austin_anaya

A Pizza Shop

Written, Designed, Photographed By: 1 Austin Anaya

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my family who have helped me achieve my goals. I love them very much!

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Acknowledgements I would like to thank Pizza Venti for allowing me to document their restaurant.

Without them, the creation of this book would not have been possible.

A big thanks to Freestyle Academy!

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Table of Contents Title Page...........................................pg.1 Dedication..........................................pg.2-3 Acknowledgements............................pg.4-5 Table of Contents..............................pg.6-7 Foreword............................................pg.8-10 Introduction........................................pg.11 Chapter 1...........................................pg.12-14 Chapter 2...........................................pg.15-17 Chapter 3...........................................pg.18-20 Chapter 4...........................................pg.21-23 Chapter 5...........................................pg.24-26 Chapter 6...........................................pg.27-28 Conclusion..........................................pg.29-30 Works Cited........................................pg.31

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Foreword Like many of us Americans, food has always been one of my passions. But something about the ‘’small business’’ always happened to lurk in the back of my mind. The authenticity of the food as well as the way it was run always left in impact on me. When one of my best friends mom decided to open up a local pizza shop, I was quite curious. Curious as to how a business opens up and continues to thrive and please the public. But I never really had to chance to explore Pizzeria Venti from top to bottom. So when I had the chance to uncover a part of society. I immediately knew what I was going to do.

When exploring this restaurant I wanted to uncover relationships formed inside of the business. This way I could get a sense as to why the workers are so satisfied with their management and environment. I also, wanted to watch and learn how they make some of their most popular dishes. I believe this is a big contributor for people coming back on a regular basis. They have formed a strong menu to provide their customers with.

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A customer eats lunch at Pizza Venti.

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Introduction I set out to see how a small restaurant, Pizza Venti is ran in the Bay Area. I interviewed a range of people in the business, including the waiters and servers, the chefs, and the owner. From my interviews, it became clear that opening and sustaining a small business in the Bay Area is an easy task. For more than a century, the United States government has implemented laws supporting small businesses from competing unfairly against large corporations. Some of these creating more jobs and more opportunity for others.

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Chapter 1 Big businesses have also adopted some of the practices from smaller businesses.

Whether or not small businesses thrive as much as bigger companies, they are tailored to fit what the people want. With unemployment being at 8.3%, the need for jobs is necessary. Essentially, small businesses are integral in the building and support of local economies and larger businesses. Along with providing economic benefits to their community and large corporations, small businesses provide opportunity for locals and maintains the importance of quality over quantity.

The location of Pizza Venti is very important. Pictured above is a Google bike. Big companies are close by so lunch time is a very busy time periood.

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Some customers waiting in line for their gelato.

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One of the many creative designs of Pizza Venti.

A design for the womens bathroom 14

Chapter 2 During numerous times in history, we have seen the toll that unemployment has taken upon society. The pendulum of economic crises has swung between great, prosperous times, such as the roaring twenties and the time right before the dot-com bubble.

However, despite the causes for multiple depressions, employment is something that many people always seek during times of economic hardship. With small businesses, this crucial need is met, and people, skilled or unskilled, are given the opportunity to earn wages so then they can support themselves. Small businesses provide a unique opportunity for people in towns and provinces to be employed in a less hectic setting, compared to a full-scale business where the threat of inside competition and being fired is constantly hanging over one’s head. Yet, along with providing individual residents with economic opportunity, large businesses also lean on small businesses, for their labor and goods supply usually comes directly from small businesses. Without small businesses, both the economic fabric of society and the large businesses that we expect to hold up the capitalistic image of the country would fail. Small businesses provide a stable backbone for this collapsing economy.

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“We make it fresh.

We Make it authentic. We Make it real.”

“America’s only Authentic Sliceria ™.”

