Coffee Shop and Coffee Roaster Business Plans - Report Example

Title Author Institution Affiliation Table of Contents 1.0 Brief Description.............................................................................................. 3 2.0 Strongest Components of Each Plan................................................................ 3 3.0 Weakest Components of Each Plan.................................................................. 4 3.1 Java Culture Coffee Bar.................................................................................... 4 3.2 Beanisimo Coffee Roaster Shop....................................................................... 5 4.0 Challenges Faced and Techniques of Overcoming Them................................ 6 5.0 Lessons Learnt About Business Planning......................................................... 6 6.0 Demonstrated Competencies............................................................................. 7 7.0 Analysis and Suggestions for Improving the Business Plan............................. 9 8.0 Recommendations.............................................................................................. 10 9.0 Conclusion.......................................................................................................... 10 10.0 References......................................................................................................... 12 Analysis of Coffee Bar & Coffee Roaster Business Plans 1.0 Brief Description This paper presents a comparison of two business plans. The first one is for a coffee roaster called Beanisimo coffee while the second business plan is about a coffee shop called Java culture coffee bar. Both businesses will be located in Oregon. Beanisimo coffee deals in old world Italian recipes and traditions which are purposefully provided to meet the need for premium coffee (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a). Java culture will provide great services and high quality gourmet coffee as well as free books and reading space for the enjoyment of its customers (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b). Beanisimo coffee hopes to succeed by implementing a number of keys which include developing the finest coffee on the market, exceeding the expectations of customers in customer service and the use of strict controls on their finances. On the other hand, Java culture hopes to succeed by developing a store design that customers will be able to see easily, and one that will provide efficenct quick services (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b). They will train employees to ensure they gain the best methods of preparing coffee and employ marketing strategies that can win loyal customers. Both business plans have seven similar sections, but there is an additional section (web plan summary) on the coffee roaster business plan which makes it have 8 sections. 2.0 Strongest Components of Each Plan A successful business plan must fulfil certain conditions and display certain characteristics. Both business plans have their strong areas. In the Coffee Roaster business plan, there is a clear description of products and services, and this can also be seen in the Java culture business plan (Palo Alto Software Inc.2016a). A description of products and services helps to expose the problem the business is solving for the customer and the solution it is providing. This section makes it possible for the business planner to think about the needs of the customer and the benefits the customer will get from the business products and services. Both business plans also present elaborate information about the market and possible competitors. Market information is important to the business owner because he gets to understand the types of customers he is targeting and how market trends are changing. The planner also gets to think about the needs of the customer, where the customers are located, how to get to them and how to have the product delivered to them. In this section, the planner also understands the competition in the market and how to tackle it. In both plans, there are unique selling points (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b). Each of the plans explains the uniqueness of the products and services and how they are going to “be different” when they come to the market. This difference is what will attract customers to buy them. The unique selling point can create a competitive edge for the products and put them ahead of competitors. In addition to the other strengths, the Coffee Roaster business plan describes everything that the business needs including technology to be used in marketing the business (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a). This is important because the marketing strategy and technology will be instrumental in winning a bigger market share. A list of the things needed helps in the estimation of the capital required as well as the amount of money the business can make on daily basis so that it can survive (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a) 3.0 Weakest Components of Each Plan 3.1 Java Culture Coffee Bar The Java coffee bar business plan does not discuss the technology that will be used in running the business and winning customers. In this modern era, many businesses are technology oriented and businesses are bound to use technology to overcome their competitors (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b). Failing to plan for the technology to be used can deny the business a big chunk of the market because technology has several advantages, and customers may prefer to use it. Such customers may move to other coffee shops that are making use of technology. The business plan also fails to identify possible risks that the business owner may run into that can affect the survival of the business (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b). There is no market that does not present risks to a business and failing to identify these risks only means that the business may suffer failure when these risks surface (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b; Abrams 2003). Identifying risks can make the owner of the business to prepare for them adequately in advance. Preparation may include the allocation of extra finances for certain unpredictable occurrences. Since the business hopes to get part of the capital through a bank loan, information about risks may also help the Bank of America to make a better informed decision about the provision of funds. Another weakness of the Java culture business plan is that it lacks the supplements section that would have given more details that are not well elaborated in the body of the business plan (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016b; Abrams 2003). 