Since the owner had developed his mission, vision and values statements, we were able to use them as a framework to develop a operational framework for the organization – both what it might look like when it opened in a new facility and several years in the future. Areas we considered included
- Types of products and services
- Markets served
- Average sale
- Financial goals
- Branding/Brand experience
- Marketing
- Community impact
Thorough market research gave us further insight into understanding of his competition, including:
- direct competitors (companies that sell the same or similar products to the same or similar markets),
- indirect competitors (companies that carried replacement products (products people would purchase in place of what he had to offer),
- competitors’ market positioning and branding (how the competition appears to the market)
- market size and growth,
- potential influences on the market,
- demographic information
Having this information assisted us in helping the owner develop a pricing strategy that would work in his market, allowing him to promote the desired level of class and elegance without exclusivity.
This was a unique opportunity such that we were able to build a business plan that allowed the company to get an SBA loan, and were given permission to forebear payments until after the restaurant had been open 2 months. We were able to further assist the restaurant in the following areas:
- Office set up
- Branding
- Vendor acquisition
- Product development
- Hiring talent
- Fund raising (second round through a micro-loan organization)
- Equipment acquisition
- Design
