Viability Changing the Refreshed Reads Business into a Franchise - Case Study Example

Part 1 Dear Claire Following your inquiry on the possibility of turning your business Refreshed Read to a franchise and develop it over the next five years. I hereby respond to your inquiries with the following answers in response to the questions you asked in order to comprehend the viability of the project. There are two secondary data that I will recommend, one is internal which your business status is like the financial status, customer behavior, and external secondary data is what you will gather from other sources like online statistical database databases. In your case, your research problem is; should the business be turned into a franchise? This is because it forms the basis of the study that is to be conducted. A research objective narrows down to identification of the problem’s solution. In this case, a research objective is to carry out a research exercise in order to establish if it will be viable to turn the business into a franchise. More so, what do you aspire to achieve by turning the business into a franchise? Will the process be feasible and successful? The use of both the qualitative and quantitative research tools will give you the full picture of the direction of the research process. A survey is only carried out randomly with brief questions to establish a general view of the selected population sample. A focused group on the other hand involves a selected group required to participate in some form of interview process through a discussion. My opinion will be the use of a focus group to conduct the research because of its high chances of accuracy since the participants will interact to establish the best possible solution for the problem. It will be appropriate to research both the customer and the potential franchise in order to get a clear picture of the project’s feasibility. Customer research will give information regarding the customer’s perception of the franchise and whether they will stay committed to the company or not after the change. On the other hand, researching on different potential franchise will reveal fundamental facts about the different conditions that varying franchisors have. This will be important in making the right choice of potential franchisor that has suitable conditions or policies the Refreshed Read can attest to (Schiffman, 2008). Regards, Your Name Marketing Manager Part 2 Question 1 Tabular approach Age Dress code Gender Attitudes towards a franchise 25 Smart casual clothes Man “I don’t really care if it’s franchised or not, as long as the coffee is still good” 40 Casual clothes Woman “I get a coffee, the kids get to think about books they’d like to buy and we’re all satisfied” 20 Business suit Woman “Franchised? I think it’d work, but this particular location is best for me” 45 Business suite Man “…I guess if it is franchised, I’d be able to get one closer by. So yea, I’d like to this place franchised” 45 Casual Clothes Man “I reckon they should franchise it, share the lover eh?” Elderly Casual clothes Woman “the coffee is good and the staff are good..” Middle age Casual clothes Woman “I don’t think I will came here is it was available all over the country. There is something about that which just to me. Horrible coffee” 30 (pregnant) Casual clothes Woman “ I think a franchise would be good” 30a Casual clothes Man with family “….I will certainly be back, and we all enjoyed the cakes….” On the basis of the qualitative response from the customers outlined, it is evident that a franchise idea will be a good idea. In essence, three customers out of nine agreed with the plan to make the business a franchise and agreed to make regular visits to the franchise. One particularly pointed out that making it a franchise will guarantee that the business will be available in their neighborhood. One respondent stated that he does not mind if the business is a franchise or not and that he will continue to came to the coffee shop irrespective of the status. About three customers seemed not familiar with the franchise issue or rather answered the question in a general view and thus implying that the idea of having a franchise will not really affect their decision making or their buying habits. Based on these findings, I will advise the boss to take up the idea of starting a franchise because of the fact that it will be supported by a majority of the customers. In fact it may even increase the sales of the products because of the brand image that will be borrowed coupled with the strategic position of the shop (East 2008). I will also advise the boss to do more research on customers and also to ensure that he visits several franchisors in order to get their policies and opinions before moving forward based on the ideas revealed by the customer. Question 2 This research could have been undertaken using focus group because of a number of reasons, the first one being to avoid irrelevant answers as seen from some of the respondents in the statement. The second reason is to have only participants that are relevant to the research objectives and who may give a detailed insight on consumer behaviour that may be of help to the research process. Planning of the focus group Objective of the focus group The objective of this focus group will be to identify the viability changing the Refreshed Reads business into a franchise. The timeline The timeline for this process will about six to eight in order to allow for adequate time to indentify the participants, develop focused and relevant questions