Interview With the Manager of the Just a Pinch Cafe

Introduction

An interview with the manager of the Just a Pinch Cafe offered profound insights regarding some of the current challenges the organization faces. This interview, predominantly involved questions that revolved around the ongoing challenges that the business is facing, the past difficulties as well as those that are anticipated in the future. Notably, the manager highlighted the human resources problems as the major issues that needed to be addressed adequately. The findings are discussed comprehensively discussed below.

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The Past and Present Challenges

One of the past and the current challenges that the restaurant faces is the problems of employee retention. According to the manager, the inability of the business to retain good employees has emerged as the significant risks towards its development and success. The manager recognizes that finding exceptional employees is a vital thing and keeping them is another. The today's employees are mobile based on the existence of the appealing and lucrative job opportunities in other places. The desire for personal development has primarily contributed to this movement in the case of the Just a Pinch cafe. In the interview, it was established that the employees from the restaurant frequently sought the opportunities with the intention to develop their skills as well as the talents for personal satisfaction. It is in addition to the professional opportunities offered in different organizations. In the case whereby the company loses the skillful and talented employee, it becomes unable to enjoy the input of such workers and therefore bound to fail.

The inability to access skilled employees was another challenge addressed during the interview. The fact that the family runs the restaurant contributes to the failure to develop or expand due to the lack of new ideas. Notably, the access to skilled labor is undeniably a vital innovation in firms. According to Bouazza, Ardjouman, & Abada (2015), the skilled work tremendously contributes to the change as well as the growth through the generation of the new knowledge, the development of the incremental changes as well as helping the business in the opportunity identification. Nevertheless, the skilled labor can support the industry to adapt to the dynamic environments respond effectively to risks and factors (Bridge & O'Neill, 2012). In the view of the manager, the business has failed to obtain skillful employees who can contribute to innovation and subject the firm to competitive advantages. This situation results in the replication of ideas rather than generating new ideas for development.

Future Challenges that could Affect the Viability of the Business

While the future is uncertain, it is business managers can forecast the anticipated challenges that affect the business, considering the real factors. Primary, the manager, identified the increased competition from rival business as the significant threat that could affect the Just a Pinch Cafe. Specifically, the manager stressed the risks of new entrants that are likely to affect the profitability and even the expansion of the business. On a broader note, these factors refer to the threat new competitors poses to the existing competitors within the industry (Bouazza, Ardjouman, & Abada, 2015). Based on the profitability associated with this industry, the manager anticipates that the market will attract more firms and competitors that yearn to achieve high profits available. In any case, it is going to be easy for the new entrants to enter the market in the presence of the low barriers, then Just a Pinch Cafe will undeniably face more threats because of it already exists within the industry. Fundamentally, the increased competition without a corresponding increase in the consumer demand contributes to the reduction of the business profitability (Storey, 2016).

According to Porter's Five Forces, the threats of the new entrants can transform the competitive pattern and structure within the given industry (Cited in Bridge & O'Neill, 2012). Besides, the profitability and the expansion are usually the primary objectives. In the view of the manager, the new entrants may enter the market with the aim of acquiring the large market shares. This can take place through methods such as lowering their prices for the similar goods offered by the Just a Pinch Cafe. Any move for a new business to reduce the prices of the food as well as other products while retaining the quality as per the consumer's preference will pose the more significant challenge to the restaurant as the existing competitor. The customers will opt for the products offered at considerably lower prices if at all the quality remains the same.

Innovation was the manager's last concern relating to the future challenges that the business is likely to face. Broadly, the manager believes that the rapid technological changes that take place within the hospitality industry accompanied with the innovation may act as another problem that the organization may encounter. Research has shown that many start-up companies stick to the age-old book rules based on their inability to create the innovative culture (Burns, 2016). The implication of this is that people get accustomed to the work culture and thus do not think outside the box. Because the family runs the business, they may not be ready for the changes that emerge as a result of the technological changes. This will probably affect the business in future if the right measures are not taken.

Conclusions Regarding the Future Challenges

The manager provided sufficient insights regarding the past, present and the future challenges that are likely to affect the business. Undeniably, the growing enterprises face a range of challenges. As a small business grows, different problems and opportunities demand distinct solutions. The implication of this is that whatever effectively worked a year ago may not be the best approach to solve the present or even the anticipated future challenges. However, acknowledging and recognizing the mistakes and the frequent failures associated with the growth is vital if a business is to experience steady growth, and success, and thrive amid various threats. Crucially, the business managers need to ensure that the initiative and the strategies they adopt today do not themselves create other challenges in future (Storey, 2016). It, therefore, means that effective leadership will substantially help the business owners create the most opportunities, for sustainable future business growth. Concerning the future challenges faced by the business, precisely the innovation, the Just a Pinch Cafe must be utterly open to innovation. It implies that any introduction of a new change must be welcome by well-prepared employees. Holding a discussion with the employees regarding different ways of preparing and adapting to these changes is necessarily appropriate. In the situation whereby the new entrants in the market threaten the business, reading the current business patterns and adopting the flexibility strategies will undeniably help the business to thrive.

References

Bouazza, A. B., Ardjouman, D., & Abada, O. (2015). Establishing the factors affecting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in Algeria. American International journal of Social science, 4(2), 101-115.

Bridge, S., & O'Neill, K. (2012). Understanding enterprise: Entrepreneurship and small business. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Burns, P. (2016). Entrepreneurship and small business. Palgrave Macmillan Limited.

Storey, D. J. (2016). Understanding the small business sector. Routledge.