FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS OF
MS. JAY’S PLACE
Course: INTRODUCTION TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Lecturer: Dr. Knife
Done By​:
Oshane Haughton - 620064292
Dannesha Campbell - 620084334
Olayne Gordon- 620092622
Nastacia O’Connor - 620015623
Table of Content
Executive Summary
Business Concept
Industry/Market Analysis
Management Team
Product/Service Development Plan
Financial Plan
Timeline
Conclusion and Recommendation
Bibliography
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BUSINESS CONCEPT
A business concept is an overview of a business; it gives the basic information about the business
such as the goods and services offered. The business concept also gives an overview of the
location and targeted groups.
Jay’s business is a newly established retail business located on the University of the West Indies
Campus. The business aims to target students, lecturers and visitors, with opening hours from
seven to eight pm week days. The products that are supplied by Jay’s business includes fruits,
large variety of snacks, they also serve hot dogs, cup soups and hot beverages when requested by
customers. The business aims to target its customers by providing the most efficient and quality
customer service daily. They intend to offer the best prices among their competitors to enhance
business growth. As the business grows they intend to widen the variety goods and services they
offer.
INDUSTRY/MARKET ANALYSIS
To provide an in-depth feasibility analysis of Ms. Jay’s Place, an Industry/Market analysis had to
be conducted. “The industry/market analysis provides an assessment of the business’s overall
appeal of the industry and their target market by looking at two aspects: industry attractiveness
and target market attractiveness”, states Kuratko.
INDUSTRY ATTRACTIVENESS
To determine how ‘attractive’ the on campus Kiosk industry is, the Porter’s Five Forces model
was used. Porter’s Five Forces is ‘an analytical tool used to measure competitiveness within an
industry and ascertain the viability of a business, by gaining a thorough understanding of the
external environment that the organization is operating in’. Porter’s Five Forces will aid Ms.
Jay’s Place in gaining an understanding of their competitors and the impact they can have on its
establishment and overall operations. The five forces of the model are: Threat of New Entrants,
Threat of Substitutes, Bargaining power of suppliers, Bargaining power of buyer, Competitive
rivalry.
THREAT OF NEW ENTRANTS
Threat of new entrants helps to shape the competition among similar players in an industry. This
also tells how the contenders will react to each other.
Where competition is concerned, the threat to Ms. Jay’s Place is low. This is as a result of the
University being a ‘controlled’ environment; meaning ‘stalls’ are placed at strategic points of the
university where there exists heavy traffic flow from students. Additionally only suppliers
approved by the university are allowed vending rights on campus. Outsiders cannot come on
campus and establish business’.
THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES
Ms. Jay’s Place faces numerous competition on a daily basis. These competition not only include
other ‘Stalls’ but also competition from food entities located on campus such as Bee Hive, KFC,
Burger King, Juici Patties, Mae’s Cafeteria etc.
These entities are competitors to the business because not only do they offer some of the same
items they offer but they also offer food items that can be consumed instead of those offered by
Ms. Jay’s Place. They offer substitute products
Regardless of the competitors or substitutes that exist, it is important for the business to maintain
its competitive edge in the industry so it retains its customers, remain popular and enable growth
in market share and growth of the business. In order to do this the management team of Ms. Jay’s
Place should consistently work on its positioning strategy so whenever consumers think of
getting fast food they think of going to here. When consumers think of Ms. Jay’s Place they
should immediately think of convenient location, affordable price and superb customer service.
BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIER
In order to provide quality products to their consumers at affordable prices the business needs to
receive quality products from their suppliers at an even more affordable price. Having a great
quality relationship with its suppliers will help Ms. Jay’s Place to achieve this objective. A great
relationship will ensure that deliveries are made on time preventing stock outs enabling products
to always be available when required by consumers, the business is favored for deals and the
suppliers will go the extra mile to ensure the relationship status is preserved.
BARGAINING POWER OF BUYER
The heavy competition in the industry has led to constant pressure for Ms. Jay’s Place to
implement measures that seek to maintain their presence and reputation in the industry. Due to
the presence of the various substitute products that are in some cases more easily accessible to
buyers, the business has acknowledged the importance of not only offering quality products but
also products that appeal directly to buyer preferences. Operating in a market which the
population treasures value for money and in most cases favour excess benefits with limited
spending, the onus is on Ms. Jay’s Place to provide quality products combined with affordable
costs.
Customer satisfaction is key to the business’s survival and growth in the industry, as the
presence of substitute products make it difficult for the business to set their preferred prices
which may result in the loss of customers.
