Category: Pizza

Most of the businesses are run based on one or a combination of the three basic business strategies, namely cost, product and focus strategies. For a business that aims to be successful on product differentiation, an ideal market should be the one that contains people who can afford to buy the kind of product that offers unique qualities over other similar products.

In this particular case, we rely on offering high quality pizza to the customers while providing them with excellent service and fast response time. It has an inherent pre-requisite that potential customers are supposed to be willing to pay for the added advantages, as everything in business has some cost associated with it. This can be possible when there are no other competitors at all, or when there are existing pizza businesses, but the customers are ready to try a new one with a positive difference in quality and service.

The third one is the realistic scenario, as there is apparently no town in this world which has pizza lovers but no pizza businesses. It reflects the actual situation that pizza makers have mushroomed everywhere and so new comers need to be ready to compete with many existing pizza businesses and be able to grab customer attention with some sort of differentiation.

As our main strategy is to go with product differentiation in terms of high quality product with excellent customer service, the ideal market is the one with high population who eats pizzas on regular basis and so are interested to pay for a tasty and quality item. However, the prospects of business success will be more when this can be done while maintaining the prices in comparable range. London seems to be a favourite place for the proposed pizza venture due to various factors that will be elaborated in further sections. To be simple, the three main reasons for choosing London in particular are its high population, high pizza consumption and the desire of customers, as it is known by many customer reviews, to find a new pizza avenue that offers taste and quality.

Though London is very familiar for this company, it is essential to focus on some details so as to have a clear idea on present business scope and plans. To start with, the initial focus will be on London in general and then on the particular place in London that is better suited for the proposed business.

London

London, the capital city of United Kingdom, is the largest city in Europe with an area of 610 square miles and a population of 7.5 million as per 2005 census (Moving to London 1). Out of the total 33 districts and major cities in London, some important places are West End, East London, Central London, East End, South London, City of London, Bloomsbury, North London, Docklands and West London. Apart from Central and West London, North London is relatively well developed than South London (Moving to London 1).

Developed residential areas and number of businesses in a place that is somewhat away from the main business area of Central London can be an advantage with North London if one of our kinds chooses to start a business while comparing the costs of business set up and consumer buying capacity. North London encompasses many towns called boroughs such as Barnet, Harrow, Camden, Hackney, Haringey and Islington (Moving to London 1).

London Borough of Camden

Camden seems to be an ideal location for many of the following reasons.

• Its population of 207,800 people with a density of 9,496/km², spread over 21.8 sq.km (London Borough 1).
• Than many other places in London, its population is dominated by whites, major pizza consumers, (73.2%), followed by South Asians (10.4%), Afro-Caribbean (8.3%) and Chinese (1.8%) (London Borough 1).
• Also, this area has as many as 16 major residential areas/towns with nine schools and two university level institutions (London Borough 1).
• Importantly, it is surrounded by six developed boroughs, namely City of London, Westminster, Brent, Islington, Haringey and Barnet (London 1).

Hence, the main factor that can be fulfilled by choosing Camden is potentially large

and affording customer base, as people who live in and around this developed area are mainly employees or business persons who can pay for quality, taste and time. Additionally, as it is somewhat away from the Central London, the cost of business set up can be reasonably minimized.

Pizza Businesses in London and Camden

There are as many as 200 pizza centres all over London, of which over 70 are owned by Pizza Hut and an almost equal number are owned by Pizza express (Restaurants 1).

They offer different varieties of pizzas with both vegetable and meat toppings. The prices of dinner and also of single pizza at ten best rated pizza restaurants in UK are given below.

(“Best Pizza” 1).

While the prices at Pizza Hut vary between £ 6.99 and £ 12.99, pizza prices at Pizza Express range between £ 5.90 and £ 10.95 (Menus 1; View 1).

Only two units of the top ten restaurants, namely Eco and The Soho Pizzeria, are located in Camden (“Pizza Delivery” 1). Nearly eight other pizza businesses present in Camden are either branches of the pizza hut, Domino’s pizza or some local pizza makers such as UK Pallet Collection (“Pizza Delivery” 1). Except for Napule, no other top ten restaurants have special home delivery menus.

