We write, we don’t plagiarise! Every answer is different no matter how many orders we get for the same assignment. Your answer will be 100% plagiarism-free, custom written, unique and different from every other student.
I agree to receive phone calls from you at night in case of emergency
Please share your assignment brief and supporting material (if any) via email here at: support@instaresearch.co.uk after completing this order process.
No Plagiarism Guarantee - 100% Custom Written
Business Plan of a Chocolate Store in Dubai
Brown Chocolate
Name
Date
Table of Content
Executive Summary. 4
Business Summary. 5
Vision. 5
Mission. 5
Mission Statement 5
Goals/Objectives. 5
Keys to Success. 5
Business Description. 6
Location and Facilities. 6
Soul Traders and Partners. 6
Stakeholders. 7
Product Description. 8
Products and Services. 8
Pricing. 8
Sales. 8
Business, Organisation and Finance Structures. 9
Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis. 9
Premises, Plant and Equipment 9
Information Systems and Telecommunications. 9
Market Analysis in the Context of Business Competition. 11
The Industry Analysis. 11
Main Competitors. 11
Industry participants and Distribution Patterns. 11
Market Trends and Competition. 11
Target Market and Segmentation Strategy. 12
Promotional Strategies. 12
Suitable Business Strategy. 12
Management Analysis. 13
Customer Management and Retention. 13
Goals and Milestones. 14
Financial Forecasts Analysis. 15
Star Up Cost 15
Profit and Loss Forecast 15
Cash Flow Forecast 15
Balance Sheet Forecast 16
Break-Even Analysis. 16
Reference. 18
Appendix. 20
Appendix 1. 20
Appendix 2. 20
This One-year (2017) business plan deals with the start-up of a chocolate store in Dubai. The store focused to be established has been named as “Brown Chocolate”. The target market for this store is expected to be the whole chocolate lovers. However, the customers to whom these chocolate products would be sold are different retail organisations or super markets, wholesalers, traders, and common individuals in Bur Dubai, which would be the location of this chocolate store, as location is the significant part for a food store, which plays a crucial role in its success and/or failure. The target people would be included all age individuals while some special products offered would be Plain Chocolate, Milky Chocolate, and Nut-Fruit Brown Chocolate.
The plan indicates that the core competencies on which this store would be trying to compete are taste as well as the quality of the offered chocolate products. This organisation would be based on partnership in Dubai and managed by 2 finance managers, 1 marketing manager, 1 general manager (owner), and 1 accountant. The priority in this plan is to ensure that customers comfort in obtaining chocolate products. Therefore, information and communication technology (ICT) would be increasingly focused at the start-up time in order to attract customers and strengthen the business. The financial plan specifically cash flow shows that the survival of “Brown Chocolate Store” is possible.
The "Brown Chocolate" store in Dubai would be a confectionery business, in which manufacturing and distribution of chocolate items are considered as business operations
The vision of this store’ establishment is to be one of the leading chocolate places in all over Dubai
The mission can be described seeking the standard quality chocolate items at a competitive price by using advanced techniques in order to satisfy customers.
“To fuse the consumers’ tasting with the surprising taste of chocolate”
Based on an experimental analysis, it has been decided that the Bur Dubai would be a suitable place for this business start-up since there is a relatively less competition of chocolate stores. At this place, there might a plenty of raw material providers, as it is historic district as well as a home to several popular places for tourists (Gabr, 2004). Thus, traders and suppliers move to this place in order to expand their businesses and in this regard, the raw chocolate will be easily accessible.
Soul Trader is a legal business form, in which one individual is allowed to run the organisation (Hillary, 2004). Thus, the profits and liabilities are shared and managed by a single person (owner) (Forster, 2013). Conversely, it is ineffective under the situation of business failures, where the employer has to face shutting down cost. Still, the Soul Trader is needed to control the business operations and in this regard, the only owner would be focused. Soul Trader would be performing the tasks effectively by knowing personal responsibilities.
By contrast, the partnership is also a legal form since a business consists of different partners to share profit and loss conditions (Todeva & Knoke, 2005). The concerned business is a chocolate store and it is difficult to generate huge revenue at the initial stage. It ensures to make decisions to produce high productivity at low cost. However, a drawback of a partnership might be associated with the decision- making process, as if decisions are made by a group, it may increase the arguments (Lasker et al., 2001). Therefore, no partnership would be followed for this store initially.
