Restaurant

To be successful in life one should set goals early so that one can embark on a career once out of the college. The career can start with a job in a company or an enterprise of one’s own. The size of the business depends up on the capital the entrepreneur can mobilize which is the determining factor for all his further actions in pursuit of the goal of starting a company. Yes, the entrepreneur is the person who takes risk in putting his capital and mobilizes all the resources to give shape to his proposed enterprise. My goal setting process started early in my college days and was part of the curriculum.

This has motivated me sufficiently to be steadfast on my determination to start a company of my own. In contemplating to do so, I would like to share with the readers how my goal setting took place and how it is like to start a company. My starting the company has not been a hunch or extempore. It is the culmination of my having taken up the graduation course in management education with the aim of starting my own enterprise and further theoretical learning and practical exposure through various visits to several business establishments.

As I am a first generation entrepreneur having no particular family business to continue with or starting a new company in the same line, after a lot of deliberations and market study, I have chosen to start an enterprise in Catering Sector. Though Independent Franchisee opportunities are available from great names like McDonalds, they come with a cost and at a lesser margin of profit though results are guaranteed. Running an enterprise involves the basic four functions of Management.

They are Planning, Organizing, motivating/leading and Controlling or coordinating.

Planning

Any action should be preceded by a plan. By planning we identify the nature or kind of business to be started justifying why it should be started and how it can be achieved. Thus a business plan should aim at the following. They are Description of the venture which stipulates products to be dealt, their features, advantages and benefits. Secondly Marketing plans which includes research results about how the products will be marketed by identifying the type of customers, how the customers will be benefited by the venture and how the venture and its products will be advertised.

Thirdly staffing plans which spells out the expertise needed for the enterprise. Fourthly Management plans as to how the expertise will be organized, coordinated and led/controlled. Lastly Financial plans which will include cost to build up the venture, cost of operations the venture, expected income out of sales, budgets for the first formative years and for subsequent periods, estimating when the venture will break-even.

Identifying opportunities

Putting the above into practice, on reviewing business prospects in my area, services sector offers excellent opportunities. Read also how can business owners attract qualified laborers

The current trend in the ever expanding

Information Technology

Industry has led to lopsided development of other concomitant infrastructure for the smooth functioning of the I. T. Sector. Among several tertiary opportunities, catering and event management is found to be the most suitable for my present level of education and capital contribution I can make. What products and type of customers As described above, among the venues of catering sector Restaurant Business in my area seems an immediate need for the place where I. T. Software firms have been setting up shops continuously for the past one year after the Local Government formed a new Town Ship. There has been steady flow of migrant workers from Asian Countries who are highly educated software engineers for employment and business visitors from Asian countries for grabbing outsourcing orders from the local software companies. As these people do not have permanent homes they simply depend on some outside source for their daily food requirements. Usually such migrant workers elsewhere manage to find residents who entertain them as paying guests.

But because mine is a far flung area under development, there are no significant households. There are complaints that migrant workers shy away from taking jobs owing to absence of such restaurant services in the area. The business visitors also find it very difficult without proper food availability as they generally stay for a minimum one week to finalize their deals. This state of affairs truly offers a challenge to the entrepreneur in me to create the need for food services in the area and cash in on them. Staffing Plans

As indicated above, on the technical side, qualified and experienced Catering graduates have to be recruited and also for marketing and other finance and accounting and logistics personnel with appropriate qualifications. As per Scientific management advocated by Frederic Taylor, the principles of Management are developing a science for each element of an individual’s work, scientifically selecting, training and developing the worker, heartily cooperating with the workers, Dividing work and responsibility between managers and workers and improve production efficiencies through work studies, tools and economic incentives. (Taylor 1911. Principles of Scientific Management)

Organizational plans

This involves how the organizations structure is to be evolved Finance plans This part of the planning involves estimation of funds required for the project and how to procure them. And to find out what capital is required as own funds and how much can be borrowed for working capital and Fixed capital. Break- even point can be achieved on the 3rd month of commencement of commercial operations.

