Description of the Business
Standley’s Bakery is a new bakery store that is based in Ruston that will be primarily selling cakes and cupcakes in Ruston and its neighbourhood. Although Ruston has several bakery stores, it lacks a store that provides high-quality organic cakes and cupcakes at an optimal price. Moreover, it plans to be a special bakery store whose key agenda will be to handle consumers’ needs at a personal level. Baking cakes and cupcakes will be done according to their specific needs. The challenges of initiating a bakery business just like other food-product businesses include the regulations and guidelines that one must adhere to before being issued a permit and licence. However, the start-up cost will be sufficient to cater for the equipment and the authorisation cost.
Standley’s Bakery is launched at a time when the Ruston Municipal Authority is encouraging entrepreneurship and economic development. This observation implies that more businesses will spring up in the community, including bakeries. To counter any potential competition, the bakery will allow customers to apply their imaginations while being assisted by the company’s skilled employees to bake their desired dream cakes and cupcakes. This involvement will give customers a sense of identity with the store.
I strive to ensure that the bakery is in tandem with the current trends and technological advancements. Hence, Standley’s Bakery will hugely rely on customers’ responses, suggestions from the internet, and particularly social media. Customers will be allowed to order their products and get a house delivery. The ordering process will be done through a well-designed website that will display various designs of cakes and cupcakes and their respective costs. Considering the small population of Ruston, home delivery will not be a technical problem but rather an advantage over the company’s competitors. Social media such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook will also be cheap and effective platforms to interact with clients and potential customers. With respect to the routine of the business, the company will operate from Monday to Saturday 7.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. The loaf will be prepared during the off-peak hours so that clients can have new merchandise during the sunlight hours. It is anticipated that the number of customers will be at peak during lunch and evening hours when they will be coming for lunch and/or going back to their homes respectively. The products that remain in a day will be sold on a subsequent day at a reduced cost. If products last for three days while in good condition, they will be donated to Louisiana Centre for the Blind.
Goals and Objectives
Short-term Goals
- To attract customers through healthy and tasty cakes and cupcakes
- To establish a base of 100 to 150 sit-and-eat customers and participate in 10-outdoor events
- Actively participate and be recognised as a business that improves the lifestyle of the disadvantaged people in the community through the programme in Louisiana Centre for the Blind
- Retain a profit of 40% and re-invest some of the profits to the business to expand the capital and assets to about $120,000 in two years
- To launch an official website, social media platform, and billboards to promote the products of the business to potential customers
Mid-term Goals
- To increase the company’s customer base to over 800 a day with a gross daily income of $ 4000
- To become the first bakery store choice for residents in Monroe, Alexandria, and Shreveport
- To introduce newspapers as a mode of advertisement to reach the ever-growing customer base
- To expand the labour force by retaining skilled and talented employees while seeking even more proficient workers
- To introduce more programmes that are meant to reach out to the community and in particular provide healthy organic cakes to health centres
Long-term Goals
- To open branches of the store in Monroe and Shreveport
- To become a key bakery, store in Louisiana
- To partner with other bakery store investors to develop a brand bakery company that will serve the Louisiana community while striving to join the market in other states
Standley’s Bakery envisions providing an unforgettable gift to its customers that will keep them coming for more products. It not only seeks to provide healthy tasty cakes and cupcakes but also to feed the hearts of the people by catering for the underprivileged class in society. The bakery is committed to incorporating technology, art, and healthy measures when preparing its products. I believe that by providing quality cakes and cupcakes, customers will not mind purchasing them at optimal prices.
Industrial Analysis
The US bakery industry comprises about 2,800 commercial bakeries and 6,000 retail bakeries. The retail bakeries earn an average yearly return of $3 billion. The prosperity of most retail bakeries is linked to well-organised services. Big bakery companies flourish because of the economies of scale while inferior ones do well because they avail exceptional merchandise and other services that are advanced to their neighbouring rivals. Moreover, commentators have also observed how investors in the business should consider the following strategies to thrive in the industry.
- Transfer cost of increasing the inputs to consumers by raising the cost of products to maintain the profits
- Retain long-term supply of key ingredients such that price fluctuations do not affect the cost of inputs. This strategy will guarantee the company a competitive advantage over its rival stores.
- Strategic location to attract the ready market, considering that baked products are perishable and that lack of a proximate market will require the business to cater for transportation costs, which will be an additional expense to the business.
- Investing in product differentiation to be conspicuous among competitors
- Be flexible to changes in the market, economy, and consumer predilections while having a plan to respond to such as adjustments
The industry has also become more challenging, considering that bakery stores are now facing competition from consumers. Malls and supermarkets that receive cake supplies from bakery stores are now opting for preparing their cakes. The industry is also saturated. Hence, any new bakery store depends on the saturated market, which relies highly on population increment and economic stability. Moreover, food equipment is easily attacked by allergens if they are not handled well. Such mishandling can contaminate baked products. Serving contaminated food products can lead to revocation of licence following the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rulings. I will launch Standley’s Bakery aware of such risks and success factors. I will consider them in the business operations. It is evident that several television shows focus on the bakery outlets in the US such as Cake Boss, Ace of Cakes, and Food Network Challenge. They have attracted many viewers. The indication is that Americans love cakes. Aware of the public pine for tasty cakes, I seek to utilise this opportunity to penetrate the saturated industry. Ruston has a number of bakery stores such as Social Bites, House of Flowers, Cake Shoppe, and Bimbo Bakeries among others. Most of these bakeries are located along the Vienna Street. Thus, moving closer to the I-20 corridor and further from other bakery stores will give me a competitive advantage over other rivals.
