Business plan
THHGLE19B
Student name: Tingting (Diana) Song
Student ID: C05681
Introduction
This report aims to set out the reasons for doing so and the strategies and
tactics that we will employ that will improve the current business levels. We will
determine the establishment’s apparent marketing strategy by observation and
conduct research into their advertising and promotional activities. We will also
need to observe our customers and the current level of business.
Summary
Business profile
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta will be the leading gourmet pasta restaurant in
Eugene, OR with a rapidly developing consumer brand and growing customer
base. The signature line of innovative, premium, pasta dishes include pesto
with smoked salmon, pancetta and peas linguini in an Alfredo sauce, and fresh
mussels and clams in a marinara sauce. Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta also
serves distinct salads, desserts, and beverages.
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta will reinvent the pasta experience for individuals,
families, and take out customers with discretionary income by selling high
quality, innovative products at a reasonable price, designing tasteful,
convenient locations, and providing industry-benchmark customer service.
In order to grow at a rate consistent with our objectives, Sigmund's is offering
an additional $500,000 in equity. Existing members will be given the first option
to subscribe to the additional equity to allow each of them to maintain their
percentage of ownership. The portion not subscribed by existing members will
be available for prospective new investors.
Marketing plan
Situation Analysis
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta is close to entering their second year of operation.
The restaurant has been well received, and marketing is now critical to its
continued success and future profitability. The store offers an extensive
offering of gourmet pastas. The basic market need is to offer individuals,
families, and take out customers’ fresh, creative, attractive, pasta dishes,
salads and desserts. Sigmund's uses homemade pasta, fresh vegetables, and
premium meats and cheeses.
Sigmund’s' and customers fall into two sorts as below:
1、Customers Fond of Premium Service and Products：
For these customers, what they give special attention to lies in the followings:
first, high-quality coffees; second, customized service; third, extraordinary
meal experience. They, as the name of rational consumers defines, make a
point of enjoying coffees, refreshment，professional services and accessing
information..
2、Customers Fond of Easy and Carefree Style.：
For these customers, what they pay close attention to lies in the followings:
carefree air, aesthetic feeling; convenience, comfort; various service; low price;
high reputation. Such customers underscore aesthetic feeling, broad vision, as
well as services in efficiency and convenience. In addition, they take tangible
services, price, and reputation into account under given circumstances. They
belong to perceptual consumers, thinking much of sense, air, comfort and
convenience. To meet a wide range of and customer’s need, we can launch
the following marketing strategy:
Customers Fond of Premium Service and Product
Customers Fond of Easy and Carefree Style
Strategic assessment
SWOT Analysis
The following SWOT analysis captures the key strengths and weaknesses
within the company, and describes the opportunities and threats facing
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta.
Strengths
Strong relationships with vendors that offer high-quality ingredients and
fast/frequent delivery schedules.
Excellent staff who are highly trained and very customer attentive.
Great retail space that is bright, hip, clean, and located in an upscale mall,
suburban neighborhood, or urban retail district.
High customer loyalty among repeat customers.
High-quality food offerings that exceed competitors offerings in quality,
presentation, and price.
Weaknesses
Sigmund's name lacks brand equity.
A limited marketing budget to develop brand awareness.
The struggle to continually appear to be cutting edge.
Opportunities
Growing market with a significant percentage of the target market still not
aware that Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta exists.
Increasing sales opportunities in take out business.
The ability to spread overhead over multiple revenue centers. Sigmund's will
be able to spread the management overhead costs among the multiple stores,
decreasing the fixed costs per store.
Threats
Competition from local restaurants that respond to Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta's
superior offerings.
Gourmet pasta restaurant chains found in other markets coming to Eugene.
A slump in the economy reducing customer's disposable income spent on
eating out.
Product analysis
1. Highlight coffee-related products such as coffee beverage quality, and
provide a broad variety of coffee, with development of new products, supply of
information about coffee, a wave of report and introduction.
2. Western-style refreshment also needs to be thought highly of, in particular
quality and variety. 3. No less emphasis on tactile sensation of tableware.
3. Provide overall service, including newspapers and magazines in
coordination with bookstores, self-service milk balls and packets of sugar.
Elaboration of the whole environments including appearance, house
decoration, furnishings and visual field. Comfort and ease in all details, for
example, furnishing of comfortable couch. Female customers occupy priority
position in such buyers, and then a clean bathroom is not ignored
Price
Such customers have less concern over price, with strong appetite for
degusting premium coffee. In this regard, we can supply new developed
products to attract customers in this section.
