The Daily Perc Cafe and The Watertower Cafe - Lab Report Example

? Comparison between Two Business Plans of the of the of the The study mainly deals with the comparison of two business plans. It starts with the introduction of the two businesses. The two chosen businesses are The Daily Perc Cafe and The Watertower Cafe. Daily Perc Cafe is a beverage retailer. It is a breakfast and lunch cafe providing outdoor concept to the customers for relaxing and having fun. The Watertower Cafe is full service cafe/restaurant situated in Sweet Auburn District in Atlanta. The study reflects the strengths and weaknesses of their business plans. It also reflects the key elements considered by both the businesses for achieving competitive advantage in the market. The study concludes with an insight into the recommendations provided to both the businesses for overcoming the weaknesses and challenges and maintaining their position in the market. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Analysis 4 Findings 7 Conclusion and Recommendations 9 References 10 Introduction The project deals with the comparison of two business plans. This would help in analysing of their strategic short term and long term strategies followed by their financial accounting control methods. This would further help in finding out the strengths and weaknesses related to the strategic business plans of the two chosen companies and providing suggestions based on the findings. The two businesses that have been chosen for comparing their business plans are Daily perc cafe and Watertower Cafe. Daily Perc Cafe is a beverage retailer. It is a breakfast and lunch cafe providing outdoor concept to the customers for relaxing and having fun (Rope-een, 2011). It implements the system which is very new to the beverage as well as food service industry for providing cold and hot beverages in a time efficient and convenient manner. The setting of this cafe has upscale scenery along with calm soothing tone for offering comfort (Foursquare, 2013a). The cafe provides the customers with a touch of home. The Daily Perc provides its customers with fine cold and hot beverages specially blended teas, coffees and various other custom drinks. The Watertower Cafe is full service cafe/restaurant situated in Sweet Auburn District in Atlanta (Foursquare, 2013b). The restaurant mainly provides moderately priced food which is highly influenced by the French and African traditions. The restaurant specially features a coffee house having desert bars, areas for live performances, magazines etc (Yelp, 2013). Analysis Strategic planning helps in achievement of competitive advantage in the business operations by the management of all the operational, financial and marketing activities (May, 2010; Lientz, 2010; Hall, 2004). Through this planning process it becomes easier to overcome the challenges and achieve success in the market (Cassidy, 2005). The Daily Perc The Daily Perc mainly focuses on two market segments: a) the daily commuter and b) the captive consumer. The daily commuters are those who are travelling from/to work, out for shopping or drive, offering products and services etc. The captive consumers are those who remain in restricted environment which does not allow favourable departure or return when searching for refreshment because the refreshment is considered an integral element of the environment (Palo Alto Software, 2012). The cafe penetrates in both these consumer segments by means of deployment of the ‘drive thru facilities’ or ‘mobile cafes’ in most accessible locations. The cafe provides premium coffees in very little time than needed in order to satisfy its customers. The cafe considers four main points as the drivers which would help in the achievement of success. They are The best locations to attract the customers. Quality products comprising of fresh coffee beans, premium serving containers, clean equipments, consistent flavour etc. Friendly servers Finest Reputation created by means of word-of-mouth advertisements, various public relation and other promotional activities. The Cafe operates in retail coffee industry where it faces tough competition from milk shakes and soft drinks to adult beverages. TDP knows that it would face tough competition from national coffee houses such as Panera and Starbucks, other locally owned cafes and various fast food chains. It has planned to offer products in most efficient and convenient way which would be available either at the mobile cafes or the Drive-thru shops. This would differ in such way that the customers will not require finding parking place, waiting in long lines etc. The second differentiation in its business strategy is that it provides a benefit to the community by making 7.5 percent contribution to various customer recognized charities, institutions etc (Palto alto Software Inc., 2007). TDP has planned that as the season would change it would be offering various products which would stimulate the sales along with satisfying the customers’ wishes. The cafe provides special beverages at the time of holiday season. Moreover at the time of summer it provides frozen coffee and soft drinks and other cold beverages for bringing in more customers as well as retaining the existing ones. TDP targets those individuals who have more money and less time and also possess excellent taste in regards of making choices for beverages. It provides unique products to the customers within very short span of time which satisfies them more by saving their time. TDP has decided to implement competitive pricing strategy. The charity programs performed by the cafe have helped in increasing the customer loyalty as it has created an impression that it is doing something good to the community. It relies strongly on the alliances like PJ’s coffees, and the Drive-thru and mobile cafe facility manufacturers. The financial structure of the cafe is promising as well. It is following cost control techniques to keep the cost within a certain limit by incurring initial cost having value lower than the normal start up costs these days. TDP believes in a combination of long term debt and investment for carrying out the operational activities. The Watertower The Watertower provides high quality and affordable coffee based products within a distance of five miles. The restaurant/cafe aims at providing a sophisticated, sensual but