Beside daily consumables, to set up a restaurant, equipments such as Bar Equipment, Beverage Equipment, Concession Equipments, Cooking equipment, Drop-in Dispensers, Faucets/Hardwires, accessories, Furniture, Ice Machines, Manual food preparation tools, Refrigeration, sinks/Tables/Stands, Small cooking appliances, Steam Tables, Warmers/food Bars and ware washing are required besides Small ware, Storage/ Transport items, Table tops, Consumables, Disposables, janitorial items and laundry items.

This is only to indicate the amount of fixed capital involved to set up restaurant which is not as simple as it appears to be. Organizing Organizing implies how the enterprise is to be organized in terms of managing the proposed activities or to achieving the Goals of the enterprise. Ultimate goal of any enterprise should be to earn a justifiable income for so much of efforts and resources put in. When an organization is set up, it consists of people and people only. Their positions in the company are to be structured so as to enable them to discharge their duties efficiently in pursuit of company’s goals.

When we make an organizational design, it should be designed in such a way that Division of Labor, Unity of command, Authority and Responsibility, Span of control and contingency factors are taken care of. Organizational structures shall be functional when the organization is small, geographically centralized, and providing few goods and services. It reduces duplication of activities and encourages technical expertise. If it experiences bottle necks in decision making, it is a symptom of having outgrown its functional structure.

Another kind of structure is Divisional Organization and it should be resorted only if the organization is large, geographically dispersed, and /or produces wide range of goods and services. It improves decision making, fixes accountability of performance and increases coordination of functions. However this kind of structure loses in economies of scale and encourages rivalry among divisions besides finding it difficult to allocate staff support. Besides these two, matrix structure and lateral relations can also be adopted according to the changes occurring in the organization over period.

To adopt a matrix structure, we have to modify traditional management practices resulting in reinforcement and broadening of technical excellence, efficient use of resources and balancing of conflicting objectives. But it does increase , increases confusions and stress for 2-boss employee and impedes decision making. Lateral relations means in Dotted line supervision, Liaison roles, temporary task forces, permanent teams and integrating managers. This type is adopted to offset coordination problems in functional and divisional structures.

Having seen briefly the meaning of organizing, let us see how functional structure is organized in the Restaurant business now proposed. The enterprise will have food preparations (kitchen), Quality Control, Purchases, Sales, Stores and Finance departments. These departments are therefore function based. This departmentalization can be compressed or expanded according to the size of the business. For example Marketing and Advertisement Department can be added. And stores /purchases departments can be merged/compressed.

In the Kitchen, Chief Chef or the Production Manager is the Head under whom junior production managers are employed who in turn supervise floor level skilled laborers engaged in food preparations. The Kitchen which is the production department draws daily its requirements of the food ingredients from the stores and purchase department which obtains clearance from the quality control department before releasing to the kitchen. The quality control Department headed by a quality control manager qualified in Food and Nutrition actually supervises analytical chemists under him.

The analytical chemists draw samples from the stores department as soon as materials arrive and pass them for standard or not of standard quality. We are expected to take license from the local health authorities who make periodical and surprise visits to the restaurant and draw samples of food preparations. While purchases manager is engaged in sending enquiries and procuring materials of good quality and at the lowest possible prices and the sales manager is to set targets for annual and monthly sales and accordingly directs sales representatives for generating orders while at the same time processing the orders for execution.

Here an explanation is required. The restaurant business is not confined to serving food to the visiting customers alone. The plan is also to procure catering orders from nearby business establishments for supply of food during business conferences being held from time to time and for regular supply of lunch to the office executives at their offices besides supply of food for social functions in and around the town ship.

For all these activities, and to attract customers to the restaurant salesmen are engaged. The stores manager, who also looks after purchase functions in our case, receives materials purchased, issues materials for online preparations, arranges for dispatch of the orders generated by the sales departments and for being served to the visiting customers at the tables.

. Finally the Finance department who also looks after accounting functions to keep watch over the sales revenues and recurring expenditure apart from the main function of procurement of working capital usually from Commercial banks which grant credit facilities against stocks less owner’s contribution known as margin. As seen above each manager is specializing in his assigned function under one person who is the head of the organization i. e. me, the entrepreneur. Thus the organizing principles in a functional structure namely Division of Labor, Unity of command, Authority and Responsibility, Span of control are put in place.

