Club Coffee: Business Operations And Marketing Policies

Scope

Discuss about the business operations and the marketing policies of Club Coffee.
 

Purpose and Authorization

The following assignment evaluates the business operational and the marketing policies of Club Coffee, a cafe set up to provide exclusive food and beverage services to the consumers. The brand is a new venture opportunity that has enormous business potential. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to forecast the performance of the business entity by preparing a feasibility report. The feasibility report shall cover the operational and the financial policies that would assist the brand to achieve business sustainability in the domestic market

Club Cafe has to e explore newer business segments apart from the existing set of customers .In addition, the brand has to create a distinctive brand by offering superior customer service at a reasonable rate. Monk and Wagner (2012) mentioned that being a start up business entity the business entity has to be promoted well to create consumer awareness about the brand. Thus, aggressive promotional policies have to be used to develop a positive perception among the consumers in Australia.

In this regard, Leon (2014) noted that the marketing mix of the brand has to be implemented after considering the factors like consumer demand, the existing trends in the food and beverage Industry and the business potential of the brand. To match the international standards in the food and the beverage industry the workforce is trained to maximize the level of consumer satisfaction and awareness. Besides this, customer feedback shall be collected to assess the existing marketing strategies of the brand and make alterations as per the needs of the consumers 

The following are the limitations of the research study

1. There was a lack of adequate time to conduct an in-depth research study. This  was a major deterrent  to evaluate the commercial viability of the brand.
2. Lack of financial resources is a major limitation to the assignment.
3. No proper analysis was done on substitute brands to get detailed information on the financial, operational as well as the marketing strategies adopted by the brand. 

Operational Feasibility

According to Kermani and Rouhani (2014), the cafe business in Australia has expanded at a constant rate, thereby, having a sustainable market rate. As such, it can be said that the Club Coffee shall have a sustainable market potential if daily business functionalities are executed in an appropriate manner. As such, it can be said that the business operational policies have to be conducted when aligned with the long-term goals and objectives of the organization.

Hoch and Dulebohn (2013) mentioned that the Club Coffee should offer a range of food and beverage services to the consumers. Australia being a multi-cultural country, the brand has to offer services as per the nature and choices of a large number of consumers. As such, it can be said that Club Coffee shall offer a range of services to a large number of consumes coming from different sections of the society. Shaul and Tauber (2013) mentioned that the brand would develop a customized website, which would enable consumers to order goods from the convenience of their homes. Therefore, this would assist the brand to have a larger inflow of sales revenue. In addition, it can be said that the customized portal would increase the visibility of the brand.

Porter’s Five Forces Analysis

The following is the detailed analysis of the Porters five forces, which would help to analyze the external environment of the firm.

Limitations

Supplier Power – It is necessary that the supplier power have to be adequately analyzed in understanding the existing state of the plant in the market. According to Shaul and Tauber (2013), in the food and beverage industry proper bargaining should be made with the brands to come to a beneficial deal for the organization. Apart from this, a proper relationship has to be made with the suppliers of the organization to ensure constant flow of materials to enhance the productivity of the brand.

Buyer Power – According to Kim et al (2013), the buyer power shall largely determine the sales flow of revenue towards a business enterprise. The buyer power of the customers shall also determine the economic condition of a place. Thus, the external market environment of a business enterprise would be largely dependent on the purchasing capacity and power of the buyers.

Competitive Rivalry – There a lot of similar brands available, in the market, that shall pose a competitive threat to the business sustainability of the brand. According to Tsai et al. (2012), the brand has to ensure that to survive in a perfectly competitive market, the brand has to establish distinctive marketing and operational polices to ensure tough competition in a perfectly competitive market. The visibility of the brand has to be increased to attract prospective consumers towards the brand.

Threat of Substitution – The threat of substitute brands operating in the same product and service line can create obstacles to the growth of the brand. Thus,  Club Coffee has  to  ensure  that  the brands  sustain consumer  loyalty    irrespective  of  the   market  competition  .

New Entry- There is a threat of new entry of business enterprise entering the market that can pose a significant threat to the business sustainability. According to Shao et al. (2012),  the new entrants in the market operate a penetrating price strategy , which can shift consumer loyalty to other cafes offering similar products .

Team Management

The management shall play a crucial role for the growth and development of the cafe. Thus, the financial, operational as well as the marketing decisions shall be taken as per the pr-determined long-term goals and the objectives of the business enterprise. As such, De Toni et al. (2015), it is necessary that the financial s strength of the organization be evaluated when taking any business decision. Besides this, essential partnerships can also be formed with other reputed business enterprises to strengthen the inherent resource of the brand. According to Tasevska et al. (2014), the management of the organization along with the core functional group of the organization shall bear the responsibility of establishing the vision and the mission of the organization.

This would assist the business to align its operational activities with the long-term vision and the goals of the organization. The following is a list of weaknesses and strengths of the organization that can be used to assess the performance of the organization. Bansal and Agarwal (2015) mentioned that the management of the organization should be of assistance for the development of entrepreneurial as well as the functional skills of the business organization.  These skills of the organization are stated below:

Entrepreneurial Skills	Functional Skills
Strengths	Weaknesses	Strengths	Weaknesses
•        Strictly adhering  to  the  long term  goals and  objectives of the  organization •       Determination •       Enthusiasm •       Action Oriented	•       Self-sufficiency •       Resistance to changes •	•       Financial Skills •       Customer service  skills	•       Dealing with  crisis

Feasibility study

The firm will incur considerable costs in the initial stages. Jenatabadi et al. (2013) mentioned that to ensure smooth operations of the business enterprise, the brand has to develop the necessary structures as well as recruit the necessary workforce. It is expected that the initial budget of the organization shall be $ 7030.  In addition, the brand can apply for loans from the government and other private financial institutions. The initial budget of the organization shall be able to consist of various operational and financial operations to ensure the consistent business operations over a period of time.

