Your Friend Maria Is Experiencing Declining Sales in the Business

question 5

Essay

Your friend Maria is experiencing declining sales in the business she has owned and successfully operated for three years. She has asked for your guidance in determining the course(s)of action she should take. Your recommendation to her is to undertake a marketing research project. Briefly outline the steps involved in market research. She is concerned that market research will be too expensive and sophisticated for a small business such as hers. Is this true? Explain.

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Definitions:

Operating Activities

Business activities that relate directly to the production, sale, and delivery of a company's products or services, generating revenue.

Cash Dividends

Payments made by a corporation to its shareholders out of its profits or reserves in the form of cash.

Direct Method

An accounting approach for preparing the cash flow statement where operating cash receipts and payments are listed directly.

Inventories

are stocks of goods and materials held by a business in anticipation of future sales or production needs.