Business Proposal - Research Paper Example

[INSERT YOUR FULL HERE] [INSERT YOUR HERE] [INSERT AND NUMBER HERE] 25 March Business Research Proposal: The Olive Garden The Olive Garden on W. Flagler in Miami, Florida has the potential for being an amazing restaurant. However, like all things, there is room for much improvement. This business research proposal will explore several problems that, I as a customer, have recognized at this particular location, suggesting solutions the organization could implement to remedy the situations. In addition to exploration of weaknesses, opportunities will also be identified to take the restaurant from good to great.

By differentiating itself from the growing number of similar, family-themed restaurants saturating the market, Olive Garden an increase in market share is predictable. BACKGROUND The intended audience of this business research proposal is the Olive Garden’s CEO and the regional manager responsible for the Miami, Florida location. The specific problems to be addressed are restroom cleanliness and sanitization, length of wait to be seated upon check-in, and lack of staff efficiency. After visiting this location on several occasions, at various times and on different days of the week, these three issues have been reoccurring.

By focusing on these three issues, the restaurant will have made great strides toward reaching its full potential. An improvement that would allow the restaurant to differentiate itself from other similar style restaurants is offering child care to customers. In my experience, family and friends with children have wanted to go out to a romantic dinner for a “date night,” but were unable to find a babysitter. Providing child care as a free service to guests will increase the restaurant’s market share by tapping into an area of the market that is perhaps non-existent.

Personally, I have never been to a restaurant that offers such a service. In conducting pre-research for this proposal, I could not locate another fine dining restaurant like Olive Garden that has such an amenity for its guests. Parents who would not patronize the restaurant simply because they do not have anyone to watch their children will visit the Olive Garden. RESEARCH PLAN My research plan involves the creation of two questionnaires; one for current Olive Garden employees and the other for parents in the area who may or may not be current customers.

The questionnaire for the employees will focus on training and development that has been offered to them, probing for feedback on restroom cleaning procedures and reservation processes. For the parents, the questionnaire will inquire about the potential of visiting the Olive Garden if child care was made available. In addition to the primary research detailed above, secondary research will also be included in the proposal in the form of business journals, similar restaurant websites, and the Internet in general.

The goal in the secondary research will be to compare and contrast practices of other similar facilities to those suggested in the proposal. Whether or not child care is offered or has been attempted in the past will be explored to identify any potential issues with providing such a service. After gathering a sufficient number of surveys, I will group the responses into categories that become apparent after reviewing the participants’ given answers. WORK SCHEDULE The first step is developing each of the two questionnaires to be used; one for staff and one for customers with children.

In order to obtain an adequate sample of responses, it is ideal to survey at least 50 customers with children and 10 to 15 employees. Since this firsthand, primary research serves as the bulk of the proposal, it is imperative that it is completed within the next couple of weeks to provide enough time for categorizing responses, analyzing the data, and comparing it to other restaurants practices, and the company’s overall policy on the three identified problems. QUALIFICATIONS Interviews with employees will include members of management at Olive Garden as well as all other levels from host/hostess to waiters/waitresses, bartenders, and bus persons.

To locate parents for interviewing, I will contact local child care facilities within a 10- to 15-mile radius of the W. Flagler Olive Garden location. BUDGET The only real cost associated with this proposal will be the cost to produce the 60 to 70 questionnaires. As far as carrying out the research plan, there will be costs associated with training and developing current employees to care for children according to the Florida standards. Information regarding licensing requirements that will be needed for caring for children and the costs associated with such licenses as well as the cost associated with hiring skilled child care employees will also be included.

A cost/benefit analysis will be created to indicate whether offering this service will generate enough revenue in new business to support the costs of hiring trained staff and acquiring necessary licenses/permits. CONCLUSION While I believe it is unlikely, it may be that parents have a different reason for not visiting Olive Garden or any restaurant, whether or not they have child care available. They may cite issues with eating outside of the home, such as health and finances. To gain value even in these types of responses, my questionnaires will also ask questions regarding convenience of this service.

Thus, even if it does not increase the company’s market share by bringing in non-customers, it may make customers more satisfied with their visit, prompting them to advertise via word-of-mouth.