Category: Comm101

It’s against the law to not pay for a transit ticket if you are using the transit system, so why do some bus drivers allow people on for free? A bus driver has two roles: 1) to drive the bus to the designated stops and 2) to ensure that passengers pay for their fare. I use the bus on a daily basis and I occasionally see the bus driver allowing people on for free. Some scenarios are: the bus is late and in order to get back on schedule, he/she allows everyone on for free; a person claims that he/she only has a $x bill; or a person uses the phrase “Can I get a ride home?”. Now, by giving into the people’s “claims”, it makes people think that it’s ok to not pay for a transit ticket which is incorrect. The transit system is a business that provides a service at a small fee. If every bus driver did this at least once a week, imagine the huge loss in profits. A concession fare of $1.75 or an adult fare of $2.50 may not seem like a lot, but in the long run it does stack up.

– Janie Nguyen

To build upon my most recent blog, entering the fashion industry requires a lot of money. The focus of my blog today has been inspired by the article: Funding Options for Early-Stage Entrepreneurs By Karen E. Klein

“It’s not easy for startups that lack experience and connections to raise money. Microfinance, crowdfunding, and incubators are worth pursuing, say business owners”.

I can have a lot of passion to establish my own clothing brand, but without financing… I can’t really do anything. At the moment, I’m paying for my own tuition, textbooks, and personal expenses. When I graduate, I will have to pay back my student loans. So… at what point will I be able to accumulate enough money to launch my clothing brand? I know that a new business should never go “full out”, as in spend all their finacing to launch their store. Why? One reason is that a business needs a safeguard incase initial sales are slow and they need to cover rent. This makes me wonder, where will I acquire all this money to pursue my future dream as well as have a sufficient safeguard? The following article has many examples!

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2010/sb20100923_063215.htm?chan=smallbiz_special+report+–+americas+young+entrepreneurs+2010_special+report:+americas+young+entrepreneurs+2010

– Janie Nguyen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11701575

This article is a great example of following your heart and passions. Lyn Lee left a career in law behind to go into the chocolate business.

“We mucked around in the kitchen every weekend for a year until we produced this thing…our methods were trial and error. Nothing scientific…We just tried different techniques, we tried different ingredients and we produced what we thought was a pretty yummy chocolate cake.”

This articles makes me wonder, “what am I going to do with my BCOM?” Referring back to class X, will I work for another company and earn X or will I become an entrepreneur and earn Y until my Business skyrockets? Of course, I want to be an entrepreneur! In grade 10, I discovered my passion for textiles, but I never thought anything but “fun” could come out of sewing clothes. In grade 12, I started designing my own clothing for projects and my classmates told me to pursue a career in the fashion industry… which I plan to do! On a side not, I’m disappointed that UBC doesn’t offer a textiles course, otherwise I would minor in it :).

– Janie Nguyen

A few months ago, my brother and I took our car for an air care test for the first time. After failing, of course we were engulfed with rage. Our feelings revolving around air care were simple:” it’s stupid!” You have to pay for your test, you have to pay for repairs, you have to pay for the retest(s), and they use a lot of gas for the test itself. But what are the benefits of Air Care? Well, the obvious benefit is that it’s a way to push people to be environmentally friendly as well as ensuring cars that are hazardous (pollution wise) are off the streets. A less obvious benefits is that it brings business to smaller mechanics. As well, by having Air Care, the community is able to employ more people such as the people working at the Air Care Locations. And don’t forget the busiessnes who had to build the equipment at the Air Care Centre! In the long run, Air Care is beneficial for the community. In a sense, this shows that businesses work hand in hand with other businesses without the two business actually being merged.

– Janie Nguyen

Meet my dream car, the Audi R8!

