The Trial Period

Eva works in a bookshop. Some customers want to come after work, but the shop closes early. Eva has a plan: open for two more hours on Thursdays. Her manager agrees to try it for four weeks. Eva says she can work those hours.

More people buy books on Thursdays now. Eva makes a chart and wants to keep the new hours. Her colleague Paul asks, “Do we make more money? We need to pay people for the extra hours too.” Eva looks at her chart again.

They check the cost of the extra work and electricity. There is a little more money left, but not much. Also, some customers come on Thursday instead of Saturday. They buy the same books on a different day.

Eva changes her plan. She wants another short test. This time, they can check the money for the whole week and ask the evening customers about their visits. Other workers can choose to work late. They do not have to say yes because Eva does.

The manager agrees to the new test. Eva is a little disappointed: she wants a clear yes to her first plan. But now her plan asks better questions. Paul smiles. They need to find out if the idea helps the shop.