This sort of customers relatively set store by price; but they are liable to
establish good faith in Starbuck in case they are comfortable with consumption
here. Furthermore, they pay higher than other customers.
Sales Promotion
Through main channels such as public reputation, along with other channels
including endorsement by well-know persons, signboard or print advertising，
and web site that customers can easily and quickly access information in order
to expand its business.
Place
1. To expand its retail business and open stores in new markets where the
opportunity exists, in order to facilitate customers to rapidly find the niche in
market; and develop value-added products.
2. Kotler takes it that service is undivided, and then the employers should open
new stores to facilitate customers. What is more, number of new store goes
along with market share. Arrangements with bookstores, automobile industry,
and sale markets to increase market share.
Sale to customers and sale within company
Employee to customer：
1. Customers who fond of premium service and products, think much more of
weather or not service staff are equipped with profound professional
knowledge.
2. Customers who fond of comfort and ease, make much account of attitude,
hospitality, efficiency from employees.
Company to employee：
1. Company's image: such as professional profile and hospitality, embodies in
employee's uniform.
2. On-the-job training program: To strengthen professional knowledge by
routine training program.
3. Empathy cultivation: Employee can identify with consumer's feelings
through role play exercises. To reach common understanding with employees
to enhance service culture, and open a communication channel for employees
to speak freely; and place full confidence in employees. Keep employees and
enhance their sense of identification and refresh their zeal. To boost
employee's morale and quickly increase market share in Taiwan markets, by
establishing profit sharing system with employees step by step.
Competitor analysis
Suggestions to customers in various involvement levels：. Whole professional
profile: To customers in higher involvement levels, coffee quality comprises the
main reason why they get access to Starbuck. Therefore, Starbuck，in order to
guarantee freshness and stability of coffee, pays attention to controlling,
managing and preserving raw materials. On the other hand, by diversifying
products to create more opportunities for customers, Starbuck wants to attract
customers in lower involvement levels. Product quality of non-coffee products：
When they go to Starbuck and consume there, customers in higher
involvement levels take coffee product as first choice. For this reason, the
company expands its product line and develops coffee-related accessories
and equipment. To customers in lower involvement levels, the company can
highlight accessories of coffee, so as to attract them to get interested in coffee
gradually. Service quality：Starbuck should strengthen professional knowledge
of service staff and their service speed needs speed up. For this reason,
customers in higher involvement levels can/will take less risk with increasing
faithfulness. Hospitality from service staff at forefront will multiply opportunities
that customers in lower involvement levels purchases again, besides leaving
an indelible impression on them.
Consumption environments：As the analytical result of this research indicates,
satisfaction degree to consumption environments, felt by customers in higher
involvement levels, stands at 3.85 on average between normal and
satisfactory levels, at the bottom of whole satisfactory levels. Namely, there
leaves a broad space to improve consumption environments. In this regard, we
suggest that featured space should be emphasized in order to create whole
comfortable and restful environments and climate for customers. To customers
in lower involvement levels, the company should provide diversified service,
such as newspapers and magazines, or wireless network. As a result,
customers can enjoy value added service and remain loyal to the company.
Moreover, pursuant to the survey in this research, we add other items below to
foregoing marketing mix: In accordance with the research result, we learn that
coffee quality plays an important role in customer's inclination to purchase
again. Accordingly, chain stores of Starbuck should，on one hand, supervise
and manage product quality in a greater degree; on the other hand, make
much account of training service staff. Besides, most of customers fall short of
accessing to non-coffee beverages. In this regard, we should offer a broad
selection of non-coffee beverages, or promote seasonal or limited goods. In
light with Chinese and Western taste, we should take further step to develop
new products, which businessmen take a more pleasure in. Thereby, to
expand to locate in middle-income class and attract more rational customers.
Rich in store profile. So to speak, it's store profile with elaborate interior design
that plays a significant part in victory in catering trade. Moreover, customers
attach more importance to feelings that arise from interaction with
businessmen (Lowe Crewe, 1996). Concerning to space layout for Chain
stores, because both storefront design and upholstery of all chain stores of
Starbuck in Beijing are settled by Starbuck in America, Starbuck in Beijing
adapts revised plan of store profile to local conditions. To a limited degree that
benefits store's profile, Starbuck in Beijing exerts their most efforts to adapt
Starbuck style for its appearance transformation and interior decoration. To the
selection of furniture, Starbuck should prefer to adopt modern style art mural
and big-and-middle-sized sofa in all kinds, as well as relatively elegant wooden
tables and chairs, bar counter, different from house furnishings of traditional
cafes. To auditory sense, Starbuck also should adopt Starbuck-style Music
suited to its whole brand profile, which leads customers to experience
Starbuck-style Mood. In addition, to sense of smell and taste, Starbuck roasts
coffee bean by Starbuck-style method, and provide customers with a high
roast coffee different from instant coffee and canned coffee, in order to
stimulate taste sense of customers..
