Essay 2 (Movie rental shop wants to improve profits by cutting down op expenses, namely by changing close time from 9 pm to 6 pm and removing movies older than 5 years, note questions that need to be answered in order to decide if this is a good idea)

With Movies Galore aiming to mitigate their reduced profits, they are aiming to cut down operating costs by closing at an earlier time and excising older movies from their stock. On a surface level, this may appear to make sense in being able to cut operation costs. Firstly, closing at an earlier time would reduce the amount of time workers would need to be around for, thereby reducing the staff payments needed in order to maintain those operating hours. Additionally, movies generally  fall in popularity over time, thus meaning they are far less likely to be rented and therefore should be removed at that point to streamline inventory.

	These proposals, however, still need some further thought in order to prove their viability. First and foremost, It is important to consider what the current operating hours are and what times they get most of their business. Closing at 6:00 seems, namely on weekdays, rather counterintuitive, seeing as it's likely much of their business would come during the period from 6:00 - 9:00, when most people have finished work or school. While this would reduce operating costs, it would also majorly impair the amount of revenue they could generate, thus cutting into their profits. Conversely, they may not be getting as much business during the morning hours, which would suggest that it would be wiser to open at a later hour of the day instead based on what times they make the most profits, as the money they would lose from potential rentals during those times would be less than whatever it costs to operate during those times.

	One other question that must be thought over is which movies tend to produce gain large amounts of rentals over time and which ones fall off more quickly. The constantly moving state of the film industry can result in movies being dropped from public conciousness in the span of only a few years if they don't prove to be successful enough. It certainly is dubious as to whether or not films such as Home will be remembered at all within a year's time, despite even being a Dreamworks project, suggesting it might need to be cut from the catalogue even sooner. Conversely, some movies may continue to see rentals for many years, as they get hailed as modern classics or are part of an ongoing franchise. Mainstream classics such as Inception may receive a solid amount of rentals despite being nearly 10 years old, as will a movie such as Guardians of the Galaxy, which is well-loved part of the going Marvel film franchise and likely won't falter in rental popularity to the same extent as a more unpopular superhero film such as Captain Marvel. Having a standard of removing a film older than 5 years may prove to be too general; it would be wiser to look at movies on a case-by-case basis to decide if they should kept for longer periods of time or perhaps be removed even sooner than that.

	One final concern that must be addressed is how we get rid of any movies that are no longer needed in the collection. Naturally, throwing these movies out rather than selling will just be lost revenue. However, it should be tested whether it's more cost-effective to sell no-longer needed movies within the store or through other means such as through bulk sales. While it is clearly important to reduce operating costs in order to mitigate lost revenue, it should also be carefully considered as to whether cutting down on these costs will heavily impair potential profits that can be made.