Coffee

Harry is reading Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” and is completely engrossed as he slouches in the poorly cushioned blue seats of the nearly empty train car. He has his head bent at an uncomfortable angle as he reads with earbuds in to block out the noise of the metal scraping against the tracks. His eyelids felt heavy as he scanned the pages, infatuated every word, ignoring his surroundings completely. He looked up from his glasses when he heard the doors slide open to see a small group of people shuffle in and take their seats around him. He gives a stranger a small smile when he met their eyes, and dives straight back into his book, forgetting the present world for a brief moment. Harry looks up again when he hears a sigh from above him, only to see an exhausted-looking pregnant woman struggling to stay upright as she grips the pole with her left hand, holding her bump with the other.

He quickly stands and motions for the woman to take his seat, who then graciously thanks him and quickly complies as she sinks into the seat. He pocketed his book and earbuds in the front zipper of his backpack and stood near the exit on his phone for the remainder of the ride home. “Harry!” Niall calls from the couch as he heard the front door of their apartment close. “Get your arse over here, the game’s about to start!” Niall had been Harry’s best mate since they met in AP Chem back in high school and clicked immediately, sharing the same dorky interests. They got accepted to the same University and decided to share an apartment to save money. Harry tossed his book bag to the side and collapsed into the couch, earning a groan from Niall as he kicked him on the shin.

They sat together in relative silence, only talking when they ask each other about their day. Harry was telling him about the exam he had coming up when he heard faint snores coming from Niall, and smiled to himself as he picked up the boy with ease and carried him to his room. Harry lazily wraps himself in his covers once he reaches his bedroom, not forgetting to set no less than 4 alarms for the morning ahead. He briefly considers continuing his reading from earlier but figures he’ll use it to occupy him on the tube the following morning. He wakes up to the annoyingly persistent beep of his phone alarms and rushes to get ready for class. He jogs down the stairs of the station and down the hallways to catch his train. He’s about twenty-five minutes away from the physics building and class is starting at five.

He groans and pockets his phone, tucking in his earbuds and lets the sounds of Adele over him as he stretches his long, gangly legs stretch out in front of him. He was singing along to the slow song in his head when he feels someone push his legs off of the seat they had been resting on. He jerks up in surprise and yanks out an earbud at the sudden awakening. “Um, excuse me,” Harry frowns and cocks his head to the side, waiting for an apology for the other man. “I do excuse you,” the guy replies, turning away as he tucks his knees into his chest and begins to scroll through his phone mindlessly. “No, I mean, you really didn’t need to push my legs like that. You could have just asked me to move and it would have had the same result,” “Yeah, I’m sure you would’ve heard me from wherever you were a minute ago,” the man scoffs, refusing to look up.

Harry was completely taken aback by this and scanned his eyes across the rude stranger. He couldn’t have been much older than himself and was dressed in casual clothes, just jeans and a sweatshirt and a beanie to cover his messy brown hair. “Doesn’t hurt to try, don’t have to be such a knob about it,” Harry mutters as he picks up the discarded earbud to place it back in his ear. “Oi! What are you just call me? Keep your legs off the seat, you wanker,” the man sits up and faces harry, anger stretched across his facial features. “I do believe I called you a knob if I’m remembering properly. It’s not the biggest effort in the world to apologize for being blatantly rude, sir. Now if you’d let me spend the rest of the ride in peace and quiet away from your poor attitude, I’d really appreciate it.” Harry replies in a condescending tone and unpauses his music.

He spends the rest of the train ride falling in and out of sleep, every so often glancing over at the stranger and considering kicking his seat just to piss him off, but refrains to be the bigger person. The rest of his day goes by rather uneventful, attending his classes only half paying attention and returning home to Niall to watch bad TV before bed. The following day, Harry thinks his complete lack of luck was taken to a whole new level of terrible. All he wanted was a coffee to get him through his day since his only class was canceled, but things didn’t go exactly as planned. Harry walks into the coffee shop, only to be greeted with a blanket of warmth and the distinguishable scent of coffee beans. He fidgets with his hands as his eyes scan the menu when he hears a warm voice in front of him say, “Made your choice?” He smiles sweetly at the worker, taking a step forward to order his breakfast and coffee when a man steps in front of him and orders his own food.

Harry stumbles back a bit, only to see that the man who had just taken his place in line was the same rude stranger from the tube the previous day. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” the man exclaims when he turns towards Harry, shoving his hands in his pockets as he rolls his eyes. “Wow, you really don’t know manners, do you? Jesus,” Harry trails off as he steps ahead to order his breakfast. “Hey, watch it, I already ordered, wait your turn,” the stranger scolds. “Um, I’m very sorry sir but he was here before you so you’ll have to wait until he has ordered,” the barista awkwardly apologizes, not knowing exactly what do in this situation. “Thank you, love. I’ll have a medium cappuccino and a blueberry muffin, both for here, please,” Harry orders with a polite smile and pays with a generous tip, earning a scoff from the stranger behind him. “Of course, take a seat anywhere you’d like and we’ll bring your order to you,” the waitress smiles and takes the next order.

Schultz and Co. also face a different market in 2008. Whereas Starbucks, nearly unchallenged, nurtured the nascent U. S. coffee-chain culture back in the 1980s, introducing the world to such cultural oddities as the nonfat, extra-whip caramel mocha latte, the coffee environment is cluttered now. Competitors such as McDonald’s (MCD) and Dunkin’ Donuts have cut into Starbucks’ urbane customer base with their own lines of posh coffees. And the softening U. S. economy could well discourage consumers from buying $4 lattes. Morningstar (MORN) stock analyst John Owens says the company should look to McDonald’s as a template, not just a threat.

