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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

Executive Summary

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.

Business Summary

The "Brown Chocolate" store in Dubai would be a confectionery business, in which manufacturing and distribution of chocolate items are considered as business operations

Vision

The vision of this store’ establishment is to be one of the leading chocolate places in all over Dubai

Mission

The mission can be described seeking the standard quality chocolate items at a competitive price by using advanced techniques in order to satisfy customers.

Mission Statement

“To fuse the consumers’ tasting with the surprising taste of chocolate”

Goals/Objectives

• To manufacture and distribute the high-quality chocolate products
• To meet and exceed customer expectations
• To ensure a clean and hygiene free working environment
• To focus on a competitive pricing strategy
  • To gain high market shares
  • To make people aware of new tastes of chocolate
  • To make “Brown Chocolate” a destination spot for chocolate lovers
  • To leave the competitors behind by maintaining its outstanding reputation
  • Focused customer’s preferences
  • Maintained customer satisfaction
  • Standard and/or superior taste of different products
  • No complaint regarding the quality, hygiene, and price

Keys to Success

Business Description

Location and Facilities

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 Traders and Partners

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

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.

Product Description

Products and Services           

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.

Pricing

            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.

Sales

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.

Business, Organisation and Finance Structures

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.

Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threat (SWOT) analysis

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.

Premises, Plant and Equipment

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.

Information Systems and Telecommunications

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).

Market Analysis in the Context of Business Competition                                    

The Industry Analysis

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.

            Main Competitors

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).

Industry participants and Distribution Patterns

Market Trends and Competition

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. 

Target Market and Segmentation Strategy

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.

Promotional Strategies

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.

Suitable Business Strategy

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).

Management Analysis

Customer Management and Retention

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 and Milestones

Table 1: Milestone

Financial Forecasts Analysis

Star Up Cost

Table 2: Star up Cost for the Store

Profit and Loss Forecast       

Table 3: Profit and Loss Statement for the Store

Cash Flow Forecast

Table 4: Cash Flow Statements for the Store

Balance Sheet Forecast

Table 5: Balance sheet for the Store

Break-Even Analysis

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).

Reference

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.

Appendix

Appendix 1

Table 7: SWOT analysis (2015)

Appendix 2

Figure 1: Break-even