Organizational Analysis

Since high school, I have toyed with the idea of being a small business owner. It all started in my sophomore year when my Spanish teacher was going through the process of starting a specialty bakery. She would often bring in treats for us to taste test as she was learning to make her recipes in bulk, and once she started bringing us cookies and brownies we never let her stop. YUM!

One day she told us that when she was about eight years old she told her parents that when she grew up she would own her own business, and ever since then I could never quite shake the idea of owning my own business as well.

Today, her bakery is a huge success in my hometown, and it continues to be the inspiration for the project I will be working on in PR pubs over the next three weeks!

Over the course of this semester, the projects I work on will be for a locally owned coffee and gift shop called Native that I hope I will one day be able to make a reality! With our products, I hope to one day cultivate a pride for Oklahoma as a state. This state has such a rich history and culture that often times gets over looked, but thanks to the MIO (Made in Oklahoma) coalition, KeepItLocal and other great initiatives and small businesses people have really started to embrace Oklahoma in all its glory and short comings.

I hope to one day open this shop in the Oklahoma City metro area but preferably Norman where the University of Oklahoma is located. Despite the fact that college kids have limited funds, they’re usually always willing to fork over money for some coffee. Also, Norman and the Oklahoma City metro area is really the epicenter for this MIO/KeepItLocal bandwagon. There’s a decent demand for local, organic and fair trade goods making this business very marketable.

However, there are always competitors to be aware of. You have the gorilla in the room…Starbucks…which has a ridiculous number of stores in Norman yet they all still stay busy. Then you have the local shops like Gray Owl Coffee, Crimson and Whipped Cream, and Michelangelo’s. It’s these last three that would be our biggest competitors because they are all locally owned sit-down coffee shops and all three are very successful.

Though these shops are already successful, our core values will set us apart from them. Our core values are all in our name: Native. This small business will aim to keep as many of it’s products native as possible by sourcing Oklahoma-owned suppliers.

So that’s my dream business that maybe I will one day have the opportunity to open!