“McDonald’s went through a similar process five years ago,” he says. “They’ve learned to get better, not just bigger. ” Just as McDonald’s took its eyes off the fries, Starbucks has taken its eyes off the coffee, he adds. Owens believes Starbucks, just as McDonald’s has done, should simplify its menu and redesign its locations. For his part, Crutchfield says simply, “It’s the coffee, stupid. ” And Rinat Aruh, a principal at Aruliden, a New York brand strategy and design firm, warns the biggest threat to Starbucks’ brand is a decline in the quality of the company’s coffee. “One-dollar coffee will not save them,” she says.

“They need to reinforce the message that the product is getting better…to grow what’s in the box, not the number of boxes. ” Slick Doesn’t Click Other companies that have endured growth-related crises, including Boeing (BA) and Xerox (XRX), based turnaround plans on connecting directly with their customers. Pridham notes Starbucks could refine a strategy for realigning stores according to customer expectations, not only regionally, but even throughout the day—by catering to early morning coffee drinkers and then also to mid-morning consumers and, later, those enjoying an afternoon break.

Much has been made of how high-tech Starbucks’ stores have become, with flat-screen TVs often adorning walls, pumping out slickly styled information on the music being played (much of which is represented by the company’s own record label, which now represents top-tier performers such as Paul McCartney and Madonna). The company also recently announced a deal to provide AT&T (T) subscribers with free Wi-Fi Internet in all its locations, replacing an existing deal with T-Mobile.

One of the aims of Starbucks is Global Responsibility. This is similar to Manchester Airport’s aim Environmentally Friendly because Manchester Airport is planning to cut the amount of CO2 emissions and recycle more; also Manchester Airport provide triple glazing windows for people who live very close to Manchester Airport so that they aren’t affected by the sound. Starbucks is intending to make 100% of their cups recyclable by 2015, also to make 100% of their coffees in high quality, to contribute over 1 million lion hours of community service by 2015, to make 100% of their coffees fair traded. Also Starbucks is aiming to reduce energy and water conservation plus, Starbucks staff cleans their equipments such as mugs, cups etc, so that it’s re-usable.

These are similar because both of the company is planning to make the environment better by recycling plus they both care about other people and the planet because Manchester Airport is providing triple glazing windows, in addition, Starbucks is paying their farmers with fair trade. This shows that both of the company care about other people because they provide something to customers so that it’s suitable in the condition they live in.

Differences

They are also different because Manchester Airport runs only in tertiary sector because they provide a service to people. Starbucks runs on entire sector primary, secondary and tertiary because they pay farmers to grow the beans so they are primary, they are in the secondary sector because they roast the beans into coffee, and they are in the tertiary sector because they sell the products and provide a service to customers.

In addition there is also a big difference between both because Starbucks sells products such as coffees, cold drinks, equipments etc. Also Starbucks produces its own product. Manchester Airport only rents out space to Airlines. Starbucks serves cold drinks, hot drinks, muffins and cake and more and they even merchandise cups with the Starbucks logo on it. Manchester Airport provides a service; they have shops in the airport so that you can buy food and drinks. Plus on top Manchester Airport’s activities has a massive difference compared to Starbucks the only similarity is that they both work in the tertiary sector plus, they both provide a service to customers.

Starbucks coffee company and Manchester airport are very different business so their activities are not similar at all. Starbucks activities involve selling more than just coffee; they sell cold beverages, hot beverages and have a wide variety of different types of teas. Starbucks also sell merchandise such as

Which Business Is Bigger?

Starbucks business is far bigger than Manchester Airport; this is because Starbucks run internationally, Starbucks runs in more than 55 countries and they have 16,635 stores worldwide therefore, they are making massive profit worldwide and so they would need more staff to operate the business. Manchester Airport has only has one airport in Manchester, they are not an international business so they make less profit and so they have less staff.

Competitors

Competitors Manchester Airport – Liverpool and Heathrow

Both of the company’s competitors are similar because their rivals do exactly the same thing.

Café Nero and Costa Coffee is Starbucks rival runs in all of the sectors, pay their farmers with fair trade, provide coffee and recipes, provide cold drinks and sell equipment, for example espresso machine and filter machine. Costa Coffee sells coffees such as espresso, cappuccino, Americano etc. These drinks are exactly the same as what Starbucks provide. However Café Nero has a different theme which is used on its website, it’s very different compared to Starbucks, Café Nero has a black background on its website and the logo is just a plain blue rectangle box that says Café Nero.

This website doesn’t look that appealing, because it’s very plain nor does it look posh. Costa Coffee website theme is a maroon background and a plain white logo saying “Costa”. Starbucks logo looks more nicer than Café Nero and Costa Coffee because it’s not just plain it’s a circle logo that says “Starbucks Coffee” and on the centre it shows a coffee, the background of the website is cream and has a picture of a leaf at the back, the website is also well organised, it’s more far more easier to navigate therefore it would be more appealing to customers.

I think that Costa Coffee won’t be able to compete well against Starbucks because they only have 442 Stores and also Café Nero has only 520 shops worldwide, whereas Starbucks has 16,635 Stores, Starbucks website looks far more organised and more expensive than both of their competitors therefore, I believe that Starbucks are successful on being competitive.

Liverpool and Heathrow Airport are just exactly same as Manchester Airport because they rent out space to airlines and provide a service to customers.