Promotion and Sales Promotion and Advertising Strategy. Pursuant to the
result of questionnaire survey, the coffee consumption frequency by majority
customers, accounts for once per month in the first place; biweekly in the
second. Obviously, it's urgent to attract customers to visit Starbuck. Because
customers of Starbuck stay on at stores for a long time, we suggest that
Starbuck can add refill service and boost consumption incentive, in order to
increase consumption frequency. Accordingly, appropriate sales promotions
not only stimulate consumption and boost consumption frequency, but also
grow its popularity. Our research report suggests that employers should create
distinctive brand personality. Through various media channels such as
advertisement, subject of retail store, interior decoration, product attributes,
Starbuck can represent brand personality in efficiency, lead customers to feel it
in full degree. By this method, customers can identify with the brand with their
relevant reaction. What is more, brand personality also embodies in marketing.
In view of consumption group in conformity with its brand personality, we
should reinforce marketing and design relevant services for this group. As a
result, other consumption groups who get access to retail stores can also
intensively feel attractiveness of the brand personality; we can also narrow the
gap between brand personality and customer's inclination. 3. According to the
result of field survey questionnaire, we find that most of customers accept the
price between 101 and 160￥ every time, namely, customers can bear the
highest price up to 160￥. Therefore, if new products open to markets, we
should keep product price below 160￥ and eliminate their sensitivity of price.
But, we should keep the price no less 100￥, because Starbucks locates itself
in high-end market; if not, lower price will result in plummeting in high-end
customers. 4. Among customers of coffee chain stores of Starbuck,
businessmen and officers are in the majority. We suggest that show stores can
work together with bookstores, arrange with retail store licensing agreements
in pluralized forms, joint with other industries such as bank, high-tech industry
to issue Co-Brand card. Issue of Co-Brand card not only strengthens
customer’s loyalty, but also stores consumption record. In this regard, it's
helpful to manage customer relation with Starbuck.
Marketing strategies
Positioning
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta will position itself as a reasonably priced, upscale,
gourmet pasta restaurant. Eugene consumers who appreciate high-quality
food will recognize the value and unique offerings of Sigmund's Gourmet
Pasta. Patrons will be single as well as families, ages 25-50.
Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta positioning will leverage their competitive edge:
Product
The product will have the freshest ingredients including homemade pasta,
imported cheeses, organic vegetables, and top-shelf meats. The product will
also be developed to enhance presentation, everything will be aesthetically
pleasing.
Service
Customer service will be the priority. All employees will ensure that the
customers are having the most pleasant dining experience. All employees will
go through an extensive training program and only experienced people will be
hired.
By offering a superior product, coupled with superior service, Sigmund's will
excel relative to the competition.
Marketing Mix
Sigmund's marketing mix is comprised of these following approaches to pricing,
distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service.
Pricing
Sigmund's pricing scheme is that the product cost is 45% of the total retail
price.
Distribution
Sigmund's food will be distributed through a take out model where customers
can call in their order and come to the restaurant to pick it up, come into the
restaurant, place the take out order and wait for it to be completed, or come in
and dine at the restaurant.
Advertising and Promotion
The most successful advertising will be banner ads and inserts in the Register
Guard as well as a PR campaign of informational articles and reviews also
within the Register Guard.
Customer Service
Obsessive customer attention is the mantra. Sigmund's philosophy is that
whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur, even at
the expense of short-term profits. In the long term, this investment will pay off
with a fiercely loyal customer base that is extremely vocal to their friends with
referrals.
Financials, Budgets, and Forecasts
This section will offer a financial overview of Sigmund's Gourmet Pasta as it
relates to the marketing activities. Sigmund's will address Break-even Analysis,
sales forecasts, expense forecasts, and how those link to the marketing
strategy.
Break-even Analysis
The Break-even Analysis indicates that $40,000 will be needed in monthly
revenue to reach the break-even point.
Sales Forecast
The first two months will be used to get the restaurant up and running. By
month three things will get busier. Sales will gradually increase with profitability
being reached by the beginning of year two.
Expense Forecast
Marketing expenses are to be budgeted so that they are ramped up for months
two through four and then lower and plateau from month five to month 10.
Restaurants typically have increased business in the fall. This generally occurs
because during the summer, when the weather is nice and it does not get dark
until late, people tend to eat out less. From months 10-12, the marketing costs
will increase again.