Running head: term paper

Term Research Paper

Zachery Mathison
SLCC

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Abstract

Through this paper I have researched wages and education of tuxedo managers, tailors,
and general employees of both A Tip Top Tux and Mens Warehouse, who are both direct
competitors in the salt lake valley. A Tip Top Tux is a local company while Mens Warehouse is a
corporation. I have made interviews to both of the owners of the business of A Tip Top Tux.
Through this paper I have learned a lot about not only how to make a tuxedo but also about the
statistics of small business owners. In this paper I will be showing you my findings and how the
interviews went along with my paper.

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Term Research Paper

Being a small business owner isnt easy, in fact there are so many hoops that you have to
jump through most actually fail. Despite that fact I have always found the call for being an owner
to be quite enticing. For this research assignment I have chosen to look into the running of a
local tuxedo show known as A Tip Top Tux. I have interviewed the managers and an employee
so that I could understand on how it is to be working with tuxedos and eventually running one.

Job Description
Managers at any tuxedo store needs to know the basics of every aspect of what goes into
renting a tuxedo. Throughout the day you need to have proper inventory out so that customers
can see what you have to offer. You also need to know how to tailor and fix tuxedos if the need
arises. Being a good business man, or woman, is essential when trying to get ahead in this
competitive business.
Also you need to have some for the customers to try on in order to know for sure if it
would fit. Lead Wardrobe Consultant and Owner Scott McArthur said in my interview
concerning inventory, it is the most important thing in the world to have a proper inventory
for new customers. They cant buy a tuxedo if we dont know what they want to wear. No one
will rent a tuxedo without being able to see how beautiful or even how ugly they will look!
(McArthur, S. W., 2016)
Another important aspect that you need to know how to set up an order and fix any
mistakes that may occur. Mens Warehouse has a web site that has a good job description for
their tailors, Perform alterations, repairs, and tailoring to rental product; Inspect returned rental

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product for necessary alterations or repairs; and assist the tuxedo production team with the
inbound and outbound processing of rental tuxedos (Job Opportunities, 2016)
Being a good business man is something that you need to be good at in order to compete
in this day in age. In an article about small businesses Glenn Kessler says that about fifty percent
of small business fail before five years (Kessler, 2014), that is especially true in this industry.
Throughout a Tip Top Tuxs lifespan they have been relying on many different ways to advertise,
Dayna McArthur Owner and Head Taylor, says,
First we started in the yellow pages and phonebook, weve taken flyers to the high
school for proms, we have gotten directories from the high school and mailed postcards
to all of the junior boys before prom, we have a website and Facebook page now. Now
we dont advertise in the yellow pages because no one uses them anymore, we also do not
send postcards because we have so much business from word of mouth. (McArthur D.
G., 2016)

Salary and Expenses

Within the small business world salary is something that is both important and
nonexistent. Because you are the owner of your business you can pay yourself whatever you
want, but because you do not want your business to suffer you try to only pay yourself what you
need to survive. As an owner you have to pay your employees first, even if that means skipping a
paycheck for yourself.
In a study done by William Dennis A spouse is the family member most likely to be a
joint owner, a co-manager, and single confidant consulted prior to a critical business decision
(Dennis W. J., 2002). When regarding the amount of small businesses that employ other family

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members he also says, Estimates range from 3 million family businesses when based
exclusively on family ownership (Dennis W. J., 2002) this shows that small business are
largely family owned and ran. Those two quotes are quite impressive knowing that so many
Americans give not only their lives but their whole families to their business. Dayna and Scott
McArthur are married and are both Joint owners in their company and I found that to be quite
impressive.
Doing research about how much people get paid in this industry According to a study,
people who start businesses usually have a bachelors degree, have five years experience, and
typically have no on the job training. Also the median salary that they list is $102,750 a year or
$49.40 an hour. (Top executives, 2015) Talking with Dayna McArthur about how much she
makes she said, Last year we made around a gross 99,000, between the two of us, minus the
expenses we ended up bringing home around $79,000. Employee costs for us was around $9,000
for a single part-time worker, which we paid her 9.50 an hour for about 20 hours a week.
(McArthur, D. G., 2016) So with this information, I deduced that they make about $39,000 a
year a piece with one employee working at around 9.50 an hour. A lot lower than the average
according to the Bureaus median. Mens Wear house salaries we a little different, according to
glassdoor.com the average salary for a manager is 49,500 dollars and for a customer service
employee $9.02 an hour.
When I interviewed Scott McArthur I also inquired about how he handled slow times and
employee situations. Throughout the conversation he would talk about how they would hire a
couple of neighbors in the busy season, usually stay-at-home moms, as temporary workers and
have them leave when it slowed down. He said, It is really nice getting to know the neighbors a
little better, Dayna and I would love to talk to them just before it gets busy, then hurry and run

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around like chickens with their heads cut off. You know, you really get to know someone when
they run like a chicken (McArthur S. W., 2016) It was interesting when I interviewed him he
said that between him and his wife, they did all the work except for two months, March and April
for prom season.

Conclusion
In conclusion I feel like the reason why I would fit in with this career, no pun intended,
is that I have some experience working with tuxedos myself having been employed here a few
years ago as a part time employee. I found it fun and a different. My prior experience was a
manager in fast food and dealt with a lot of major business making decisions with that company.
Like I mentioned earlier it is not easy being a business owner and there are many
different pros and cons to it. Some pros is that you can make your own schedule, but the con is
that you work all the time. You can make as much as you want, the con, you want to make as
little as possible. The pro is that you can work with whoever you want, the con is that you
usually only work with yourself. When I interviewed Dayna McArthur she said that the feeling
of accomplishment and being your own boss was the biggest pro, while the hours that you have
to put in and the accountability is the biggest con. When I asked her if it was worth it she said
yes. (McArthur D. G,, 2016)

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References

Dennis, W. J., Jr. (2002). NFIB: The Voice of Small Business - National Small Business
Poll. Retrieved April 20, 2016, from http://411sbfacts.com/sbpoll.php?POLLID=0026

Job Opportunities. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2016, from

http://employment.menswearhouse.com/ats/descriptionSelector.action?
type=mwhNsDistributionTailor

Kessler, G. (2014, January 27). Do nine out of 10 new businesses fail, as Rand Paul
claims? Retrieved April 20, 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-

checker/wp/2014/01/27/do-9-out-of-10-new-businesses-fail-as-rand-paul-claims/
McArthur, S. W. (2016, April 12). Lead Wardrobe Consultant [Personal interview].
McArthur, D. G. (2016, April 12). Management and Tayloring [Personal interview].
Men's Wearhouse Salaries. (2016, April 15). Retrieved April 20, 2016, from

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Men-s-Wearhouse-Salaries-E2167.htm
Top Executives. (2015, December 17). Retrieved April 20, 2016, from
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/top-executives.htm