Heathrow is Manchester Airports main UK competition because it has 5 terminals, more airlines fly from there, particularly long haul flights to the US with British Airports. To compete Manchester Airport could rent out to airlines for less money so that they try to gain more business with long haul companies such as continental virgin Atlantic. Liverpool John Lennon Airport is main local competition – they specialise in Budget Airlines such as Ryan air and Easy jet, therefore Manchester Airport has got to attract budget airlines. Qatar airlines fly from Manchester Airport. Manchester Airport has better services such as shops, restaurants etc. Heathrow Airport has 67 million customers every year, whereas Manchester Airport has only 53 Million customers every year.

So I believe that Manchester Airport isn’t that good at competing with other airlines, however they can improve by making more space so that more airlines can fly, and make more long haul flights and rent space to airlines for cheaper so that they get more airlines.

When the problem inside is detected and removed than the external environment can turn back Into stable stage of development. The consultants at McKinney & Company suggested to analyses the organization using 7 key elements: ; Structure ; Systems ; Style ; staff ; Skills ; Strategy ; Shared values. [Pl] Source: http://www. Middleton. Com/pages/article/newest_91 . HTML As model includes next items: ; Structure: shows the way organization Is structured and Interrelation of business units with each other.

It indicates how employees interact with each other within the organization. ; Systems: the practices in which employees participate day-to-day, e. G. Organizational systems, financial systems etc. ; Style: description of the general way of conducting business within the company. Style is rather top-down image than bottom up concerning the top-management ruling the company and analyzing the attitude of deferent level employees on It. ; Staff: refers to the employees within personal development. ; Skills: refers to gained professional abilities of employees within the company. Strategy: the general plan of company’s management to induct its business currently and in the future. Strategy usually is made by corporate level managers to analyze the internal and external environment of the company and respond to changing demand within its specific industry. ; Shared values: refers to the core values of the company, for what it is created and what mission it has in society. In addition there are also ethics principles serving as the guidelines for the company. Now we will analyze Struck based on McKinney As framework. 1 .

Structure The general structure of Struck is very diversified and functional, basically including marketing, HER, CARS, Legal, and Finance etc. Figure 2. Struck’ structure [pick] Source: http://MBA. Tuck. Dartmouth. Deed/PDF/2002-1-0023. PDF Generally speaking, the structure of Struck doesn’t have strict hierarchy and is rather democratic. According to the case, full-time and part-time employees regarded as ‘partners of the company, and every one of them is granted a stock option in proportion to their base pay. In 1991 each partner was granted stock options worth 12% of base pay, and this continued then each October every year.

In general the organizational structure is build in order to avoid high turnover rate and reduce staff retention as much as possible. The motivation of employees is high, and Struck’ turnover for store management is about 25%, compared to about 50% for other retail channels. 2. Systems Struck developed outstanding system techniques which helped sustain the leading position in the world among coffee-makers. Its unique system includes: ; Licenses stores and specialty sales licensing agreement, which managed market and distributing whole-bean and round coffees in grocery and mass-merchandise channels across the U.

S. At the same time Struck controlled how customers would perceive Struck when they encountered it in grocery aisles. The company also created its own sales group that provided its coffee products to restaurants, airlines, hotels, universities, hospitals, business offices, country clubs and select retailers. ; Purchasing system Struck personnel traveled to coffee-producing countries to build relationships with growers and exporters, searching the sources that would meet its demands on quality and flavor.

Because coffee industry depends a lot on weather conditions and different harvests, Struck set up fixed purchasing price to protect itself and get the bargaining power. ; Employee training Struck really believes that reducing the staff retention will help it to build strong brand, because the longer employees stay with the company, the more loyal customers the company will get. That’s why employees were trained and educated about coffee market, and afterwards shared their knowledge with customers. Thus Struck has developed system to build brand loyalty among its customers.

Their raining covered also practices as set forth in the company’s operating manual, information systems, and the basis of managing people. 3. Style The managerial style of conducting business in Struck is characterized as oriented on leadership (trust, collaboration, people development, and ethics), creating the opportunities for employees further career development (employees provided with coaching and feedback) and educating style (company raised employees according to personal needs giving them coffee knowledge and expertise seminars).

In general Struck is perceived as innovative, team-oriented and strong rand company. 4. Staff As long as Struck expanded internationally, company launched special hired high-motivated people who shared its love for coffee and had strong interest in it along with top-management. This has made Struck really unique and distinctive from its competitors company. In addition employees were guided by three principles: 1) maintain and enhance self-esteem 2) listen and acknowledge 3) ask for help.

Thus employees became one of key figures to take part in company’s decision and empowered by top-management. The whole total care of employees has rough Struck reputation of well-respected company and helped it generate high-profit to satisfy shareholders’ needs. 5. Skills The workers of company are quite high skilful due to intensive training and recognition. Every partner/barista received at least 24 hours of training on coffee history, drinks preparation, customer service, coffee knowledge and so on.

Customer service: we can see from the case that due to the employee coaching highly knowledgeable staff brought benefit to the company using friendly attitude to every customer, who wanted to come again and again to enjoy a cup of coffee in Struck. Customizing drink to customer specifications: workers were able to prepare grinding beans, steaming milk, learning to pull perfect cup of espresso, memorizing the recipes of different drinks – led to winning the prize among the target market. . Strategy Struck strategy was set up in order to build brand awareness, brand recognition, and brand association among its customers worldwide. Hence main strategies were implemented: A. Employee’s loyalty strategy: core strategy to win employee loyalty and commitment to company’s mission B. Store expansion strategy: choosing the best action in large cities and suburbia, creating best retail team in the coffee bar industry.

