Essay Sample on Gym Business and Business Issues

Introduction

Business functions are the activities that a business undertakes. Some of these functions are core to the company while the others are supportive. The core business functions are the activities which yield income for the business with the help of the supporting roles. It is crucial to understand how the various functions operate since they are all critical to the company in their capacities. John Root who is a qualified professional trainer has established a gym business which is currently running, and knowledge of the various business functions is essential to assist him in running the enterprise. Multiple issues are seen to arise such as overworking of employees, low wages, poor scheduling and lack of proper data management techniques. This report helps identify the various ways through which the various business functions can be used to improve the efficiency of the enterprise and to solve the current problems.

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Operations

John Root will have to plan a schedule for the different customers so that they do not all come at one time to wait for each other which results in inconveniences to the customers. It should then communicate to the customers on the specific times they are supposed to attend the sessions which will create orderliness in the business. This schedule will ensure that the clients do not all come at one time as they are supposed to follow the programs specified to them by the management. In the preparation of the plans, it will also be important for John to engage the clients to ensure they do not fix a schedule that inconveniences their work programs and other activities they undertake during the day. It will also be important for the trainers to educate the clients on how to use the various equipment to avoid injuries that may happen unknowingly.

Additionally, John should also link up the clients who have personal trainers with them so that they will have a clear schedule on when they are supposed to meet for the sessions. This link will also create direct contact with the customers and promote understanding each other on a personal level. The trainer, on the other hand, will be able to understand the various needs of the customers and their objectives they wish to achieve at the end of the session. The trainer will then be able to focus on the specific needs of the client and work with them to ensure the achievement of the set objectives which results in the overall satisfaction of the customer.

Marketing

Marketing is a tool that is essential in any business. It involves making people aware of the existence of a product or service whose primary target is to increase the sales of the organization by attracting more people to purchase the product or service. It is, therefore, vital for one to ensure the basics of marketing before they indulge in it. To start with, John Root should focus on the 4Ps of marketing (place, product, promotion, price) to ensure that they target all potential clients and make them aware of the facilities.

It is essential for the entity to consider placing the facility in a place where it is easily accessible to the clients not too far from their premises. This computerization saves on time for the clients, and they may engage in other activities once done with their sessions. From the case of John Root, the location of the gym facility is in one place which does not also favour clients who come from far. For this reason, he should consider opening up more space in various locations to ensure the facilities are close to the people. This decentralization will have the impact of even attracting more people in those areas who never knew of its existence (Emery, 2012).

John Root should also consider the preference of the clients to ensure he provides products which are preferred by the customers. The gym consists of top end weightlifting equipment which may not be enough. Having a variety of material available for the customers to choose from results in customer satisfaction which may result in more referrals by the existing customers which in turn leads in more profits for the enterprise.

Additionally, in promoting the gym, John Root should first understand the various target clients and choose on a strategy on how to reach them. Having identified the different potential clients, he should then proceed to segment them and define the promotional plan for each of them. Segmentation, in this case, will involve selecting groups of homogenous clients with similar characteristics. For example, in the case of the youth, he should try the use of social media as the information would reach them much faster through the means. The young generation as shown in previous research in recent years is more endowed in social media and any information passed to them through the same would reach them than in other means. For the middle class and elderly, he should use promotional methods such as the use of magazines and newspapers or even through radios and television. Most people in this category like reading, and therefore, any information published through newspapers and magazines would reach them much faster. Failure to do this is what has resulted in the current situation where most of the clients were attracted by word of mouth yet he had issued pamphlets on the same.

Pricing is also another marketing tool that needs consideration. John Root should ensure that he charges fair prices to the clients and ensure that they feel value for their money. To make this a success, he should consider what other enterprises offering the same facilities charge their clients to come up with the best price for its clients and the margin of the pricing should not be large to ensure it gains a competitive edge. However, premium pricing is at times considered a good strategy in the early stages since some of the customers perceive that quality products are likely to cost more which will definitely work to their advantage. The management should in this case ensure that the quality of service offered is high to avoid questions which may arise on the authenticity of the facility.

Human Resources

Human resource is the section that checks on the staff needs such as the payment of wages and allocation of responsibilities. John Root's gym facility is currently understaffed, and the staff is also overworked which is not fair to the employees. Additionally, with such overworking, their wages have remained constant. Failure to check on the needs of the employees is what results in conflicts between the management and the employees.

The human resources function is also concerned with training and development of employees. The trainers will have to undergo some training which leads to the development of their career. When the employees receive specialized training on their jobs, it enables them to perform their task well to their full potentials, and it also makes them feel to be part of the enterprise as they have a particular skill which is of value to the business. When employees receive training on how to perform their jobs well, it gives them confidence when doing their work and this in return would result in the satisfaction of the clients and keeps them coming over and over again. It also enables them to understand which areas to focus on being the most important to the clients to allow them to feel value for their money.

For this case, John Root should consider hiring a human resource officer who will perform the work of hiring more staff for the enterprise to keep it going. The human resource will also be responsible for creating the various work schedules for the employees to adhere. It should also review the remuneration of the employees and ensure they are paid well for their services. Motivation is also important in this case as it drives in more passion for the trainers to continue doing their job well. The motivation could be in the form of a pay rise or even giving bonuses to them (Kayl, 2017: 27).

IT

The introduction of technology has been of importance to many businesses from communication to the storage of large loads of data. For this reason, John Root should consider adopting computerized systems in its facilities which will help them clear up the cards which have the details of people by storing the data in the computers. The information stored about the clients on the machine can be retrieved easily at any time when required. The data is fed into the computers and stored in a database created. The space that had been taken by the data cards could be used to extend the facility or for other use by the management (Nguyen, 2015: 213).

Additionally, the management should also consider adoption of smart cards issued to the customers. The clients will be required to swipe their tickets as they enter the gym facility. The cards need customization in a way that the bar codes can detect if one has paid for the facility and also if one is within the stipulated time for the client to attend the gym sessions. This customization will create more efficiency in running the enterprise as much of the activities will be controlled by the computerized system.

Accounting/ Finance

The accounting and finance department is one of the important departments in any organization which deals with the collection and the use of funds. John has to ensure he also puts in place these departments. The finance department helps determine the most viable ways in which an enterprise can invest. The ideas are then shared with the management for them to decide on whether to commit funds in the said project or not (Zoni and Poppi, 2017: 231).

The financing function is also crucial as it helps in creating of financial statements such as income statement which will show the profits realized by the enterprise and the statement of financial position which will show the net assets owned by the firm. It also helps in creating management accounting reports which will be used by the management of the business in the making of decisions.

On the other hand, the accounting department will ensure that it takes into account all the funds collected through subscriptions by the clients and keep a record of the profits as time goes by. It will also have the role of determining the expenditures that the enterprise is likely to incur as it runs its activities. This accountancy will ensure that the management of the gym has a track of all funds moving in and out of business to minimize loss of funds through mismanagement and other expenditures which could have been stolen.

Interdependence of the Business Functions

The business functions discussed above re depended to each other in many aspects. It will be a challenge if these functions...