- INVESTIGATION
To complete my
investigation and find a weakness in the business I conducted both primary and
secondary market research. By primary market research, I mean that I gathered
new information specifically for the purpose identified in this assessment. For
instance, I gave questionnaires to 10 customers, 4 employees, 1 manager (see
appendix A, B, C), and then I took photos (see appendix D), and also wrote an
observation about it (see appendix E), as well as that I also conducted an
interview (see appendix F). I choose to do primary research as it gave me
access to up-to-date and more specific information, although I had some
problems while collecting it, specifically with the questionnaires as it was
harder to obtain because most customers did not want to participate, which lead
to rushed answers, and also as all the employees and the manager were hesitant
to put a true answer in fear of losing their job thus I strongly believe their
answers were not accurate. As a result, I also decided to do secondary
research, in which I used information that has already been gathered for
another purpose. Through which I found; reviews (see appendix G), a map (see
appendix H), a direct competitor (see appendix I), price comparisons (see
appendix J) and their menu (see appendix K). The advantage of using secondary
research was that it was easier to access and therefore I was able to do it
faster. Although, I still faced some problems as I had to go through a lot of
research until I found what was appropriate, up to date and reliable. Overall,
as I used both primary and secondary market research I was able to find
significant information perhaps even more than enough information to
investigate the different areas of the business, which I have underlined in the
subheadings below:
·
Operation management
Operations are the foremost factor for a business like Rock ‘N’
Sole Plaice as it belongs in the tertiary sector. Unfortunately, when I
investigated this area in the business I found more negatives than positives.
Firstly, from my primary market research I found out their customer service was
the weakest link in operations sector; for instance during my observation task
I noticed that their service was very slow as I waited for my food for
approximately 25 minutes to arrive (see appendix E5), and another customer who
ordered for take away had to wait for 20 minutes (see appendix E6). Also, the
business is not clear about their delivery policy as on their Facebook page
states that they deliver and from my customer questionnaires 50% of those questioned
had used their delivery service (see appendix A12), although when I called Rock
‘N’ Sole Plaice up they discarded any options for delivery, therefore this
indicates that their delivery service is not consistent or perhaps they do not
have enough drivers and as result displays inefficient operations. However,
some customers did use the delivery service; it was rated 0% excellent, 20%
very good, 10% good, 20% satisfactory, 0% weak and 50% not applicable (see
appendix A12), this again indicates that the delivery service is not working
very well as half of the participants have not even used this service and none
voted it excellent, only majority voted it average. Moving on, the hygiene
displayed in the case is not very good, for instance in my observation and when
I took photographs I noticed tables were left un-cleared for at least an hour
and I also saw that there were mosquitoes inside the restaurant (see appendix
D3, E3). However, my customer questionnaire gave a variety of results; 10%
excellent, 30% very good, 20% good, 20% satisfactory, and 20% voted it weak, as
a result I believe that it is a slight problem in the business as some did
still vote its hygiene weak (see appendix A6). Overall, from my primary
research I found that Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice definitely had some gaps to fill in
if it wishes to reach efficient operations.
Fortunately, in contrast I also found some positive pointers about
the operations at Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice from my secondary research. One
that I found was very important was the praising of the manager in the free
newspaper 7DAYS (see appendix G6), which surely British expats people read as
it is delivered widely in Jumeriah. There was a review from a customer who had
forgotten her wallet and she explained how the manager who she described as
“lovely Mr Hamid” who looked “after their customers” offered for her to come
back the next day to pay back and assured her it was okay, this quality of the
manager is vital in operations as it obviously helped build loyal customers and
thus get more returning customers for the business to gain higher revenue and
as a result grow. However, this was only one instance, and in combination with
my primary research this area is still particularly weak thus it has potential
to improve.
·
People in business
This had to be the strongest link in Rock ’N’ Sole Plaice’s
business infrastructure, there is a clear chain of command (the order in which
authority is organized), which helps, make the business organized. For example,
during my primary research I found that they all thought that they could easily
communicate with the manager (see appendix B6-IV) and thought he had good
leaderships skills (see appendix B6-V), which the manager also confirmed by
saying he could easily communicate with his team too (see appendix C6).
Additionally, all employees and the manager felt their job requirements were
clear (see appendix B6-I), and were satisfied (see appendix B6-II). They were
motivated to do their job (see appendix B6-VI), which is probably very true as most
have been working for more than a year (see appendix B5). Their satisfaction
was clear immediately as I was able to identify that the employees created a
positive atmosphere, for instance, in my observation I noticed that all the
servers had sharp smiles on their faces (see appendix E1). This was further
confirmed by my customer questionnaires where the staffs were voted as 90%
presentable, and only 10% voted not (see appendix A7) as a result of this I
found on my employee questionnaires that all employees rated their relationship
with the customers good (see appendix B6 - III). Although, it must be noted as
I mentioned above that the employee questionnaire may not have been accurate as
all had the same answers as they might have been afraid to lose their jobs.
