Question

QUESTION NO. 3

The following conversation happened between a consultant hired by a major partner to investigate the financial matter of the music cafe that was started by him and his partner as a 65% and 35% shared venture respectively. The major partner after suffering a huge loss, is determined to take out his share or put limits on the place’s operations. However, the minor partner wants to convince him to keep the operations as they were and not close the partnership. Analyze the conversation and help us in understanding what might have gone wrong even before the minor partner was heard by the consultant keeping in mind the non-verbal modes and demonstrate the speaking skills of the minor partner and the consultant - what could they possibly have done before meeting considering the topic under discussion, to make up for whatever went wrong.                                                            

Minor P: I want to be respectful here. I appreciate everything you’re trying to do, so hopefully we can find some common ground.

Consultant: I’d like that very much.

Minor P: Now I am ok with compromising on the menus, but the ‘GB’ has its own vibe, you know its own sound that has helped me in creating an environment for people to come together and enjoy music.

Consultant: And I’ve gone through months of your bookings and cross-referenced them to receipts. The bands I’m going to book have a significantly bigger draw.

Minor P: Connecting the music and sales especially during lunch, is a bit of a stretch don’t you think? Besides music is an experience, it’s not a statistic.

Consultant: We are pretty sure of our numbers.

Minor P: Ok, let’s at least talk about open-mic night, which we created to support local bands.

Consultant: It’s a no-go. People are coming to listen to their friends and aren’t spending money. This isn’t a charity.

(write a brief answer)

Answer 1

The success of a Music Cafe Business depends upon various factors and aggressive marketing strategies coupled with the plan of how to draw the crowd at the venue. Unlike a typical record store and cafe, music cafe provides the consumers with an atmosphere that probably they might not have ever experienced before. Music Cafe normally consists of two venues, one is a cafe and the other one is a record store.

People from different walks of life ( Office workers, Students, Tourists, residents of the community) come to socialize, spend their time at the venue to listen to music, eat pastries, and drinks. They purchase music CD's and accessories on their way out. The major source of the revenue of a music cafe is from the sale of records and accessories. The student community is their main crowd so an effective marketing strategy needs to be chalked out to draw them at the venue.

In the above case, Major Partner is determined to take out his share or limit the operations due to the huge loss probably indicates that the functioning of the cafe must be entirely in the hands of the minor partner, and some marketing or operational strategies might not be working out which could have been resulted in the revenue to the music cafe.

The conversation between the consultant and the minor partner could be as follows---

1. Minor P is concerned about his respect and the values and is agreed to the fact to change the list of the menus which might be costing to the cafe much. But the GB band, which he referred to, is having a great vibe which has created an environment to pull the crowd, more than the competitors. The consultant is going to book the band about which the consultant is sure about the numbers of the consumers, but is reluctant to support an open-mic night that supports the local bands. The consultant is worried that the crowd comes only to see their friends only and not spends the money.

Minor P must be having some strategies which he tried to convince the consultant regarding the revenue aspect like to cross-sale, branding, freebies along with the sale of music CDs and accessories.

2. Minor P must have addressed to the consultant regarding an aggressive marketing tactic to lure the companies to sponsor the event so that their brand promotion could take place. Drinks and eateries will be having at nominal costs for the music lovers who will walk-in at the venue since it will also be sponsored. The crowd must purchase the accessories and music CDs on their way out. Since the whole event will be a sponsored one including the drinks, music, and food so it will result in maximizing the revenue while minimizing the costs.