Customer Views

Coming to customer opinions, most of the average customers see the top ten restaurants as very good hubs for a holiday dining, though some others visit them regularly (“Best Pizza” 2). The Popular opinion is that though restaurants such as pizza hut, Domino’s and pizza express offer a variety of pizzas for relatively cheaper prices, they lack the traditional Italian style of quality and taste in those pizzas and so prefer one of the top ten for occasionally dining as they offer Italian taste but with higher prices (“Best Pizza” 2).

Hence, it becomes imperative that the ability to offer a pizza with Italian kind of making at comparable prices to that of regular pizza hubs such as Pizza Hut can win customers on a large scale.

Target Markets for the Proposed Business

In the current business perspective, the places instead of population can be divided in to 3 categories: Schools, Businesses/offices and houses.

Firstly, there are 9 schools and two university level institutions in Camden. Proper marketing techniques can attract a good number of young customers from these places. Secondly, Camden is well developed with many government offices and considerable number of private businesses. Hence, a faster and reliable customer service can result in gaining some customers from this area, considering the fact that we will be offering high quality Italian kind of pizzas which are not available in this area. Thirdly, targeting households with special packages should be a main task so as to make our company a household name for pizza home delivery.

Marketing Objective for the First Year

The company aims at spreading its name in and around Camden in the first six months by delivering pizzas made of quality recipes that reflect the taste of traditional Italian pizzas, and will then further build up its reputation by continued and constantly improving quality service. The main focus will be on quality and taste, along with impeccable customer service. Also, a maximum delivery time of 45 minutes for destinations within 30 km range will be of prime importance, as we intend customers to rely on us for not only quality but also time maintenance. Thirty percent of the first year profits will be invested towards strengthening assets of the business and the same will be continued for the next three years.

Promotional Plan

The catch phrase for the promotional activity will be-“Italian Pizza – Awesome Quality at Normal Price”. It reflects product differentiation at relatively no extra price when compared to many other pizza makers.

Considering the population of Camden, nearly one fourth the number of people, that is 50,000 flyers will be made in three phases, 20,000 in the first round, 20,000 and 10,000 in the second and final rounds, respectively. To minimize the costs and to let people know through a flyer everything about our services, it is better to use a multi colour flyer that contains the brand’s name in the top with remaining page filled with the qualities of the pizza delivered and any discounts that will be offered.

Before deciding on promotional plan and discounts, it is necessary to estimate average pizza making cost based on the cost of its ingredients.

Flour: cost of 25kg flour bag = approx. 103.35 (4.13/kg) (Tobia 1).

Cost of 175 gm = £ 0.72

Cheese: approx. 1.5kg = £ 6.6 (3lbs = $ 9.99) (Costco Wholesale 1).

125 gm = £ 0.55

Pepperoni: 1 kg = £4.0; 40 gm = £ 0.16

Sauce: 1 kg = £ 2.5; 125g = £ 0.31

Box cost: £ 0.20 per pizza

Basic ingredients cost for each pizza = 0.72+0.55+0.16+0.31+0.20(box) = £ 1.94

The initial cost of pizza will be set at £ 7.00. Any additions will be made at extra charge.

As a promotional offer, 5 percent discount will be given on each sale of pizza for the first three months.

Apart from these, flyers will be distributed to households and offered at the cash counter. The flyer will work as a £ 5.00 or 10% discount coupon for the next order.

The cost of making and distributing the flyers, and other related expenses will be around £ 6,600. The campaign will go on vigorously for the first three months and the further course will be decided based on the review of progress then.

Cost and Time Division: Camden will be divided in to three divisions for advertising purpose and the contracted direct mail delivery agency will be asked to distribute flyers in one division for the first month and further distribution depends on previous advertisement’s response. Flyers will be made using A4 size, 150 gsm art papers using full colour on one side.

(Flat A4 1; Weaver 1)

A total of remaining 2000 copies will be kept at the pizza centre for in-house distribution.

An amount of £2800 (2 x 1400 per month) will be paid to a local popular news paper in two equal amounts for the first month biweekly advertisements (Sibya 1).

Staffing Requirements

The timings for the pizza house will be from morning 9am to midnight 1am throughout 7 days a week. Hence, regular employees for two work shifts of 8 hour each will be required.

As this is a new business and relies on prompt customer service and fast response, additional workforce will be required during peak times. The tentative staffing requirements will be considered for the first year, though changes may be made as per periodic reviews. As worker satisfaction is needed for better performance, they will be paid slightly above the average payment made to workers at other popular pizza businesses.

