Activity - Designing a Stress Test
The idea in a stress test is to ask questions. What if... The easy questions would include those that prompted the user to look at a sudden increase in sales that might not match the inventory or the manufacturing capability.
The hard stress test questions would point toward more challenging difficulties. Consider normal sales but the manufacturing plant has burned to the ground. Consider both types but lean toward the calamitous when devising the stress test question. If the business can handle the catastrophic, then it can probably handle the mundane or everyday stresses.
Develop stress test questions for the following business scenario.
Type of Business The store specializes in a variety of bikes from road and track to mountain and kids bike. They offer fitting, maintenance and repair. They also sell custom sporting goods including athletic clothes and shoes.
Location - Rudy's Wheel Works is a bicycle shop in south Florida. It is located in a small downtown area of a modern-day Mayberry. A quarter mile stretch of locally owned businesses includes four restaurants, a hotel, and numerous specialty shops. A bicycle path runs down the center of this stretch of shops. About a ¼ mile to the east is the trail head that houses parking, rest rooms, and a small snack bar.
Staff - Rudy's has two partners and this is their only business. They have 3 full time and 2 part time employees. There is no HR person, no training for the staff, and relatively no turnover for the last 5 years. The average employee is 35 years old.
Benefits: The company provides full health insurance to all staff. There is no deductible for the insurance and no cost to employees. Cost to cover all 5 employees totals $8,000 per year. There have been no major claims by staff. Usual losses on medical total around $500 per year
Financial: The business generates a net profit of $50,000 per year on average
Create a list of possible questions that should be asked to complete the assessment. You may need to add to the scenario to illustrate why these questions are important. Be sure to clearly address the risks inferred by the questions you generated.