3.2 Beanisimo Coffee Roaster Shop The Coffee Roaster business plan fails to provide information about the source of funds that will serve as capital for the business (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a). Capital is one of the most important requirements of any business and failing to disclose where these funds will come from may affect the business because there may be no money to start the business. All other expenditures in the business are subject to the availability of sufficient capital (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a). The business plan also fails to list the feedback received in the entire process. Feeback helps the business owner to know if there are any flaws in the data created or any areas that need to get thorough attention. Just like the Java culture coffee bar business plan, this business plan fails to identify any risks that the business may be confronted with. As earlier mentioned, planning for risks can prepare the business owner for any unfortunate happenings that may potentially threaten the growth of the business (Palo Alto Software Inc. 2016a). 4.0 Challenges Faced and Techniques of Overcoming Them There were two main challenges faced, which included filling in the financials and planning for technical changes. The process of filling in the financials causes a lot of fear, and this could be because of the numbers (McKeever, 2015). However, after understanding that numbers are estimates used for planning, I managed to overcome this challenge. This understanding made the numbers less intimidating. I also overcame the challenges by choosing to be methodical. I learnt to begin at the end and work on them backwards. I found it easier starting with the basics and then filling in the dots. Planning for technical changes was also a challenge. The pace of change in technology is so high and keeping with its pace is not easy. I discovered that I need to work on myself more and not just on the business (Fullen & Podmoroff, 2006). There is need for better skill sets, knowledge and networks because they are required to push the business towards success. Getting time to acquire knowledge and skills may prove to be challenging. However, several tools and apps that one can use to organize information, manage time, and digest the intelligence are available through technology (McKeever, 2015). 5.0 Lessons Learnt About Business Planning The first lesson is that the language used should be Realistic. The business plan should not be unrealistic or show too much optimism by promising what the business may not be able to deliver (Abrams 2003). The plan should be credible. For example, it should not talk about the existence of a world class management team or the best technology when such technology is non-existence. If such terms are used in the plan, there should be hard facts to prove them (McKeever, 2015). I also learnt that the business plan should also not be too long and with much detail. It should not answer all the question readers may be having. Instead, it should address the main points of the business The third lesson is that the planner should put the audience first. If the business plan is to be read by investors or lenders, it must be written with due consideration of the audience (Ehmke, & Akridge, n.d). The first paragraph should get the reader excited and interested so that they can continue reading. The business plan should fit the business need. A business plan should fit the need and achieve its business purposes and objectives because that is its main goal. There are various needs such as starting and managing a business, and seeking for investment among others. Finally, there should be follow up and planning (McKeever, 2015). After developing the business plan, there is need to ensure that there is regular reviewing and correction of identifiable mistakes. It should not be inflexible and static. 6.0 Demonstrated Competencies In business planning, I demonstrated several major competencies. First, I was involved in the setting of goals. Planning for a business needs to have goals set to be achieved withint certain timeframes. Every task in the business planning process must be achieved at the right time and in the laid down manner (Abrams 2003). Another competency was gathering and analysing data. I had to collect data on finances, the market, competitors, and products and perform an analysis of all these in order to arrive at desired data and information. I also practiced the skill of diagnosing problems and understanding what causes them. Problem diagnosis is important for any business planning process because if such problems are not discovered and tackled, the outcome of the planning process may be a disappointment (Fullen & Podmoroff, 2006). For every stage of the planning process, I tried to find out what problems could be hiding behind it and what could be the source of these problems. Then, I could easily find the solutions to each of the problems. Another important competency I may have demonstrated was forecasting and predicting. Business planning requires one to forecast into the future and see how certain things will work out before getting there. Predicting and forecasting was necessary as a way of trying to paint a picture of the future so that the appropriate plans can be put in place. For example, I tried to predict and forecast how the market would look in the future based on current factors. Communication was also important and very necessary in planning (McKeever, 2015). For example, communication has to be done for the planner to obtain crucial information about the market, products, competitors and the industry. I used communication alot in research activities especially when the need for gathering relevant information arose. Research itself was also an important competency because all the information required in planning has to be collected from various sources. Compiling this information is a skill that a planner must have or else, the plans will be faulty because of lack of crucial data (Abrams 2003). Lack of accurate and sufficient information can affect data analysis and ruin the entire process of planning. I may also have employed the competency of evaluation and analysis. Processing the collected data to arrive at understandable information requires proper analysis. Market data and trends, financials and even the state of the industry have to be subjected to a comprehensive analysis process so that they reveal hidden facts (Ehmke, & Akridge, n.d). Through evaluation, I could weigh the importance and relevance of various factors to know their value and part in the process. 