A brief summary of staffing requirements, working hours and wages can be seen as follows.

No. of shifts per day: 2 (8 hr each)

No. of regular employees per shift:

• 1 – to receive calls
• 1 – pizza making
• 1 – dish washing and cleaning
• 1 – shift manager
• 2 – delivery boys

Peak Hours:

For 3 hours during lunch time and 3 hours during dinner time: 2 part time delivery boys.

Part-time delivery boys will be required to have their own vehicles for delivery.

Initial wages: £ 4.50 for pizza maker & shift manager

£ 4.00 per hour for other regular workers (except delivery boys)

£ 3.50 per hour plus customer tips

Replacement workers at any time will not be calculated separately, as the total payments will be same with the same employee or a replacement for a particular position.

Monthly payments:

Total Salaries Payable each month = 2160 + 1920 + 1920+ 2160 + 3360 + 1260

= £ 12,780

The above mentioned table depicts only expected staff requirements and related salaries payable. However, reviews will be conducted each month or even earlier so as to adjust the staff as required by the business progress. Also, the average payments mentioned here are based on and slightly improved over the salaries that are paid to employees at certain pizza businesses such as the pizza hut (“Pizza Hut” 1). Also, the number of employees required for each shift has been calculated by observing existing demands and related workforce at a popular pizza business (Lindsay 1 & 2).

Management of Change with regards to Change in jobs of Existing Staff

As we want to transfer some of our existing staff in the manufacturing company to the proposed pizza business, certain factors pertaining to whom and how we can shift employees and how we can make them perform well in the new jobs.

Firstly, the ideal departments in our company from where we can select employees to be transferred to pizza business are the administration wing and/or marketing section. Workers from other departments are not well suited for the new business as manufacturing and service sectors are two different entities. For the pizza business, we need to hire well highly skilled and reliable chefs from outside who can stay with us for long time.

Coming to the manager post, a sincere employee from either the administration or preferably marketing section can be chosen. For the dish washer post, any trustworthy and active low waged worker can be taken from the company. Personnel from marketing section, those involved with customer service in particular, are the most suitable candidates for the customer call receiver positions. Full-time delivery boys can be any of our drivers with a satisfactory track record and the zeal to work hard.

Legally eligible school students with own vehicles are ideal for part-time job positions as their recruitment compared to regular workers will reduce additional costs for the business. As we give high preference to customer service, it becomes imperative to select suitable candidates who can work hard in their respective positions and help in the growth of our new business. Hence, adequate care is needed in their recruitment.

However, workers employed in our company may not be willing to enter the new jobs in a completely different business setting when there is no apparent profit to them. A forceful transfer may result in losing valuable workers and poor performance from workers. Hence, motivating them by one or the other means is an important issue.

Motivation for Workers

Pizza business is so competitive that attracting and retaining customers are highly challenging tasks, as there are number of alternative pizza centres that cater to the needs of a diverse population. Therefore, any flaw in implementing our very notion of providing high quality Italian type of pizzas with extraordinary customer service may lead to a severe setback for the total business future itself. Accordingly, employees in our pizza business, existing staff in particular, need to be inspired enough to work for the growth of this new business. They also need to be able to cope with unexpected heavy workloads and/or contingencies as it is a possible case with any new business.

Towards that end, workers can be motivated by different means such as effective leadership, provision of additional benefits etc. Offering each existing worker a bonus of £ 100 for every three months for the first year can be a useful option. Also, they will be allowed to eat in the restaurant itself during work hours so that they can save some money on food expenditure. Above all, existing workers whose houses are not too far from this pizza centre than the manufacturing company should be selected, as they may be more than willing to shift to the new job then. Moreover, no decrease in monthly earnings should occur because of this job change.

They may be assured of periodic hike in salaries in proportion with the potential growth of the new business. Any other huge financial provisions may lead to unwanted expenditure for the new business, as the pizza prices will not be increased for at least some period of time.

Team Work

The lack of emphasis on team work results in nothing but a disaster for any business. Moreover, our pizza delivery business is a perfect example for team work as co-ordination among workers starting from customer call receiving, pizza making to on time delivery is very essential. Without acquiring awareness and interest for team work, they may commit plenty of mistakes at each stage of the routine business. Hence, pre-work training is essential for them so as to make them comfortably work as a group.

