GIA’S GARDEN

• What challenges have you faced overall?
Cove is not a small business friendly place; they impose many ordinances and taxes on these business. She owns the building in which she operates out of and has to pay double the amount of taxes that a leasee would have to pay.
There are many misconceptions about what her business is and what types of products she sells. Gia’s Garden is an eclectic store that promotes natural healing and spiritual cleansing.
Gia’s Garden is strictly a word of mouth business that does not spend money on advertising.
• Ask about the structure of the organization like who's middle manager, is there a middle manager, etc.
There is no middle management. She owns, operates, and manages the business on her own. However, she does employ two full-time employees and one part-time employee.
• What technology do you use on a day to day basis in your business?
She uses a cloud-based point of sale system, a credit card machine, and QuickBooks.
• Ask if she has adapted any technology or strategies since opening her business.
Over time she has had to switch between point of sales systems due to unforeseen issues. In the years since opening her business she has gone from a manual cash register to a Microsoft-based POS, and now operates with the cloud-based system.
• Ask her over if anything has changed in the business sector that she's in.
Many things have changed in the sector she works in and most are for the worse. On one hand, Cove continues to raise the taxes and ordinances imposed on small businesses. On the other hand, there are new methods, remedies, and products that are being created that she can offer her