Quality of the Food, Room for Expansion, Chef Training in Little Singapore Restaurant in Brisbane - Case Study Example

Section/# Franchise Analysis History, Company Background, Range, and Competition Environment Started in 2010, the Little Singapore Restaurant in Brisbane, Australia has since expanded to several locations within Brisbane. As such, this small restaurant franchise now encompasses: Little Nyonya Restaurant, Little Singapore City, Little Singapore Uptown, Little Singapore Sunnybank, and Little Hong Kong. As such, the standard fare is of course Chinese cuisine; offered at a bit of an upscale price and location; at least as compared to many other low-cost leaders within the market. Due to the several locations, the firm is able to serve a much larger market as compared to several of its other competitors and typically has a business/professional clientele that caters to a middle class demographic. In terms of direct competition within the market of Brisbane, Little Singapore, and its various locations, competes against the likes of Birdcage Pan, Rode Asian Cuisine, Sing’s Asian Kitchen, and Chives. Not surprisingly, the competition is stiff; as the market is somewhat saturated with respect to offerings of Asian cuisine within Brisbane. 1. Description of three (3) innovations that could be introduced to the business. What value might be created by these innovations? Establishing an Outdoor Dining Experience: The first innovation that would directly be recommended is with respect to outdoor dining. A review of the existing competition reveals the fact that almost none of the Asian cuisine establishments within Brisbane offer and outdoor dining option. Similarly, as the weather is quite pleasant much of the year, this would be an effective tool by which this particular restaurant, and its subsequent establishments, could seek to distance itself from the competition and provide a winning edge with respect to the dining experience (Davidson & Shakespeare, 2006). Value Days or the Creation of a Value Section on the Menu: Another recommendation is with respect to the creation of the value days or the creation of a value section on the individual menu. Ultimately, from a review of the competition and an analysis of the existing environment for Asian cuisine within Brisbane, it is clear and apparent that Little Singapore, and its subsequent locations, is somewhat more expensive as compared to the alternatives. Because of this, providing an incentive for individuals to frequent the establishment, or indeed creating a value section on the menu, could once again place this particular restaurant in direct levels of competition with low cost alternatives throughout the Brisbane area; thereby expanding its reach and potentially improving the overall profitability that it could experience. Establishing a Rewards Card Program: The final recommendation is with respect to the establishment of a reward card system. Once again, due to the fact that this particular branch of restaurants is more expensively priced as compared to the competition, the creation of a rewards card could serve as an incentivize nation or individual consumers to frequent this establish; rather than choosing the alternative (Sherrod, 2008). 2. Discussion of the (5) most important things which should be considered for this business before buying it. Why are these things important? What can be done to research these things in more detail? Essentially, prior to making a decision to purchase any business, it is necessary to ask, and/or otherwise determined, a series of key inquiries. As such, the following section will provide these 5/4 questions that must be considered prior to any potential buyer considering buying this small franchise. Visitor ship/Traffic The first is necessarily linked to the overall number of visitors that these restaurants experience on a daily, weekly, monthly, and seasonal basis. Seeking to engage an understanding of this is essential with respect to the long-term understanding of profitability and how the new buyer might seek to establish themselves more efficiently and profitably within the given market. Secondly, as a means of determining this, it will be necessary to engage the owner with financial information and seeks to determine the overall level of sales/the overall number of customers that have been served within a given time period (Walton, 2008). Whereas it is of course somewhat dangerous to tacitly trust the owner of the restaurant as a means of providing this information, an alternative to this is to have a financial service of an independent nature verify that the information is correct and reconciled with the overall profitability and bookkeeping that the restaurant has kept. Room for Expansion A secondary issue that must be determined is with regard to the issue of room for expansion. Whereas it is of course the primary goal of the new owner to seek to elicit a level of profitability within the short term, it must not be neglected that the potential for greater success, as has already been indicated with regard to the many different restaurants that this particular franchise has been able to establish, can be further without massive amounts of additional