Business Prospective Of Midlands Fox Cafe

Business Activities

Discuss about the Business Prospective Of Midlands Fox Cafe.

The report is based on the business prospective of Midlands Fox Café based in Ontario, Canada. The Café has a long history as it was founded by Mr. Robertson Mills in the year 1972 in 1662 Lockhart Drive in the city of Barrie, Ontario. The beginning was not easy for the business as it was severely criticized for opening such a café which had wild animals at its disposal. Several Animal lovers and organizations raised their concerns and enquired upon the business. However the business came out with flying colors as because they were able to convince the authorities that the animals were just pets and were taken utmost care of. The fox café in the mentioned area is the only such café of the state and also one of the very few among the number of animal Cafes in the North American country of Canada. The presence of the Fennec foxes which are too much cute in their appearance attracts a large number of customers in the café.

The mentioned cafe has the aim to serve the customers the best possible products and services that meets all the needs of the customers (Dunning 2014). It has been recently voted as the best animal café of Canada. The cafe boasts of clear screens to showcase the exquisite location where they are based. The mentioned eating house has a seating capacity of around 50 persons and arrangements are there to safely play with the fennec foxes. Apart from these the cafe ensures that the animals are treated in a proper way so that they do not face any problems.

The main products sold by the café are the number of snacks and food products. The foods served to the consumers include burgers, sandwiches, butter bread, tea, coffee, cold coffee and a variety of cookies and snacks. There are also provisions for supplying the people with cold drinks. The eating house serves its consumers beer on public holidays and on the time of Christmas (Dunning 2014).

Fennec foxes are a variety of fox that is found in Sub Saharan Africa. It is famous mostly for its unusually long ears which add up to its cute quotient (Cavusgil et al. 2014). The fox is considered to be a pet according to the Canadian Laws and thus it helps the organization to keep them as pets in the café. The organization has acquired the pets from a African Fox conservation company which is engaged in preserving the foxes and keeping the fox population of the continent stable (Armstrong et al. 2015).

Being the only Fox cafe in Toronto the mentioned cafe enjoys a high degree of competitive advantage over its rivals (Knudstorp et al. 2017). The mentioned café in Ontario has kept the competitive advantage of the organization by following some simple steps which are;

1. The cafe has kept the exotic species of Fennec fox in their business workplace which has made the café more and more attractive to the people of the country.
2. The company has focused mainly on positioning than prospecting. The following process will burn the company as it is an easier process to position one company as the leading force in the market or an expert in the business (Knudstorp et al. 2017).
3. The main aim of the company is to focus on the choice and likings of the people. Therefore the company has to ensure that they can develop a strong team to focus on the needs of the customers.
4. A proper strategic planning is one of the main aims of the company as it believes that having a proper planning helps to make the café one of the best in the business

The cafe has a niche market of mainly the college goers and the teenagers. It has a special customer area for serving the young couples. The snacks and food items offered to the customers differs in price (Wheelen et al. 2015). As mentioned earlier the company has a variety of different foods at its disposal starting from snacks and cookies to pizzas and burgers. The price ranges from $5 to$ $50. The company has adapted a cost effective strategy which helps to attract more and more customers to the café. The cost effective strategy is the best for the young generation that believes in saving rather than unnecessary spending (Jeong et al. 2017).

STRENGTHS	OPPURTUNITIES
·         Unique Concept(Fennec Fox) ·         Close to two main colleges and school ·         Proper maintenance of the café and huge experience of the present Management ·         Unique food items	·         Capability to attract customers from the universities and colleges ·         Capability to attract the niche group of customers ·         Desire to expand ·         Capability to build a brand equity
WEAKNESS	THREATS
·         Absence of a proper customer base ·         Animals need protection ·         Starting cost much higher ·         Problems with the customers	·         Lack of business expansion ·         Focusing on the animals rather than the food and people ·         New threats as opening of new cafes

Table 1- SWOT Table

Source- (As created by the author)

1. Strength- The unique concept of keeping fennec foxes in display and playing with them under proper guidance is a boon for the organization as it is a totally new concept which attracts large number of people to the café (Hoischen et al. 2014). The location of the café is also a huge advantage for the organization as because the café is situated in front of some large universities and colleges, thus attracting young college goers and other persons to visit the café (Shim and Kim 2016). The huge experience and the proper maintenance of the café help to run the business smoothly. Last but not the least the unique and vast range of food items serves as one of the main strengths of the company.
2. Weakness- The absence of loyal and trusted customers is certainly a great weakness of the cafe as absence of loyal customers does not help the cause of the organization. The animals need special protection and thus it leads to the rise in the start up costs of opening the café. The customers also try to cause harm to the animals which disturbs the smooth running of the organization.
3. Opportunities- The capabilities of the cafe to attract customers from university and creating a niche market for its unique food product is one of the largest opportunity that the company can avail to be the best in the business (Parker et al. 2015). The desire to expand and build brand equity is another main opportunity that can be undertaken to ensure success.
4. Threats- The absence of the expansion of business has been a constant threat since its start of operations from the year 1972. The lack of expansion shuts downs the business opportunities (Choi et al. 2014). The focus is too much on the animals and thus sometimes the quality and quantity of the foods are compromised. Last but not the least the slow rise of different cafes has made it vulnerable to external threats.

References

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. and Brennan, R., 2015. Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Education.

Cavusgil, S.T., Knight, G., Riesenberger, J.R., Rammal, H.G. and Rose, E.L., 2014. International business. Pearson Australia.

Choi, J.W., Lee, H.K., Kim, S.H., Kim, Y.H., Lee, K.K., Lee, M.H. and Oem, J.K., 2014. Canine adenovirus type 1 in a fennec fox (Vulpes zerda). Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 45(4), pp.947-950.

Dunning, J.H., 2014. The Globalization of Business (Routledge Revivals): The Challenge of the 1990s. Routledge.

Hoischen-Taubner, S., Bielecke, A. and Sundrum, A., 2014. Different perspectives on animal health and implications for communication between stakeholders. Farming systems facing global challenges: Capacities and strategies, pp.8-16.

Jeong, G.J., Oh, W.J., Li, K., Seo, S.J. and Hong, C.K., 2017. [P266] Zoonotic infections in children from a pet cafe: a report of 3 cases. ????? (? ???), 69(1), pp.408-409.

Knudstorp, J.V., Maskus, K., Teece, D. and Christensen, B.J., 2017. Business on Globalization—A Panel. In Globalization (pp. 587-600). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Parker, C., Carey, R., De Costa, J. and Scrinis, G., 2015. The Hidden Hand of the Market: Who Regulates Animal Welfare Under a Labelling for Consumer Choice Approach?.

Shim, H. and Kim, D., PNV Co., Ltd., 2016. Animal healthcare device and healthcare method using same. U.S. Patent Application 15/073,893.

Wheelen, T.L., Hunger, J.D., Hoffman, A.N. and Bamford, C.E., 2015. Strategic Management And Business Policy: Globalization, Innovation, and Sustaibility, Global Edition.