Leadership

The founders obviously concentrate more on the new business in the initial days. However, it may not be possible for them to look after each and every minor issue as and when needed. Hence, all the workers need to be empowered and be able to take on the spot decisions when something unexpected happens pertaining to their routine work. Also, they have to be particularly educated on how to behave with diverse customers. Each employee should recognize the value of customer and should understand the fact that hospitality is as important as quality and taste.

Employees can be guided in this way through frequent observation and motivation of the top management. A useful option is to tell the shift manager not to merely supervise workers but try to interact with them and lead them towards performing team work. Owners also need to clearly and openly state a point that workers are allowed to take rightful decisions when necessary and when those decisions are in favour the business’s survival.

Some more important issues include giving free hand to the chefs for doing new experiments in pizza making and accepting reasonable mistakes of workers. However, a new pizza will be made available to the public only when it is thoroughly tested for taste and quality. Apart from these, both the shift manager and the owners should pay heed to worker apprehensions if any.

Financial Issues

A suitable business place in Camden can be hired for a rent of nearly £ 7000 p.a. (Restaurants 1). Hence, the rent payable for each month will be £ 583.33. Equipment expense is estimated at £ 5000 (Pizzeria 1).

The owner’s proposed investment is taken as £25,000 after considering the franchise expenses of various pizza restaurants in London.

Existing workers will be paid a bonus amount of 100 pounds for each trimester during the first year.

Start-up marketing expenses are expected at 6,600 pounds.

Start-up Investment

Owner’s equity: £ 20, 000

Loan: 0

Start-up Expenses

Professional fees: £ 1,500

Stationery: £ 1,000

Renovation: £ 2,000

Equipment = £ 5000

Marketing: £ 4,600 (remaining 2000 to be expensed in next two months)

Rent: £ 583

Insurance: £ 200 (2400 to be paid in twelve months)

Miscellaneous: £ 2000

Vehicles: brought from existing factory

Total Start-up expenses: 1500+1000+2000+4600+583+200+2000 + 5000= 16883

Remaining balance in the beginning: £ 8117

Monthly Cash Flows

The business will be expected to start by July 1^st, 2009 and the monthly maintenance expenses have been estimated at £ 1000 after excluding the rent. As per market situation, the first month revenues on pizzas, breads and beverages is considered as 15,000 pounds which will be expected to show an average growth rate of 10 percent each month for the first sixth months and then remains somewhat stable for the remaining period of the first year.

Monthly payments: salaries + ingredient expenses (1.94 per each £ 7; i.e., 16.23%) + rent + insurance + maintenance and taxes + £ 1000 per each three months (100 bonus per each existing employee)

Forecast Income Statement for the year end by June 30, 2010.

Total expected revenues = £ 255,734.50

Total expenses (including taxes) = 230261.62

Net Income = £ 24,272.88

Forecast Balance Sheet

Assets

Equipment = £ 5000

Cash = £ 20,000

Accounts receivables = 255734.50

Accumulated depreciation = £ 600

Total Assets = £ 280134.5

Equity

Owner’s share + retained earnings = 25,000 + 24672.88 = £ 49872.88

Liabilities

Accounts payable = 230261.62

Assets = equity + liability = £ 49872.88 + 230261.62 = £ 280134.5

Explanation

Possible rental expenses, equipment costs, other expenses have been estimated based on observations on rental prices in Camden region and the business reports of other pizza businesses such as pizzeria and pizza hut. This data has been helpful in estimating the amount of business that can be carried out for one year period.

Accordingly, expenses have been calculated and potential remaining bank balance at the start of the business has been found out.

Based on expected sales and related expenses, possible revenues and payments have been calculated on a monthly basis for one year period. With this, the income statement has been prepared by taking revenues and expenses while excluding previous bank balance.

For the balance sheet, Assets = Equity + Liabilties

Assets = what the company owns

Equity = what the owner presently owns

Liabilities = what the company owes outside

Rental, insurance and taxes have been included in the expenses data.

For depreciation of the equipment purchased for £ 5000 in the beginning, the salvage value has been taken as £ 2000 after a life period of 5 years.

Depreciation = book value-salvage value / life period in years 5000 – 2000/5 = 600/yr

Hence, for one year forecast statement, the accumulated depreciation becomes 600 pounds.

By including all these details, assets have been mentioned with what the company has, equity has been entered with owner’s share and net profit in business, and then liabilities are the amount that is payable to others.

