Assignment

Question 1

Client started working in a flower shop with her family when she graduated high school. She eventually bought the business and has operated it for over 30 years. She is in her 50's and because of health issues can't physically do a lot of arrangements and stand on her feet for long periods of time. She is 1 of 2 flower shops in the rural community of around 6000 population that serves other rural communities within 30-45 mile radius with similar or less population. She wants to sell the business, property, and building. Upon reviewing her financials she is profitable but averages $25-35K in profit each year. Her shop is also the only shop that stays open for Valentine's Day in the area. (The busiest holiday for a flower shop) She wants out of the business ASAP.

There are not a lot of florist in town and not many young adults that are interested in this type of business. Also, her employees are not interested in the business and most everyone she knows doesn't have the money to buy it. There is potential for increased revenue and funerals are her dependable source of revenue. She has an extensive customer database which she uses for marketing each year.

How would she go about selling the business? Is there a preferred way she should get out of business? What if no one is interested? What are some of her Pros and Cons with selling this business? Please explain your thoughts in detail.

Question 2

A private entity is trying to decide if they want to build an Event Center in a rural town named Houston, TX with a population of around 60,000 people. The town is located 2 hours away from 4 large cities in the state it resides. Within a 50 mile radius of Gloria the population is about 220,000 people. Gloria draws in a lot of citizens from surrounding counties to eat, shop, and play. The investors think that a small event center that seats 4500-6000 people would be sufficient and be able to draw all types of recreational and sporting events. Suggestions made were sports events, trade shows, concerts, performance arts acts, Disney on Ice, etc. (Currently the largest venue in Gloria holds about 1000 people)

What questions should the investors ask to determine if this will be a viable business? What data sources should or could they use? How would they go about finding out this information? How would they determine what events to bring to the center? How would they determine the "draw" to the events? Would residents of the larger cities come to the events?