Culminating blog reflection

My Topic was on Business Management and volunteering at Uptown Market was a great experience. I got a chance to feel what its like to run a small market, going through the same pressure and problems my mentor faces and I learned how to over come them. Communication was very important because every time I counted inventory I had to inform my mentor and tell him the products we sell the most and the products that are not so popular. In the beginning I struggled with what merchandise we should buy or not, there was a couple of times I didn't know if we were gonna sell enough of one specific product so I felt stuck in the middle trying to figure out if we should buy it or not. As time went on I learned how to make better educated guesses so I knew what days we would sell a lot and what days it would be slow. For example, on the weekends I know a lot of people come into the store looking for cigarettes so the best thing to do is to stock up our cigarette shelve. After this point of dealing with inventory I'm more careful with the choices I make. Working together and being open minded was also very important because he would constantly give me tips and correct me here and there. If i had ideas, he would also take them into consideration. Being able to get a taste of ownership made me be more aware of my surroundings, if I was ever to own my business in the future I would know to keep myself safe as well as my employees. A major challenge I encountered was overcoming my shyness, being at the store you have to talk to people you don't know and i've never been comfortable with that especially with the type of people that would go into the store but as I spent more time there I was able to over come my shyness and talk to customers as well as dealing with the rude ones and being more patient. My social and time management skills improved, I prioritized my time much better now. I learned what time I should leave my house to go to the market or when I should leave to work because now I am very familiar with the time that traffic starts. As for my social skills I learned how to talk to people and communicate better as well as being more confident when I speak in general. I learned that in this business confidence in how you speak is very crucial to convincing people to purchase products and so people are aware that you know what you are talking about. Dealing with the rude/crazy customers that go into the market made me realize once you know how to control the situation and talk to them you could learn how to talk to anybody. This whole experience made me realize this is not the path for me due to the fact that I do not like to work under pressure or ever own a small super market. Now that I got the chance to figure out this wasn't something I wanted to get into, I could move on to my second option which is accounting and experience something new.

Mentor blog #8

Today I spent the last hours with my mentor Ghaidan. I Arrived at the market and we began to clean, we took everything off the shelves and fridge making sure everything was sanitized, cleaned the windows, and reorganized everything back on the shelves and fridges. We didn't sell much of the products we bought the day before but we made sure to go back to the warehouse and buy the products that some customers requested we also needed to restock on cigarettes. When we returned to the store I struggled with carrying boxes again due to the fact that they're isn't enough employees to help. We then put the products away in the section where they belong. For safety precautions we keep the cigarettes behind the counter because it's a very popular product we sell a lot and with the kind of peoplee that come into the store we want to make sure they won't steal and it is also safer for us. Ghadian than began to count the money from the register and reset it back to its neutral number.I never got the chance to count the money in the register just because I wasn't comfortable doing that, I never wanted to mess up. We then headed to the bank, depositing the extra money. We didn't inform the employee at the store we were coming back because we wanted to catch them by surprise, just to make sure they're doing what they're suppose to. Once we got back to the store the employee there seemed to be doing everything fine. I worked behind the counter for a bit as I was ringing up some customers I noticed I was running out of quarters and dimes. Any time we run out of change we go to any store around us and get change from them.  We then left the store a couple minutes after that, I thanked him for his time and for giving me an opportunity to learn something new.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 28 hours

Mentor blog #7

Today I returned to Uptown Market, Ghaidan and I did the usual which is count and see what products we're selling the most and what products we're not selling as much. As a business owner you always want to beat the amount of money you made the day before, week, or month. You always want to keep track of your money and where its going to. We then headed to the warehouse bought the supplies that were needed and headed back to the store, this time we didn't get caught in traffic we left at the perfect time and came back just before the rush. Since I've been helping out at the market i've been more aware of things for example right time to leave the store and come back.  It's little things like this that saved us a lot of time and money. Once we arrived at the store we organized everything very neatly. I encountered about four customers who didn't find what they need, Cup of noodles, fruits, and cake mix. We don't provide fruits or vegtables due to the fact that we don't sell enough of that and it will go bad and go to waist but as for the other things it is very important to get what the customer requests next time Ghaidan and I go to the warehouse. I worked behind the counter for a bit and had conversations with many customers (mostly girls). I felt very comfortable and not as shy to talk them as well as feeling more confident on selling any product. Overall it was a very calm day and didn't encounter a huge problem.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 24 hours

Mentor blog # 6

I returned to Uptown Market saturday night because I wanted to stay till midnight and see what its like staying that late. I was working behind the counter with my mentor and I felt a little scared just because I know a lot of homeless, drug addicts, and drunks are always around the store and its very risky due to the fact the store is open 24 hours and you never know what could happen in that neighborhood. I learned that safety is very important, you not only want to keep yourself safe but you want your employees to be safe as well and for that reason we have four cameras around the store to monitor everything that is happening, with people going in and out the store we also want to make sure no one is stealing. Around 11 it got a little busy, the store is close to many bars so i assumed most of these customers were coming back from there and getting snacks. We encountered some rude drunks and we nicely asked them to leave. With situations like this you always want to make sure you can control the situation so things dont get out of hand. Once you learn how to talk to those kind of people you can talk to anybody. Experiencing that helped me because I choose my words more wisely. My appearance was a huge problem because with the kind of people who went in the store i felt like they found it easier to steal or do something sneaky, as a girl its hard for people to take you serious.  Overall on weekends we get a lot of business especially during the night but it could be a challange dealing with people.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 20 hours