7.0 Analysis and Suggestions for Improving the Business Plan The business plans were well developed and written except for a few issues here and there. In Coffee Roaster shop business plan, the executive summary is short and it leaves out important details. Reading these summaries does not give the reader a full overview of the whole plan. The business plans lack major sections that are important such as resource analysis, project risk analysis and supplements (McKeever, 2015). To make the business plans better the planners would have included a resource analysis section. This section should provide analysis of human, organizational and material resources required to deliver the project. It should have detailed what resources are available and which ones need to be sought for proper project delivery. Such resources may be among others; equipment, power, raw materials and labour (Fullen & Podmoroff, 2006). Another section that was conspicuously missing is the analysis of project risks. The planner ought to have identified and described the main risk types facing the project. The business plan should have provided an assessment of these risks based on their quantities and qualities and the level of damage they potentially carry. It should also have the methods that can be used to manage the identified risks (Abrams 2003). The business plans could also have been improved by including a section called supplements. In this section, the business plan should have included proposals that can provide illustration, details and confirmation of the information inside the business plan body. The supplement should have information about rivals, total cost of the project and equipment (Ehmke & Akridge, n.d). The equipment should be listed with their specifications and characteristics as well as the potential suppliers. A list of potential suppliers of equipment and raw materials and services is necessary. It should show the operational costs, net costs of finished services and products and terms of work. There should also be alist of all the equipment that should be purchased for the business will specifications for major equipment given with their main characteristics. 8.0 Recommendations It is recommended in this report that the creation of a business plan should consider all important factors that are bound to affect a business and have them discussed in detail. In view of the two business plans discussed in this report, this paper recommends that a business plan should also have reference materials which includes information about the authors of the business plan, the table of contents with page index, and the glossary (Fullen & Podmoroff, 2006). The glossary comprises of important terms used in the business plan. The reference materials should also have the design formulae to be used in the calculation of financial indicators included in the body of the business plan. It is also recommended that the business plans should be simple in development so that a non-specialist can be able to understand them easily (McKeever, 2015). They should not include narrowly specialised terms. A business plan should be consistent so that it embraces every major project section, but it should not be too long. It should be relatively short for it to maintain the interest of the reader. Finally, business plans never get finished. Therefore, it is recommended that constant reviews be done on the two business plans (Abrams 2003). Since it is a tool that helps the business owner to manage the organization, regular reviewing is important because partners, investors, lenders and other stakeholders require it to understand the strategic direction of the business. 9.0 Conclusion In this report, I have analyzed two business plans. A business plan is an important step in the life of a business. It helps to describe the service and product, discuss the marketing strategy in detail, and outline the sales and operational predictions. The report is about Java culture coffee bar and Beanisimo coffee roaster business plans. The strongest parts of these plans are that they describe the products, the market and their unique selling points. The coffee roaster business also discusses the technology to be used in marketing. However, their weak points are that both do not identify risks, the Java culture plan does not discuss technology and the Coffee Roaster plan fails to reveal its source of capital. The main challenges in business planning were filling in the financials and planning for technical changes. I also learnt a number of lessons such as the use of realistic language, the length of the business plan should be reasonable, and that the business plan should fit the need for which it is written. I demonstrated various competencies including setting goals, data collection and analysis, diagnosing problems, predicting and forecasting, communication and evaluation and analysis. The project plans could be improved by having a resource analysis section, and two other sections for discussing the possible risks to the businesses, and supplements. In this report it is recommended that a business plan should have reference materials, be simple in format and be subjected to constant reviews and adjustments. 10.0 References Abrams, R.M. (2003).The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies. The Planning Shop. Ehmke, C. & Akridge, J. (n.d).The Elements of a Business Plan: First Steps for New Entrepreneurs. Purdue University. Fullen, S.L & Podmoroff, D. (2006). How to Write a Great Business Plan for Your Small Business in 60 Minutes or Less. Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc. McKeever, M. (2015). How to Write a Business Plan. Colleen Cain. Palo Alto Software Inc. (2016). Coffee Kiosk Business Plan. Available at: http://www.bplans.com/coffee_kiosk_business_plan/appendix_fc.php Palo Alto Software Inc. (2016). Java Culture Coffee bar Business Plan. Available at: http://www.bplans.com/coffee_shop_business_plan/executive_summary_fc.php Read More