Delivery of Food to the Professionals of the Modern Day - Case Study Example

BUSINESS PLAN for My Chef Report Student’s Name Module Title Module Code Matriculation Number Date Word Count: 2,045 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 INTRODUCTION 3 BUSINESS ANALYSIS AT DIFFERENT INTERVALS 3 The launch 3 Six Months 5 Twelve Months 5 Eighteen Months 6 REFLECTION 7 REFERENCE 8 INTRODUCTION The business plan was prepared in harmony to our goal of establishing a business that will help to ensure delivery of food to the professionals of the modern day who have to juggle between work and ensuring that they lead a healthy lifestyle. The business was based on a model that would allow us to supply a week’s worth of snacks and meals to our clients. The services of dietitians were to be employed while at the same time allowing the customers the option of selecting their own meals. In order to maintain our local food industry, the Acme Organics were contracted to provide the produce, while the Save the Bacon was to supply the grains and meat. Meal preparation was to take place in Glasgow then the final goods delivered to different destination points. A good business plan was to be drafted in order to enable us solicit for funds in case the need arose (Linda, 2004). BUSINESS ANALYSIS AT DIFFERENT INTERVALS The launch The business was to start with a team of six staff which included A who was responsible for finance matters, B was to manage the business website, C to undertake sales, D was to handle marketing, E to take care of customer service while F was to deal with operations and purchasing. For starters we had one delivery driver to make the deliveries and a receptionist to handle the administration part of the business. The business also employed a dietitian who was to be responsible for making menus and conducting consultative meetings with the clients regarding their diet. The business was to start with two chefs working in the kitchen and a sous chef to prepare, portion and the package the meals. The target clients of our business were the professionals who have hectic lifestyles limiting their free time making it difficult for them to prepare their own meals. The market size has a population of 173,195 as per the recent census. At the initial point we concentrated on gaining ground in the West End of Glasgow area, South Side and City Centre. The aim was to reach 50 people in the first month and ensure growth of up to 200 customers in the first year of business. Competition was expected only from other people who engage in pre-meal business and other fast food sellers in the region. However our products stood out since most of our competitors provide frozen foods which are not motivated by the need to keep our population healthy. The business had plans to put advertisements on commuter trains and also to hold other promotion activities. To be able to reach our clients, we planned to get sales representatives working from office to office and others selling our goods in lunch venues. Delivery of the meals was to be done from the refrigerated vans on a regular basis. The products were packaged using a range of packs bearing logos that would attract the customers. Staff recruitment was to be done through adverts placed in the JobCentre and other government websites which offer the services for free. The staff recruitment was supposed to occur two weeks prior to launching of the business. Before assuming their positions the staffs were to receive training form the Operations Director. The business was to lease a premise which the landlord had allowed us to make modifications to suit our business as longs as we gave him the plan beforehand. The modifications were to be removed once the lease is over. The prize of the premises obtained was £7,500 p.a. While acquiring a kitchen and install it cost 15,000. The business began by leasing the premises for 12 months at an average cost of £142.50 per month. The business was to begin with a computer with a design software costing £900 and a refrigerated van worth £800. The staff salaries were set at £6.50 per hour for both the driver and the administrator while the receptionist was to be paid £10, 500 p.a. the founder members were to each take £7,800 p.a. and allow for reinvestment of profits. The chef was to receive £25,182, the chef 19,093 and the sous chef £15,593. To raise the capital person-A planned to re-mortgage her house and make cash contribution both totaling at £75,000, B was to contribute £10,000 while C was to contribute £5,000. E and F were to contribute £6,235 and £6,000 respectively. There will be computer contributions from all parties while A was also to give her car valued at £18,000. The remaining part of the budget will be financed through the investment of Flexible Solutions who were to buy the company a 10% at £50,000 stake. A 40,000 loan will also be borrowed from a bank and a £5000 from PYBST. Six Months The staff members remained the same and they all retained their duties as it was at the launch of the business. The business did not acquire any insurance policy to cover itself since this was not a requirement of the law and the fact that the business was not under any perceived risk that warranted obtaining a policy. The staff did not receive any training as this had been done during their recruitment and it was felt that they possessed the necessary knowledge to enable them to carry out their roles effectively. Advertising of the business continued since the business was new and there was need to make sure that the client base grew and also to be able to create the much needed brand loyalty. The average depreciation of the company stood at £104. The loans were still being serviced and the business had to pay the employees and also ensure that there were allowances to cover any emergencies that could have arisen at the time. The business did however