Mentor blog #5

On Thursday morning I returned to the market. Every thursday morning at 8:00 a delivery truck comes to drop off chips, ice cream and cheese only if it is needed. We we very short on chips and ice cream not so much on cheese. Once everything is unloaded Ghaidan gave a check to the delivery man because they only except checks, the amount depends on how much merchandise we need. After I put the chips an ice cream where they belong,I realized that one of the cheeses that was delivered was expired I quickly notified Ghaidan and he told to call the company and tell them that the cheese that was delivered this morning was expired and we need new cheese asap.  Two hours later the delivery man came back and gave us new cheese and took back the expired one. Volunteering to help at Uptown market has really helped me be more open to talk to people. I usually don't like making any calls or talk to random people but i've slowly get go of my shyness.  I began to work behind the counter, I would say it was one of the annoying positions. I would constantly deal with rude customers but I learned to be patient and talk to them in calmly manner so I wont aggravate them more. The store is located in what people might call " the ghetto" rude/ crazy customers were things employees were use to.  I learned that Safety is very important when you have your own store you want to make sure that you, the empolyees and customers are safe. Cameras are located around the store in case of any incident, being behind the counter I am able to see everything going on around the store.

Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 16 hours

Mentor blog #4

On our fourth meeting I spent a bit more time at the market, before I made the list of what merchandise was needed my mentor explained that maintenance is very important. So we began our day by cleaning the fridge and making sure the all the products were organized. We sweep the floors and cleaned the windows making the store look nice and clean. I then made a list of the products that were needed, there was not a big increase on cigarettes like there usually is.I encountered a problem of writing it down on the list because I knew cigarettes at this market sell very quickly but didn't want to risk buying more and lose profit instead of gaining.Ghaidan said we were better off leaving the cigarettes off the list but it is always important to me good educated guesses.We then headed to the warehouse and bought all the supplies that was needed. Once we got back to the store I found it difficult to unload some boxes from the van. We organized everything on the shelves and stayed at the store for an hour or so just monitoring the employees. He explained that It is very important that your employees get the feel that your always around because you dont ever want them slacking off or doing something there not suppose to. At the end of the day Ghaidan counted the money from the register, reset it to its neutral amount again.

 Time logged for this session: 4 hours
Total time logged: 12 hours

Mentor blog #3

On our third meeting I returned to the market, Ghaidan explained I was going to make a list of supplies that is needed for the store by myself and then go to the warehouse as well. He will be there to help me if I had any questions but I was going to do what he does every other day for the store. I was a bit nervous but I started by looking around to see what was needed and noticed a increase in Coca-Cola, milk, juice and cigarettes. Once I was done he made sure that everything I wrote was correct and then we headed to the warehouse. When we arrived I picked out everything we needed, he obviously paid. Just like the other day we took everything back to the market, I asked one of the employees to help unload the van and continued by organizing everything where they belong.  My mentor then counted the money from the register and reset it to its neutral amount again. Overall I enjoyed doing everything by myself except handling the money. Although Ghaidan was with me, I felt alone and got a feel of what he does by himself every week.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 8 hours

Mentor Blog #2

Today I returned to my mentors market,  he explained to me how every other day or two he looks around the store and makes a list of merchandise that is needed. So we began our day by writing down the goods that were out of stock or low in stock, for example  Sprite, Arizona, low fat milk, juice, and water. We then went to a warehouse named Pitco Wholesale in Brisbane which is kind of like Cosco, everything is sold in big packages. We went around the warehouse getting everything that was on the list after 40min or so headed back to the market. On our way to the store we faced a lot of traffic which was a big problem because we wanted to get the merchandise back to the market quickly. When we arrived my mentor, Ghaidan and I  unloaded the merchandise off the van into the market. This was also a huge problem because there isnt enough employees and it was just us taking heavy boxes into the storage room which was very tiring. Once everything was in, we cleaned the shelves and fridge makinf sure everything looked nice and clean. We organized the products in the fridge or wherever they were located from old to new in the back. After that was done he counted all the money in the register and reset it to its neutral amount again and we went to the bank to deposit the extra money that was made during the day.

Time logged for this session: 3 hours
Total time logged: 5 hours

Mentor blog #1

Today I had my first meeting with my Mentor, I spent two hours with him. We visited Uptown Market which is the business that my mentor Ghaidan Alhubaishy and his family own.  Its located in San Francisco on Ellis Street,Uptown Market was bought in 1994 by Ghaidans father and since then its been theirs  for 20 years. For my first day, he showed me around the store giving me a chance to become familiar with the layout and know how things are organized.  We discussed a few things that are important to run a successful store. For example obtaining the right licenses, finding the right location is very important, as well as checking inventory and keeping track of  money. He explained to me the duties and responsibilities that are expected of me, he then demonstrated what he does on the daily basis. For example he checks his inventory every other day keeping track of what he's selling the most and what he's not selling.  We didn't have enough time to do much because of our busy schedules. Over all I was familiar with the store, it was pretty interesting learning a piece of what  I'll probably get into and I'm very excited for our next meeting.


Time logged for this session: 2 hours
Total time logged: 2 hours