Stakeholders are groups of individuals associated with a business for personal benefits (Starkey & Madan., 2001). There are two types of stakeholders called internal (managers, directors and employees) and external (customers and state) (Bandsuch et al., 2008). At the time of start-up, this store would be reliant on employees to offer quality services. Furthermore, governmental intervention would also be required to minimise the tax barrier.
The “Brown Chocolate” business would be assumed to offer the best products/services to its customers. In this regard, different chocolate products would be focused in this store. As the core product of this store is chocolate, thus all the innovative items would be made by using this ingredient. The common offers that are considered to be presented at initial stage are Plain Chocolate, Milky Chocolate, and Nut-Fruit Brown Chocolate. The reason for selecting these chocolate items is their benefits that attract customers increasingly. For instance, Plain Chocolate contains vitamins A, B, C, and D. Similarly, Milky chocolate is considered the brain stimulator and it may increase stamina. It also contains Vitamins B, D, and E. In opposition, Nut-Fruit Brown Chocolate provides all the benefits of nuts including the creation of blood cells, reduction in digestion problems, and coronary heart diseases.
Generally, different methods are used for pricing, including penetration, skimming, competitive, and psychological pricing (Hyun, 2010). For this start-up business, competitive pricing would be used to compete with rivals.
In order to increase the sales, both the direct and online methods would be used. For instance, while talking about the direct sales, it shows that customers would be asked to come to the store and experience the new taste. In opposition, an indirect or online method of sales would be based on the acceptance of online orders. This may increase the profitability and attract people/customers more.
This store can be categorised as a chocolate product chain in Dubai. This business would be managed by the managers as well as employees at the time of start-up. Thus, at this stage, approximate 50 workers would be recruited for one year. Contrarily, financial resources would also be used in order to establish the business.
SWOT analysis of the start-up business indicates that the star up of this Brown Chocolate Store in Dubai would be beneficial for its long-term growth. On the other hand, it has the weaknesses as well as threats of investment and skilled labours that may contribute to the loss.
The site selected for starting up the business is near to the Iranian Mosque, where tourists come. Therefore, a Big Brown Chocolate would be artificially made to attract people more. This requires huge financial and capital investment to make such kinds of fixed plants. At the same time, the investment would be made on using the industry equipment for producing such the inventory to meet the demands of customers.
The contemporary world identifies the need of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in every field (Livingstone, 2004). ICT helps in the success of a business, as different software are used for numerous purposes, including calculations, records keeping, and documentation (Hollenstein, 2004). This store cannot be successfully started without using ICT, as Google Chrome would be significant to post advertisements (Mylonas et al., 2013). The suppliers might be contacted with the store through Microsoft Office. Similarly, Microsoft Excel is essential for profitability and costs associated calculations (Dragunov, 2005.). The image of ICT can be observed in this store in the form of Romantic music and media play services in order to make the pleasant environment, which is not possible without focussing on iTunes application of ICT (Trelease, 2008).
Since Dubai is a multi-cultural city whereby different people from different countries reside, the city has numerous stores that deal in chocolates (Nieburg, 2014). This is a lucrative market since chocolate lovers are present everywhere in the city.
The main competitors of Brown Chocolate would be numerous since Dubai is a huge city and has numerous shopping arenas and restaurants. The key competitors of Brown Chocolate are Forrey & Garland, Vintage Chocolate Lounge, and Candylicious. Forrey & Garland is an international brand that has been serving chocolates in Dubai since 2011 however; the brand exists from the 1900s in Europe. The store offers many chocolates with various types and forms (Forrey & Garland, 2011). Vintage Chocolate Lounge is another chocolate store, which is a competitor of Brown Chocolate since it also deals in Milky Chocolate and Nut-Fruit Brown Chocolates. The store is not only for chocolates but also for related food items such as muffins, cakes, and other desserts (Vintage Chocolate, 2016). Besides these, another competitor is Candylicious, which is not only a chocolate store but also a Singapore-based confectionary store, which has an outlet within Bur Dubai (Candylicious, 2016).