for the discussion and for screening questions. This will also allow for the location of the site, allow for participants follow-up and even gathering of materials that are useful for the session. Participant’s identification The participants needed for this focus group should be between 8 to 12 participants. One group will be formed for a start and more groups may be created if there is any necessity created from the outcome of the first group. The rationale for this sample size is to allow for adequate conversation since less than 8 participants may limit conversation while more than 12 may get unwieldy and many voices may get lost. It will however be necessary to invite more people during the recruitment period in order to allow for the participants who may promise but fail to show up (Posthuma, 2002). The second part the identification process will be to establish the relevant attributes from the participants based on the objective of the focus group. This will ensure that the entire sample is relevant to the research process. Screening questionnaire will also be relevant because it will capture relevant and willing participants. Other forms of testing can also be conducted such as listing of the key attributes and conducting a brainstorming session about the viable participants. Lastly it will be necessary to secure personal contacts of the participants which includes; their names, contact information, finalization of the list and sending of invitations. Generation of questions Since the time allocation for the focus group is about one to two hours, it will be necessary to create four to seven questions that will be relevant for the process. One introductory question will be necessary as a warm-up question but followed by more objective questions. The questions will be open-ended and more specific. Important questions for this case will be; What aspects do you like about a franchise? Would you like to make purchases at a franchise instead of an ordinary shop like a bookshop? What are the main reasons why you would prefer a franchise over an ordinary shop or vice versa? What do you think makes a franchise different from an ordinary shop? These are some of the key questions that may be considered while preparing for the process. In the process of question generation, it will be necessary to eliminate many questions and re-write the questions with proper editing, it is also important for the questions to be specific regarding the objective of the focus group (Pardee, 2005). Development of a script Three major parts of this case are explained. The first part is to design an opening time where the selector will welcome the participants, introduce the objective of the focus group, explain what a focus group is and how it will be conducted, he/she will also make the introductions. The second part is the question time; this is where the questions designed in the question generation part will be asked. The third part will involve wraps up of the focus group, it will include giving the participants a chance to add their input, explaining to them how their data will be used and also when the process will be completed (O'Dougherty, 2007). Selection of a facilitator The responsibility of the facilitator will be to tactfully deal with outspoken individuals, ensure that the discussion is on track, ensure that every group member is heard and also be well-informed about the project. He or she can be a member of staff, member of committee or even a volunteer. The other task of the facilitator is to be well acquitted with issues that my make focus group members uncomfortable. He or she should be in a position to deal with any issue that may arise and provide a balanced judgment. Some of the issues that may arise includes; wieldy debate about an issue due to misunderstanding or different opinions and so forth. Identification of the location The choice of the location should be comfortable and conducive for expression of opinions. Points to note about the location include, what message does the location transmit? Does location setting encourage discussion? How might the setting influence the information gathered? Can the location comfortably accommodate the entire focus group? How easy is to access the location in the eyes of the participants? Based on these questions a suitable place can be located and reserved for the group during that day ( Libarkin, 2005). Question 3 The questions that the franchise will be asked are; What is your working capital and total capital base? What is the current location of your business if any? Are you comfortable with the terms and conditions that we offer? Are you willing to comply with the conditions that we offer as a franchisor? Are you comfortable working with us? What fears do you have about the business? (Johnson, 2006). References Edmunds, H. (1999). The Focus Group Research Handbook . London: NTC. Libarkin, JC & Anderson, W 2005, Qualitative Analysis of College Students' Ideas about the Earth: Interviews and Open-ended Questionnaires, Journal of Geoscience Education, vol. 53,no 4, pp. 23-34. O'Dougherty, D 2007, Consumer Behaviour, Pearson, Canberra. Pardee, WJ 2005, Writing Useful Technical/business Objectives, Research Technology Management, Vol. 48, no.3, pp.32-43. Posthuma, RA & Morgeson, FP 2002, Beyond Employment Interview Validity: a Comprehensive Narrative Review of Recent Research and Trends over Time, Personnel Psychology, vol. 55, no. 4,pp. 12-18. Schiffman, LG & Hansen, H 2008, Consumer Behaviour: A European Outlook, Prentice Hall/Financial Times, New York. Read More