Moving on, I did identify one problem I have slightly mentioned in operations
management above about delivery, they only had four employees (excluding the
manager) – two chefs, one chef assistant, one server (see appendix B1,2,3,4,5).
This makes it clear that they don’t have a driver to work delivery; perhaps if
they hired an extra employee to solely be a driver they would be able to make
their delivery operations more efficient. Despite the delivery issue, I found
from my primary research that the people in the business were not the biggest
problem in the business as it was usually rated positively.
To further add to my reliability, I did secondary research in this area,
however I was only able to find a review, which stated that Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice had a “welcoming and friendly atmosphere” (see
appendix G4 - VI). This is good, as I did not find one bad review, thus
confirming my conclusion from my primary research that this area was
particularly strong.
· Finance
I found finance an area that was particularly hard
to gather information on; as it was a sensitive topic and there was also no
secondary research available. Therefore, I conducted a short interview with the
owner as part of my primary research. Firstly I learned that in the first year
of Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice they were able reach their aim to make just amount
revenue to cover costs (see appendix F3) and also that in past years Rock ‘N’
Sole Plaice was able to follow their cash flow forecast, which
is a predication of the business’s future cash inflows, outflows and closing
balancing (see appendix F4). However the manager was hesitant that they would
reach his new aim to increase revenue this year by at least 5% (see appendix
F7), as costs were increasing and they had recently hired a new chef who
required a higher salary, thus they had to increase prices (see appendix F5).
Lastly, I also found that at the beginning of this year Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice took out a bank loan for undisclosed reason, which
the owner said he would not be able to repay if revenue does not increase by 5%
this year (see appendix F6). Overall, I found that they need to reach their new
cash flow forecast, which they can do by improving their weakness.
· Marketing
I split my research for finance into four different sub categories,
which I have listed below as product, price, promotion and place.
-Product
I was able to do a large amount of primary research on this and find
secondary too, however my research resulted in mixed reviews. For instance, in
my primary research I found out that 0% rate its food excellent or weak, 10%
rate its food satisfactory, 50% rate its food very good, and 40% rate its food
good (see appendix A3), although, it is good no one rated the food weak, this
data can also be viewed as an indicator that there is a problem with food
quality as it seems to be deemed just ‘average’ and not exceptional, which is
what they should be aiming for to increase their customer base. Similarly, its
food range was rated 0% weak and excellent, yet 40% rated it satisfactory, 40%
rated it good, 20% rated it very good (see appendix A4), overall this is good
as no one rated the food range weak, the data can also be viewed as an
indicator that there is a problem with food range as it seems again to be
deemed just ‘average’. A customer even added a strategy of improvement would be
that perhaps they should add a better drink variety (see appendix A13). Moving
on to its food packaging, which was rated 10% weak, 50% satisfactory, 40% good,
and 0% rated it very good or excellent (see appendix A5) thus has become a big
indicator that overall food packaging is a weak point in the business as no one
rated it better than good. A customer further added to this by suggesting that
Rock ‘N’ Sole should start using environmentally friendly packaging (see
appendix A15), however this has its own pros and cons as it would put a strain
on the businesses finance because it usually costs more but then it would also
increase its customer base as it would become an environmentally friendly
business. As a result from my primary research I was able to find that the food
had room for improvement.
As I continued my research and did some secondary research, I was able
to find some more information that confirmed my opinion of the food being
average and slightly un-fresh (see appendix E7). I found the majority of these
through searching for reviews. For instance, I found a review on Time Out Dubai
(see appendix G1) which commented the food to be; “chunky and nowhere near
crispy enough”, “(not) quite hot enough”, “just a bit soggy”, “flavourless”,
“(not) anything you’ve had back home”, however it must be noted that this
review was from 2010 and since then the chef has changed therefore I also
looked into more recent reviews, such as one from a What’s On magazine (see
appendix G2) which stated that the “mushy peas were crying out for a bit of
added flavour”. I found also found recent reviews from online forms (see
appendix G4) that stated comments like; “(they had) decent, very clean, good
size proportions”, “(the) scampi is little stingy”, “(they had an) excellent
selection”, “(food was) close to … back home”, “lacks flavour, perhaps not
fresh?” and “scrumptious”. Overall, I found again another range of mixed
reviews, therefore indicating again that there is still room for improvement
especially considering the quality of the food, which is important as I was
also able to find that a direct competitor (London Fish And Chips) had a better
variety of food (see appendix I2).
-Price
The price at Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice was mostly
rated positively by both my primary research and secondary research. For
instance, from my observation and analyse of their menu I have realized that
they have taken into account their target market of students by creating an
affordable section as ‘student menu’ and ‘kids menu’ (see appendix E4, K2),
also on my lunch there my bill only reached AED 50, which I split (see appendix
E8). Yet, it seems that there is still dispute on the reasonability of pricing
as although it was voted 60% reasonable, 40% voted it not to be (see appendix
A8). As a result, I would say that the pricing is reasonable as more people
voted it reasonable, than not.
