The three main areas of any business are sales and marketing, operations, and administration and finance. Sales and marketing are the part of the business that get the product known to the public and sold. Operations does all of the behind the scenes manufacturing of the products to make it just like sales and marketing said it would. Administration and finance is for all of the managers who run the company, hand out paychecks, and pay the bills. My family business demonstrates how the three of these areas work in a successful business.

We own and operate a light industrial property ownership and management business. For sales and marketing, my dad posts a sign in the front flower bed when there is available space. Sometimes, we advertise on Craigslist too. Also, our business has existed for a long time, so many people know about our rentals. Additionally, there is a bar at the end of the building that attracts attention and the patrons have loose lips. As operations, we inspect the building weekly and maintain the site by picking up trash and fixing minor problems. This includes buying supplies that we might need. For anything too big to fix by ourselves, we call in a contractor. We have a list of handymen that my dad keeps handy and can call in case of an emergency or if we simply cannot get something done. On the administration and financing side of things, we collect rent from our tenants and keep track of who is late or has not paid; and we pay the bills. There is a lot of computer spreadsheet work to do and papers to file. In addition, sometimes we must physically travel to the building and speak with the tenants about rent increases and renewing and signing their leases and other paperwork. That is how it works for us.