All managers face a variety of goals, challenges, opportunities, and, of course, demands on their time. Juggling all these demands successfully requires a clear understanding of priorities, scheduling, and a number of related factors. You’re about to learn just how difficult this task is because you’re about to open your own business: a retail store in a local shopping mall. You’re starting from scratch, with no prior business connections, but you do have a strong business plan and you’re sure that it will work. In getting ready to open your business, you know that you need to meet and draw up plans with each of the following parties: 

1. The mall manager, to negotiate a lease 

2. A local banker, to arrange partial financing 

3. An attorney, to incorporate your business 

4. An accountant, to set up a bookkeeping system 

5. Suppliers, to arrange credit terms and delivery schedules 

6. An advertising agency, to start promoting your business 

7. A staffing agency, to hire employees 

8. A design firm, to plan the physical layout of the store

Exercise Task 

Review all the preceding information and then do the following: 

1. Develop a schedule listing the sequence in which you need to meet with the eight parties that you’ve listed. Do the best that you can to minimize backtracking (seeing one party and then having to see him again after seeing some one else). 

2. Compare your schedule with that of a classmate and discuss the differences. Do you find that it’s possible to draw up different schedules that are nevertheless equally valid? If so, why? If not, why not?