World expansion has spread to Europe, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan by 2005 by choosing licensing rather than franchising to tight controlling over its operations. C. Coffee purchasing strategy: Struck relied mostly on direct suppliers from coffee-producing countries rather than on media-suppliers, that helped to reduce costs and make economies of scale D. JP and acquisitions strategy: partnering with famous brands as PepsiCo, Dryer’s Grand Ice Cream Brands generated gross sales of over $8 million annually.

Purchasing Ethos Water lead to expanding the line of beverages in the U. S. Overall operations has driven extremely high profit for Struck that achieved its strategic objectives. 7. Shared values Struck positions itself as contributing to the community and to the environment in which it operates. Along with care for employees, building trust and respecting techniques, it also set up one of the best valuable CARS strategy in the world, becoming an environmental leader in all facets of its business.

For example using recycling material, avoiding genetically modified ingredients Struck has built a strong belief of customers in healthy products produced by the company. General As analysis shows that Struck doesn’t have any gaps in every sector of McKinney model. The company has very good top-down and bottom-up strategies, ensuring well-being of top-managers, customers and employees. But this analysis is mostly suitable for internal analysis of a company that helps to understand problems, which might appear when industry environment starts to change.

Nescafe, one of the top ten most valuable brands in the world, has over 50% instant coffee market share of the world, followed by General Food, Maxwell House and Brooke Bond. It’s so successful that some people in some of the Asian country such as China think that instant coffee is the whole world of coffee in 1990s. Such impressive influences come from Nescafe’s insight on the market situation and its own capability, fast response and feasible strategies. On this analysis, we will try to define instant coffee’s market as a standard cycle market.

Giving its characteristic, we will see what strategy Nescafe created to maintain the sustainable growth and continue generating rents. We will give example on what Nescafe did in China to analyze the entry barrier, convergence, oligopolistic scale orchestration, etc. We consider instant coffee market as the standard cycle based on the following concerns: 1. Convergence: Both Nescafe and Maxwell were the earliest two instant coffee providers in China. They entered the market in late 1970s. For a decade from 1980 to 1990, coffee could be only found in Hotel and high-end restaurants, but not in stores or supermarkets.

Those 10 years seems a conflict with the convergence of standard cycle which normally took around 4 years. However, because the demand on coffee was so low at that moment, I would not consider those 10 years as part of the convergence of standard cycle. Instead, I would say the convergence of instant coffee market started from 1990. At that moment, Chinese people was getting rich thanks to the reform and opening-up policy. Nevertheless, the price of a cup of Nescafe coffee is around 30 times of that of apples. In 1992, Nescafe started its production in China and making Nescafe cheaper and more accessible.

Nescafe did exceptionally well in 1990s when it made “Nestle” a symbol of coffee. However, it didn’t take much long that the price of Nescafe dropped rapidly to the same as several apples. This time line fitted the standard cycle convergence. And today, we can see that a small bag of Nescafe costs less than an apple in the super markets. 2. Alignment As I said above, Nescafe played really well in the China market. It knew the market and its own capability, and adopted the right strategies. We will see how it did such a nice job in those 3 points separately: 3. Markets: China’s instant coffee was a brand new market back to 1990. There were no more than 5 companies providing instant coffee there. All of them were foreign companies and no one had its own factories in China. Foreign companies required approval from Chinese government to build factories there. In 1990s, Chinese instant coffee market was booming regarding to people’s acceptance on coffee and large population base. As TV got more and more popular, brand loyalty were easier to build through advertisement and people tend to be sticky to the brand with the first taste. . 2 Capabilities: As the biggest instant coffee provider, Nescafe has the capital and reputation advantage to set up a factory in China. Its over 100 year management and marketing experience should help them to open emerging market easily. Its exceptionally and traditionally well-arranged and warm advertisement would touch the soul of the Chinese people. The entry barrier to set up an instant coffee factory was quite high. It not only required huge investment but also a minimum production which may exceed the market demand in the early stage of the market. 3. 3 Strategies:

Nescafe set up its production line in 1992, and made effort to build up a strong sales network, management team which were not easy to duplicated by competitors. Meanwhile, they differentiate themselves as the high quality coffee provider at the very beginning, focusing on quality control and manufacturing process, keeping promoting that core value, so that they set up an reputation line that is hardly exceeded by its competitors. For a standard cycle market, an easy exit level is also very important. However, it’s not easy to achieve in the instant coffee market because it require a huge investment on property, plant and equipments.

Once the market turns to competitive market as what it looks like today, the sunken investment would be huge and companies may have to keep producing and struggle to survive. 3. Segmentation of Cost Leadership and Differentiate We took Nescafe, Maxwell, Brooke Bond and some other local brand such as Super Coffeemix as example. Nescafe, Maxwell and Brooke Bond control over 70% of the instant coffee in China, and they are the oligopolistic players in the market. They differentiate themselves from quality, tastes, innovation and customer experiences.

The rest 30% market share are controlled by many of the local small coffee producers who are competing on prices. Cost Leadership| Differentiate| Super CoffeeMix $5 / 100g| Nescafe $10 / 100g| Most other local brand| Brooke Bond $ 8. 2 / 100g| |  |  | Maxwell $ 7. 8 / 100g| From the above table, we can see that almost all of the Chinese local brand are in the circle of cost leadership because they are usually lack of systematic quality control, avoid excessive marketing investment, don’t need to concern social responsibility. Those brands took over 30% – 40% of the market share in Tier 2 cities in China.

