Mind Map of Business
Business Overview
The Meadow
Introduction
The Meadow is a unique, convenient, sustainable and environmentally friendly café that is located in heart of Joondalup. Close to Edith Cowan University and TAFE the Meadow focuses on providing a place for these students to come, with a study area located on the second floor, above the Café. The Meadow will have its own fruit and vegetable garden or small greenhouse, from which it will get fresh produce to sell in the Café. Costs will be reduced by using sustainable energy - in the form of solar power, using recyclables, building our own furniture and using natural forms of lighting whenever possible. At first the Meadow Café will start out as a sole trader ownership or possibly a partnership with the potential -if successful- to develop into a company or multiple franchises. Trading hours will start out in the first few weeks as 7am – 8pm (CAT bus network ensures that we can cater to as many customers as possible as some wish to start the day early where as others prefer to study later at night). If we find that are trading hours are not suiting our busiest times we may decide to alter the trading hours to better suit the customers’ needs.
Strengths
Its location is a huge advantage for the Meadow Café; being situated near campuses, public transport (e.g. the CAT bus station) and the Joondalup train station will provide the business with a potentially large customer base. The Meadow Café will gain a competitive advantage by perfectly suiting the student lifestyle and students’ limited budget, being cost friendly by providing specials, student discounts and text ordering. Its main advantage is that it can reduce all its major costs by using sustainable means of power and growing their own fruit and vegetables.
Weaknesses
The Meadow Café is designed for students, hence the target market of the Café is selective and the business does not advertise to the general public. Due to the Café being new to the area, gaining publicity to encourage visitation may prove difficult as the business first has to gain the customers’ trust. Because the Café has not yet been built a long wait time until the café is ready and prepared for trading might have to be expected. As we are building in the fast developing area of Joondalup rent may be high with council fees and utilities proving costly. As university and TAFE are only open during specific times of the year the Café will have a dramatic drop in profit over the summer holiday period (December – February), which will be counteracted by offering specials targeting university staff and PhD students as well as residents of Joondalup.
Opportunities
There are many opportunities that the Meadow Café may consider implementing once they are up and running and profits are going steadily. The Meadow Café could design its own range of merchandise such as coffee mugs. They may decide to upgrade some of their current equipment or buy new equipment such as supplying computers or printing facilities in the study section. The Meadow Café could expand by adding a third level or opening a new store in another location. They may decide to develop into a company or sell out franchises. They have the opportunities to target other markets once they have developed. They have the opportunity to participate in corporate social responsibility by giving back to the community through promoting sustainability to the community and offering volunteer opportunities for maintaining the veggie garden as well as fundraising activities for charity organisations. At first we decided that the Meadow would be a 24hr café for students but it was then determined, that this would be costly and we could always expand the trading hours if the need arises.
Threats
The Meadow faces a number of threats in its development, all of which can have a lasting impact on the success or failure of the company. Rent in Joondalup is quite high as it is a developing area and it may be subject to future increases, which the Meadow Café will have to take into consideration. As Joondalup is also a tourist precinct there are a number of cafes and restaurants nearby and on the campuses, which could affect visitation numbers. As tertiary education does not occur all year round there will be a period in which there are no students at both campuses potentially causing a dramatic drop in profits. Government regulations and licenses come at a cost, which could be an issue for the Meadow being a small business and juggling changing prices of resources such as food, maintenance and utilities.
Promotional Strategy
With the target market being students the promotions will focus on attracting the students by handing out flyers, business cards, having student discounts, promotional stands on the campuses and promotional gifts. This will be done through mediums of text messaging, social media such as Facebook, feedback forms, websites, posters and the community newspaper. The majority of the promotional activities for The Meadow Café will take place six weeks leading up to the grand opening.
Six weeks prior – Website advertisements, posters, applications and Facebook page.
Three weeks prior – Flyers and business cards, radio advertising, promotional stands.
One week prior – Promotional gifts and flyers with student discounts.
Grand Opening Day – Live music, 2 for 1 coffee vouchers, loyalty cards, promotional gifts, online feedback forms.
Competition
The Meadow will need to compete with many surrounding businesses such as café’s and places which can offer the students study areas such as the elab and the library on the campuses. The Meadow will gain a competitive advantage over its competitors by offering students prices lower than their competitors’, which will be possible due to our cheaper operational processes. Additionally the Meadow Café merges two major components of student life –studying and relaxing having food and drinks- and therefore perfectly satisfies the needs and wants of its preferred target market.
Revenue
Our main sources of revenue will come from the sales of the food, drink and study products that we supply and we will also receive revenue from the sales of our merchandise.
Costs
The costs that will be incurred include all the start – up costs of a business such as a premises, equipment and licenses. Our major
start-up cost will be the implementation of making our business sustainable, such as solar panels and a rain water tank. Regular operating costs will be things such as utilities, wages, bills and raw materials.
