Business Plan for Room for Dessert - Admission/Application Essay Example

?Entrepreneurship Table of Contents Overview 3 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Business Plan as a Document to Raise Fund 3 Suggestions to Improve theDocument 5 Strengths and Weaknesses of the Business Idea/Project 5 Work Cited 7 Overview Room For Dessert (RFD) is a restaurant cum retail shop, which deals in desserts and cakes. It also deals in wine, spirits, tea and coffee, in their retail segment. According to a case related to the company, it was found that the company had set certain objectives to grow within the time span of 1997 to 2002 in the US. The objective of the company in that period of time was to open up new units within the national territory. It also focused on geographical expansion. The company has also determined certain values, such as generating multiple revenue streams, low investment costs, high margins and enhanced economies of scales among others. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Business Plan as a Document to Raise Fund The business plan provided by the company to grow further has covered almost every aspects or criteria of a business plan framework. Room For Dessert produced the business plan to get funds for the organizational growth and expansion with various new strategies. As a document, the business plan was impressive and appealing. It had included almost everything starting from the executive summary to the financial plans which could easily attract a sponsor’s confidence. However, the business plan had certain weaknesses as well. The plan given by the company had several objectives set by the company for further expansion. The company had followed the exact structure of the business plan as they had included the description of their business and how they work to make the idea clear about the company’s business plan to the sponsors. The company had also mentioned their target customers and market in that period of time and they had also cited the future targeted markets, as well as consumers. They had shown the factors in the plan which made them different from the other companies in the same field. The business plan had a proper analysis of the industry in which they were working. They had also put the proposed strategies to grow further in the market and they had also mentioned one of the most important aspects of a business plan to raise fund, which was the financial plan or structure of the company for the future prospect. With all such positivity, the business plan had certain weaknesses as well. The business plan and the objective written in the plan were contradictory to each other. For instance, the company had set the objective of low investment cost, and at the same time the company had planned to operate beyond mid night which would easily increase the pressure on the workers, and the performance level would get hampered. It would harm the company performance and quality. To avoid these factors, the company could have focused on the job rotation or shifts where the number of workers would increase and the company would have to raise the investment cost. The business plan had also focused on the target customers who were earning more than US$52,000 in household income, which ascertains that the company would serve to a niche market of the society. They had mentioned the facts regarding geographic expansion where as at the same time they had set the objective to spread within the national territory where they could have gone beyond the national boundary to gain more profit (Lassiter and Roberts). Suggestions to Improve the Document The document of the business plan had certain strengths, as well as certain drawbacks. There could be certain specific improvements in the business plan of the company to avoid any conflicts and weaknesses. According to the business plan, the company was only targeting a niche segment of the society where they could have targeted other segments of the society as well. It would give the company more profitability and popularity. The company had planned to limit its operations within the national terrain where they could have gone beyond the local, as well as national, boundary to approach the people other countries to gain more economies of scale and a good brand name. The company was dealing in dessert and retail segments. In the retail segment they had tea, coffee, liquor and spirits among others, where they could have spread more into other segments or they could have expanded their product line in the retail segment (Lassiter and Roberts). Strengths and Weaknesses of the Business Idea/Project The idea or the plan of the company had shown its effectiveness and the differences it had with the other companies in the same field. It had provided with the idea of fine dining, casual dining and quick service to compete with other companies. They had given the assurance of better quality food and desserts to their customers. The business plan of the company had also included the on the spot cooking classes for desserts. They had planned to keep the shops open beyond midnight to cater the people who work till late night and for the people who enjoy the night life in the city. The business plan idea had certain weaknesses as well, such as: the company had planned to cater the niche segment of the society, and to cater the dessert lovers who had the earning of more than US$52,000, whereas they could have planned to serve the different segments of the society with a little lesser price range of their product. The company had limited expansion planning for the business as they had planned to spread within the national boundary whereas they could have planned for crossing the national territory to get more profit and brand popularity with the help of their quality product. High end price for the products would offer limited customers and popularity. The company has planned to work beyond midnight, which can create pressure upon the workers and that could result in low performance and quality of food. To avoid these problems, the company would have to keep more number of workers or apply job rotation system, which would increase the cost of investment (Lassiter and Roberts). Work Cited Lassiter, Joseph B., and Michael J. Roberts. Business Plan for Room for Dessert. Harvard Business School, 2005. Print. Read More