During my secondary research a customer confirmed this by stating that
the pricing was “on (the) expensive side” (see appendix G4) and also when their
pricing is compared to its direct competition (London Fish And Chips) they had
higher pricing (see appendix I3). However, in comparison to most cafes I found
that it is very affordable as it has one of the cheapest Café Latte’s and other
drinks such as tea and water are second cheapest (see appendix J). Furthermore,
Time Out Dubai (see appendix G1) stated its price range to be “DHS 50-200”
adding it was “reasonable pricing”. Overall, the price at Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice received mixed reviews; however since it has more
positive reviews than negative I would say that it is not a significant
problem, just a slight problem.
-Promotion
Unfortunately, Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice seldom
does promotion and relies heavily on ‘word of mouth’. For instance, in my
primary research I found that 80% heard of them by word of mouth, the other 20%
through another strategy, and shockingly no one heard of them through leaflets,
or advertising in magazines/newspapers or social networks (see appendix A10).
This shows how Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice is surely
losing customers because half of them probably don’t even know it exists.
Promotion is a very important strategy to bring in new customers and help a
business grow to its full potential and a business cannot just rely on ‘word of
mouth’ as it is very unreliable and secondly, it is impossible to control as
people may also be sharing negative views, therefore I would see this as
definitely the weakest link in their marketing. In addition to this, I was also
very surprised that Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice have yet
to hop onto the social network train to target the younger generation of their
target market who spend a large amount of their time on the internet, for
example majority of the customers are not following them on Facebook, only 10%
are, the other 90% are not (see appendix A11) this further indicates that their
marketing is weak as they are not using social networks to their advantage. As
a result, I was not surprised when I took photos and during my observation I
noticed that on the chalk board in the café they had written in a very tiny
handwriting that Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice had a
Facebook page (see appendix D5, E9), I think this would have been more
effective if written it in larger writing or perhaps if they opened a Twitter
account also, as majority of the target market are students, who mostly all
have a Facebook and Twitter. Additionally, they have never sponsored any events
at the surrounding schools (which each have approximately 1000 students), they
are definitely missing out on an enormous marketing strategy which could
potential grow their customer base (see appendix F8). Overall, I found barely
in positives regarding their promotion and have found that there is definitely
space for improvement here.
In addition to this, from my primary research I also noted that their
direct competitor (London Fish And Chips – see appendix I4) does huge amounts
of advertisements in comparison to them, in magazines such as Time Out
therefore as Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice do not do
advertising they are losing customers to their competitors. As a result, I
think this area needs immediate focus, as it is the weakest link.
-Location/Place
Regarding the location of Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice, I think it is its strength and weakness. For
example, during my primary research I found that it was voted 90% suitable, and
only 10% not (see appendix A9), indicating that it is not problem. However,
during my observation and as I took photos found the place to be very
inefficient, as there were seating areas both inside and outside, yet there
were only four tables inside and it was very crammed, compared to outside where
they had fifteen tables (see appendix D2, E2). I found that this was very
unwise as typically the weather in Dubai is very uncooperative to allow a
customer to sit outside, it is usually too high at 40 Degrees Celsius or too
windy with some seldom occurrences of sand storms. In addition, I took some
pictures that proved that it was very small, and thus hard to spot as the sign
on the café that says ‘Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice’ was very
small, and as a result easy to miss (see appendix D1). Furthermore, the
pictures also showed that that the appeal was not very welcoming and the food
displayed was not very welcoming (see appendix D4). As a result I would say
that although, the location was rated good; the actual interior of the place
would be a negative attribute.
Moreover, from my secondary research I pinpointed the location to be in
Jumeirah, which is the main residential area, where most British expats reside,
thus each street has a stream of villas, where potential customers can be
living (see appendix H2). In addition, I found that seven different schools
surrounded its location, thus this is where potential customers could also
reside (see appendix H1). Furthermore, I also noticed that Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice can be accessed by Sheikh Zayed Road (the main
highway), thus it is easy to access the location (see appendix H3). However, at
the same time I found negatives for instance as a result of it being surrounded
by seven schools rush hour occurs every morning at 7:30am, when schools open
and at 3:30pm, when schools finish thus making it harder to access and find
parking and this overcrowding could perhaps drive customers to competitor’s
location instead (see appendix H4, H5, H6). This creates another negative
aspect as the competitor’s (Fish And Chip) location is only ten minutes away
from Rock ‘N’ Sole
Plaice if driving and it
is easier to access as there are multiple routes to reach Dubai Mall, also the
Metro Station and shuttle bus can be used (see appendix I5). Overall, I think
the location of the cafe is a complicated issue as it has both negatives and
positives, although it has more positives and changing it would bring on huge
expenses therefore I think Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice should take full advantage of its positive
attributes.
In conclusion,
considering all the areas I have identified above such as operations
management, people in business, finance, and marketing, I believe that the area
that needs the highest attention to improve is the marketing function.
