Club IT: Part One
Club IT is a 6,000 square foot venue that provides music, dancing and a casual dining, experience for customers who desire to have a fun, and entertaining experience. Lisa and Ruben, co owners of Club IT are both business degree graduates who both seem to have a passion for music and they have began to realize their dream of opening up their own music venue. They recently remodeled Club IT and added booths and table setting in addition to bar seating and now have the ability to seat two hundred twenty guests, and with their 600 square foot dance floor, they provide plenty of space for dancing. Beyond your traditional bar, Club IT not only offers beverages but also offers both appetizers and short order food to their clientele.
Club IT makes every effort to be appealing to the most people by offering diverse varieties of music so that anyone can find something that they will enjoy when they go to Club IT. They offer nights with DJs “spinning” records, live music in the form of local bands and several times of year they have bands from all over the United States scheduled to appear. Best of all, through Club IT’s open mike nights the community can really feel like they are part of the It family by testing out their musical skills.
The mission statement of Club IT is simple and straight to the point, the owners have it written clearly on their website,” “We, Ruben and Lisa, offer you live music, DJ's, dance space and refreshments that suit your lifestyle. You are our friends, and we seek to build a community that meets regularly at Club IT” (Wiley Higher Education, 2000).
The Club IT owners are currently using the internet and networks as their primary business information system. There is a website where customers can gain information about the music venue. The website breaks down the information into seven sections including Club IT music, dining and menus, merchandise, Club IT staff, and a club layout. There are several highly useful areas in regard to how Club IT uses their information resources. One good example is the employee portion of the Club IT website. Each employee has the ability to access their profile. In it they will find much of their personal information such as their hours and tips accrued toward their next paycheck, accrued vacation, and sick leave, and any bonuses they may have coming to them. They also have access to many different forms accident reports, payroll direct deposit requests, and bus pass purchase forms. Another great feature is the online availability to the employee handbook which, no doubt, provides the company mission statement and the rules that clearly define the actions that reinforce the mission statement. Lastly, other manuals are offer online that encompass health and safety of the staff and customers.
Although this site seems to be well appointed there are some things that Club IT could improve on. One of the first things that should be update is the Club IT website itself. While the information is useful to the end user the format, or they way it is presented, looks like it was made decades ago. The graphic are plain and simple and would not really interest the age group that Club IT is interested in. Photos of the staff and establishment should be added. The lack of music playing on a website about a music venue seems misguided. Their IT should expand out to more than one website. With the onslaught of social networks and social media, it would be wise for them to expand to face book, MySpace, and twitter. Here they could get information out to thousands of people simultaneously with just a few key strokes.
If they want to be advanced they should look into developing the ability for reservation for table and booths to be purchased online. Ticket sales for popular band could go on presale via the web and they could begin to sell their merchandise through the website instead of just posting photos of the merchandise. This would enable them to start an ecommerce business as well.
By working on strengthening their weaker spots in their IT sections and taking the necessary step to make corrections and additions, Lisa and Ruben should be able to see profitability and longevity for Club IT.