Vision and Mission
The Coffee Club is a start- up coffee business in Oman which aims to become the daily necessity for the coffee addicts for relieving their stress and providing them a comfortable place for socializing with their friends. Great customer service and high quality gourmet coffee is in high demand among the customers. This opportunity will be utilized by The Coffee Club by way of offering the best prepared coffee in the area. This business plan provides the value proposition of The Coffee Culture along with making identification of its target market, marketing and growth strategies, market and competitor analysis, resources, risks along with the financial projections.
The vision of the business is to create a unique place for the customers to socialize with their friends. The business will further make efforts for relieving the daily stress of their customers by providing piece of mind through convenient location, great ambience, products of quality and friendly customer service. The profits earned by The Coffee Club will be invested for increasing the satisfaction level of the employees along with providing a stable return to the shareholders.
The aims and objectives of The Coffee Club for the first year of operations include:
- Earning profits in the first year of operations.
- Being selected as the “Best New Coffee outlet in the area” by local restaurant guide.
- Maintaining a 60% gross margin.
The Coffee Club will position itself as a unique coffee outlet where the customers can enjoy a perfect coffee with in a peaceful environment. The Coffee Club will structure the outlet with the help of comfortable chairs and sofas with relaxing music and dimmed light such that the customers can get relived from their daily stress. This feature will allow the customers to differentiate it from the other competitors in the market (Lee, Moon and Song, 2018).
The target market of The Coffee Club will include students, teenagers and working population of the nearby areas. These consumer groups have been selected as the target market as they are most likely to buy gourmet coffee products. The basic target of The Coffee Club comprise of the people who want to sit in a relaxing environment for having a great cup of coffee. Teenagers consider these types of cafes as the most convenient place for studying and for socializing with friends. Since gourmet coffee consumption is universal among the people belonging to different income categories and different age groups, all of these will be included in the target market of the business (Lee, Moon and Song, 2018).
The coffee consumption in Oman has portrayed a steady growth. People demand great tasting coffee at affordable prices from the cafes along with a comfortable environment.
Porter’s Five Forces-
Threat of new entrants- There is moderate threat of new entrants for The Coffee Club. The barriers and the initial investment required for the purpose of starting a coffee business is not high. There is moderately high level of saturation in the industry. The new brands are mostly not able to compete with already established brands like Starbucks and their probability of becoming successful is also low to moderate.
Threat of Substitutes- There are high number of substitutes available for the coffee product of The Coffee Club. The substitutes available include alcoholic and non- alcoholic beverages along with tea which are easily offered in the market. Restaurants and pubs in the area offer quality products along with good ambience to the customers. The threat of substitutes is moderated by brand loyalty and premium quality products to some extent (Mathe, Scott-Halsell, Kim and Krawczyk, 2017).
Aims and Objectives
Bargaining power of buyers- The bargaining power of the buyers in the context of The Coffee Club is moderate to low. The influence of an individual buyer is not much due to small sizes of the purchases made by them. Prices cannot be increased of the coffee sold by the cafes as it can lead to switching of the preferences by the customers.
Bargaining power of suppliers- The bargaining power of the suppliers in the context of The Coffee Club is low to moderate. This is due to the fact that there are own supplier diversity policy of the businesses through which they make the selection of their suppliers. In order to significantly reduce the bargaining power of the suppliers, excellent supply chain management is very necessary.
Competitive rivalry- The competitive rivalry in the industry in which The Coffee Club will operate is moderate to high. The market share is mostly possessed by the already established brands such as Starbucks and therefore monopolistic competition exits in the market (Kang, Tang, and Fiore, 2015). There are small barriers for entry and exit in the market. Therefore, this can lead to hurdles in the success of The Coffee Club.
The major competition will be faced by The Coffee Club from Starbucks and Lino’s Coffee. The strength of The Coffee Club in comparison to Starbucks and Lino’s Coffee is that it can provide good coffee and at a cozy environment at an affordable price. The business will cater to both minds and bodies of the customers which, in turn, will assist in growing its market share in the competitive environment (Brinckmann and Kim, 2015). However, the weakness of the business is that Starbucks and Lino’s Coffee are already established brands in the market and the survival of the business it very difficult in front of such competitors (Hwang, Han and Kim, 2015).
Pleasant environment, great tasting coffee and quick service are some of the factors which lead to returning of the customers to a particular coffee outlet. The Coffee Culture will aim at producing competitive product offerings due to uniformity in the consumption of coffee among different income segments (Jalilvand, Salimipour, Elyasi and Mohammadi, 2017).