By using the equation, assets have equalled the sum of equity and liabilities, thereby authenticating the forecast statements.

Roles of People, Finance and Marketing in Business

These are mutually exclusive factors that are very essential for a business to be successful. To start with, manpower is needed at each stage of business. Firstly, the idea to start a venture may rise in the mind of a single person or may be the result of brainstorming in a group. Whatever it is, the need for people becomes evident at this very beginning phase. Without people, a business cannot be started, the scope cannot be predicted, and cannot sustain for long time.

Secondly, finance is a vital element either to start a new or to improvise an existing business. In general, no single person tends to invest solely in a business, rather prefers gathering financial sources from various corners so as to be secure in the business context. Likewise, every aspect in business runs around the matter of finance. Taking from employee wages to expanding overseas, financial resources and gains are the biggest advantages and motivators for business.

Finally, marketing has never been so important as it is today in this globalized world. People across the world have access to a wide array of companies that compete on similar products with almost similar characteristics. Hence, marketing plays a crucial role, as the company which employs strong marketing techniques over others becomes successful in capturing the market quickly and sustainably.

• People: In the business context, we can categorize people into four types. They are- employer, employee, manager, and shareholder/owner (The Role 1).
• Employer: He is the one who gives jobs to employees and look after the well being of a company. Inherently, this position has many responsibilities such as providing employees with a safe working environment, paying them salaries at par with applicable standards, maintaining the reputation of the company in front of competitors (The Role 1).
• Employee: Most of the people fall in this category. There are multiple positions and departments in which people render their paid services to various companies. Some of the departments include accounting, administration, marketing, research and analysis, sales, and production (The Role 1).
• Manager: Though the employer looks after the overall well being of a company, it is highly impossible for him monitor each and every department and employee. This is especially true in case of large companies. Hence, managers are appointed in various departments who supervise the availability and consumption of necessary resources and the performance of sub-ordinates (The Role 1).
• Shareholder/Owner: The minor difference between an employer and a owner is that an employer need not be an owner. An owner or shareholder owns total or a particular portion of the total shares of a company (The Role 1). He is seen as the main authority on whose decisions the very existence of the company may depend.
• Finance: With the evolution of new business trends in the world business arena, the role of finance has become increasingly important. Moreover, technological advancements have created multiple options to see a wider expansion of the functions of finance and financial analysts.

The main role of finance people revolves around maintaining a company’s activities in accordance with regional, national and/or international policies, analyze related pros and cons, and advise authorities and act on whatever is best for a company’s financial growth.

They include but not limited to areas such as tax and accounting procedures, enterprise resource planning, data warehouse maintenance etc (Role of Finance 1). Apart from traditional business activities of finance people, the ever increasing competition makes them search for new alternatives that give their companies an edge over their rivals in the market (Role of Finance 1).

• Marketing: Marketing specialists are mainly responsible for a company’s activities towards grabing customer attention. To be precise, their functions can be described as follows.
• Identifying: Marketing specialists remain constantly engaged in identifying and analyzing customer interests and requisites with regards to particular products/services (Nature and Role 1).
• Anticipating: Increasing competition has made product life cycles shorter, making even a very new product obsolete in no time. Accordingly, one has to anticipate the change in trends and the change in customer desires so as to introduce the most opt product for the customer (Nature and Role 1).
• Satisfying: Customer satisfaction is the main factor that decides the success or failure of a product. Marketing people use their analysis to help in creating products that will greatly satisfy customer demands (Nature and Role 1).
• Profitability: This is the ultimate goal of any business and marketing specialists help companies in achieving this through maintaining balance between customer requirements and profit margin.

Works Cited

Best Pizza Restaurants in London. 2009. Squaremeal. Web.

Costco Wholesale #318. Yelp. 2009. Web.

Flat A4 Leaflets. Double Image Design. 2009. Web.

Lindsay, Ross. Better Business: Pizza Hut Call Centre Case Study. TelstraClear. 2009. Web.

London Borough of Camden. www.bambooweb.com. 2009. Web.

London Borough. 2003. Knowledgerush. Web.

Menus. 2009. Pizza Hut. Web.

Moving to London. Gateways: Compare International Movers. 2009. Web.

Pizza Delivery & Takeaway in Camden. 2009. Yell. Web.

Pizza Hut (Uk): Statement on Minimum Wage. 2009. PRNewswire. Web.

