Amy’s Ice Cream free essay sample

Amy’s Ice Cream, based in Austin, Texas, is a privately held corporation formed in 1984 with 22 family members and friends as shareholders. To achieve success Amy Miller planned her business carefully, incorporated with her patners, and differentiated her product from competition. In Austin, Miller’s nine ice cream shops sell superpremium flavors worth more than $3. 9 million each year. Everything in the stores is designed to provide a memorable and fun experience. Amy Miller, CEO, wants her customer to enjoy their contact with the people in her shops while stopping in for ice cream and to come away with a good sense of community, warmth and humanity. The video describes how Amy Miller first worked at Steve’s Ice Cream while in college. As Amy Miller prepared to open her first store, she quicky to make decisions that would affect the future of the business. She and a partner from Steve’s first had to decide where to locate. We will write a custom essay sample on Amy’s Ice Cream or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They decided on Austin because of the young population and the likelihood that this population would support an eclectic ice cream shop. Then, they had to decide how to structure the initial offering. A decision also had to be made regarding how much money was needed to start the business and how they were going to raise these funds. Choosing the corporate form of ownership was advantageous for several reasons. With this form of ownership, liability is limited to the investors’ personal investement. If the business should fail, investors stand to lose only the money they have invested. In addition, corporations have a legal life separate from their founders and owners. Therefore, corporations can, at least theoretically, go on indefinitely. Shares can be sold and passed on from generation to generation. Corporation also have advantages in raising capital. For example, Amy’s Ice Cream should sell more stock to expand the amount of available funds. The funds could be used to buy more equipment or open more stores. Lenders are also more willing to grant loan to corporation because of their legal status and continuity. There are a few disavantages of corporation ownership. Profits are taxed twice. A corporation must pay taxes on its income and investors must pay taxes on their individual shares of the profit. Under this form, companies such as Amy’s Ice Cream pass their net income on to shareholders who bear the responsibility for taxes. Dividents cover investor’s tax liability. Compared to the sole proprietorship, forming a corporation is relativety expensive. Futhermore, corporation can made it unattractive for other to take them over by adopting financial policies such as paying large dividents to stockholders if the company is bought out. Upon such action, the value of the company would be greatly diminished. As Miller and her team have grown the busines, they have developed innovative ways to attract both customers and new employees. Store theme nights, guerrilla marking promotion for charity, and paper bag job application are just a few of the approaches used at Amy’s. Miller’s skill is allowing the creative employees freedom to put to work their ideas to make the company magical. Miller feels that allowing customers to taste the product, getting a feel for the culture of the company, and seeing the people help to bring customers to the ice cream shop. Amy’s Ice Cream invests the advertising budget in doing in charitable events. Miller believes this work better than direct advertising because it presents a symbolic ralationship to the community at large. Applying for a job is an adventure in creativity, and Miller welcomes employees’ suggestion for new flavor and new promotions to keep sales growing. Miller’s goal of helping people create happy ice cream memories is met everyday. Question: 1. How does Amy’s Ice Cream differ from a publicly held in corporation? . What are some of the particular advantages of corporate ownership for firm such as Amy’s Ice Cream? How well do you think Amy’s is working to ensure its continued survival and success? Looking ahead to future growth, what marketing, financial, or other suggestion would you make? 4. What are some the issues that Amy Miller may have to confront because her 22 investors are family memebers and friends? 5. Should Amy’s Ice Cream become a publicly held corporation? Support your chosen position?