According to Olson and Staley (2012), the National Bank of Australia shall provide loans to start-ups and small-scale business enterprises.  Thus, the financing needs of the business organization would be met through external financing. 

Type of Cost	Price of Cost
Domain Name Cost  (clubcoffee.com.au) (See appendix 7 for a comparison of prices)	$68.00
Computer (See appendix 9 for comparison of Apple Mac Computers)	$2000.00
Fax and  Printer (See appendix 10 for printer options)	$380.00
Software and  Hardware  Cost (See appendix 11 for detail of software needed)	$2620.00
Internet Costs	$1142.00
Utensils  Cost   (See appendix 12 for details of start up pack)	$790.00
Registering Business ownership and name  through the  Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)	$30.00

The following are the recommendations that  can be made to assist Club Coffee to  attain a  favorable position  

Implement training schemes – Club Coffee can implement training schemes to enhance the services offered by the staff.  In this regard, it can be said that effective training schemes would assist the business enterprise to reach a favorable position and adapt accordingly to the market conditions.  

Gather consumer feedback – The consumer feedbacks shall be considered seriously in making essential changes to the marketing policies of Club Coffee. The consumer issues shall be dealt sensitively in retaining the existing market goodwill and reputation of the brand.  The  consumer feedback would  be a  guide to the business  entity  to frame  its  policies  in a  appropriate  manner.

Online marketing policies – Special emphasis must be placed on online policies of the business enterprise. The customized portal created shall display a wide range of products and services to the business entity.  The online social media policies created would assist the business enterprise to create informal relationship with customers.  This will also assist the customers to post their reviews and feedbacks on the social media pages.

Pricing policies – Establishing effective policies would assist Club Coffee to enter the market of Australia. The penetrating pricing strategy would be effective in attracting prospective customers towards the brand. Furthermore, offering good hospitality services at a reasonable rate would develop a positive consumer perception.  

Substitute products- Club Coffee has to carefully observe the presence of substitute brands. This would assist the business enterprise to make necessary changes to the operational and the marketing policies. As such, creating a competitive edge over the substitute brands would enable the entity to achieve a larger market share in the domestic market.

Target segment of consumers – Club Coffee has to successfully develop the target segment of consumers and has created marketing and operating policies. It is expected that the youth is its primary segment of consumers. Thus, discounted rates can be offered to consumers who have been loyal to the brand over a period. 

Conclusion 

It can be stated that Club Coffee has suitable market opportunities to assist the business organization in its growth. As such, the feasibility report shall cover the organizational growth prospects as well as the marketing prospects of the brand. The financial report relates to the start up costs of the brand.  Thus, the brand shall have necessary financial as well as non-financial resources to assist the organization in its growth.  The substitute brands in the market shall pose a threat to the business sustainability of the brand in the market.    

References 

Bansal, V. and Agarwal, A., 2015. Enterprise resource planning: identifying relationships among critical success factors. Business Process Management Journal, 21(6), pp.1337-1352.

De Toni, A.F., Fornasier, A. and Nonino, F., 2015. The impact of implementation process on the perception of enterprise resource planning success. Business Process Management Journal, 21(2), pp.332-352.

Hoch, J.E. and Dulebohn, J.H., 2013. Shared leadership in enterprise resource planning and human resource management system implementation. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), pp.114-125.

Jenatabadi, H.S., Huang, H., Ismail, N.A. and Satar, N.B.M., 2013. Impact of supply chain management on the relationship between enterprise resource planning system and organizational performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(19), p.107.

Kermani, S.E. and Rouhani, S., 2014. Review of Readiness to the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in Mazandaran Wood and Paper Industries. Iranian Journal of Business and Economics, 1.

Kibler, E., Kautonen, T. and Fink, M., 2014. Regional social legitimacy of entrepreneurship: Implications for entrepreneurial intention and start-up behaviour. Regional Studies, 48(6), pp.995-1015.

Kim, J., Nicolaou, A.I. and Vasarhelyi, M.A., 2013. The Impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems on the Audit Report Lag. Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting, 10(1), pp.63-88.

Leon, A., 2014. Enterprise resource planning. McGraw-Hill Education.

Monk, E. and Wagner, B., 2012. Concepts in enterprise resource planning. Cengage Learning.

Olson, D.L. and Staley, J., 2012. Case study of open-source enterprise resource planning implementation in a small business. Enterprise Information Systems, 6(1), pp.79-94.  

Rao, N.V.M., Singh, P. and Maheshwari, M.N., 2015. A framework for evaluating e-business models and productivity analysis for banking sector in India. The Journal of Internet Banking and Commerce, 2005.

Shao, Z., Feng, Y. and Liu, L., 2012. The mediating effect of organizational culture and knowledge sharing on transformational leadership and Enterprise Resource Planning systems success: An empirical study in China. Computers in Human Behavior, 28(6), pp.2400-2413.

Shaul, L. and Tauber, D., 2013. Critical success factors in enterprise resource planning systems: Review of the last decade. ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 45(4), p.55.

Tasevska, F., Damij, T. and Damij, N., 2014. Project planning practices based on enterprise resource planning systems in small and medium enterprises—A case study from the Republic of Macedonia. International journal of project management, 32(3), pp.529-539.

Trimi, S. and Berbegal-Mirabent, J., 2012. Business model innovation in entrepreneurship. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal,8(4), pp.449-465.

Tsai, W.H., Lee, P.L., Shen, Y.S. and Lin, H.L., 2012. A comprehensive study of the relationship between enterprise resource planning selection criteria and enterprise resource planning system success. Information & Management, 49(1), pp.36-46.