McDonald’s, aiming to become more modern and nimble, is updating U.S. restaurants with self-service kiosk ordering, mobile payments, “smart” menu boards, custom sandwiches and table service, executives said on Thursday.

The 61-year-old fast-food company has been overhauling its food with simpler ingredients and selling breakfast items 24-hours a day, but it is playing catch up in the technology realm to early adopters such as Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks Corp and Panera Bread.

About 500 of McDonald’s more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants have made the changes with Florida, New York and Southern California the first regions to adopt the new format.

Restaurants in San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Seattle will start making the switch next year, according to the company, which declined to give a timeline for how long the changes will take to go nationwide.

McDonald’s will pilot mobile ordering in the United States in the first half of 2017 and do a national rollout in the second half, Chris Kempczinski, a former Kraft Foods executive who will take over as McDonald’s USA president on Jan. 1, told journalists at a press event in New York. Mobile ordering and payment will be added to the McDonald’s app, which has been downloaded by 16 million people, he said.

Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook said the company was in the early stage of using technology. “There is nothing more powerful than one-on-one customer experience” such as smartphone apps, he said to Reuters.

Still, some of McDonald’s U.S. franchisees have chafed at the prospect of making significant investments at a time when labor costs are rising and restaurant sales growth is tepid.

Analysts note that just 50 percent of U.S. McDonald’s restaurants have been recently renovated, and the company wants new food and tech elements in addition to the restaurant makeovers.

The cost of installing kiosks is between $50,000 and $60,000 and the company is willing to help with money or financing, McDonald’s executives said. Eastbrook has said that equipment is not expected to reduce the number of workers in restaurants, since traditional order takers would be redeployed to help customers learn to operate kiosks and to deliver food to tables.

Demonstrating returns is key to convincing franchisees to make the switch, executives said. In a video, one UK executive said sales grew 8 percent in downtown London as a result of the initiative.

“People may not always like to change, but people like to make money,” Kempczinski told Reuters.

McDonald’s USA draws on results from modernization projects in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada as it pushes the effort. “We’ve worked a lot of the kinks out,” Easterbrook told Reuters. Read about 

McDonalds Ansoff Matrix

Kempczinski said McDonald’s may also pick up the pace of its response to consumer demands for simpler, more natural food.

McDonald’s USA already has switched to chicken raised without antibiotics important to human health, replaced margarine with butter in its Egg McMuffins, and swapped sugar for high-fructose corn syrup in its hamburger buns.

Most recently, it said it would fully transition to cage-free eggs in the United States and Canada over the next decade.

Under the global expansion plan; KFC has scanned across the globe for its outlets, franchises, and thus the business. The paper will briefly analyse the strategy, human capital and the organisation, which are been controlled by the KFC Headquarters. In the fast food industry KFC has a benchmark of having more than 11,000 outlets over 80 countries across the world. In the US itself, the company is tagged with its sister restaurants serving from popular chains; cutting the additional establishment cost in the home country and diverting the fund for the international expansion.

Presently it is holding the world’s largest restaurant system with more than 32,500 KFC in more than 100 countries including existing and expanded business (KFC, 2009). In the product issue the company is famous for its paper packaging that is mainly done by Thomas. The product also holds the menu items that include the famous chicken menu, fillers, burgers, finger foods, side dishes, kebab, etc. KFC is famous for its fried chicken menu, but outside US it serves beef too.

Though the company is not sure about how China will react on economic slowdown but much of its earning and growth is well projected in the Chinese economy. In the promise land of China, it is expanding new products like, breakfast at KFC and experimental East Dawning to serve local Chinese food. This manifests the expanding market of KFC with customised products to serve the market, which has wide different from that of its homeland. This is how the company stands out from its competitors and makes the signature position to be the world’s largest restaurant chain.

Also read about KFC human resources

The core competencies behind this are the gaining of recognition through creativity, diversity in the workplace and serving everybody something new (Cattlenetwork, 2008). Behind this achievement there is a strong organisation working. KFC thrives in the form of a divisional structure of Yum! Brand Inc. Its structure is so prepared that it generates and offer employment to a large group of people, where the working condition is especially good for the senior executives. KFC is liable to control, plan and make decisions to create recognition and revenue to Yum! Brands.

