Online Custom «Business Plan» Essay Sample

1. People factor

By analyzing the people factor, one needs to determine the suitability of the people working in the business to help it perform better (Roberts, 2007). It looks at the competencies, skills, knowledgability of the people and the impact they are likely to cause to the business either from the inside or from the outside.

a. Strengths

The entrepreneurs in the Room for Dessert are experienced in business and public relations. They are people who can manage to please people and oversee high quality running of their facility. Further, the employees working in Room for Dessert will have a comprehensive training program which will aim at making them skilled professionals and turn them into one of the organizational strengths. The plan has put emphasis on developing the employees to place them on a higher professional level. The plan’s other strength is that the entrepreneurs are dedicated people who will put all their knowledge and expertise in the business. This way, they can be able to motivate and appreciate the other employees, giving the business a great opportunity to have an impacting workforce.

b. Weaknesses

Although both entrepreneurs are endowed with excellent business skills and adequate business training, none of them has any tangible experience in the management of a restaurant. Various fields operate differently, and their success in other fields does not guarantee success in restaurant management. Training does not guarantee the expected results. Since the managers seem to try and build their strengths around their employees, it might prove unsuccessful, if these employees do not perform well in their duties. Labor costs for experienced and competent employees might also be higher than anticipated by the plan.

2. Opportunity factor

By evaluating the opportunities, one needs to determine the targeted customers, competitive advantage of the business, uniqueness of the business and the voids it would fill among other factors that make the particular business stand out in the industry (Roberts, 2007).

a. Strengths

The business has targeted a niche that is unique and willing to pay for premium services. They will also be looking to concentrate their services over evenings and weekends, but unlike other such businesses, they will strengthen their late night business operations while also introducing the traditional setting where eating places were near to the kitchen. The location of the restaurants will be vital for the success. The plan shows strategic locations for the businesses which increases their chances of access and the chances of many clients.

b. Weaknesses

The opportunity and target market has reduced the traffic in the hotel. It targets the employed and those people who can afford to pay for their services, which reduces the number of people who can comfortably go there. There are also other established places that target a similar group, and the culture of customer loyalty could see RFD take longer to convince their expected clients to leave their current eating places to their restaurant. The plan has also put risky extrapolations on the number of customers they will receive per day, estimating 3 turns per seat per day, which is very optimistic and could be hard to achieve within a new business.

3. Context factor

This refers to the factors that affect the business performance, but are outside the control of the management of the business (Roberts, 2007). They include threats posed by competitors, government regulations, and general market dynamics among others.

a. Strength

The food and beverage industry is growing and the number of customers will continue rising. Classy but affordable trends are also attractive to customers because most of the high caliber places are expensive and reserved for the rich. Secondly, there are many people who understand the importance of their eating habits, but are nevertheless not concerned and will follow food for the sake of their taste. The plan also provides a market analysis and acknowledges the many difficulties present. The mapping out of their customer base will lead to a strong start of the business and a possible exponential growth.

b. Weaknesses

Incumbent competitors have a way of retaining their customers, and being a new venture, it will take long for them to convince these loyal customers to leave their current places for RFD. At the same time, some people in the bracket of the targeted clients are keen on their health these days and would avoid desserts and junk food.

4. Risk and Reward

This measure evaluates the challenges that the business might experience in the course of its operations and how the challenges would impact the profitability of the business (Roberts, 2007). A good business plan acknowledges the risks and rewards, and then shows how the risks would be mitigated and how the rewards would be capitalized on to increase profitability.

a. Strengths

The management has identified many risks that they would appear when they start and run the business, and provided mitigation measures for the same. This will ensure that the business will not suffer significantly if the risks are materialized.

b. Weaknesses

The projection of revenue and profits is unrealistic for a business model that has not yet been tested in the market. The plan projects that during the first year in business it will generate $0.3 m and then rise to almost $20 m by the fourth year. The revenue in year 6 is expected to be almost $50m. The figures seem unrealistic. Secondly, though they have acknowledged the risks and showed the mitigation measures, they have not reflected on how the mitigation would affect the profits.