The UAE has an increasingly going market of chocolates around the globe and functions as a player in the unique market that includes different products and famous international brands. In addition, according to Nieburg (2014), the chocolate sector of the country is expected to rise up to 6.9% from 2014 – 2019. The chocolate industry of Dubai is becoming a profitable business for new entrants even though competitions are high.
The target market for this chocolate store and the segmentation strategy would be based on income and interest factors. Since Brown Chocolate is targeted to be opened in an area whereby upper class and upper-middle class are present, therefore, all these people would be targeted. In addition, teens, students, young adults, seniors, families, children, and tourists would also be targeted in this vicinity. Apart from these, individuals who are chocolate lovers would be the main target market.
The promotional strategies would include promotion through television commercials and print advertisements (Crawford, 2014). Social media is the best source of promotion in the present market. Thus, besides traditional media, social media pages on LinkedIn and Facebook would be set up a month before the actual inauguration, which would highlight “behind the scenes” aspects of the advertisements being made, of the outlet’s construction, and other things.
The business strategy used would be branding for this chocolate factory since the store would be focusing on expanding the business through the increase of customers. Branding would be done by distinguishing the products of the store from its competitors and focus on price and quality. The tag selected for branding the products would be based on the idea to attract customers (Wedel & Kamakura, 2012).
Customer management and retention cannot be ignored while discussing the newly established project. In this context, the customer management and retention would be achieved by proper training provided to the workers and implementation of advanced systems. For instance, self-checkout cashier system is one of the best examples that can be used to reduce the waiting issues and retain customers.
Goals
Activities
Start Date
End Date
Duration
2017
1st Quarter
2nd Quarter
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Improved quality
A huge investment on information collection to know people demands
Mon 2/Jan/17
Tue 28/Feb/17
2 Months
Planning for free checking at opening time
Wed 1/Mar/17
Fri 30/Mar/17
1 Month
Innovative chocolate products, customer awareness and satisfaction
Make a planning for the use of resource (human, capital and Financial)
Sat 1/Apr/17
Sat 29/Apr/17
Training to the employees and chefs
Mon 1/May/17
Fri 30/Jun/17
Establish destination spot for chocolate lovers with clean environment
Equipment for Big Brown Chocolate
Sat 1/Jul/17
Mon 31/Jul/17
Ensuring supply of raw materials
Tue 1/Aug/17
Sat 30/Sep/17
Outstanding reputation, competitive pricing, high market share
Use of financial sources for the promotion purposes
Mon 2/Oct/17
Wed 15/Nov/17
1.5 Months
Continuous development of the store
Thu 15/Nov/17
Sat 30/Dec/17
Table 1: Milestone
Costs for One Year
Start Up Cost Initially
Wages of 50 workers in 2016
300 $ * 50 = 15000 $
Rent/deposit
1,000 $
Equipment
50,00 $
Staff Training
2,400 $
Registration fees
90,00 $
Running Cost for next Five Years
Rates/Council
10,00 $
Electric/Water
50,000 $
More raw materials
80,00 $
Equipment maintenance and repairs
Admin Stationary supplies.
20,00 $
Advertisements/promotions/raw materials
Table 2: Star up Cost for the Store
2016
Particular
Sales
50,000
52000
51,000
55,000
Less: Cost of goods sold
46,000
48,000
Gross Margin
Less: Other expenses
Rent
1000
Marketing Expenses
4500
0
Staff Expenses
2400
Interior Decorations
35,000
EBT
7600
44600
42600
46600
Less: Tax
6100
43900
41900
45900
Net Income
Table 3: Profit and Loss Statement for the Store
Beginning Cash Balance
Cash Inflows
Total Cash Inflow
Total Cash Available
Cash Outflows
COGS
4000
5000
Staffing Expenses
Interior Designing of the store
Taxes paid
700
Total Cash Outflow
47,600
8100
9100
Ending Cash Balance
Table 4: Cash Flow Statements for the Store
Current Assets
Cash
2,400
Accounts receivable
14,800
15,800
20,800
19,800
Short-term investments
-
Total current assets
52,400
59,900
62,900
65,700
Fixed (Long-Term) Assets
Intangible assets
4,500
Total fixed assets
Deferred income tax
Total Assets
57,600
60,600
63,600
66,400
Current Liabilities
Accrued salaries and wages
3,000
Total current liabilities
Total long-term liabilities
Equity
Owner`s investment
55,200
60, 600
63400
Total owner`s equity
63,400
Total Liabilities and Owner`s Equity
63,6 00
Table 5: Balance sheet for the Store
Break-even Chart
Monthly Units expected to be sold on store
157300
Monthly Revenue
29500
Assumptions
Per-unit revenue
1.87%
Per-unit variable cost
8
fixed cost per unit
10
Total fixed cost
1573000
Per unit cost
18
Price per unit of the products sold
34
Break-even point =
Break-even point = = 60500
Break-even analysis can be done by calculating the revenues and variable cost per unit price. The analysis shows that approximately $6083 per month is needed to break-even (referred in appendix 2).