COMPETITIVE RIVALRY
Competitive rivalry in the industry has been one of the main threats to the growth of Ms. Jay’s
Place. The business has experienced competition first hand, though they recorded increased
profits which represents tremendous growth for the business, though they could have delivered
more to the student population via greater menu variety. Which is needed as the competition is
always finding more innovative ways of doing business over the years through their offerings.
TARGET MARKET ATTRACTIVENESS
The University of the West Indies commenced operation in 1948 and since then has served as the
region’s premier institution for tertiary educational. Holding the ‘top spot’, the university’s
enrollment numbers constantly increase per semester, as throughout the Caribbean; where most
of the students are from, there is an understanding and appreciation of the benefits higher
education affords.
Presently there are over 15,000 students enrolled at the Mona campus in addition to employees.
The consumer traffic on the campus further increases as most times there exists contracted labor
on the grounds, major employment institutions are located onsite such as SWAT and Sutherland
Global Services. There are constant ‘drop offs’ via chartered vehicles making the drivers
potential customers. Deliveries for either administration or the kiosk operators further increases
the list of potential customers. In the same breath there exists facilities on the campus such as the
Health Centre that not only serve the student population but also the surrounding communities of
the university and the university constantly host events on its grounds which also expands the
consumer population.
The primary target market of Ms. Jay’s Place is the student population of the university,
particularly those students who are members of the Faculty of Social Sciences, which hosts the
largest number of the student population . However, Ms. Jay’s Place aims to capture as much of
the above listed consumers by providing the ‘average’ products they require.
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Before going in depth with explaining the management team of Ms. Jay’s Place, we would love
to give background information as to who are the owners and the motivation to have this
business. Ms. Jay’s Place is a business owned by the Simpson sisters who inherited the KIOS/
business from their now deceased mother Jay Simpson. Jay who was the previous owner had
the business running for 23 years until deceased.
The business is mainly handled by three of the Simpson’s siblings(Shantal, Nordia and
Kimiesha) with which two of whom are managers while the third assists in day to day sales and
prepackaging of items. All three sisters have basic experience working with their mother the
previous owner of the KIOSK.
Main Manager​ - Shantal Simpson
She is mainly required to complete tasks such as:
● Pricing goods
● Purchasing Stock
● Stocktaking
​Qualifications​:
● Present Student at the Excelsior Community College completing a BSc. degree in
Hospitality and Tourism Management
KIOSK Manager - Nordia Simpson
● Main Customer Service rep
● Overseer of General day-to-day activities
​ Qualifications:
● Lessons learnt through working in the sector for numerous years with influence of
mother.
Since they have inherited the KIOSK a few things have remained the same however, there are
some things that have changed or improved with hopes to add more variety to the business’
enterprise. Some of the visible changes implemented is the work uniform. Previously workers
were able to wear anything to work however since transfer of management and rebranding of
the business management has given all workers a logo shirt to complete with jeans.
Another set additions to previous operations, the sisters have added an event of Customer’s
appreciation. This is where regular customers are given free combos of selected food items.This
event mainly occurs in December. As well as a change in products sold, some of the products
that were sold in the past took some time to be purchased but after ownership transfer they
agreed to sell fast cash items to increase cash flow and customer satisfaction.
Upcoming developments: It is observed that most KIOSK’s on UWI campus have generally the
same range of food items. Ms Joy’s Place has come up with some innovative ways of increasing
overall attractiveness. Some of the plans being developed are:
● Increasing the variety of items served at their KIOSK. Eg. it is uncommon for KIOSK’s to
sell products such as freshly made sandwiches as well salads and wraps. Despite the
previous opposition from UWI they are currently exploring options to be able to sell items
as such that are produced in a safe environment .
PRODUCT/SERVICE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Overview of Products
The products offered by Miss Jay’s Place are targeted towards the university students who are
often times in a rush and need something to eat. The primary products offered are food items
but a plethora of other items are on sale, such as phone cards and headphones which are used
by students daily. The priority products being food items fall mainly into three types: baked
items, juices and fresh fruits. These are perishable items so care is taken to purchase these
items; this is done as needed in order to minimize losses.Since the core of products offered by
Miss Jay’s Place are classified as baked products for example, breads, buns bullas, biscuits and
others, the variety is limited between baked goods and fresh fruits. Therefore, if students are
looking towards having a hot meal, this would not be possible. However, most students who are
present on campus daily would prefer to have a hot cooked meal which is not offered by Miss
Jay’s Place. The products are by no way unique to Miss Jay’s Place which detracts overall value
for customers. Due to this it is essential for the continual investment in the development of
products offered.
Current Strategies to Develop Existing Product Line
To diversity the product line, Miss Jay’s Place sells Patties which is the closest thing available
as a hot food choice. Although this not the equivalent to a hot food choice, it is a viable
substitute to a hot meal which is being sought after by students. Another way to meet the target
population demands is by selling cup soup which is relatively simple and easy to make yet very
profitable. Even though these additions make a difference, the rivalry among existing firms is
high. There is a kiosk right next door who sells the same products as Miss Jay’s Place.