On the contrary, Nescafe, Brooke Bond, and Maxwell differentiated themselves with quality, various favors, and providers of coffee-along products such as sugar, milk power etc. They try to build some connection between their coffee and a sweet, relaxed and high quality life. An advertisement from Nescafe shows a lady sitting beside a round table, under a fantastic weather and enjoying her afternoon tea time with some dimsum. After tasting the Nescafe, she closed her eyes, seemed very pleased and satisfied, and appreciated “It tastes so good”.

This advertisement happened in the 1990s and was so popular that making Nescafe as a symbol of sweet life. 4. Scale Orchestration’s four sections 5. 4 Scale: Nestle fully takes advantage of its scale. Nestle brought its Nescafe to China in 1978, and established its first factory in China in 1990. In 2010, Nestle accumulatively makes over 8. 3 billion RMB (around 1. 3 billion USD)Foreign Direct Investment in China , hires over 14,000 employees, runs 22 factories and sold out over 1. 5 million pieces of Nescafe products every day. It takes over 25% of the instant coffee in China, a market values over 5. billion RMB ( around 0. 8 billion USD) and grows over 15% per year. 5. 5 Learning: Nestle has a very well arranged and systematic employee training program. High-performing employees are invited to Headquarter in Swiss education center to have further management trainings. From 2000, Nestle China started the first two-year “Nestle (China) Management Development Plan” aiming to promote 500 local employees to management level in 2010 to enforce the localization strategy. Besides, Nestle also provides advanced technology and solutions to farmers and helps them to plant the high quality coffee bean in China. 5. Product: Nescafe has much more diversified products now than before. It has Nescafe 3+1, Nescafe Cappuccino, Nescafe Classic, Nescafe Decaf. It also has over 10 different favors, include powder bag and beverage, different package either to help making coffee easier or to be elegant to send as gift. Beyond the rich aroma and delicious tastes from the coffee, Nescafe try to provide further connection on efficiency, relaxation, stimulation, health and graveness through its products. 5. 7 Process: After over 20 year business running in China, Nescafe found its way to continue stable and sustainable growth in China.

It has its Labeling Standards which is the instruction to define logo, color, letter font, paragraph distance, and Package Design Manual which makes sure package style and materials are globally standardized. Besides, Nescafe also cut down its global media partners to 5 major advertisement agents. This strategy not only helps Nescafe to have precise cost control, but also guarantee its advertisement to be in a more consistent format and to provide the same mainstream idea in a certain period. All those four section make a generic structure which helps Nescafe to be successful in a standard cycle. . Can Nescafe turn into a long-cycle market player? The critical element in the long-cycle market is the strong isolating mechanisms. The key player in the market set up the monopoly power by lifting the entry barriers, without spending too much investment to create economic scale. Can Nescafe try to set up some strong isolating mechanisms to take over the market? It’s possible but very hard. 6. 8 Brand Lock-in As the earliest instant coffee producer who established a well-known brand name in China. Try to set up brand lock-in is the easiest way for Nescafe to create isolating mechanism.

By heavy investment on media advisement, Nescafe is having loyalty from a majority of consumers who works in office and has to work late. 6. 9 Resource barriers Yunnan Province in China is the best place to cultivate coffee bean because of its mild wet weather. Nescafe convinced the local farmers to plant coffee bean from 1990s. Through last 20 years, Nescafe provided training to those farmers, increased the beans’ quality and production. If Nescafe is able to collect the best quality beans from Yunnan, it will set up resource barriers to prevent competitors from competing on quality. . Does the instant coffee market tend to turn into fast-cycle? Capital investment is not a critical entry barrier for instant coffee market any more. If tracking the instant coffee products in the market, we will see new products (new package, new favor or new cafe component, etc) are launched much faster than before. It’s not only because the taste of consumers are keeping changing quickly, but also because instant coffee producers are investing more on R&D and creating more selling ideas in order to maintain a sustainable profit.

Regarding instant coffee is kind of commodity which is hard to differentiate, economics of scale would not help to keep the sustainability because price drops even faster. Besides, weak brand loyalty, rapid globalization even fading the product value. Nevertheless, it’s very difficult to minimize the exit barriers. Giving the competitive instant coffee market, there shouldn’t be any more new player joining it. In sum, Nescafe position itself quite well in the market, response quickly to market change, adopt suitable strategy to keep its sustainable growth. It’s a good example to analyze by using the tools we learned from course.

Marketing will play a vital role in the success of the Heights Cafe©. The Heights Cafe© must build a brand roundhead services It offers by heavily promoting Itself through local printјadvertising, radio, and station Eave event promotions. Marketing efforts are Just beginning by the time a potential customer enters the Heights Cafe© for the first time. A strong emphasis will be put on keeping customers and buildingјbrand loyalty through programs focused on staffing, experience, and customer satisfaction.

Pastry and finger foods, Live Music, Extended Hours, WIFE Table of Contents Situation Analysis Customer Analysis The Height’s Cafe©’s initial customer base will be generated from the local community ND will typically come from one of the following four subsection of the Haddam Heights market: 1 . Patrons who frequent other Station Eave businesses – Station Avenue Is a two-block section of downtown Haddam Heights that has numerous booming businesses that draw patrons to the area on a weekly basis.