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Chapter 3 Small local businesses are proven to provide leverage for other surrounding businesses, job opportunities for locals, and support themselves through the philosophy of connecting with and meeting the needs of their customers. To provide an example of an ideal small business we went to the small local restaurant, Pizza Venti. “We make it fresh. We Make it authentic. We Make it real.” At Pizza Venti they have seemed to take on the art of Italian food with a different approach than most American businesses. They want to make it as authentic as possible and add a personal touch that allows them to connect with their customers. This seems to be working because people keep coming back for more and more. It is a very friendly atmosphere as Ricky, a waiter at the restaurant describes it. ‘’Just last month I had a party of about 41 people for a woman’s husband’s birthday party. The woman said, ‘Do you know why I’m here Ricky?’ and I said, ‘Well ‘I’m probably taking good care of you,’ and she says ‘Yeah, you’re taking care of me, and that’s the reason why I brought my whole family here’. That’s pretty flattering, you know? When they came back here because of you”. This local business has managed to interact with customers on a personal level, which is something that large corporations only dream of.

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Gelato

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Chapter 4 By starting from the small, basic elements of the market, small businesses take small but necessary steps to create more employment in local communities. By hiring people in close proximity, a variety of people are chosen to fill spots in the business. A server at Pizza Venti just has to take a stroll to get to work every morning. ‘’The location, like I said, is the best. I don’t have to drive, I just walk over every day.’’ Regardless of whether the applicant has a five-star resume, the amount of competition is reduced in this less-pressured situation. Small Businesses also provide a safe zone for a worker. The average worker doesn’t necessarily have to be worried about getting laid-off compared to the larger corporations. This creates a much more friendly environment for the whole aurora of the restaurant. Bella, the owner of Pizza elaborates on the feel of her business. “My employees are all very special. The fact is that they’ve all been here a long time and I’ve gotten to know them personally. They’re all part of the family. We do lunches together, we do holidays together, and basically they’re just good at customer service, and they’re good, honest people to work with. Therefore, this allows the business owners to create an environment where they can help their business grow, and at the same time, facilitate the financial needs that their employees need.

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Chapter 5 As we see in multiple examples, start-up companies usually do not have the capital or the experience to hire masterminds to help them carry out their ideas and ventures. The acclaimed site, Facebook, once started out as an idea formed in the dormitories at Harvard University. When Zuckerberg and his friends began building the idea and developing the rough first release product, they were not able to hire professionals who already had multiple years of work experience in programming and business management. Instead, even after “the facebook� was well-known across multiple campuses and continued to proliferate, Zuckerberg ended up hiring his own classmates at campus recruiting session. Immediately, Zuckerberg provided jobs for people who had not even graduated from college yet, ultimately securing their chance of employment in the future.

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Students in multiple fields, such as human resources, psychology, and marketing all now had new job opportunities as this small business blossomed. Although not all small businesses will rise to be big businesses, it is important to realize that when one business rises, that company is replenishing the entire economy by making sure that there are always enough large businesses to generate mass capital. At the same time, these large companies that rise to the top can get services and goods from smaller companies, creating the bond between those that are small and companies that are big. Without small businesses, large businesses would never arise. Small businesses are still essential for these large businesses, for they provide goods and services that support the basic framework of many companies.

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Yet all small businesses don’t always rise to be big corporate machines like Facebook. Nor do they need too, but when small businesses need support for rapid growth, investors and banks pitch in this effort to further the growth of the business. As far back as 2007, Telecom magnate Li Ka-shing invested $60 million in Facebook, while PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel who was the company’s first angel investor.Although all small businesses cannot reach the magnitude of Facebook, small businesses need to exist in order to stabilize the rest of the economy. Without small businesses, localities and certain regions wouldn’t be able to produce specialized goods. These specialized goods usually tailored to the needs and special wants of the people in that area. As a server describes the restaurant we documented: ‘’I have worked at Chili’s, Red Lobster, Denny’s, other corporate, fast paced places. Here, we serve Italian, which is already a higher class of service.

Unlike those other places where everything moves fast, and it’s okay to make mistakes, we really pride ourselves on perfection here.’’ As a result, usually develop a certain reputation, standard and characteristics that are unique to that 26area.

