The Project
The purpose of this paper is to provide an action plan for developing a chain of restaurants to market and sell foods commonly found in UAE throughout the world. This paper will be divided into several sections. Section one defines the key elements of an action plan required for gathering information. The discussion of the target market segments and marketing strategy will be included. Section Two, the marketing part of the paper discusses ideas concerning innovation and procedures of the establishment of a chain of international restaurants. And finally, Section Three discusses the Monitoring Techniques to be used (i.e. Progress Reports, Timeline, and Outcome Measurements).
Section 1. Key Elements
Target Market Segments
The main target market for the chain of restaurants is people around the globe who wanted to experience UAE foods. The secondary target market will be the locals and tourists in UAE and business stakeholders, who have sustained the growth of the restaurant industry through their continued patronage. Specifically, the demographic profile of the market of this chain of restaurants will be the all-aged generation of customers, from the 1 to any age bracket. The food and beverage has been served in various ways thus making the market rather varied as well. It is also proposed that the target market on this context would also include the younger generations. A need to cater to a specific demographic has spawned the need to acquire a competitive advantage with the rest of the players in the market.
Marketing Strategy
As for the marketing strategy of the chain of restaurants, the marketing mix is comprised of these following approaches to pricing, distribution, advertising and promotion, and customer service (Farrall & Lindsley, 2008).
- Pricing. The chain of restaurant's pricing scheme is that the product cost is 45% of the total retail price.
- Distribution. The chain of restaurant's food will be distributed through a takeout model where customers can call in their order and come to the restaurant to pick it up, come into the restaurant, place the take out order and wait for it to be completed, or come in and dine at the restaurant.
- Advertising and Promotion. The most successful advertising will be banner ads, and inserts in newspaper and magazines.
- Customer Service. Obsessive customer attention is the mantra. The chain of restaurant's philosophy is that whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur, even at the expense of short-term profits. In the long term, this investment will pay off with a fiercely loyal customer base who is extremely vocal to their friends with referrals.
Section 2. Innovation and Establishment Procedures
Innovation Strategy
The products that the chain of restaurants will offer are excellent food items and will increase in number as time passes. With this, it is vital to consider innovation practices. The chain of restaurants will innovate the food’s presentation and its marketing strategy. The names of the food are unique, so that customers may know that the products are uniquely from this chain of restaurants. Before the food were formally included in the official list of the business’ offerings, there were taste tests conducted in local supermarkets, and those that passed initial testing were given official names to establish identification. The bowls and plates were likewise pre-tested for their functionality and durability to withstand water heat. The tissues and utensil which would be used are manufacturer-guaranteed to be environment-friendly and safe for human use. The machines and equipment to be used are likewise tested in order to bring only the best-tasting food and beverages that is worth every amount of money they spent. The price will depend on the type of food. The prices would be in par with those existing restaurants in UAE, with the business relying on the restaurant ambience, quality of dining service, and free live band performance to gain competitive advantage from rivals in the area. Using all the available information in this business plan, the pricing objective would be to offer the best-tasting UAE-type foods at relatively affordable price ranges. With that in mind, the pricing strategy included the cost of providing foods to the customer (electricity costs, labor costs, raw materials cost, etc.)
From these innovation strategies, this chain of restaurants will have an image of products that are unique and defensible attributes which could support a high price. However, since a sector of the target market involves young people, who commonly do not have a source of income of their own, this chain of restaurants will strive to keep costs at the lowest level in order to maintain a cheap price offering for all their food products. Also, since it aims to promote an image of affordability and quality all rolled into one, this pricing strategy would definitely help build and sustain that target image.
Establishment Procedures
On start-up, there will only be one restaurant located in some cities of UAE where clients could go to have their satisfying foods. This is the main and only channel of distribution for the initial months of the business. However, if financial statements forecasts prove true, customers will soon see a number of Restaurant bistros lined up in the thoroughfares of cities of foreign countries.
The main promotion and advertising objective of the business is to be able to spread this chain of restaurants word without allotting too much on marketing costs. After all, what works well and what does not work at will depend mostly on the business, the product and service accompanying it, the community, the competition and the skills in how the marketing director will promote the business. As soon as possible, the new restaurant sign will be put up (including the name, type of shop, hours of operation and the opening date) in order to promote the business well before its opening. When the employment ads are posted in the local papers, the business will make sure to include Thunderstorm Restaurant’ name and location, as this inexpensive classified advertising will help promote the business.