Introduction
The Meadow is a unique, convenient, sustainable and environmentally friendly café that is located in heart of Joondalup. Close to Edith Cowan University and TAFE the Meadow focuses on providing a place for these students to come, with a study area located on the second floor, above the Café. The Meadow will have its own fruit and vegetable garden or small greenhouse, from which it will get fresh produce to sell in the Café. Costs will be reduced by using sustainable energy - in the form of solar power, using recyclables, building our own furniture and using natural forms of lighting whenever possible. At first the Meadow Café will start out as a sole trader ownership or possibly a partnership with the potential -if successful- to develop into a company or multiple franchises. Trading hours will start out in the first few weeks as 7am – 8pm (CAT bus network ensures that we can cater to as many customers as possible as some wish to start the day early where as others prefer to study later at night). If we find that are trading hours are not suiting our busiest times we may decide to alter the trading hours to better suit the customers’ needs.
Strengths
Its location is a huge advantage for the Meadow Café; being situated near campuses, public transport (e.g. the CAT bus station) and the Joondalup train station will provide the business with a potentially large customer base. The Meadow Café will gain a competitive advantage by perfectly suiting the student lifestyle and students’ limited budget, being cost friendly by providing specials, student discounts and text ordering. Its main advantage is that it can reduce all its major costs by using sustainable means of power and growing their own fruit and vegetables.
Weaknesses
The Meadow Café is designed for students, hence the target market of the Café is selective and the business does not advertise to the general public. Due to the Café being new to the area, gaining publicity to encourage visitation may prove difficult as the business first has to gain the customers’ trust. Because the Café has not yet been built a long wait time until the café is ready and prepared for trading might have to be expected. As we are building in the fast developing area of Joondalup rent may be high with council fees and utilities proving costly. As university and TAFE are only open during specific times of the year the Café will have a dramatic drop in profit over the summer holiday period (December – February), which will be counteracted by offering specials targeting university staff and PhD students as well as residents of Joondalup.
Opportunities
There are many opportunities that the Meadow Café may consider implementing once they are up and running and profits are going steadily. The Meadow Café could design its own range of merchandise such as coffee mugs. They may decide to upgrade some of their current equipment or buy new equipment such as supplying computers or printing facilities in the study section. The Meadow Café could expand by adding a third level or opening a new store in another location. They may decide to develop into a company or sell out franchises. They have the opportunities to target other markets once they have developed. They have the opportunity to participate in corporate social responsibility by giving back to the community through promoting sustainability to the community and offering volunteer opportunities for maintaining the veggie garden as well as fundraising activities for charity organisations. At first we decided that the Meadow would be a 24hr café for students but it was then determined, that this would be costly and we could always expand the trading hours if the need arises.
Threats
The Meadow faces a number of threats in its development, all of which can have a lasting impact on the success or failure of the company. Rent in Joondalup is quite high as it is a developing area and it may be subject to future increases, which the Meadow Café will have to take into consideration. As Joondalup is also a tourist precinct there are a number of cafes and restaurants nearby and on the campuses, which could affect visitation numbers. As tertiary education does not occur all year round there will be a period in which there are no students at both campuses potentially causing a dramatic drop in profits. Government regulations and licenses come at a cost, which could be an issue for the Meadow being a small business and juggling changing prices of resources such as food, maintenance and utilities.
Promotional Strategy
With the target market being students the promotions will focus on attracting the students by handing out flyers, business cards, having student discounts, promotional stands on the campuses and promotional gifts. This will be done through mediums of text messaging, social media such as Facebook, feedback forms, websites, posters and the community newspaper. The majority of the promotional activities for The Meadow Café will take place six weeks leading up to the grand opening.
Six weeks prior – Website advertisements, posters, applications and Facebook page.
Three weeks prior – Flyers and business cards, radio advertising, promotional stands.
One week prior – Promotional gifts and flyers with student discounts.
Grand Opening Day – Live music, 2 for 1 coffee vouchers, loyalty cards, promotional gifts, online feedback forms.
Competition
The Meadow will need to compete with many surrounding businesses such as café’s and places which can offer the students study areas such as the elab and the library on the campuses. The Meadow will gain a competitive advantage over its competitors by offering students prices lower than their competitors’, which will be possible due to our cheaper operational processes. Additionally the Meadow Café merges two major components of student life –studying and relaxing having food and drinks- and therefore perfectly satisfies the needs and wants of its preferred target market.
Revenue
Our main sources of revenue will come from the sales of the food, drink and study products that we supply and we will also receive revenue from the sales of our merchandise.
Costs
The costs that will be incurred include all the start – up costs of a business such as a premises, equipment and licenses. Our major
start-up cost will be the implementation of making our business sustainable, such as solar panels and a rain water tank. Regular operating costs will be things such as utilities, wages, bills and raw materials.