The contemporary business environment has become complex and competitive in the recent years. Businesses have to operate amid the influences of economic, social-cultural, political and technological factors that are normally unstable and uncontrollable by a business organization (Burdick, 2009). For instance, the last few years have seen a rapid advancement of technology, increased cultural diversity in business, call for corporate social responsibility and unstable economic climate (financial crunch witnessed 2008-2009). It therefore calls for business to device sound strategies that will aid in coping with these challenges. Cold Stone Creamery is an ice-cream manufacturing company founded in 1988 in Arizona. The company has been able to spread further over the years, and now boasts of over 1400 stores across the world (Cold Stone Creamery, 2009). Apart from ice creams, the company manufactures cakes and shakes making it one of the top firms in the industry. Despite the challenges in the economic environment, the company has a clear statement that focuses on making people happy and boasts of a well managed corporate culture and innovative workforce. The company has an expansion strategy that has enabled it to expand widely and compete effectively with other to brands in the ice cream business including McDonalds among others. However, the company’s operations may be affected by various economic factors. First, the interest rates of borrowing money may affect Cold Stone Creamery’s expansion plan or even its operating/working capital. Interest rates keep on fluctuating depending on the market conditions. In most cases, government tends to set the applicable interest rate through its monetary policy based on the economic conditions in the country. According to Tyson (2008, p. 78), high interest rates affects the expansion plans of businesses and to some extent, lead to collapse of debt-laden businesses; and also affects the purchasing patterns of individual consumers. Therefore, during the times of economic downturn or inflationary periods, the interest rates will have to be raised thus increasing the cost of borrowing. The increase in interest rate will affect Cold Stone Creamery in two ways: one, the company will be discouraged to borrow, causing liquidity problems in the company; and second, if the company decides to borrow at high rate of interest, it will be strained in repayment, causing a huge dent in its profit margin. Therefore, both cases will interfere with the company’s business both locally and abroad – especially in its two new units in Canada and Trinidad. Another effect of interest rate on the company will be through the impact of the high rates to the company’s debtors, where most of the customers who are used to purchasing on credit will have to slow down on their purchases, thus affecting the sales of the company. Purchasing power of individuals will also have an impact on the business of Cold Stone Creamery. This will be based on the income levels of the individuals which may affect their buying behavior. Cold Stone Creamery’s core market is the households, and therefore, when the economic conditions do not favor access of income by the households, they may opt to cut back of their purchases pre