Diversity in the work place is the forte of the open minded organisation culture. It also practices the team spirit in their work that promotes unity. It is known for its relationship building within the company, its employee and customers (Equine Kingdom, 2006). Analysing the international mentality of KFC, it clearly rules out the ethnocentric orientation of the company, where it could have worked as it is in the homeland. Rather it is geocentric, which focuses on the global expansion and value the local culture, like introduction of local Chinese food at East Dawning (Karadjova-Stoev and Mujtaba, 2009).

The key figures that spearheads the concept of this booming business are, James O’Reilly, Chief Marketing Officer, Roger Eaton, President and Laura Schalow, Director Public Relations based in KFC’s Louisville, KY Headquarter (Hoovers, 2009). Like all other companies KFC too have country managers in its different locations. The deployment of the same has a great impact to tackle the business in different region as the person is in charge of the particular regional business developments. It is also the responsibility of the country managers to understand the local cultural aspects for the brand building effort.

The revenue that comes from this business dynamics of the regional operation across the globe, counts the personnel solution of the international operation. Primarily it is important to be a local figure of different regions, finally to become an international one.

Reference

Cattlenetwork. (2008). Yum Brands Counting On International Expansion, KFC Brand. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www. cattlenetwork. com/content. asp? ContentID=275297 Equine Kingdom. (2006). Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www. equinekingdom.com/miscellaneous/stuff%20I’ve%20written/kfc%20analysis. htm Hoovers. (2009). KFC Executives. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www. hoovers. com/kfc/–ID__56325–/free-co-factsheet. xhtml KFC. (2009). About us. Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www. kfc. com/about/ Karadjova-Stoev, G. and Mujtaba, B. G. (2009, January).

Strategic Human Resource Management And Global Expansion Lessons From The Euro Disney Challenges In France. International Business ; Economics Research Journal, 8(1). Retrieved March 8, 2009, from http://www. cluteinstitute-onlinejournals. com/PDFs/456. pdf

People from all over the world definitely knows who Ronald McDonald is. That clown mascot clad in a bright yellow jumpsuit whom both kids and adults have cherished throughout these years. McDonald’s is the world’s largest food service company which generates over $40,000,000.00 in its annual system wide sales. The company operates over 30,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. The world renowned establishment includes sit-in restaurants, drive-through windows and satellite sites which untiring cater to their customers.  As the company continues to expand, it has becomes one of the biggest employers in the United States where over half a million workers are employed.

McDonald’s has a very effective Human Resource Strategy which they implement consistently in order to give quality and standardized services that would guarantee customer-satisfaction. They follow a certain job structure which basically divides all of their workers into three groups, the restaurant crew members who hold the entry-level positions, the corporate staff who are in-charge of the corporate head quarters and regional offices and the franchise owners. The company welcomes part-time workers and has one (1) restaurant manager for every store who supervises its smooth sailing operation.

As part of its effective Human Resource Strategy, the company conducts rigid and highly structured trainings.   Employee training at McDonald’s is highly structured. The Basic Crew Training System consists of on-the job- training. Each stage becomes more advanced where employees are tasked to develop complex skills.

A one-hour orientation about the company serves as an initial introduction. Each restaurant is devised with its own video player and training room. Step–by –step manuals and video tapes cover every detail of the operation. The restaurant has 25 stations from the grill area to the front counter, Trainers use a series of checklists as new crew members move through the restaurant. A level of competency is demonstrated and the activity is checked off on the SOC–Station Observation Checklist. There is a follow-up SOC to get certified on the station.

McDonald’s has plans of implementing  a certification program which will govern how employees progress from the crew to the level of restaurant managers in order for them to keep track of their accomplishments. For crew members who have mastered a set of essential workplace skills, the management would be giving them a Workplace Skills Certificate. As part of the company’s campaign in scouting for employees who are fun-loving and accurate while delivering friendly serviced to valued customers, the following are the guidelines that they follow:

1. Crewmembers are expected to report work on time, neat and clean.
2. Frequent hand-washing to make sure that customers receive safe food.
3. Skills and Training to provide employees with the expertise they need to perform the job.
4. Standards: Crewmembers follow standard operational procedures so customers always receive exceptional quality ; service.
5. Crewmembers rely on teamwork and high energy to get the job done.
6. Cleanliness in all aspects.
7. Making every customer feel like a welcomed guest.
8. Crewmembers must deliver fast, accurate friendly and quality service with a smile.