What’s so appealing about Audi? They have a line of imported, luxurious, classy, yet sporty cars. Audi’s brand name  is definitely well represented. Audi dealerships are very clean, the employees are well dressed, the cars displayed itself are immaculate, and perfomance is INCREDIBLE. I, as many others, know Audi to be high in perfomance, comfort, and looks. However, what happens to a damaged high-end brand name? I recently read an article titled “Creepy Audi R8 Burns on a Street in Germany”

Several R8s have been reported  to burn while in development (the picture below is a model) due to fuel spillage.

http://www.rpmgo.com/creepy-audi-r8-burns-on-a-street-in-germany

How does this article affect me as a current Audi customer? Nothing changed. I would have to say that i’m a loyal Audi customer and after reading this article, I have subconsciously filtered this information.  It’s hard to believe that with the high level of engineering that Audi offers that this incident could occur. Brand names are all about perception. In my opinion, if a brand name is well represented and avoids bad publicity then there’s nothing that can harm a brand name unless it doesn’t live up to customer standards.

– Janie Nguyen

I’m not a mall rat, but when I receive emails from my favorite clothing stores declaring a “sale”, I’m guaranteed to drive out to the mall and indulge in the savings… but in reality am I really saving? Of course not. The fact that I’m spending money on something that is most likely an impulsive purchase immediately translates to money down the drain. Despite knowing this fact, these “sale advertisements” reel me in like a fish. Why? Because it’s effective in the sense that “i’m saving money” when in reality the profit margin on clothing is immensely high that the business is still making a lot of money when their clothing is on sale (I know this fact through my textiles studies in high school).

One of my favorite examples are sales from Aritzia. The clothes there are moderately expensive in my opinion and when they do have sales, the savings aren’t much. Yet, people will come flocking into Aritzia simply because they have a “sale”. Good advertisements are appealing to people and reflect in sales. In the fashion industry (and others), the key advertising technique is simply the word “sale”.

– Janie Nguyen

I love shopping at Walmart because their products are inexpensive. My most recent favorite find was a pack of 200 pages of Hilroy Paper for only $0.25! Of course, I stocked up 20+ packs! It was to my surprise when my brother told me that Walmart failed to launch their store in Japan.

At the end of our discussion, my brother convinced me that Walmart failed to expand in Japan because they didn’t understand the target market, the Japanese consumers. Many people in North America like cheap products knowing that the quality will be poor. Whereas, people in Japan like expensive merchandise because it reflects high quality. Since Walmart was an inexpensive store,  the Japanese consumers applied their theory where price reflects quality and refrained from Walmart. In addition, the Japense workers work together as a family. Walmart fired Japanese employees and brought employees from home; the corporate heads were also from North America. This action offended the Japanese culture and further damaged Walmart’s name. In order to avoid this, Walmart should have hired Japanese people to operate the store instead of having brought people over because they would have understood the Japanse consumers from the beginning.

– Janie Nguyen

Many supermarkets are beginning to charge 5 cents per plastic bag to encourage customers to convert to reusable tote bags due to environmental issues. However, many other business such as retail clothing stores and fast food restaurants  don’t charge for bags. Is it ethical for supermarkets to have this fee? By having this fee, it raises awareness of environmental issues and encourages customers to become environmentally friendly. On the contrary, supermarkets are making an additional 5cents per plastic bag and/or making an additional x value for selling reusable tote bags. I think that this additional expense for customers is unethical because supermarkets previously offered bags simply for customer convenience but as the world is becoming hyped on environmental issues, supermarkets are taking advantage of customers and charging for something that they were originally offering for free.

– Janie Nguyen

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11157648

One word that describes this article is inspirational. I’m impressed that Joseph Hayat has established himself well not only in school, but in the business world despite the fact that he is merely 17 years old. His actions convinced me that age is only a number and that you can achieve anything if you work hard and have a clear objective.

To summarize this article: at the age of 17, Joseph Hayat, from Lincolnshire England, began his own charter flights airline. I believe this is a small step towards establishing a fully operational airline in the near future. Luckily for Joseph, his airline was advertised on BBC news  for free.

A few key words that were mentioned in this video clip were “ambitious, drive, and innovative” which are great attributes that an entrepreneur should possess when beginning a business venture. Clearly Joseph Hayat possessed these characteristics and was able to successfully launch his idea; as a result, he became the world’s youngest airline boss.

I encourage everyone to watch the short video clip about Josph Hayat, be astonished, and to really assess what your goals are and how you plan to turn them into reality; “the sky is the limit”.

– Janie Nguyen