Additionally, there is Juicy Patty’s which is less than two hundred meters away from Miss Jay’s
Place who sells Patties as well, and offer a variety of both hot food items as well as baked
products. This makes it imperative for the products offered to be enhanced so miss Jay’s Place
can stand out and gain a competitive advantage.
The target market is becoming increasingly health conscious. Therefore, Miss Jay’s Place took
the initiative to invest in their variety of fresh fruits offered. Instead of just selling ripe bananas
only they started to sell other fresh fruits such as apples, pears and pineapples. Even though
students purchase these fruits they are still looking for more variety of food choices.
The manager of Miss Jay’s Place, Shantal, has creative ideas to develop the products offered
and cater for these health conscious individuals. She is currently in the process of completing
her bachelor degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management and has a vast experience in the
culinary field. Currently, she has ideas of selling food items such as wraps and sandwiches
which are healthier food choices. But she faces challenges regarding this new idea because the
University has strict policies that must be adhere to when handling and preparing food for
consumption. Nevertheless, she is currently lobbying and seeking assistance in order to start
adding these variations to her existing product line. Although this is one way of developing here
products, Miss Jay’s Place is seeking to enhance her products through special promotions like
a reward program for offering loyal customers discounts.She also aims to become more active
on social media which is will increase her sales.
Service Development
Although Miss Jay’s Place offers mainly products they could improve upon the services offered
for example, customer relations. Nordia Simpson is the main service person in the business as
she is the person who is responsible for interacting and serving the customers most times,
because she is considered to be the ‘people person’. The customer service offered by Miss
Jay’s Place is considered to be good by customers who shop there. Three quick surveys were
done, approximately forty meters away from Miss Jay’s Place. To avoid bias, the surveys were
done in three consecutive days: the first day in the morning, the second day in the afternoon
and the third day in the night. This was done so that the results could be as accurate as
possible. In addition, the ratio used was always six females to four males each time to give a
clear demography of the target market. Hence, a total of ten respondents participated each time
in a survey. Students were asked to do three things:
1. Show how frequently they do business with Miss Jay’s Place since this academic year in
terms of first time,, not frequent (10 times or less), occasionally (11-19 times)
frequent(20 times or more)
2.
rate the level of service as good, fair or bad ​and
3.
to give a rating of 5 for the level of customer service offered.
The findings show that the most frequent answer for question one was frequent, for question
two was good, that is, 25 out of 30 respondents say the level of customer service was good
while the average level of service was 4.6 out of 5. This shows that customer service is good
overall and the specialization in one employee for customer service is working
well.Nevertheless, improvements could be made upon this service; the other two persons could
be trained to become friendlier, so that there could not just only one person who through which
customers participate with. This will be advantageous as Miss Jay’s Place would stand out
among other kiosk who offer the same line of products.
Currently, to improve upon service quality, employees at Miss Jay’s Place have a formal attire.
Each employee wears the designated work shirt with the company logo. Miss Jay’s Place is
willing to improve the level of service offered to customers. As such it shows the appreciation to
customers by having a annually customer day where the customers receive treats and
discounts on products sold that day. One suggestion for Miss Jay’s Place to extend their
customer base is by offering a delivery service for their products in the peak time for lunch. For
example, getting orders for students at the Medical Sciences building who only have a single
food option which is the recently opened Burger King. Most times students at that section of the
campus would want to buy something but the food outlets are too far.
With the new creative and innovative ideas that Miss Jay’s place wishes to implement will see
the business still being successful for many years to come.
FINANCIAL PLAN
*​Finances represent a 22week financial period
Weekly Time Line
Time Line for Customer’s Apprecition
Customer’s Appreciation is the largest event outside of Weekly runnings of the KIOS put
on yearly by Ms.Jay’s Place. This event is held specifically On the Friday of the last
week of teaching for the first semester. In order for Customer’s Appreciation to be a
success a number of extra activities have to be completed. Some of these activities
include:
●
Purchasing double usual stock of drinks/juice.
● Restock of popular items purchased.
●
Extra workshop or meeting of employees to better produce good customer
service.
●
Having free combos eg. Free drink of your choice with every meal purchased.
●
Customer’s evaluation of the service thus far and how they can better serve and
improve.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Donald F. Kuratko. Entrepreneurship Theory, Practice and Process, 2009.
South-Western Cengage Learning
Porter’s Five Forces- Competitive Rivalry Among Existing Firms.​ ​Retrieved from,
http://valuationacademy.com/competitive-rivalry-among-existing-firms/