SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Ø Innovative Ideas
Ø Environmentally Sustainable
Ø Student Friendly
Ø Cost saving through growing own vegetables (+ employing sustainable procedures, e.g. reusing grey water, recycling, compost, solar power, less packaging, sell reusable coffee mugs)
Ø Attracts a large market of students from both TAFE and University –good location
Ø Popularisation of the cafe business, everybody needs coffee- strong trend
Ø Efficient works and services with text orders (+ confirmation texts)
Ø Low risk to implement a cafe business
Ø Plenty of students in Perth – In demand (growth opportunities)
Ø Promising niche market, growth potential
Ø Location near ECU, TAFE and students’ homes, on the CAT bus route, near the train station and car parks– very accessible + located in fast developing suburb
Ø Well-organised, easy procedures
Ø Catering to different needs
Ø Lower prices than the competition
The strengths of opening a cafe close to both campuses such as the Meadow explore the interests of the many students currently studying in Joondalup. The location is an advantage as it is close to public transport and within walking distance of both campuses and Joondalup train station. The idea of the Cafe being cost friendly by providing specials and text ordering ensures that it gains advantage over its competitors by appealing to the students’ lifestyle and their limited budget. The Meadow is an environmentally friendly cafe that uses sustainable means of powers. To reduce the Meadow’s operational costs the creators have come up with the idea of growing their own vegetables, herbs and fruit (around the
outside terrace and in a small greenhouse).
The café’s main advantage will be its ability to reduce all major costs by using sustainable means of power and growing their own produce. This also gives the café the competitive edge of being able to charge prices lower than their competitors appealing to students and their limited budget. The café is a unique business idea offering students new services to cater for their needs such as text ordering, which will enable customers to differentiate the Meadow from its competitors. The Meadow café is situated in a prime location in the heart of Joondalup,very accessibly located
near ECU, the TAFE, student homes, the CAT bus and the train station. This gives the café the strength of being able to attract as many potential customers as possible.
Weaknesses
Ø Initial Costs may be high
Ø Their limitation on a niche target market
Ø How are people going to find out about the café? – Publicity (might not be a problem in the future)
Ø High expenses
Ø Low profit – In holiday season
Ø Facilities cannot be rented instantly, still have to be built – dependency on owner, will take time to set up business
As the Meadow appeals to students it is limited in its target market; it does not advertise to the general public. Due to the cafe being new to the area publicity to encourage visitation may prove difficult as there is limited opportunities for advertising. As the Cafe will need to be built first a long wait time might have to be expected in order for the cafe to be prepared for trading. Building in the fast developing Joondalup area 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 cafe will see a dramatic drop in profits during the summer holiday period (December-February).
The Meadow café is at a disadvantage because its establishment is yet to be built resulting in the cafe earning zero profit until its grand opening day when operations begin. The initial costs needed to set up the business will be highly due to the implementation of sustainability but this weakness will be reduced over time because sustainable practices, in fact, lower their overall costs. Although the Meadow café will be available to the general public our promotional campaign will only be aimed at attracting students to the business. We will overcome these weaknesses by taking full advantage of our promotional campaign over the six week advertising period.
Opportunities
Ø Opportunity to Promote Sustainability
Ø Expanding the Café – A third level?
Ø Upgrading the Café – more equipment
Ø Multiple Locations
Ø Getting Company Status
Ø Target PhD students and staff, offer specials during the holidays
Ø Have different specials on (staff, students, 2 menu specials per day (1 vegetarian) –bulk buying, make other options more expensive, halal
day)
Ø Cutting down operating costs by establishing self-sustaining practices, reduce, reuse, recycle, producing our own resources)
Ø Offer volunteer opportunities maintaining the veggie garden
Ø Design merchandise (e.g. sell reusable coffee mugs with logo)
There are a number of opportunities that have been discovered when plans to open the Meadow Cafe come together. There is an opportunity to broaden the café’s target market and not only to attract a large market of students from both TAFE and university as the cafe will be located within walking distance of both campuses, but also to target staff. There is an opportunity to promote environmental sustainability to
the public, to save money on utilities and equipment by using sustainable means and to reduce operational costs by organising volunteers to help with the garden maintenance. The opportunity to promote to students by offering specials on food and drinks and respecting different dietary needs will help to attract new customers and to retain existing ones.