make a profit of £3017 during this period. The profits which began at a low point, experienced some steady increase as the advertising campaign intensified. Twelve Months There was general expansion that came with the growth of the business and this necessitated the increase in the number of staff and delivery cars. The menu was more diversified given the growing client base as compared to the initial menu that was available at the launch of the business. The refresher training that had been offered to the staff as regards to their proved to be useful as we saw an improvement in the quality of the goods produced which resonated well with the clients and hence translating into increase in the number of sales. The amount of money that was spent on buying raw materials was also increased in order to ensure sustainable increased production without compromising the quality of the products. The advertising budget has significantly reduced as compared to the figures that the business started with since the business had already started gaining ground and more clients were aware of the products that we were offering. The cost of tax was higher than compared to the other months given that it was time to compound the taxes so that they can be collected. The valued added tax in particular experienced the most significant increase as it reached £11,022. The business still continued to service the loans it had taken so as to ensure that we remained credit worth and enjoyed good relations with our business partners. The growing client base also led to improved brand loyalty and hence the business enjoyed a good prospectus for growth in the remaining period of business activities. Eighteen Months With the organisational structure adopted having proved to be effective, the business has not instituted many changes and it remains similar to the one adopted during the launch. The sales had significantly risen from what was realised as the business started. This was as a result of good marketing strategies that the business had adopted. The higher production had increased the cost paid for power and heat for the business. With increased sales came an increase in the amount of taxes paid. By the end of the period the business had used up to £2,350 in the provision of training for the staff so as to better their services and ensure that they play their roles as required. The business still had some money set aside to ensure continued advertising and increase the sales. The business came to a close with a balance of £122,228 after having deducted all its expenses. The depreciation was at £2,496. The business had current assets that included debtors and money in the bank which amounted to £132,032. The long term liabilities constituted of loans acquired to fund business activities that amounted to £156,383. The total depreciation of the business was at £1248 which the business regarded as a good figure since it was below what determined to be the average depreciation rate for the period. REFLECTION Running the business has helped me to get an insight into the skill that one is required to have in order to qualify as a good manager. The plan that we had developed as a team proved to be beneficial and one that worked well as it was developed after a careful study of the market. The team came up with a good plan to train the staff beforehand on the roles that they were expected to play once they had been recruited (Linda, 2004). This proved to be beneficial as the operations of the business ran smoothly. With a good team of staff who are well versed in their roles the management of the business was an easy affair as the management team could now concentrate on how to increase the number of sales rather than grapple with small trivial matters that may arise as a result of the incompetence of the staff. Having a team of well trained staff also proved to be beneficial as they created a good image of the business hence making the work of the sales and marketing department to be relatively easier. The team also did a good job of ensuring that the profits that were obtained were reinvested back into the business a factor that helped to ensure that there was continued and sustained growth of the business. Some of the major challenges that the business faced included the need to ensure that we created a brand loyalty. This was necessary so as to ensure that the business continued to get new customers and at the same time retained the old ones. To achieve this, the team sort to offer a unique range of products that did not have much competition at the time and one that was in line with the current food trends which was to ensure that the clients remained health and avoided diet related diseases. The team had to come up with better strategies that would help to change the taste of the public as this was a new innovative kind of product that was being introduced into the market. This was done with the adoption of good marketing strategies. The approach that was adopted to these issues was well thought out and at the end of it all proved to be beneficial to the business. The pressure to ensure that we complied with the government’s requirements that we maintain healthy standards was well handled and it also helped to ensure that the brand loyalty improved. The methods that the teams employed were well thought out and translated into growth of the business. If the team was charged with the responsibility again and confronted with the same issues as a startup business it would still use the same strategies as they have been tested in other places have worked (Linda, 2004). The approach used by the team was the best and it was felt that there was no other better method to handle the business processes. REFERENCE Linda, P 2004, Anatomy of a business plan: a step-by-step guide to building a business and securing your company’s future. Chicago, Dearborn Trade. Read More