Mission Statement
The company seeks to be the leading provider of healthy and tasty baked products that not only cater for customer needs, but also improve the lives of the community through the company’s excellent services.
Core Values
- To provide high quality, healthy, and tasty organic cakes and cupcakes
- To keep the interest of the customers my top priority
- To give back to the community by donating bakery products to the underprivileged class in the society
- To incorporate technology and current trends in the production and promotion of the bakery products
Ownership/Management Plan
The bakery store is a sole proprietorship business. Thus, I will be the owner. Academic excellence, talent, experience, and good character will guide the recruitment and selection of staff members. Staff officials will receive further training to concur with the Standley’s Bakery mission and core values. They will be allocated to the different position according to their expertise and existing demand.
Management Team
As the sole proprietor, I will be in charge of the management of the bakery store. I will be assisted by a supervisor whom I will appoint from the first lot of employees that I will recruit at the onset of the bakery store. Other staff members will receive instructions from the management team. They will be given different roles depending on customer demands. This management team will be temporary. As the business expands and the demand increases, I will appoint a manager to be in charge of the administrative issues, an accountant to run the finances, and a supervisor to monitor the baking process and customer delivery. Moreover, since the bakery will have an official website where customers will be allowed to order products online, I will have a team to manage the online transactions, as well as social media marketing progress.
Personnel Plan
Recruitment and selection will be conducted in a way to ensure that I get and retain employees. Promotion and demotion of employees will be based on their performance appraisal report. Some of the programmes that the bakery store will adopt to attract and retain employees include offering flexible working hours to avoid employee burnout and offering lucrative salaries and training programmes to improve their skills. Moreover, there will be team-building sessions where employees will interact and/or be taught about the store’s goals and objectives. The salaries of the staff members will be reviewed annually and be increased according to the profits that will have been made over the year. I seek to promote a culture of transformative leadership where the management can easily interact with the other staff members while sharing opinions on the trends of the bakery industry to find out how they can utilise them in the business.
Goods/Services
The bakery industry has largely ignored many customers who need its products. Standley’s Bakery seeks to provide organic cakes and cupcakes to the Ruston community. The bakery products will have a variety of flavours as a way of providing a myriad of choices for customers to pick. Moreover, customers will access my services through various platforms, namely online orders, which will be delivered to the customers’ home, sit-and-eat within the bakery store, and outdoor services. Other services will be offered in events such as Peach Festival. I seek to provide special services by baking cakes and cupcakes according to the instructions from customers. Most bakeries have denied customers who desire sugar-free products. Through Standley’s Bakery, customers such as diabetic patients who need sugar-free food products will take tasty cakes while living a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, customers will be given an opportunity to design their own cakes under the guidance of the company’s skilled employees. None of the other bakery stores has offered this service. Thus, it will be a competitive advantage over the other stores.
Location
The bakery store will be located in Ruston, Louisiana along Vienna Street and close to the I-20 corridor. Ruston has an estimated population of 25,000 people, with about 75% of the population being below the age of 44. The location of the bakery store is strategic. Hence, the young population and the busy I-20 corridor will provide a ready market for the company’s products.
Development and Production
The bakery products will be prepared on a daily basis based on customer demand. Some of the main ingredients will include sugar, baking powder, milk, eggs, cocoa powder, and unbleached white flour. I have made long-term plans with my suppliers to stock the ingredients on given intervals so that I never run out of stock.
Marketing
The primary target for the bakery store will be students from Louisiana Tech University, motorists, and passer-bys along the I-20 corridor. Ruston also has a young population that highly demands baked products. Thus, it will be my ready market. As the business grows, I seek to offer outdoor services in events such as weddings, family reunions, and Peak Festivals. Standley’s Bakery will advertise through billboards, social media, and a website, which will detail its products and their prices. I plan to erect a billboard along the I-20 corridor to attract the attention of motorists and along the MacDonald Avenue to grasp potential customers who may want to buy bakery products from my competitors who are concentrated along the Vienna Street. I anticipate that this mode of advertisement will attract customers from neighbouring towns such as Monroe.
Global Issues
The bakery industry is saturated with many investors and large retailers who enjoy most of revenue in the market. Standley’s Bakery plans to serve the Ruston community and its neighbourhood. Currently, I have no plan of serving the international market. However, the increased internal demand for my products as well as expanded the expanded capital base may inspire me to spread to other states in America. Nonetheless, this step will follow credible advice from financial analysts and commentators. Meanwhile, Standley’s Bakery will focus on serving the small Ruston community.
Financial Plan
Standley’s Bakery will require $100,000 as start-up costs for the business. This amount will be retrieved from my savings worth $40,000 and a bank loan of $60,000. In the best-case scenario, my products will attract a high product demand, which will compel me to raise prices of the cakes and cupcakes and/or reduce advertisement expenses. The bakery store will undergo a mammoth growth within the first year, thus leading us to launch other branches within the town and in the neighbouring municipality. Once the loan is settled, I will increase the bank savings to use in purchasing new equipment to replace the existing ones, which I plan to replace within an interval of five years. The plan below shows how the finances will be distributed.