Math on the Job: Building a Business

Math on the Job: Building a Business — page 1 — Starting a Business Creating your own business is an opportunity to use your own gifts and abilities to make a living doing what you enjoy Entrepeneurs are people who start up and manage their own businesses They are often excited and enthusiastic about their businesses and look forward to going to work each day Imagine if you built your very own business one day Every new business starts out with an idea 4

Math on the Job: Building a Business — page 2 — Entrepreneurs start with an idea about a product or service that people would be willing to pay for Then they create business plans to organize how their business will run and outline what they need to do to be successful During this planning stage entrepreneurs use math skills to estimate how much it will cost to start up and run their businesses and how much to charge for their products or services These estimations help entrepreneurs decide if their business ideas are ready to put into action Some entrepreneurs sell a product and others offer a service A service is work someone does for someone else such as hairstyling or tutoring 5

Math on the Job: Building a Business — page 3 — career 1 career 1 pet store owner Pet store owners sell products such as pet food leashes treats and a variety of other items that pet owners need Some pet stores also sell dogs cats birds fish and other pets They may also offer services such as grooming or animal training Pet store owners and their workers need to be very knowledgeable about the health needs of different kinds of pets A pet groomer helps care for cats and dogs by making sure the animals are clean and their fur and nails are trimmed Pet groomers can also be entrepreneurs by running their own pet care business Sometimes they rent space in pet stores This can help boost their business because pet owners who come into the store to buy pet supplies will find out that they can get their pet groomed there too This also helps the pet store owner because customers coming in to get their pets groomed might also buy supplies from the pet store owner 6

Math on the Job: Building a Business — page 4 — Think Like a Pet Store Owner Pet store owners must always think of ways to make their store attractive to pet owners or people buying gifts for pet owners One of the most important things to know about customers is that they appreciate good service Often pet store owners hire employees to work in their stores For the business to be successful the employees must provide customers with good service This means they must be friendly and knowledgeable Employees may also take care of the pets in the store and keep the store clean A great employee is very valuable Store owners must decide how much to pay their employees 7

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