The Meadow has many opportunities which it may implement once they are up and running and profits are going steady. The café could design its own range of merchandise giving them the opportunity to increase their revenue through the sale of these items. The café also has the opportunity to expand their business by opening a new store in another key location that is easily accessed by students. They may decide to expand their
trading hours or become a 24hr establishment in order to accommodate all student patrons. The owners of the Meadow may choose to sell out their business to others as a franchise or become a company with many owners and stakeholders. The café will use its strengths to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Threats
Ø Rent Prices may be high (future rent increases, caused by progressing community development? Might still be low)
Ø Other cafes in the area
Ø Holiday Season
Ø Government regulations, requirements – high administrative costs, experts might be needed
Ø Varying prices for resources (food, electricity, gas, oil, water)
Ø Issues with the popularisation of the cafe business - the theme might be too common
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 with a number of businesses surrounding the site. As Joondalup is also a tourist precinct there are a number of cafes and restaurants nearby and on the campuses, which could affect visitation. As tertiary education does not occur all year round there will be a period in which there are only a very small amount of students at both campuses and this will lead to a dramatic drop in profits. Government regulations and licenses come at a cost, which could be a major issue for the Meadow being a small business and juggling changing prices of resources such as food, maintenance and utilities.
The business may be exposed to seasonality causing profits to decline over the holiday period. The business will reduce this threat by using this time to attract other customers such as PhD students and the general public to the café. Due to the café business being a popular market there will be a high amount of competition that the Meadow will have to face. The Meadow café has a good competitive edge over these competitors because it directly targets students, by combining food and drink with study and accommodating its prices to student budgets by offering discounts and promotions.
Ø Innovative Ideas
Ø Environmentally Sustainable
Ø Student Friendly
Ø Cost saving through growing own vegetables (+ employing sustainable procedures, e.g. reusing grey water, recycling, compost, solar power, less packaging, sell reusable coffee mugs)
Ø Attracts a large market of students from both TAFE and University –good location
Ø Popularisation of the cafe business, everybody needs coffee- strong trend
Ø Efficient works and services with text orders (+ confirmation texts)
Ø Low risk to implement a cafe business
Ø Plenty of students in Perth – In demand (growth opportunities)
Ø Promising niche market, growth potential
Ø Location near ECU, TAFE and students’ homes, on the CAT bus route, near the train station and car parks– very accessible + located in fast developing suburb
Ø Well-organised, easy procedures
Ø Catering to different needs
Ø Lower prices than the competition
The strengths of opening a cafe close to both campuses such as the Meadow explore the interests of the many students currently studying in Joondalup. The location is an advantage as it is close to public transport and within walking distance of both campuses and Joondalup train station. The idea of the Cafe being cost friendly by providing specials and text ordering ensures that it gains advantage over its competitors by appealing to the students’ lifestyle and their limited budget. The Meadow is an environmentally friendly cafe that uses sustainable means of powers. To reduce the Meadow’s operational costs the creators have come up with the idea of growing their own vegetables, herbs and fruit (around the
outside terrace and in a small greenhouse).
The café’s main advantage will be its ability to reduce all major costs by using sustainable means of power and growing their own produce. This also gives the café the competitive edge of being able to charge prices lower than their competitors appealing to students and their limited budget. The café is a unique business idea offering students new services to cater for their needs such as text ordering, which will enable customers to differentiate the Meadow from its competitors. The Meadow café is situated in a prime location in the heart of Joondalup,very accessibly located
near ECU, the TAFE, student homes, the CAT bus and the train station. This gives the café the strength of being able to attract as many potential customers as possible.