at the same time casual coffee house experience for the customers visiting the place. The best part is that it is an affordable venture for the customers which help in retaining them. The drivers for achievement of success are based on four main factors: Quality products to the customers. Quality service so that the customers experience a good time in visiting the place. Implementation of an effective marketing strategy for targeting the audience as well as attracting them and achieving competitive advantage over the competitors. The management of all the operational, marketing and financial activities should be properly managed so that the experience of the customers not only helps in repeating the business but also in encouraging word-of-moth promotion. In this perspective employee management, proper inventory and quality control are the essential factors to be taken into consideration. The restaurant aims at selling moderate price products which is easily affordable by most of the customers. The venue comprises of brewed coffee, espresso based beverage, fruit smoothies, granite ices, juices and various other beverages. The desert bar also serves varieties of fresh prepared desserts and other baked foods related to breakfast items. The top competitors of Watertower are Sotto Sotto (Inman Park), Virginia (Inman Park), Thums up Dinner, The Roman Lily, Eureka and the Cabbagetown Grill. The cafe performs differentiation by providing an atmosphere of traditional coffeehouse which is not provided by the competitors. It targets the urban professionals located in the in town neighbourhood. It sources its financing by means of a combination of long term debt and investment. Findings The Daily Perc Strongest components in the business plan of The Daily Perc: Its charity related programs for the social welfare is driving the sales because of the perception of the customers that the cafe is doing well for the society. Providing services consuming less time, where the customers would not have to face difficulties standing in queue, brings in more customers who are in a rush. It is following cost control techniques to keep the cost within a certain limit by incurring initial cost having value lower than the normal start up costs these days. This is a positive aspect in terms of increasing the profitability by implementation of effective cost control techniques. Weakest components in the business plan of The Daily Perc: The competitive pricing technique does not make the products easily affordable by all the customers. It leads to reduce the target customer segment of the cafe. The cafe only targets the customers having more money. Thus it limits the target customer segment. The cafe should aim at increasing the target customer segment. The cafe does not keep the marketing strategy as one of the four key factors in achieving success in the business plans. It should be included because without an effective marketing strategy it becomes impossible to achieve success in the market. The Watertower Strongest components in the business plan of The Watertower: The restaurant aims at selling moderate price products which is easily affordable by most of the customers. This helps in attracting more customers leading to the increase in the sales. The cafe performs differentiation by providing an atmosphere of traditional coffeehouse which is not provided by the competitors. The restaurant provides sophisticated, sensual but at the same time casual coffee house experience for the customers visiting the place. The overall ambience, food and service offerings of the Watertower differentiate it from its competitors which also provide satisfaction to the customers. It considers the efficient marketing strategy as well as the management of the operational, financing and marketing activities as the key elements in the achievement of success in the business plan. Both the elements help in prospering the business in its market. Weakest components in the business plan of ‘The Watertower’: The restaurant serves food products or beverages within a distance of five miles. It should widen the operational market by taking steps for market expansion in order to attract more customers in the new market segment. The restaurant assumes that there is no unforeseen change in the technology of equipments for making it obsolete immediately. It should focus on making good investment in the technology for differentiating its products and services. The debt to total asset ratio of the company has decreased yearly. This states that it is not utilising the assets effectively for repaying the debt. Conclusion and Recommendations Both the cafes should work on their weaknesses and challenges to turn them into their strengths. The Daily Perc should plan for changing its pricing strategy in order to make it favourable to all sections of the customer segment. It should focus on its marketing strategy and keep it as the most important element in achieving success in the market. The Watertower should focus on market expansion and plan for an effective marketing strategy and effective management of the financing, operational and marketing activities in order to achieve success in the new market. References Cassidy, A. (2005). A practical guide to information systems strategic planning. New York: CRC Press. Foursquare. (2013a). Daily perc cafe. Retrieved from https://foursquare.com/v/daily-perc-cafe/4fce6c7fe4b056a498a24eea Foursquare. (2013b). The water tower cafe. Retrieved from https://foursquare.com/v/the-water-tower-cafe/4dc9cf4bb3adcc457c885089 Hall, R. E. (2004). Strategic planning for a small business. West Conshohocken: Infinity Publishing. Lientz, B. P. (2010). Breakthrough strategic IT and process planning. London: World Scientific. May, G. (2010). Strategic Planning: Fundamentals for Small Business. New York: Business Expert Press. Palo Alto Software. (2012). The daily Perc business plan. Retrieved from http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/14972/15331896/scarborough_eesbm7_sbp.pdf Palto alto Software Inc. (2007). The Water tower. Retrieved from http://antreprenor.money.ro/download/documente/watertowercafe_live.pdf Rope-een. (2011). Daily perc cafe - Kingston Jamaica. Retrieved from www.rope-een.com/daily-perc-cafe Yelp. (2013). Water tower cafe. Retrieved from http://www.yelp.com/biz/water-tower-cafe-new-york Read More