IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT, ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Setting up a Cat Café Middlesex St just across the university is one kind of business enterprise that has the potential to do well because of the availability of potential customers. The street is very busy, and it is often frequented by students, who consume a lot of snacks and fast food (Williams and Martinez, 2014, pg. 3). The perfect company location has an outdoor space with trees and well-kept grass to compliment the tranquil atmosphere for the enterprise. Given the age bracket of the university students who are the major target group, their uptake of Cat Café Middlesex St just across the university is one kind of business venture that has the potential of doing great due to the availability of potential clients. The street is quite busy which is often frequented by students, from whose uptake of snacks and fast food in high (Williams and Martinez, 2014, pg. 3). The ideal premise for the business has an outdoor space with trees and well-attended grass to complement the serene environment for the business venture. Given the age bracket of the university students who are the major target group, their uptake Cat Café Middlesex St offers a wide array of snacks and fast food.

Part of the way forward includes looking at both the Macro-environment as well as the Micro-environment in a bid to find the best way out for the business venture. Understanding the market dynamics as well as the financial obligations is necessary for uncovering the nitty-gritty of the business venture (Williams and Martinez, 2014, pg. 5).

The projected business revenue is expected to be zero within the first eight months, beyond which the business will be able to support its operations where the business will break even in a venture that is aimed to grow after the first one year. The capital injected is 150,000 with an estimated annual revenue of 217,000. The cumulative staff is expected to be 10, with each working for 10hours a day, based on the university calendars and timeframe to maximize the time that the potential clients will be using the premises.

The Business Opportunity

The market gap

Coventry University has restaurants which are currently catering to the needs of students and lecturers. However, there seems to be a gap in the service industry given that pet lovers do not find the restaurants conducive for them to enjoy their meals with their pets accompanying them (Gielnik, Krämer, Kappel and Frese, 2014, pg. 349). Hence, this gap often keeps most of the pet lovers away as they find the restrictions limiting. Hence, our strategy is to link the market gap, with service that ensures that the food is hygienic as well as the environment is conducive for everyone who wishes to utilize their time with their pets. Through creating an environment that is able to cater for this category of clients is able to provide the much-needed space for enjoying their meals at the comfort of their pets (Blau, 2016, pg. 13). With 99% of the 30 respondents stating that in one way or another is an opportunity for owning a pet arises, they are willing to take up the opportunity; it presents a nice opportunity for making the business to thrive, as there is the place to enjoy coffee in a relaxed atmosphere.

Figure 1Appendix Survey Data

Offering

The business as it sets its base in the busy street acknowledges that there is competition from business premises that have been in existence before. With places such as My Old Place, Hohaki all opening their doors to the high-end clients, I am setting up the premise on the knowledge that the demand for snacks is high and the stores that are currently serving students have some business shortfall for families and students who are pet lovers. Hence, finding a place of enjoying their meals while also coming with their pets along with them present s the much-needed relief. Hence Cat Café Middlesex St is working towards reducing the gap in the market, through investing in a venture that is much needed yet lacking in the town.

The premises will be fitted with comfortable seats, with amenities such as free Wi-Fi for clients to enjoy their meals during their time within the Cat Café Middlesex St. The place is designed to provide an opportunity for people to relax and enjoy their coffee among other snacks in the animal-friendly environment.

Based on the market research, out of the 30 respondents, the ideal coffee shop that was identified includes one with free WiFi, has enough space with unlimited time to stay as well as enough pots to be able to plug laptops forms the ideal space. Other issues such as music, quality service, good environment all formed essential components in which Cat Café Middlesex St is working around to ensure that client needs are met, based on their taste and preferences.

Micro-Market

Cat Café Middlesex St is banking on the existence of clients from the university as well as across London street. The business premise is set with a view that there is the potential of friends of the owners who will be reached through word of mouth. Intensive awareness creation and the market segment it intends to capture who are pet lovers will be reached through awareness creation. Most of the target clients are students given the location of the business premises. Middlesex Street is having restaurants and which have been serving students as well as those who live and work on the premises. With My Old Place, Wagamama Coventry, among other restaurants as per Google Maps offering eatery, the gap in pet lovers is yet to be met. Hence, Cat Café is working towards closing on the gap by designing a more responsive way of reaching out to this market gap which the competitors are not providing coupled with quality service delivery as well as quality food.

