Säsongernas skiftande affärsmöjligheter – En studie om en mindre matbutik på en sommarort

Abstract

This paper was initially written based on an interest in acquiring a more profound understanding of what pertains to running a smaller business, in particular a business that serves an important societal function in a sparsely populated area. As such, a grocery store located in a small town on the Swedish west coast, which experiences a rather large influx of people during the summer, was chosen as the object of the study. The main purpose of the study was to examine the manner in which the store handled the increasing activity during the summer months, both in terms of concrete actions taken and the effects of said actions. The result showed that the summer workers quickly and seamlessly became part of the business,both professionally and socially, and had to take a certain degree of responsibility in successfully executing their tasks. Upon analyzing these observations, we found that they to some extent confirmed what has already been established through theories on group dynamics, seasonal employment and different categories of employees, albeit with some new insights based on the specifics of the situation. The discussion also intertwines with the general prospects of running a business in this type of environment.