Works Cited:

Serwer, Andrew E. “McDonald’s Conquer the World.” Fortune 17 Oct. 1994: 103+ .

Byrne, Harlan S. “Welcome to McWorld.” Barron’s 29 Aug. 1994: 25-28.

Armstrong, M. A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: London: Kogan Page, 2003.

Sole proprietor is a type of business owned by one person and is without corporation or limited liability status (Zahorsky p1). The individual thus represents the business entity in all aspects that is legally and fully. In the process of carrying out business costs are incurred and these are classified into variable costs and fixed costs. Variable costs are directly related to the volume of business operation that is they increase directly in proportion to the sales volume in monetary terms for example dollar sales or the units produced.

Fixed costs on the hand remain fairy constant regardless of the sales volume or the number of units produced (Business Owners Toolkit p1). Restaurant operation by a sole proprietor:- A sole proprietor operating a restaurant purchases consumable items such as milk, tea leaves, sugar, cakes, coffee, eggs, bread, juices, drinking chocolates, fruits, and others. The purchasing level of each of these items will be dictated by the number of customers and the quantity consumed.

As the consumption of these items increases, so will be the amount required to meet cost of purchases. These types of costs are referred to as variable costs. To run his business, the individual shall pay other costs such as rent, business licenses, interest charges on his/her debts, salaries of the permanent staff, insurance, and money for his personal expenses and others. These items must be paid for at regular intervals monthly, quarterly, annually or as stipulated in the agreements.

These types of costs are referred to as fixed costs in the accounting jargon. References Business Owners Toolkit: “Total Know-How for Small Business. ” 1995-2009. Toolkit Media Group 3 February 2009. http://toolkit. com/small_busuness_guide/sbg. aspx? nid=p06_7510 Zahorsky, D. “Sole Proprietorship: The Right Business Structure. ” About. Com: Small Business Information. 3 March 2009 <http://sbinformation. about. com/od/ownership1/a/soleproprietor. htm>

Science, and turned him into a food. Even though, with the help of his roommate, Chef discovered a passion for cooking, he still graduated with a degree in Political Science. Obtaining a degree in Political Science didn’t mean much anymore to Chef Trotter, since he grew fond of cooking, so he went to further is education in the world of Culinary Arts. He went to school an additional five years chasing his new found dream. He worked and studied in Chicago, Florida, Europe, and San Francisco where he attended California Culinary Academy.

The more knowledge he gained the more his drive to become a chef grew stronger. In 1987 Chef Trotter opened his first restaurant in Chicago which was simply called “Charlie Trotter’s”. This was his most famous restaurants, winning him many awards. For over two decades “Charlie Trotter’s” was known as the best fine dining experience not only in America but also the world. He and his restaurants made Asian fusion well known or some would say what it is today. Chef Trotter also opened “Trotter’s To Go”.

This was a high end, ell known delicatessen and catering shop in the heart of Chicago. His restaurants were known for being “the best”. He was the “Midas Man”, every place that bared his name was turned into gold. In 2008 he opened “Restaurant Charlie” and “Bar Charlie” both located in the bright lights of Alas Vegas and both were equally successful. Beyond his culinary status, Chef Trotter was also known for a giving heart. He was involved in many charities, one being his own which is called “Charlie Trotter Culinary Education Foundation”.

To gain support Chef would host weekly inner for high school students and underwritten annual fund-raising dinners for the foundations. Chef Trotter has been recognized in the culinary world. He has been awarded the James Bearded Outstanding chef award in 1999. He was also invited to the White House where President Bush and Colic Powell presented him with an award of being one out five “heroes” for his work in his foundation. All the awards were leading to the biggest of them all, the induction of the Culinary Hall Of Fame in 2013. This made Chef Trotter the 57th inductee.

