Small Business Management Case Study 1

Small Business Management Case Study 1

Introduction of the Business

One day at Frostburg State University's Entrepreneurship Club meeting problem of transportation was raised. Students were facing a shortage of transportation which made them incapable to visit their homes throughout the school year. Eskat Asfaw was also present in the meeting, and he saw an opportunity in this problem (Harding, 2010, p.1). He kept on thinking about it and decided to give his idea a try. Asfaw who got his degree in Business Administration always wanted to start his own business and be an entrepreneur. So in 2007, his idea College Shuttles began. The main objective of College Shuttles was to provide college students with convenient transportation solutions. During the initial years Eskat Asfaw drove people in his own car. Later with the success and demand for the service, College Shuttles expanded and started to acquire more shuttles and 14 passenger van for his business.

Now College Shuttles has become a trusted service among students and parents and well known in several campuses. It was the ability of Asfaw to understand the needs and requirements of the students, parents and college administrators and his judgment to create such a business that has now transported more than six thousands from seven different campuses to their homes and back to their campus. College Shuttles has now spread to two states and as a future plan for next five years Asfaw want to cater to the students of fifty more colleges. Given below is the short and simple College Shuttle mission statement (Company website, n.d, p.1):

“To provide exceptional shuttle service to college students on weekends from campus to convenient locations in major cities”

Asfaw' College Shuttles follow a straightforward philosophy. They believe that students are already hard pressed in college to worry about other things like transportation. With College Shuttles around students no longer have to worry about their transportation as College Shuttles will take them to and from school and right on time. College Shuttles pays a lot of attention to the great service it delivers to its customers as this commitment to customer's satisfaction is the company's key to success.

The team of College Shuttles management comprises of Eskat Asfaw who is the president, Jacob Tagoe who is the operations manager and Terryl Monroe as marketing manager for College Shuttles. Brief descriptions of the management team are present in the appendices section.

Type of Services College Shuttles Provides

College Shuttles provides the following services to students, parents and campus management:

The main service of College Shuttles is Weekend Shuttle service for students from college campus to main cities.

Shuttle service for family and friends to make trips to students on campus.

Day trips to and from campus for groups of friends. College Shuttles have started another service called Nightlife. This service allows students to enjoy nigh time events like night clubs.

Shuttle service for campus organizations this includes college tours.

A rather new type of service introduced in 2010 called College Storage. This service allowed students to store ...