Some of these businesses include Americas Karate School, Center Stage Dance Studio, Dan White Realtors and numerous retail stores, restaurants, hair salons and flower shops. In addition, Haddam Heights Is a thriving community that hosts neighborhood events wrought the year Including Farmer’s Markets every Sunday from May annul October, “First Friday’ events once a month from May until October and many parades, races and other events along Station Eave. Both of these aspects provide an abundant market of potential customers who would frequent The Heights Cafe©.

We expect customers will be Individuals who are Interested In purchasing a cup of coffee while frequenting another Station Eave. Location. These would include parents waiting to pick their child up from the Karate or Dance studio on a weekly basis, patrons prior to getting their hair cut . Business people who work in the offices in the surrounding areas – With many office building and businesses located in the Station Avenue vicinity, particularly along route 30, a quality coffee house strategically placed in the epicenter would work well by serving the many business people interested in purchasing a quality cup of coffee or latte.

In addition, a comfortable environment would welcome small business meeting, causal lunch meeting or lunch hour shoppers who want to grab cup of coffee before heading back to the office for the afternoon. 3. Seniors living in the surrounding area – Over 37% of the Haddam Heights community is over the age of 50 and with are 2 large retirement homes within 5 blocks of Station Eave, the Height’s Cafe would profit from developing a business that cater to the senior community.

Strategically positioning the Heights Cafe© as the main meeting place for civic groups and teaming up with the township to host existing community events such as water coloring, retirement planning and paper crafting 101 would help promote the objective.  Local High School and College students – Coffee shops with free Wi-If are obvious hangout locations for High School and College students. Appealing to this market by hosting live music and keeping late hours especially during school vacation periods would be key to drawing in this type of clientele.

By perusing these various subsections of the market, the Height’s Cafe© will become a cornerstone in the Haddam Heights community and will be the first stop when patron’s visits other station avenue locations. Company Analysis The Heights Cafe will be set-up as a limited liability corporation and will be located in the heart of downtown historic Haddam Heights, NJ. The owners of this new cafe© are Sean and Carol Hackney, both of which graduated from Haddam Heights High School ND which are lifetime residents.

Sean is currently a CPA who works at an audit firm in Center City, Philadelphia. Carol Hackney has her associates degree in culinary arts. She is currently a stay home mother who enjoys baking. Throughout high school and college, Carol was the manger of a Center City Cutbacks and remained in that position until deciding to leave the workforce to have children. The owners have two children, Ryan and Susan Hackney. Ryan is a freshman at Rowan University and lives at home.

Susan is a sophomore at Haddam Heights High School and plans to attend Rowan as well. The business start-up will be financed by a recent inheritance that Carol received from a relative who recently passed away. Carol’s uncle Charlie had strong ties to the Haddam Heights Community and longed for a local establishment where he could enjoy a well-made cup of coffee and also promoted all that Haddam Heights has to offer. In addition, a small loan will utilized to help cover additional expenses and costs of operations in the first few years of business.

During the initial year of operations, the staff will be minimal. Carol will manage the cafe© and both Susan and Ryan will work in the cafe©. Additional staff will be hired from within the Haddam Heights community as needed. Utilizing her prior experiences, Carol will be able to train additional employees on the various staff responsibilities as needed. Management will insist that all employees provide and promote the friendly, customer-centered environment that Uncle Charlie would have insisted upon.

The Heights Cafe© will have close ties to the Haddam Heights community. In addition to a current and historical photos of Haddam Heights. Photos of local sports teams, current and historical events, game schedules and community calendars will adorn he walls helping to reinforce the Heights Cafe© as being the “place to go to find out what is happening in Haddam Heights. ” Mission Statement: The Heights Cafe© provides Haddam Heights with the ability to enjoy a cup of coffee and quality pastries in a comfortable, committee-focused environment.

Vision Statement: Establish the Heights Cafe© as “the” place to buy and enjoy coffee in Haddam Heights. Competitive Analysis The Heights Cafe© will specialize in premium drinks including gourmet coffee beverages, espresso-based beverages, traditional coffee, gourmet tea, hot chocolate, fountain drinks, smoothies and milkshakes. In addition, the Heights Cafe© will offer light fare and desserts including pastries, croissant, bagels, breakfast sandwiches, Panic’s and a soup of the day.

The prices will be consistent with other area coffee shops. Over the course of the last 10 year, two other coffee shops have opened and closed along Station Eave. This was due to numerous factors that the Heights cafe© hopes to avoid. Lack of Promotion and Working Hours- Many Haddam Heights Residents didn’t know the location existed and the coffee shops were closed on key event days such as during the Farmers Market and 4th of July parade and lacked extended weekend hours.

The Heights Cafe© will use the Station Avenue events as a way to promote itself by handing out free samples, soliciting social and community events at the location and sponsoring local athletic teams. Uncomfortable and Unwelcoming atmosphere – Previous Station Avenue coffee locations had limited seating available and did not promote extended visits and new customer entrance. The Heights Cafe© will have a welcoming, comfortable atmosphere that invites its patrons to enjoy long and routine visits.

Poor Quality Coffee and Food – Prior coffee shops that attempted to tap into the Station Avenue market struggled to establish ND maintain high quality products that the larger chain locations such as Cutbacks are able to achieve. When a consumer is paying $5 for a cup of coffee, they expect high quality. This is where management’s prior experience will be key. Having managed a Cutbacks in the past, Carol Hackney will know how to execute and maintain the high levels of quality that consumers will expect from their “favorite” coffee shop.