Bandsuch, M., Pate, L. & Thies, J., 2008. Rebuilding Stakeholder Trust in Business: An Examination of Principle‐Centered Leadership and Organizational Transparency in Corporate Governance. Business and Society Review, 113(1), pp.99-127.
Candylicious, 2016. About Us. [Online] Available at: http://www.candyliciousshop.com/about-us/.
Crawford, E., 2014. 5 marketing tactics helping premium chocolate sales outpace overall category. Food Navigator, 9 December.
Dragunov, A.N., 2005. TaskTracer: a desktop environment to support multi-tasking knowledge workers. In Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Intelligent user interfaces., 2005. ACM.
Forrey & Garland, 2011. Forrey & Garland. [Online] Available at: http://boutique.forreygalland.com/index.php/home/index.
Forster, G., 2013. Building organisation and procedures. Routledge.
Gabr, H.S., 2004. Attitudes of residents and tourists towards the use of urban historic sites for festival events. Event Management , 8(4), pp.223-30.
Hillary, R., 2004. Environmental management systems and the smaller enterprise. Journal of cleaner production, 12(6), pp.561-69.
HMV Group plc Fundamental Company Report Including Financial, SWOT, Competitors and Industry Analysis, 2015. HMV Group plc Fundamental Company Report Including Financial, SWOT, Competitors and Industry Analysis. Market Publisher.
Hollenstein, H., 2004. Determinants of the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT): An empirical analysis based on firm-level data for the Swiss business sector. Structural change and economic dynamics, 15(3), pp.315-342.
Hyun, S.S., 2010. Predictors of relationship quality and loyalty in the chain restaurant industry. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly , 51(2), pp.251-67.
Lasker, R.D., Weiss, E.S. & Miller, R., 2001. Partnership synergy: a practical framework for studying and strengthening the collaborative advantage. The Milbank Quarterly, 79(2), p. 179.
Livingstone, S., 2004. Media literacy and the challenge of new information and communication technologies. The Communication Review , 7(1), pp.3-14.
Mylonas, A., Tsalis, N. & Gritzalis., D., 2013. Evaluating the manageability of web browsers controls. Security and Trust Management. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp.82-98.
Nieburg, O., 2014. UAE set for torrent of new entrants as chocolate market excels. Confectionary News, 9 September.
Starkey, K. & Madan., P., 2001. Bridging the relevance gap: Aligning stakeholders in the future of management research. British Journal of Management, 12(1), pp. S3-S26.
Todeva, E. & Knoke, D., 2005. Strategic alliances and models of collaboration. Management Decision, 43(1), pp.123-148.
Trelease, R.B., 2008. Diffusion of innovations: smartphones and wireless anatomy learning resources. Anatomical sciences education , 1(6), pp.233-239.
Vintage Chocolate, 2016. Vintage Chocolate Lounge. [Online] Available at: http://www.vintagecl.com/.
Wedel, M. & Kamakura, W.A., 2012. Market segmentation: Conceptual and methodological foundations. Springer Science & Business Media.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Leading store in the world due to chocolate speciality
Human, capital and financial resources are required
Increase in the customers of all age
Effective leadership is required
Opportunities
Threats
Online marketing
Huge investment to promote the business
High demand of the items made by chocolate
Need of skilled labours
Table 7: SWOT analysis (2015)
Figure 1: Break-even