The survey had most of the respondents being of the age bracket of 18years to 24years, accounting for 93% of the correspondents. Hence, this age bracket is mostly composed of university students whose needs will be incorporated in the overall study.

Macro-Market

Through carrying out a PEST analysis, it is possible to identify the macro-environment which affects the business set-up. The political environment is usually one of the major determinants which people need to focus on. Both political and legal environment are in one way or another likely to influence the industry. Legislation such as food hygiene set by the Food Standards Agency (Metzger, 2014, pg. 1). Cat Café have to comply with such regulations among others. On the economical front, issues such as consumer spending, inflation all contribute towards defining how he Café sets the price, comply with the economic situations. Price competition from outlets such as Premier Inn has an important role to play in the business premise (Wood and McCarthy, 2014, pg. 15). The Social actor such as demographics which may include lifestyle of the students who are the main target clientele is considered. Cat Café as a business unit intends to leverage the student’s population with foods and snacks as well as an environmentally friendly outlet that is accommodative to pet lovers. Issues of technology also play an integral role in the company’s success as an investment in high-speed WiFi broadband plays a major role in attracting and retaining clients to the Café. The company will also work on social media platforms such as Twitter to keep clients up to date on the products as well as new services being incorporated. All these are done in a bid to woo more clients to the premises.

Macro-Industry

Food and beverage industry is still not very exploited (Wood and McCarthy, 2014, pg. 37). The industry boasts of classes of clients who are having varied needs. There competition from the likes of Harvester Skydome Coventry, Rahway Kitty Hall is not offering clients with pet industry. The direct competitors are offering clients with almost the same package of products and services with the major cutting edge difference being on the space for pets, with Cats and Dogs being preferred pets within the Café as well as the speed of WiFi.

However, there are other joints offering both food and alcoholic drinks which have been used to differentiate the market within the institution’s vicinity. Mixing these is an advantage to Cat Café for students and clients who prefer to visit not alcoholic places for their quality time to relax as well as meet over a cup of coffee with a friend, over unregulated time.

Micro-Industry

Cat Café Middlesex St has a micro-industry which is set to enable t to achieve success rates in an industry that is dynamic. There are certain critical success factors which come into play when working around increasing satisfaction of customers, most of whom are students. With determinants such as quality of customer service, differentiation among other factors that play positively towards determining Cat Café. On a very critical factor is on the quality of food being served to clients who mostly form the better part determinant of success. Using CIEH for the business level 2 and 3 food Safety and health safety to provide the roadmap towards success (Caliendo, Hogenacker, Künn and Wießner, 2015, pg. 172)

On pricing, the company has worked on products and services that are pocket-friendly given that most of the target clients are students who depend on their pocket money to make a purchase. The major difference is the ample space and environment for the pet and pet lovers who would find easier interaction (Hafeez, Foroudi, Dinnie, Nguyen and Parahoo, 2016, pg. 395)

On products, the company is dedicated to achieving quality by incorporating qualified chefs to derive the business unit. With investment in 10 staff, which range from Chef to waiters, Cat Café boasts of hygienic products which meet the basic standards set. The communication of the services and products on offer at our premises through social media platforms such as Twitter is able to provide true and accurate information about the kind of services being provided.

Cat Café is based in Middlesex Street near Liverpool St Station and Coventry London Campus. The location is ideal as it is likely to serve many clients who are not necessarily students. Part of the benefits that are likely to accrue to the business includes the proximity of New Castle university which is close to few minutes walk, hence the business will leverage on increased students population who like hanging at coffee joints in the company of their pets.