There will be a card awarded free to the first fifty customers of this chain of restaurants on the day that it opens. This card will serve as their Restaurant Advantage Card and will avail them of all the benefits of being a Restaurant Advantage Card holder. Discounts and freebies will be given on designated periods to all cardholders. However, those who were not able to avail of the card for free could still own one given a minimum amount membership fee ($ 100). The advertising part of marketing will consist only of a free taste booth in front of the restaurant during the first week, half dozen streamers around the area and a hundred flyers to be given away at supermarket doors. Also, one hundred business cards will be at hand, as they are a great way of advertising. The management believes that this is sufficient to advertise the business, and the rest will be left to word-of-mouth.
Section 3. Monitoring Techniques
Progress Reports
With regards to the progress of the chain of restaurants, a progress meeting will be held every week to monitor progress and guide the business to a successful completion. Progress meetings provide an effective forum for the managers to coordinate, integrate and manage the business stakeholders. Meetings provide a dynamic environment where interaction and innovation will enhance the cross flow of ideas and help solve problems. The meetings should also provide the venue for consensus and decision making. A progress meeting for this business venture would contain the following:
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Agenda: The agenda should be circulated before the meeting to list the participants and action points to prepare for the meeting.
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Minutes: Approve minutes of previous meeting.
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Actions: Report on actions from previous meeting.
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Progress: Report progress by work package.
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Configuration management: Discuss scope changes and concessions-their implications and approval.
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Document Control: List controlled documents transmitted and police signing transmittals.
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Claims: Discuss any claims since the last meeting.
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Quality: Discuss quality issues.
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Payments: Approve invoices for payment.
The minutes should be produced as soon as possible after the meeting preferably the next day, The minutes should document discussions and agreements taken during the meeting, together with actions to be done before the next meeting.
Timeline
As for the timeline of the venture, the following are considered:
time frame (month)
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Business Kick-off
Negation with the Government/Signing the Agreement
Preparation of Business Plan
Implementation Process
Budget preparation, hiring of employees, and collation of other business information needed
Product Development and Innovation
Training of Employees
Marketing Strategy initiation
Start of business operation (adjustment period)
Start of business operation
Outcome Measurement
With regards to the outcome measurement, this chain of restaurants should do some evaluation regarding the completion of the whole project. The auditor should consider the implications of non-compliance in relation to other aspects of the audit, particularly the reliability of management representations (Mohd-Sanusi, Iskandar & Saleh, 2009). In this regard, the auditor reconsiders the risk assessment and the validity of management representations, in case of non-compliance not detected by the entity’s internal controls or not included in management representations. The implications of particular instances of non-compliance discovered by the auditor will depend on the relationship of the perpetration and concealment, if any, of the act to specific control activities and the level of management or employees involved (Arter, 2002). The auditor should, as soon as practicable, either communicate with those charged with governance, or obtain audit evidence that they are appropriately informed, regarding non-compliance that comes to the auditor’s attention. However, the auditor need not do so for matters that are clearly inconsequential or trivial and may reach agreement in advance on the nature of such matters to be communicated. If in the auditor’s judgment the non-compliance is believed to be intentional and material, the auditor should communicate the finding without delay. The auditor may conclude that withdrawal from the engagement is necessary when the entity does not take the remedial action that the auditor considers necessary in the circumstances, even when the non-compliance is not to the financial statements.
Final Statement
Based on the previous details, planning is a key resource of the organization, together with people, finances and material assets. Thus, it is accepted to state that project plan is a business issue. The discussion above revealed that through effective project planning management of the organization's resources and systems, organization administrators can add value to the services delivered to customers, reduce risks in the organization's business, reduce the costs of business development and service delivery and encourage improvement in internal business processes and external service implementation. On the other hand, it is recommended that when developing a project, it is better to build a report that is ideal for a specific need then to make a report based on a predefined concession.
References:
Arter, D, (2002). Quality Audits for Improved Performance. ASQ Quality Press, 3rd edition. Accessed: November 12, 2009 from http://books.google.com/books?id=N4OZGgfZKs4C&pg=PT29&dq=management+auditing+arter#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Farrall, C. & Lindsley, M. (2008). Professional English in Use Marketing. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-521-70269-0. Accessed: November 12, 2009 from http://assets.cambridge.org/97805217/02690/excerpt/9780521702690_excerpt.pdf
Mohd-Sanusi, Z., Iskandar, T.M., & Saleh, N.M. (2009). Moderated-mediation Effect of Individual Psychological Differences on Audit Task Performance: From the Perspective of Social Cognitive Theory. Accessed: November 12, 2009 from http://www.fdewb.unimaas.nl/ISAR2009/02_01_Mohd-Sanusi_Iskandar_Saleh.pdf
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