The Coffee Club will adopt the following marketing mix for the purpose of surviving in the market-
Product-
Best tasting coffee in the area will be provided by The Coffee Club to its customers. This coffee will be prepared through the use of high quality ingredients. Along with coffee, the outlet will also offer espresso drinks, refreshment beverages and brewed coffee and tea, and some snacks (Levy, Reinecke and Manning, 2016).
Price- The prices of the products offered by The Coffee Club will be kept a bit lower as compared to the prices set by the competitors. This is due to the fact that the target market of the business consists of population from all income segments (Aklimawati, Soemarno and Mawardi, 2016).
Promotion- the promotion of The Coffee Culture will be conducted through different methods such as broadcast media, direct mail, community involvement, etc. Furthermore, promotion will be conducted with the help of posters in order create awareness regarding the opening of the coffee store among the nearby resident population (Mehta, 2016).
Value Proposition
Place- The Coffee Club will be situated in a shopping mall in a crowded location so that it is capable of making high number of sales in the first year of its business. The place of the business will play an important role in its success. The shoppers can sit and relax with their friends and family after hours of shopping in The Coffee Club (Salehzadeh, Khazaei Pool, Tabaeeian, Amani and Mortazavi, 2017).
The Coffee Club will enter the market in the form of a limited liability corporation. The capital will be brought in the by the three partners on an equal basis. Initially, the business will focus on the students and tourists as the part of its target market. This target market can provide a big push to the business in the initial days itself. Clean environment will be built in the outlet along with the use of comfortable modern furniture in order to provide comfort to the customers. The focused efforts of the business will lead the business towards new heights (Burns and Dewhurst, 2016).
The business will pursue a growth strategy that will allow it to establish its brand name in the market along with effective dealing with the monopoly of the already established competitors such as Starbucks. The logo of the business will be designed in a manner such that it becomes an eye catcher. The name of the products being offered by the business will also be kept attractive such that it attracts the teenagers and the young working population of the area. Moreover, variations in the products and tastes will be brought from time to time in order to catch the attention of new market segments (McKenzie, 2017).
The financial projection plays an important role in depicting the future financial situation of the company. The partners of the company have initially contributed .?. ? in the form of capital for the business. In order to compete in the market, The Coffee Culture will keep its prices as low as possible. The sales price of one unit of coffee will be 250 .?. ? (Appendix 1). The fixed costs of the business will be equal to 100,000 .?. ? (Appendix 1). The projections are based on the assumptions that the selling price and the sales in the first year of the business will be low. With the passage of time, the business will gain popularity among the public and therefore will be able to establish a brand image. This financial projection of The Coffee Culture is based on Break even calculation, monthly cash flow forecast along with the income statement and balance sheet. The monthly sales forecast of the business provides that it is expected to make the sales equivalent to 2,114,000 .?. ? in its first year of operations (Appendix 2). However, a lot of expenses will also be incurred in the first year such as legal expenses, purchase of equipment, raw material purchase, etc. The closing cash balance of The Coffee Culture is expected to be 966,000 .?. ?. The initial capital contribution by the business owners was 500,000 .?. ?, however it is expected to become 773,909 .?. ? at the end of the first year of operations (Appendix 4). The business is also expected to make a net profit of 139,750 .?. ? after expenses and tax (Appendix 3).
Identification of Target Market Segment
The Coffee Culture will require the following resources for the purpose of meeting its day to day requirements-
Infrastructure- These days, infrastructure can be regarded as one of the most important resource for the businesses operating in restaurant industry. The types of tables, chairs and sofas used in The Coffee Culture will play an important role in the success of the business. This is due to the fact that mostly teenagers visit such places for the purpose of clicking the snaps and updating them on their social media accounts. Therefore, designers are required for this type of special designing. Along with this, parking facility is also important for keeping the customers and staff satisfied.
Equipment- The business will require the use of certain resources in the form of equipment for the effective functioning of the tasks. Coffee machines are the most important equipment for this type of business. Moreover, The Coffee Culture will need effective refrigeration and freezers for storing various products such as milk. Equipment such as cups, plates, spoons will also be needed for the businesses.
