The store is experiencing low profits and weak financial expertise due to not having enough inventory space and the owner preferring to handle customer service and cleanliness rather than financial tasks. The primary problem is the store's location, which is not well-known and does not attract enough customers. The best solution is to recruit more investors to fund moving to a larger space that can hold more inventory, hire more employees, and potentially open new stores.

1. The Alison Barnard
Case
Laura Malis, Ting Ting Hu, Miku
Anraku, Zahed Faheem, Khanh
Pham, and Kuangdi Xu

2. Assessment
Symptoms:
● Low profit
● Low employee delegation
● Weak financial expertise
● Weak knowledge of inventory software/ financials
Causes:
● not enough inventory (not enough shelving space)
● likes to handle customer service herself (very hands on)
● would rather handle the cleanliness of the store than deal w/ financials
● does not have adequate background knowledge or education on
inventory software

3. Analysis
Common Causes of Symptoms:
● bad location
● not enough customers
● not well advertised
● theft issue
● not a well-known store; sellers would not sell certain brands of jeans
to a new store
● not enough employees, employees not well trained
Primary Problem: her location

4. Alternatives and Conclusions
Alternative Solutions:
● change locations
● advertise more (as opposed to just by word of mouth)
● get updated security system
● train employees
● develop a training manual
● learn to delegate and manage employees
● recruit more investors
Best Solution: recruit more investors in order to find a larger space to fit more
inventory and hire more employees

5. Implementation
How solution can realistically be implemented:
● Search for a new, safer location in an urban area
● Develop training manual in order to improve employee work ethic, hire
more workers, and open new stores with well trained employees
● Create an online store