Chapter 6 In a message from the Small Business Network of San Francisco, it was estimated that $4.5 billion is generated annually from small businesses alone in the city of San Francisco. With only 115,000 strong businesses in the city, the distinct neighborhoods and visitors are able to experience and purchase unique goods with unparalleled quality at these small business stores. An example of this would be Pizza Venti in Mountain View. This restaurant, which has been in service for approximately 5 years, has developed a local and somewhat widespread reputation for having excellent service, authentic Italian food, and some of the best pizza in all of the Bay Area. With being such a traditional small business, this business has learned to incorporate their customers to the restaurants lifestyle. This has been possible to the management as the owner describes, “typically restaurants have multiple owners, and multiple managements, so what makes this restaurant so nice and relaxing for the employees is that I’m the only owner, I’m the only one who tells them once in awhile what they need to do and what they shouldn’t be doing.”

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It seems much easier to control a small business rather than being the head of a large business and having to be responsible for thousands of employees. In addition to this, small businesses serve as essential feeding sources for large businesses. A study done by the Business Roundtable in 2010, the typical U.S. multinational buys goods and services from small businesses that amounts to almost $1.5 trillion every single year. With a figure this massive, big businesses practically rely on smaller businesses to provide them with goods and services that enable them to function.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, small businesses are essential for any economy. Just like how any society always has to have balances, small businesses have a symbiotic relationship with large businesses and provide fundamental opportunities to local communities all around the country. Although the thought of large corporations is amboyant and luxurious, small businesses are the foundation of communities and large businesses. Large businesses rely on the labor and goods from small businesses. Without this supply, large businesses would collapse. Jobs, which are already provided by large corporations, are still given out by small, local businesses.

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However, although American society was brought up on the ideals of capitalism and a free market with competition, the need for small, non-competitive businesses that will employ less than exceptional workers are needed in order to keep unemployment low and to provide citizens with income. Small businesses should not be regarded in the public eye as small, weak attempts at achieving the American Dream of wealth, prosperity and happiness. The small seed of an idea can easily be nurtured through entrepreneurs’ own efforts along with the assistance of outside forces. Such an example would be investment banking groups, venture capitalist firms, and private investors who are all willing to lend a helping hand to burgeoning companies with vast potential in the future. The dual concept of being able to achieve the greatness of a large business, and at the same time have one’s efforts be equally, if not more, important when running a small start-up business, is what makes small businesses an important portion of American society and ideology. In the economic sector, people can either decide to take the path of being aspiring entrepreneurs or dedicated workers. Yet, in both situations, people would still be given jobs and a form of income to support themselves. In the realm of entrepreneurs, there are those who are small, and those who tend to dominate the market with their brand names and logos. It is already well known that large corporations and companies would not only gain fame, but also have a key role in facilitating the day-to-day functionality of each and every one of our lives. It is evident that small businesses have an extremely vital role in providing the backbone for both large businesses and local and macro economies as a whole.

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Works Cited Gardner, David. “InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology.” Asian Investor Targets Facebook For Early Investment. 3 Dec. 2007. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.informationweek.com/news/204600797>.

Mont, Joe. “Research Shows Small Businesses Helped By Big Business Growth.” Investment News. 17 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nuwireinvestor.com/articles/research-shows-small-businesses-helped-by-big-business-growth-56071.aspx>.

Olsen, Stefanie. “Facebook’s No. 5 Employee to Join Benchmark Capital.” CNET News. CBS Interactive, 19 June 2008. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_39972752-7.html>.

Phillips-Sandy, Mary. “Meet Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg’s No-Nonsense Girlfriend.” AOL News. 8 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.aolnews.com/2011/02/08/meetpriscilla-chan-mark-zuckerbergs-no-nonsense-girlfriend/>.

Swanson, Arthur. “San Francisco Small Business Network.” San Francisco Small Business Network. May 2008. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://www.sfsbn.org/president_message. html>.

“Unemployment in the U.S.” Google. 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 9 Mar. 2012. <http://www.google. com/publicdata/explore?ds=z1ebjpgk2654c1_>.

Ricky. Personal Interview. 10 Mar. 2012 Joe Martinez. Personal Interview. 10 Mar. 2012 Bella Awdisho. Personal Interview. 27 Mar. 2012

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