Human Resources- Human resources are an essential resource for each and every business. This is due to the fact that the diverse functions involved in a business cannot be performed by the owner on its own (McKeever, 2016). Therefore, the assistance of the workers who excel in the defined area is needed for meeting the said purpose. Staff will be required by The Coffee Culture for preparation of the products, along with serving them to the customers. Moreover, manager will also require to be hired for the purpose of managing the activities of the staff working for the business. Some people will also be hired for advertising the business in online classified, and through newspapers and posters in the nearby areas (Tracey, 2016).
Financing will be required by The Coffee Culture for the purpose of meeting a number of expenses such as marketing promotion expenses, legal expenses, consultant fees, insurance, pre- paid rent expenses and other start- up expenses. Financing will be needed by The Coffee Culture in order to meet these types of expenses. Working capital loans can be acquired by the business for the purpose of effectively meeting the day to day expenses. Other sources of financing can also be utilized by the business for acquiring the capital loans such as alternative funding, loan from traditional banks, angel investors, friends and family or venture capital firms (Yunus, 2017).
A business is always surrounded by a large number of risks. For a start- up business like The Coffee Culture, some of the risks have been identified below:
High Costs- Initially, a business is not capable of meeting high costs due to lack of available capital. Diverse costs are incurred at the time of starting a new business. The amount spent is for the purpose of meeting the legal expenses, employee salaries, advertising and promotional expenses, insurance, etc. Cost control is very important in the initial stages due to the fact that it can even lead to the closure of the business due to heavy losses and over- expenditure (Barnier and Wright, 2017).
Market and Competitor Analysis
For the purpose of mitigating the risks caused due to the involvement of high costs in the business, The Coffee Culture should establish its operations in a manner as lean as possible. The selection of suppliers should also be done wisely in order to avoid the incurring of unnecessary costs. Creative strategies are also required to be adopted for this purpose by making the changes in the operating hours and service model (Lancaster and Thomas, 2016).
Risk Relating to Capital- The shortage of capital is the challenge which is experienced by almost all the businesses in its initial stages. Such shortage often leads to the failure of the business due to non- capability of the business to make the needed payments. The Coffee Culture is required to maintain enough liquid cash in order to meet the day to day expenses such as the salaries of the employees, payment to the suppliers along with meeting the other operating expenses (Baum, Caglayan and Rashid, 2017).
The risk relating to the non- availability of adequate cash and capital can be mitigated with the help of a cash crunch contingency plan. This will assist the business in keeping the required cash such that the day to day expenses can be met effectively without any problems. This will not lead the business to the emergency circumstances. Maintaining proper accounting records will help The Coffee Culture in obtaining loans and credits from the financial institutions and banks whenever needed (Sadgrove, 2016).
Food Safety Concerns – Food safety is one of the most important risks suffered by the restaurant businesses. A small fault on the part of the restaurant can put it into big troubles and legal cases. Food poisoning and food borne illness can result from the products consumed by the customers. The staff working with The Coffee Culture will be trained which can assist them in maintaining the proper food standards. They should also be warned regarding serving contaminated products to the customers. If such instances take place within the business, the image of the company is significantly hampered. The mitigation of this risk is possible only by way providing appropriate training to the personnel along with making them aware regarding their roles and responsibilities within the organization. This training will assist them in making the early identification and avoidance of food contamination and food borne illness (Läikkö- Roto and Nevas, 2014).
Fire Safety- Working on the electronic equipment can sometimes lead the business to risks of fire. This is due to the fact that high temperatures are used in the restaurants for the purpose of cooking the food products. In cases, where the fire takes place, the entire restaurant is destroyed and the business becomes incapable of dealing with such a risk leading to its failure. This type of fire risk can be mitigated through keeping fire safety equipment in each and every part of the restaurant such that the situation can be managed. Also, fire safety steps should also be taught to the staff such the damage can be minimized (Park, Song and Lee, 2017).
Competitor Analysis
Conclusion
This business plan provided the value proposition of The Coffee Culture along with making identification of its target market, marketing and growth strategies, market and competitor analysis, resources, risks along with the financial projections. The Coffee Club is a start- up coffee business in Oman which aims to become the daily necessity for the coffee addicts for relieving their stress and providing them a comfortable place for socializing with their friends. In order to achieve the vision and mission of the business, The Coffee Club has selected students, teenagers and working population of the nearby areas as its target market segment. The major competition will be faced by The Coffee Club from Starbucks and Lino’s Coffee. Along with coffee, the outlet will also offer espresso drinks, refreshment beverages and brewed coffee and tea, and some snacks. The prices of the products of The Coffee Culture will be kept reasonable.
References
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