Tim's Coffee Shoppe

Jason Daniel Savage AB299-01 Associates Capstone Unit 4 Assignment 1 September 13, 2019 When starting your own business, one of the most important things you need to do in order to stay operational is to be able to compete with the competition that surrounds you. By creating a CPM, Tim is able to see his strengths and weaknesses compared with the competition that is near him and also a competitor on a more global scale. By following this CPM and by addressing the concerns of the customers found in the market survey folder, Tim has a better chance at being able to establish his company and to keep up with his competitors so that his business does not get lost in the wake of companies that are thriving in the market he is in. Taking a look at the market surveys that were given by the previous customers that visited Tim’s Coffee Shoppe, I see that there are some good things that are being said about the environment and service. Although, the overall consensus shows that Tim has a lot of areas for improvement. There are a select few that seem like the result of being a new business, so I am sure that they could be some potentially easy fixes. Then there are some that are going to require some revision in not only the business model, but revision of the employees that Tim has hired as well. A few of the customers complained that the students from the college campus are always too plentiful and taking up most of the seating because they sit at the tables to work on homework. Some of the other customers complained that the service was not very good due to poor behavior that some of the staff was displaying. Lastly, there are a couple issues with the register system that is being used by the cashiers. Some of the customers complained about the register not accepting debit cards, and others complained that their check would be printed incorrectly. This is one of the issues I was referring to as a result of being a new business. I am sure investing in a better system is not something that would be too costly, and would be fairly simple to accomplish. As far as addressing the space issue, Tim needs to be careful with the way he handles this. Upsetting the college students by telling them they cannot work on homework there could potentially cause a huge blow to the income that the company receives from them. Perhaps Tim needs to look into some way to expand the seating. With all of this being said, the way that I would revise Tim’s marketing strategy would be to try to cater to one demographic at certain times of the week, or day. This would be a promotional revision. Perhaps creating a night that is specifically for college students will prevent non-college students from showing up. Thus, giving the opportunity to receive less complaints about the establishment being over ran by college students. Tim should look at some of the products that his competitors are selling and try finding a way to match these items, or even make them better. I noticed in the surveys that one of the customers said that he prefers Quequeg’s Coffee Shoppe over Tim’s. I also noticed that a customer was thankful that Tim carried a certain product that is from another place on the other side of town from her. Until Tim is financially stable enough to start a franchise, I think that the location he currently has is a great fit for the market he is in. Most of the people that commented on the location of the shoppe seemed to appreciate where it is located. Lastly, Tim needs to find the break-even price on his products and also examine the prices of some of his competitors. If Tim’s prices are unreasonably high then no one is going to want to go to the establishment. If Tim is needing to raise prices on anything it needs to be a product that he has that none of his competitors have. Otherwise, there is no reason to pay more for it. References: Ferrel, O.C., Hirt, G. Ferrel, L. (2016) Business: A Changing World (10th Ed.) Retrieved from https://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/1260052125/cfi/6/2[;vnd.vst.idref=cover]!