Currently there are numerous coffee shops and cafes in the downtown areas of various towns surrounding Haddam Heights. While direct in competition in terms of product offering, none are within walking distance of downtown Haddam Heights. Each location tends to serve their immediate local market and proves that a strong, well-placed coffee shop can be supported with the consumer traffic that is created within a bustling community and retail area. The key to success will be the welcoming, comfortable atmosphere and strong positioning within the Haddam Heights community.

Management’s Prior Experience – Carol Hackney has had extensive experience managing and executing the various staff responsibilities that are required to run a successful coffee shop. This will prove to be a strength that other local coffee shops will not have. Knowledgeable and Friendly Staff – The Height’s Cafe will got to great lengths at to ensure their staff, whether family members of new hires, are passionate about both the products that are being sold and the Haddam Heights Community. Our staff will be both knowledgeable and eager to please  Downtown Haddam Heights Location – The downtown, central location of the Heights Cafe© will be strength as is will be conveniently located to other popular Haddam Heights locations.

It will also serve as a constant reminder to all Haddam Heights residents as Station Eave is a main road that most local residents utilize when driving in and out of town.  Comfortable, Community Oriented Ambiance – When customers walk into the Heights Cafe, they will immediately feel welcome and at home. Large comfortable couches and chairs will be strategically place to provide multiple “nooks” that allow customers to make a section of the cafe© all their own. Adjustable lighting will set the comfortable mood will adjust based on the time of day and will illuminate the community oriented photography used to decorate the interior. In addition, quality cappuccino machines and a glass case will display the refreshments

First Experience Being Business Owners – While Carol Hackney has extensive coffee shop management experience and Sean is a success CPA, neither has managed their own business before. There are many obstacles that must be overcome when managing and utilizing their own resource as opposed to working for larger company with many more resources.  Initial Market Penetration – The Heights Cafe© will be a complete newcomer to the Station Avenue, so attracting initial customers may be a weakness as it will be difficult to predict how many customer will venture into the cafe©. This is where marketing and promotion will become necessary to acquiring business. Lack of Parking -While that station Eave location is ideal when attracting customers, parking will be a challenge.

While there are a hand full of parking stops on the street, there is no off street parking and will serve to be articulacy difficult during events then the on-street parking is not to be utilized. Hopefully, the majority of the patrons will be within walking distance and travel by foot.  No room for Drive-thru – A Drive-thru is a popular additional to any restaurant and is becoming popular on many coffee locations such as Dunking Donuts ands Cutbacks. Because of the limited exterior space on Station Avenue and the difficult to remodel architecture, it would not the possible to add a drive-thru to the location in the short term. Develop Strong Bond with Community – The Heights Cafe© will have strong ties to he Haddam Heights community thru promotion, store design, and community participation.

If this strong bond becomes clear to local residents, it will serve as motivation to get patrons, who may currently frequent another coffee shop, to instead Offered to Local Community Organizations – Closely connected with item #1, a key market segment will be those already have an active role in the Haddam Heights Community thru social and civic participation. If the height Cafe© can tap into this resource and solicit meetings of such group by offering discounts, it will help spread dowdily and word of mouth advertising through the community. 3. Expansion of Menu to include Prepared Food – After initial success is proven with their current menu, menu expansion may be an area for additional opportunity.

While it will require utilization of additional resources, prepared foods such as crapes, grilled sandwiches and made to order salads may help tap into an additional market and boost customer base and additional resources.  Direct Competition with Chain Stores – There are a few locations, such as Dunking Donuts and Cutbacks that are located only a few miles from Station Avenue. They will serve as direct competition and it will be up to strong marketing and promotion in order to steer those potential Heights Cafe© customers to utilize their location instead.  Indirect Competition with Local Restaurants – In addition, there are also a few local restaurants that, while not solely coffee e, still serve coffee and may prove to be a competitor.

If a patron has coffee as a part of a regular meal at another Station Avenue restaurant, it is unlike that they will then frequent the Heights Cafe© as well.  Emerging local competitors – Currently, the Heights Cafe will enjoy an advantage of Ewing the only local cafe in Haddam Heights. However, additional competitors could be on the horizon and it may be necessary to be prepared for their entry into the market. Many programs will be designed to build customer loyalty, and it is our hope that our quality service and ambiance won’t be easily duplicated.  Corporate Objectives: Create a unique experiences rooted in the Haddam Heights community. Continually provide superior coffee based drinks and specialty foods.

Maintain a staff of enthusiastic employees who create a friendly, welcoming environment. Financial Objectives: Increase revenue by 10% annually. Develop strong supply chain relationships that help to reduce cost of supplies. Strive to become profitable within 5 years of opening. Marketing Objectives: Develop a strong base of loyal customers that frequent the establishment often. Become the preeminent meeting place for social and civic organizations. Build the Heights Cafe brand to the point where it becomes a household name. Long Term Become integrated into the local community through local advertisements. Support local youth and high school activities with sponsorships, which will add to our long- term marketing goals.

This is a strong indicator that Haddam Heights resident have more disposable income then many other New Jersey residents, and will hopefully be more willing to spend additional dollars on higher end items such as premium-brewed coffees. Product Strategy The Tic Tact Taco Company functioning as an authentic taco stand will have a limited menu focused on tacos. The initial menu will feature our 5 signatures tacos with the taco of the week. As an authentic street taco stand all tacos will be served on whole corn tortillas. We will have a ground sirloin taco, a ocarinas taco (pork), a chicken taco, an Angus steak taco, and a fish taco (amah or tailpipe).

