Strategic Planning in Retailing

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Competitors of the restaurants may national or local competition. National competition may include frozen foods that only need to be reheating in microwave. It is easy yet delicious and also is convenience to single customers. The place of the restaurants need to be in place where there far from the others competitors because it will easy to attract consumers. Restaurants need to list down the entire pro and cons their competitors are. It will make restaurants can set a new standard for that location.

Market trends should be analysing so restaurants will have an ideas what consumer’s demands. The market trend for restaurants is headed toward a more sophisticated customer. The restaurant patron today relative to yesterday is more sophisticated in a number of different ways such as food quality. The preference for high-quality ingredients is increasing as customers are learning to appreciate the qualitative differences. Presentation or appearance, as presentation of an element of the culinary experience becomes more pervasive, patrons are learning to appreciate this aspect of the industry.

Next, restaurants need to make SWOT analysis. Things such as strengths, weakness, opportunities and threat should be describe in detail.

Family restaurant consumers differ from fine dining consumers. Restaurant need to analyse every single household to achieved their demand. For example, in one family, we have father, mother, sister, and brother. Analysing should be gather information for all in the family. Their preferences, habit need to be analyse, in order to get a loyal consumers. Since it will coming in bigger size family, the restaurant need to be spacious and comfortable.

Turnover rate for family restaurants is high since family are usually only dine out and go home. Family restaurant not a details restaurants like fine dining. The restaurants need to be in busy place and easy to go. It is because customer can easy to go to the restaurants. Family restaurant have wide choices of cuisine. There are a lot of choices and it also comes with sets so family can choose the set menu to dine with their family.

In market trends analysis, family restaurant also must analysing the trends but family restaurant may have different trends such as the food must be fast serve to customers. Since they are in big family, slow in making a dish and serve is not convenience to them. Family consumer may focus on things such as health consciousness. As Malaysian in general are more cognizant of their health, evidenced by the increase in individuals exercising and health club memberships, patrons are requesting more healthy alternatives when they eat out. They recognize that an entree can be quite tasty, and reasonably good for you. Selection, people are demanding a larger selection of foods, they are no longer accepting a limited menu.

- What are the advantages and disadvantages of starting a new restaurant versus acquiring an existing one.

There are a lot of advantages of starting a new restaurant such as being your own boss. You can make your own decisions, keep your own time and not have to answer to other people or higher level or people. But in order to open new restaurant, owner need to work hard and know how. If you are a hard worker and or have immense industry know how, you may want to benefit from the long hours you do or the knowledge that you have acquired over time. After we finish schools or universities we will find that working with people are easier but one day, you may realise your dream of financial independence. When become an owner we will have your creative freedom, no more restrictions, you can do what you like and have the freedom to work, design, create, and build what you think is your way. You also don't have to pay for it (as you would if you were buying a business) but you get to build it yourself. Location, premises, building you will find it by you. As for staff, you’re not lumped with staff you don't want. You hire and train from scratch according to your ways. Differ from acquiring an existing restaurant, a fresh business, a fresh start. Your name has no bad history with suppliers or customers. If you buy a business, you may find some people just won't deal with the business because of past dealings. With that you are building your one image according to your wants.

The disadvantages of starting a new business are your business may not have a positive cash flow for two years and you must analyse all the possibilities to end up with positive cash flow after two years. Competitors who already have their loyal customers and are known at that place will try to collapsing your business. You may invest all this time, money and effort into your business and a large competitor targets your customers and offers them a similar product / service at below your cost. When restaurants are building with your names and brand, it will difficult to you to work according with office hours or the hours you preferred. You need to have level of commitment is such that you cannot take a holiday and your business is always with you (day, nights & weekends). Since you are new restaurants, and do not have any history with the suppliers, suppliers may not extend your credit and you may have to upfront for you goods for 90 to 120 days.

The advantages of buying an existing business are skipping the start up stage. When you buy a business as a going concern, you don’t have to deal with start-up paper work such as registering for a tax number, GST, and as an employer with IRD. An existing business will have honed its operations over time. This means you should inherit a business with streamlined and documented systems. It should be easy for you to learn the ins-and-outs of the business, and get to know the business, through the seller and any experienced staff who’ll stay with the business. You also may inheriting staff of the restaurant, Existing staff often have more of a coalface perspective than the boss, they can provide valuable insight into how the business runs and areas that could be improved. In such cases, staff are likely to feel more comfortable communicating their concerns to a new boss, and may be able to suggest ways of solving the problems. You also will inherit systems, customers and image. A good business should come with tried and tested processes and systems that allow daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks to be carried out as efficiently as possible. For example, open hours, service styles that restaurant use before, ordering and purchasing food items. Again, you’ll save time, money, and energy by not having to develop these systems yourself, and you’ll quickly get a good grasp of the day-to-day running of the business