investment. Accordingly, this particular assessment can be conducted both by the buyer as well has an independent contractor that can analyze the real estate owned by these individual indices and determine whether or not further expansion is possible. Quality of the Food As with any culinary acquisition, it is also necessary to determine the quality of the food that is exhibited within the different establishments. This can of course be done by directly sampling the food based on a blind comparison; as well as engaging culinary experts as a function of rating the individual dishes on a certain culinary scale of perfection (Hedden & Dortch, 2006). Reviews Additionally, reviews of the restaurants must be conducted in analysed. This can of course easily be accomplished via the utilize nation of websites such as urban spoon as well as yelp. However, additional surveys can also be conducted with respect to the way in which past customers are either satisfied, neutral, or unsatisfied with respect to their experience. There is a noted differentiation between the satisfaction that exists with regard to the food in the overall satisfaction that exists within the customer base with respect to quality of service and the overall dining experience (Delaney, 2004). As such, the question at hand is with regard to the overall dining experience and the brand image that has been established within the mind of the past consumer. This is essentially important due to the fact that it is necessary for the firm to rebrand as a function of escaping a particularly negative reflection, this will incur a sizable expense for the new owners. Chef Training A final issue and question that must be raised is with respect to the pedigree and training that chefs within these individual establishments represent. Accordingly, training can of course be ascertained by measuring the overall years on the job as well as the overall level of education with respect to culinary arts that the individuals responsible for preparing the food might have achieved (Dingle, 2010). By analysing this as a determinant, it can also be utilized further down the road as a function of marketing this particular franchise as compared to its competitors. Supplemental Question 4B Outdoor Dining In terms of actually establishing the recommended changes that were discussed within question two within this particular franchise, the following section will be concentric upon understanding how these might be prioritize and what constraints might exist in seeking to implement them. Firstly, with respect to establishing and outdoor dining experience, the first and most obvious means by which this can be accomplished is via renovating these areas directly adjacent to the individual restaurants in question. Naturally, the constraints of this would necessarily involve the availability of land and/or the potential to impact negatively upon dining experience as a result of a busy street, a weekly area, or other issues pertaining to infrastructure design (Schizas, 2013). Similarly, the need to develop an outdoor dining experience would be prioritize as the single most important change that has been denoted within the analysis. The underlying reason for this has to do with the fact that it would provide a strong element of differentiation that no other competitors within the particular market in question are able to provide. Value Menu/Value Days Similarly, in terms of instituting a value menu wars creating value days, this will be determined as a secondary issue of importance that will not be completed or attempted up until the effective creation of an outdoor dining experience. Potential constraints to this could include, but are not limited to issues pertaining to cost availability of food items, fluctuation in pricing (thereby making a given food offering less profitable), and other issues directly more related to reducing the overall costs associated with the dining experience. Rewards Card Lastly, the creation of a rewards card will be the tertiary goal towards which the new owner should strive. This has been listed last as it has been determined to be one of the low priority changes that could ultimately improve upon the overall profitability of the franchise. A constraint to this being accomplished would of course be establishing the finance structure, software, and system to track the rewards program and institute it throughout the restaurant. References Davidson, W. B., & Shakespeare, T. L. (2006). 10 golden rules to apply when buying a franchise. Black Enterprise, 27(2), 67. Delaney, J. (2004). 10 danger signs to look for when buying a franchise. (Cover story). Black Enterprise, 25(2), 118. DINGLE, D. T. 2010). Franchisings Fast Track to Freedom More and more former corporate managers are discovering their true calling by buying a franchise. Yes, a franchise. Money, 34. Hedden, C., & Dortch, S. (2006). Buying a franchise or going it alone. American Demographics, 18(10), 25. Schizas, E. (2013). Buying into a franchise. Optometry Today, 23(12), 30-33. Sherrod, L. (2008). Buying a franchise. Essence (Essence), 29(6), 66. Walton, B. (2008). Franchise Times® Guide to Selecting, Buying & Owning a Franchise. Library Journal, 133(7), 94. Read More