We will have 5 signatures sauces that can be added to our tacos: creamy chipolata, creamy cilantro, Chile De arbor, hibernator cilantro, and spicy or mild tomato avocado cilantro. We will also offer Pico De Gallo and guacamole with whole corn tortilla chips as starters. We will spicy queue Jalapeño. We will also have our taco of the month which will vary from month to month; our initial ideas are kobo beef and wild boar. We also intend to offer spillages as a desert option for the first few months to see how it works out. Basically our entire menu has been laid out above; we plan to keep everything about the taco stand simple, to include the menu.

We plan on offering bottled Mexican sodas to keep with the taco stand authenticity, as well as cane sugar sodas such as Jones or Babylon. We will also offer fresh homemade iced teas, probably two or three different types and flavors on a daily basis. Pricing Strategy The Tic Tact Taco Company will have a basic menu with simplified pricing. Our original taco meals will consist of three tacos and will range in price from 6. 95 to 1 1. 95. We will also offer small and large child meals which will consist of one and two tacos respectively. Child meal pricing will be consistent with 33% and 66% of the price of an original taco meal. This pricing strategy will be very unique compared to other establishments in the Pitman area.

Discounts and promotions will be offered n a consistent basis to returning customers in order to attract and retain a loyal local customer base. Promotion Strategy The Heights Cafe©’s promotion will be focused one the following: Local Printer Advertisements – Papers, Cleaner, H Press bulletins The Tic Tact Taco Company will use a Faceable page to keep customers informed of any menu changes or daily specials. A presence on Faceable will assist us in getting the word out about the taco stand within the local community and become the lead focus in our social media presence. Group Discounts – The Tic Tact Taco Company will have its own Tic Tact Toe scratch off tickets.

These tickets will be good for discounts on purchases and will be distributed on a promotional basis and to customers to use on a return visit. Athletic Team Sponsorship – The Tic Tact Taco Company will sponsor Pitman youth sports organizations in order to integrate the taco stand into the local community. This will also assist in word of mouth promotion which we know is the real key to promoting a new start up business. Free Samples – Menu advertisements and coupons will be placed in local Pitman and Glasswork area mailboxes. We will pay students a flat fee or stuffing a number of mailboxes. We will perform random checks of assigned areas to make sure the students we hire to perform this task are not Just disposing of the mailers.

Weapon – The Tic Tact Taco Company will have its own website with online ordering. The site will list the current menu and any current available special items. We will link the site to our Faceable page and our various sponsored organizations within the local community. The weapon will also give a background on the menu items and the suppliers and farms from which we obtain our all natural ingredients that go into every taco we produce. Distribution Strategy We expect the majority of our customers will be local Pitman residents. We expect the majority of our business to be take-out and delivery. We expect some of our take-out/ delivery business will be from Rowan University students in Glasswork. We will not stand itself.

We also plan to offer our tacos for special event ordering and eventually plan a mobile taco truck which could travel to local youth sporting events and other local area events and lead to further distribution of our tacos. Financial Assumptions and Projections The Tic Tact Taco Company will be financed by $50,000. 0 in equity from owners Nathan and Racquet Quinn and a $100,000. 00 small business loan through the Small Business Administration (SABA). Our business goal is to bring in around $55,000. 00 in pre-tax profit per year; this would basically replace Racquet’s current income from full- time employment as she would be leaving her current position to focus solely on operating the taco stand.

This is the kind of thing you might want to read with your morning coffee. I say this because if we’re alike in any way, this is probably the only time you have to yourself. While you let the coffee cool off for a little bit, I just want to tell you what’s been on my mind in the meantime.

You see, it appears that there really is a thin line between being ultra productive, and mindless activity. We’ve all been using a number of to essentially do more with the resources that we have, namely time and energy. We’ve even gone to the extent of considering the ideas of working out-of-office and shorter working days. In trying to cram as much work in as we can during usual office hours, we’ve fallen into the trap of automation. Unfortunately, in doing so, we lose control, even though we get everything done. From the moment we wake to the end of the day, we’re rushing to tick off all that we had planned for the day, every day.

What I’m trying to say is that it has become easier to work harder and faster on cue, but what about trying to slow down? Have you noticed how difficult it is to sit still, away from all the noise, and think of nothing? This has become another challenge all together.

One of the things I look forward to every morning is my time with my cup of coffee; its warmth, smell, taste, and nothing else. It’s one of the few things that I do consistently, in the same way, wherever I may be, and yet, it always feels just as good. This is probably the case because, at the time, I’d be focused on only one thing, and I’d be very mindful of it.

As an entrepreneur, established or up-and-coming, is majorly associated with your resources and how you sustain them. That said, burnout is a lingering threat that’ll drain the core of your business– you. Knowing that, a great part of maintaining your energy is knowing how much effort is needed to put into given tasks, physical or otherwise. Another part of keeping that momentum is in routine self-evaluation, and in slowing down whenever you need to. This is where mindfulness comes in.

Being mindful is being present, and being present is slowing down and consciously understanding signals and their consequences, rather than being simply subjected to them. It is an art that you can only master through continuous practice, and just as it takes discipline to live an it takes just as much to live mindfully. The facts may show that you’re able to complete all the tasks you want to, but then lately, you’ve been feeling pressured, anxious, and have had difficulty sleeping. Before you know it, you’ll feel the tug and pull, and you will be dragged down, completely drained. It is for that reason that mindfulness should no longer be a luxury.

Mindfulness has been linked to reduced anxiety, and curbing unhealthy and debilitating habits. It has become more of a necessity now that the pace of life has become faster. It’s really the kind of thing you want to start your day with, and with an act as simple as having that regular cup of coffee in the morning.  

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