Unfortunately, Chef was found dead, by his son Dylan, at his home in Lincoln Park, IL on November 5th 2013. After being rushed to hospital he was pronounced dead on arrival. The corner reports it was due to a stroke. His death saddened the culinary world but his life made the world proud. Works Cited Rosemary Regina Cobol, Jeremy Corner, Phil Vetted and Mark Carr, Tribune Reporters Star Chef. Com, Chef Charlie Trotter of Charlie Trotter’s – Biography Worldviews. Org, World’s Top 50 Restaurants 2007 Camp, David, “Charlie Trotter, a Leader Left Behind”

Nordstrom core roof of shoppers, and those which the Nordstrom brand identify strongly with is the high-end luxury shopper. Nordstrom offers a high-quality lineup of designer apparel, shoes, accessories, and cosmetics for the discerning shopper (Explainer. 2013). The second group of shopper Nordstrom caters to is the Nordstrom Rack shopper or those with more modest budgets and spending habits (Explainer. 2013). Regardless of budget, both groups of shoppers desire the high-quality design of Nordstrom product offerings and the perception of that quality that the company creates in its brands Explainer. 013). The average shopper profile is married female, age 25-55. Nordstrom product lines cater to various sub-sets of shoppers. Top Shop and Brass Plum departments appeal to the single female shopper aged between 16-35 while The Rail and Men’s departments cater to both single and married males in the age range of 16- 70. Nordstrom Point of View/Narrative and Studio 121 department appeal to both married and single professional women aged 25-65 where as Savvy and TAB departments cater to the single or married females age 20- 40. Nordstrom designer departments;

Individualist, Via C and Collectors, appeal to the high-end luxury shopper ranging in age of 25-65. Numerous other departments make up Nordstrom product offering and appeal to all shopper with its array of products including children’s, shoes, cosmetics and home offerings. Cryptographic The Cryptographic make-up of Nordstrom shoppers are as diverse as its products lines. One common core true of all shopper is the desire for quality products and responsive, personalized customer service. Nordstrom shoppers lead active lifestyles; engage in physical and social activities.

Nordstrom shoppers are often involved in various civic and social groups, have a wide array of personal and professional interests and family oriented. From the pediatric customer to the geriatric, Nordstrom shoppers have full schedules leaving little time for wasted shopping. A shopping trip to Nordstrom for many is as much a social event as a functional one. Nordstrom recognizes this and has thus put into place its Cafe, a full-service restaurant offering a fine dining experience including alcoholic beverages.

The design of the cafe allows shoppers to reconvene with family and friends while providing spite from the task of shopping. Nordstrom clients are fashion forward, discerning and demanding when it comes to quality products thus, the higher than average price point of Nordstrom product offerings is readily accepted. Geographic Nordstrom currently has 225 stores located in the IIS and recently, Canada. (Van Regimens. 2013). Nordstrom began its journey in Seattle, Washington and cornered the market in the western region.

Nordstrom has since Opened locations in Minnesota Mall of America, Chicago and most recently, Manhattan in New York, and Canada, gaining more prominence on the East Coast. Strategic placement of Nordstrom stores capitalizes on cities with residents of greater spending power and affluence, maintaining continuity of the brand’s identity of high-end luxury and service. Behavioral Characteristics Nordstrom shoppers desire a shopping experience that gives them a sense of importance, status and luxury.

Due to their hectic and active lifestyles, the average Nordstrom shopper desires a hassle free quality shopping experience. Quality driven and willing to pay the extra few dollars to feel a sense of esteem and gratification, Nordstrom capitalizes on these behavioral heartsickness by encore raging salespeople to cultivate relationships with their clients thus providing shoppers a sense of trust and loyalty to the brand. Through the provision of personal shoppers, personal stylists and the ability to make an appointment for shopping needs, these behavioral needs are satisfied.

The Nordstrom approach is ingenious as it also provides the ability to monitor and track the customers spending habits and trends allowing Nordstrom to base its products offerings and service with little margin of error or loss of profits. In addition to being fashion forward, the average Nordstrom shopper is tech savvy. In doing so, Nordstrom has cultivated a strong sense of community among shoppers thus creating a network effect that drives repeat sales (Explainer. 2013). According to Van Regimens (2013), “Nordstrom objective is to create the finest customer engagement both online and in the traditional store space.