The business will use marketing technique that resonates to the demographic of the target clients. The use of social media forms an integral part of ensuring that most students are reached with the services and products on Offer. Cat Café Middlesex St can venture into the use of Twitter, WhatsApp groups, Facebook among other up to date platforms for reaching out to the clients and even more. Through the promotion of the business brand, it is possible to tap into the market that is still lucrative and has little competition when it comes to ambiance, comfort and allowing pets to the premises (Caliendo, Hogenacker, Künn and Wießner, 2015, pg. 183).

In order to realize meaningful growth pattern within the industry, the process accounts for a greater percentage of ensuring that Cat Café attracts, retain and maintain the clients. Right from the business environment, the furniture and fittings, the lightings all which form the input equipment’s, the raw materials, the process of preparing the meals in the right ratio which determines the output. Hence, the output which is the benchmark for looking at the overall process is likely to determine how the business operates and fares in the turbulent market, that if u miss a process, it hampers on the overall service and hence reputational hazards.

Financials

With an initial investment of 150000, Cat Café Middlesex St has the following financial projections. (Appendix Entrepreneur Finance)

Money Out Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Year Rent 3150 3150 3150 3150 12600 Staff 24000 24000 24000 24000 96000 FC 27150 27150 27150 27150 108600 VC 27150 27150 27150 27150 108600 TC 54300 54300 54300 54300 217200 Money In Revenue % 10% 20% 30% 40% Revenue 21700 43440 65160 86880 217200 ∑ -32850 -10860 10860 32580 ∑ ∑ -32580 -43440 -32580 0

From the summary of the findings, there are a number of issues which have stood out. The rent is paid at a constant rate, while there is an assumption that the annual pay will remain constant over the year. The projected income levels is also estimated to increase by a margin of 10% per quarter, meaning that the overall survey is channeled with a steady growth pattern, while not considering the PEST factors such as change in the business environment

The break-even is estimated at the end of the 4th quarter when the business has stabilized and ready to yield profits to the investors. This follows a series of building its profile.

Recommendations

The hardest part of any start-up business is usually on how to break even. Without a clear laid out structure, the business is likely to surfer setback in terms of continuous injection of a capital. With a financial structure that identifies the break-even within an average of 8 months then it is feasible to invest in Cat Café, which in due course becomes an investment boom to the company. Another is the regulatory framework is not very stringent, given the local laws as well as the location all work towards the improvement of the business unit. With a well laid out structure based on the market research, it is possible to achieve the goals when all angles are looked at. We achieve more through looking at the market gaps which requires little effort in terms of investments.

Reflections

In the study, getting to look at the business from the bigger picture of the external environment has opened for me the previously ignored parts. Another point is the ability to look at what is lacking in the market to provide the market gap needs, which makes the business to be almost unique within the environment.

References

Blau, F.D., 2016. Gender, inequality, and wages. OUP Catalogue.

Wood, S. and McCarthy, D., 2014. The UK food retail _x0091_race for space_x0092_and market saturation: A contemporary review. The international review of retail, distribution and consumer research, 24(2), pp.121-144._x000b_Lelieveld, H.L., Holah, J. and Gabric, D. eds., 2016. Handbook of hygiene control in the food industry. Woodhead Publishing.

Metzger, K., 2014. Business analysis of UK supermarket industry.

Williams, C.C. and Martinez, A., 2014. Do small business start-ups test-trade in the informal economy? Evidence from a UK survey. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 22(1), pp.1-16.

Caliendo, M., Hogenacker, J., Künn, S. and Wießner, F., 2015. Subsidized start-ups out of unemployment: a comparison to regular business start-ups. Small Business Economics, 45(1), pp.165-190.

Gielnik, M.M., Krämer, A.C., Kappel, B. and Frese, M., 2014. Antecedents of business opportunity identification and innovation: Investigating the interplay of information processing and information acquisition. Applied Psychology, 63(2), pp.344-381.

Hafeez, K., Foroudi, P., Dinnie, K., Nguyen, B. and Parahoo, S.K., 2016. The role of place branding and image in the development of sectoral clusters: The case of Dubai. Journal of Brand Management, 23(4), pp.383-402.