1. What competitive advantage does Hazel have over a professional lawn care service?
a. Some competitive advantage Hazel has over a professional lawn care service are that that she:
i. Is a local business owner
1. Locals will be more willing/inclined to help out one another.
ii. Is part of the local community
1. Can be more personal in regards to service and understanding.
iii. Has flexibility in terms of pricing and availability for living closer to her potential target market.
2. Hazel would like to increase her profits, but she doesn’t believe that it would be wise to raise her prices considering the current state of the local economy. Instead, she has given some thought to increasing productivity.
a. Explain how increased productivity could be an alternative to increased prices.
i. Increased productivity can lead to improved service delivery, service efficiency, and low costs which can be an alternative to increased prices. If Hazel can get the job done faster, using less resources and time, she will overall, profit more while saving.
b. What are some ways that Hazel could increase productivity?
i. Some ways that Hazel could increase productivity are:
1. Hiring more employees. Having more employees will help get the job done quicker as well as stretch her company’s service availability.
2. Creating a time efficient, call-to-order system that minimizes the time it takes to get a service processed to the employees who arrive on sight to the customer. Save time, pay less hours to employees, get the job done faster!
3. Advertise her company’s services/offerings through multiple social media portals (newspaper, facebook, twitter, posters, etc).
4. Always aiming for the best, quality service. No cutting corners if the order demands more than what was asked.
3. Hazel is thinking about the purchase of a new equipment. One would be power sidewalk edgers. She believes edgers will lead to an increase in productivity. Another would be a chain saw,...