job in DECORIUM, the owner of the shop would like to have an interview to see if the applicant is good enough for work in the shop. Interview is also a form of face to face communication. The owner normally asks question to the applicants, also the interviewees have change to ask question if they have any question about the job or the company, and this easy and good way of oral external communication.
General Meetings: Meetings are formal structured way of oral internal communication. The owner of DECORIUM arrange a meeting with her employee every week. In the meeting they discuss about their business performance and make a plan together to improve their business.
Use of written communication in DECORIUM:
Internet: DECORIUM has a website where customers can shop online. The website has plenty details of their products that they have in the shop, so that customers know about all the products. This is a good way of external communication because the website contains more details.
Task book: The owner of DOCORIUM makes use of task book to communicate with the employee, when she takes a day off. In the task book she states the task for the day to the employees such as make some changes in the store and clean up the floor. This is an easy and clear way of written internal communication because the employees can understand clearly what they told to do by the owner.
Memos: Memo contains a simple note from one person to another. In the owner of the business DECORIUM use memo to send a quick and short massages to the employees to call a meeting or a reminder. Memo is a good method of written internal communication in DECORIUM because it can keep the actual record. DECORIUM usually do not use memo for external communication.
Receipts: receipts are another written external communication. For example- when customers buy a product from DECORIUM they give a receipt to the customers; this is assurance so if the product is damaged they will give a usual refund to the customers.
Notice board: the notice board in DECORIUM let the customers know about any offers in the store. Customers might see the notice board when then they enter in the shop. In the notice board they write down any products coming up soon and about the offers, this is a written external communication.
Payslips: when the owner of DECORIUM pay wages to the employees, she also provide a pay slips which an internal communication.
Use of ICT in communication of DECORIUM: DECORIUM uses ICT for few things such as they have a website for online shop, receipts and payslips. They use till to print out the receipts which are connected to the store computer and the owner makes the payslips for her employees in the computer.