Finance
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Business Report
Throughout the current semester we have been faced with various scenarios and situations that one could encounter when working in the diverse fields of the business profession. The first twelve assignments in this course allowed us to identify and analyze different situations that one may experience so that we will be well prepared when faced with a similar situation in our professional careers. Through these assignments we have examined such things as customer service, focusing on how to maintain a high quality of satisfaction among those whom are served by your business. We also analyzed ways in which we can make our company appealing to potential cliental through the use of effective advertising and marketing. Though all of these are important in operating a thriving business they are not the only things that one should focus on, so now we are going to study the direction our company is heading, and what the management is doing to ensure that the company will be successful in the future. This report is going to take an in depth look at Purchasing, Inventory, Sales, Advertising, and daily operations.
Purchasing
The hardest part of working in the used car business is buying reliable merchandise. Since we are not usually able to obtain the car directly from the owner we never know how the merchandise has been handled and maintained up until that point of purchase. Obviously, when your inventory of products consists of expensive merchandise like cars it can be very costly to the business when you make a mistake during the acquisition. In order to limit mistakes we only allow three people to purchase cars and appraise trade-ins. The owner has 35 years experience in the automobile market, making him the most knowledgeable one at our company. For this reason he spends most of his time traveling to purchase our inventory and make other business deals. I have nine years experience in the business, so I am also permitted to buy inventory. My brother-in-law is the third person allowed to buy inventory. However, he rarely does this since he manages the towing portion of our business.
Within the car business there are several ways in which one is able to obtain merchandise to sell. At Classic Cars of Carolina we have three main ways in which we purchase new inventory, with the most obvious one being used car trade-ins. Many times when someone purchases a new vehicle they want to trade in their old one. So, we will carefully inspect their trade in vehicle, looking for damage or signs of pervious damage. Then, based on what cars are bringing at that time, offer them a fair market amount for the car they wish to trade. If they are trading their car in order to obtain a new automobile the money we allow them will go toward a down payment on their new car. Once we get the car we must determine where we will place it. If it is a nice car that we feel will sale well in our area, we will do a mechanical check, then detail the interior and exterior and place it on the lot for sale. If we determine that the automobile is not something that will sale well to the clientele around our location, then we will do a full detail job and send it to the auction for another dealer to purchase. Dealers come to the auctions from all over the United States so if we have a car that may not sale well in our area another dealer, possible in another state, can purchase the car for their lot.
Another way we use to obtain inventory is to buy trade-ins from new car dealerships. Since the owner of our company has being working in the car business for so many years, he has made many pertinent business relationships with other car dealers in our area. Through these relationships we have been able to conduct several business deals with other dealerships. Often times, dealers from new car dealerships will call us if their used car lots become overstocked, or if they trade for a car they do not feel they will be able so sell quickly, due to customer demand. When this happens we are able to purchase used cars from them. Some of the new car dealerships from which we conduct business include the Flow dealership in Winston-Salem and some of the Crown Dealerships in Greensboro. Often times, when dealing with these bigger corporations, we are willing to pay more for a trade in then they allow when trading for the car. This is because we go to auto auctions each week and we know the market value on most all makes and models, where they tend to specialize mainly in new cars of a particular brand. Since we are willing to pay more, the new car dealership is still able to turn a profit, and then we our company sells the car at retail price we are also able to turn a profit, which helps to benefit all the companies involved.
The final method our company uses to purchase merchandise is buying automobiles at the auto auctions. This method is one that we rarely use to purchase inventory. Most of the time when we buy from the auto auctions it is because we have a customer that is looking for a specific make and color of a vehicle that we have been unable to find through other methods. The reason that we are so skeptical about purchasing from these auctions is due to the fact that many dealers send cars that have serious mechanical problems that could be very costly to repair. Usually when there is nothing wrong with a car, the dealer would want to keep it on their lot rather then sale it at the auction. Many times they attempt to cover up the problems temporarily until they are able to sell the product. For this reason, it is crucial that the cars purchased through the auction be inspected very carefully. However, due to situations in which people got stuck with bad merchandise, the auctions have enforced rules and regulations to protect their buyers. One type of regulation they enforce is their arbitration policies. The arbitration policies allow the buyer turn down, or return, a car if they find an extreme mechanical problem with the car. The buyer has until five oclock on the day of purchase to return the car. However, since we know these type of problems do occur when purchasing from the auctions, we only attend the auto auctions that are reputable. The three main auctions we visit are Statesville Auto Auction, Greensboro Auto Auction, and the Adesa Auto Auction which is in Charlotte. Generally, we attend Statesville on Tuesdays, Greensboro on Wednesdays, and Charlotte on Thursdays. A few times each year we will also transport a load of convertibles and sports cars to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. These cars tend to sale better in the warmer climates, so we are able to sale them with ease.
In the car business, the ability to purchase quality