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25A – What’s Next?

25A – What’s Next?

ENT3003

Chris Ward

Existing Market

·      The next step would likely have to be locking in the location.  I would have to talk to a realtor to purchase the land. The city would also have to be involved to make sure there are no commercial zoning issues as well as building permitting.
·      While speaking with my three potential customers, we all agree that establishing a location is going to be the next big step to this venture.  They also suggested potential locations that would be equally as valuable that I did not consider.
·      Without a doubt, I need to consider establishing a definite location.  This process should start with contacting a commercial real estate agent to discuss my ideas and start looking at the prices of the land I am considering.  An architecture firm will be next to start the design process.
Once the land and design process are complete, I will have to go the city for permitting and business approval, which can take some time.  While that process is going on will need to get construction costs, land costs, and start-up costs together for a visit to my local bank or with potential investors.

New Market

·      B2B would be a very different market for me.
·      My venture would probably best serve the B2B market with some sort of catering type service for business meetings or similar events.
·      I spoke with two people form my current job about a catering service that provided coffee and pastries similar to Starbucks. We agreed that there may be value in this type of venture, but it will be far more difficult to be successful due to the limited customer base.  Marketing to many many businesses would be key to being able to sustain this type of business to business company.
·      As I suspected, switching my venture to B2B would likely be far more difficult and ultimately unsustainable.  They real issue here is customer base; my location is the most valuable feature of my business. If that is removed there is little chance for survival. I would have to market to every business in the area just to meet the same number of customers I would receive at my shop in one day.

In order for it to be successful I would have to think much bigger. Expanding my customer base to all of Central Florida maybe enough, but with that cost will go up. It is possible to be successful, but it would require starting this process over because every consideration so far will be different.

Comments

  1. Sydney RomanofApril 7, 2019 at 11:14 AM

    Hi Chris,
    I agree, location is your top consideration. I recently heard of a coffee shop startup that did not survive for the simple reason that it was on the wrong side of the road for morning commuters. Since so many more people buy coffee on their way TO work (versus FROM work), being accessible to your target market is important. Good market research will work to your advantage when making foundational decisions like specific location.

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  2. fedpseApril 7, 2019 at 12:55 PM

    Hey Chris,

    It's interesting to think that you could have part of your coffee shop business as a catering service for corporate events! You could make pastries and coffee, and deliver them to whoever is hosting an event at their workplace. It would be an amazing side hustle that could end up bringing in more income than the stand-alone shop.

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  3. Caroline PierceApril 8, 2019 at 6:15 AM

    Hi Chris,
    You have a very clear plan for how you need to proceed in order to make your business succeed. Finding the perfect location will definitely be a crucial next step! Sometimes two locations that are a block away from each other can have different success rates. Finding the perfect spot for your business will make or break it. A B2B market would be a great way to expand your businesses current model.

    ReplyDelete
  4. KirbyMcMullenApril 8, 2019 at 11:05 AM

    Chris,
    I like the plan of your next step. Finding the right location is very important and it can be the difference between a company flourishing or failing. Catering would be a neat market to add to your plan. There are many opportunities such as big meeting or conferences that could use this catering feature. It would be much more difficult to add this than just running out of a store.

    ReplyDelete

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