Weaknesses
Ø Initial Costs may be high
Ø Their limitation on a niche target market
Ø How are people going to find out about the café? – Publicity (might not be a problem in the future)
Ø High expenses
Ø Low profit – In holiday season
Ø Facilities cannot be rented instantly, still have to be built – dependency on owner, will take time to set up business
As the Meadow appeals to students it is limited in its target market; it does not advertise to the general public. Due to the cafe being new to the area publicity to encourage visitation may prove difficult as there is limited opportunities for advertising. As the Cafe will need to be built first a long wait time might have to be expected in order for the cafe to be prepared for trading. Building in the fast developing Joondalup area 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 cafe will see a dramatic drop in profits during the summer holiday period (December-February).
The Meadow café is at a disadvantage because its establishment is yet to be built resulting in the cafe earning zero profit until its grand opening day when operations begin. The initial costs needed to set up the business will be highly due to the implementation of sustainability but this weakness will be reduced over time because sustainable practices, in fact, lower their overall costs. Although the Meadow café will be available to the general public our promotional campaign will only be aimed at attracting students to the business. We will overcome these weaknesses by taking full advantage of our promotional campaign over the six week advertising period.
Opportunities
Ø Opportunity to Promote Sustainability
Ø Expanding the Café – A third level?
Ø Upgrading the Café – more equipment
Ø Multiple Locations
Ø Getting Company Status
Ø Target PhD students and staff, offer specials during the holidays
Ø Have different specials on (staff, students, 2 menu specials per day (1 vegetarian) –bulk buying, make other options more expensive, halal
day)
Ø Cutting down operating costs by establishing self-sustaining practices, reduce, reuse, recycle, producing our own resources)
Ø Offer volunteer opportunities maintaining the veggie garden
Ø Design merchandise (e.g. sell reusable coffee mugs with logo)
There are a number of opportunities that have been discovered when plans to open the Meadow Cafe come together. There is an opportunity to broaden the café’s target market and not only to attract a large market of students from both TAFE and university as the cafe will be located within walking distance of both campuses, but also to target staff. There is an opportunity to promote environmental sustainability to
the public, to save money on utilities and equipment by using sustainable means and to reduce operational costs by organising volunteers to help with the garden maintenance. The opportunity to promote to students by offering specials on food and drinks and respecting different dietary needs will help to attract new customers and to retain existing ones.
The Meadow has many opportunities which it may implement once they are up and running and profits are going steady. The café could design its own range of merchandise giving them the opportunity to increase their revenue through the sale of these items. The café also has the opportunity to expand their business by opening a new store in another key location that is easily accessed by students. They may decide to expand their
trading hours or become a 24hr establishment in order to accommodate all student patrons. The owners of the Meadow may choose to sell out their business to others as a franchise or become a company with many owners and stakeholders. The café will use its strengths to take full advantage of these opportunities.
Threats
Ø Rent Prices may be high (future rent increases, caused by progressing community development? Might still be low)
Ø Other cafes in the area
Ø Holiday Season
Ø Government regulations, requirements – high administrative costs, experts might be needed
Ø Varying prices for resources (food, electricity, gas, oil, water)
Ø Issues with the popularisation of the cafe business - the theme might be too common
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 with a number of businesses surrounding the site. As Joondalup is also a tourist precinct there are a number of cafes and restaurants nearby and on the campuses, which could affect visitation. As tertiary education does not occur all year round there will be a period in which there are only a very small amount of students at both campuses and this will lead to a dramatic drop in profits. Government regulations and licenses come at a cost, which could be a major issue for the Meadow being a small business and juggling changing prices of resources such as food, maintenance and utilities.
The business may be exposed to seasonality causing profits to decline over the holiday period. The business will reduce this threat by using this time to attract other customers such as PhD students and the general public to the café. Due to the café business being a popular market there will be a high amount of competition that the Meadow will have to face. The Meadow café has a good competitive edge over these competitors because it directly targets students, by combining food and drink with study and accommodating its prices to student budgets by offering discounts and promotions.