Pizzeria Business Plan Sample. 2007. Morebusiness. Web.

Restaurants. Claridges Commercial. 2009. Web.

Restaurants-Pizza in London, London. 2008. Loaded. Web.

The Role of People in Business. 2009. Bized. Web.

Sibya. Advertising in Local Newspaper Costs. 2008. UK Business Forums. Web.

Tobia Teff Ordering Teff Flour. Tobia Teff UK Ltd. 2009. Web.

View Our Takeaway Menu. 2008. Pizza Express. Web.

Weaver, Pamela. Distribution Services- Direct Mail Distribution. 2008. Buzzle. Web.

Introduction Phase: Tactical Plan

Entrepreneurs strive to develop a tactical plan detailing the mission and vision of their anticipated organizations, existing rival companies, the projected average profitability, and the scope of operations among others. This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of the above elements with a focus on Dough Pizza, which is a new outlet ready to be opened in Lynchburg, VA.

The Nature of Business and Products Offered

Dough Pizza is a business that seeks to satisfy clients’ desire for affordable and high-quality fast foods. The busy schedule of many contemporary families and students has left them with limited time to prepare meals. The proposed business will seal this gap by providing delicious fast-food products at reasonable prices.

Specifically, Dough Pizza will offer a variety of fast-food items, including pizzas, sandwiches, and salads among other delicacies. These products will be customized to match consumers’ tastes and preferences (Bamford & Bruton, 2018). Therefore, Dough Pizza’s commodities will be unique as depicted through its commitment to offering clients the opportunity to select their preferred product sizes, colors, and even prices.

Dough Pizza’s Mission Statement and Scope of Operations

It is crucial for businesses to clarify the purpose they were established to serve, including the objectives of their operations and the targeted customer base. This message is presented in the form of a mission statement, which, in turn, has to be in line with the respective organization’s vision (Bamford & Bruton, 2018). Dough Pizza’s mission entails providing delicious and affordable pizzas, salads, and sandwiches that satisfy its customers in a student and family-friendly setting. This mission indicates the company’s agenda of ensuring that the local community and students never lack their favorite fast foods at any given time of the year.

Regarding the scope of operations, Dough Pizza intends to focus on pizzas, salads, and sandwiches, which seem to be in high demand among present-day families and college students. Moreover, these products will be limited to clients in Lynchburg, VA. To differentiate itself from its rivals, this company plans to offer products with sizes and colors that match customers’ requests. This strategy implies that all clients will be assured of acquiring pizzas and salads among other specials whenever they visit the outlet.

Industry and Key Competitors

Dough Pizza will operate in the restaurant sector, specifically the pizza industry. The increasing demand for fast foods in contemporary society reveals why this sector has been growing steadily over the years. Consequently, Dough Pizza has a high probability of performing well in this industry. However, such an achievement will primarily depend on its capacity to differentiate its products from those of other rival companies.

The business is expected to compete with organizations such as Papa John’s and Dominos. In addition to being well known and fully developed, these companies have been operational for a long time. Hence, the new outlet will need to establish carefully planned marketing and differentiation strategies to ensure that it remains profitable and, consequently, operational in the restaurant industry.

Dough Pizza’s average profitability in the marketplace is expected to be approximately $96000 for the first year. This amount is achievable if proper marketing tactics are deployed such as the use of social media platforms (Flórez, Escobar, Restrepo, Arango-Botero, & Valencia-Arias, 2018). Hence, in addition to the cost of establishing operations in Lynchburg, a start-up outlet such as Dough Pizza will need to factor in other expenses of roughly $20000. For instance, print and televised advertising activities may cover almost $4000 while the production of flyers and brochures to be delivered to college students in the nearby university is projected to consume close to $5000. The anticipated profitability cannot be achieved without investing in public relations, website development, and roadshows. As a result, it will be vital for Dough Pizza to allocate another $11000 to cover these costs.

The Proposed Business Site and Cost of Establishing Operations

Dough Pizza will be located in Lynchburg, which is a city in Virginia. This business site has been selected due to its huge customer base. Specifically, Lynchburg has a population of close to 79000 people (Whitehouse, 2018). Moreover, the city has famous academic institutions, including the University of Lynchburg and Liberty University, from where the proposed outlet plans to get some of its clients (MacGillis, 2018). Factors such as Lynchburg’s rising population and Dough Pizza’s proximity to an academic center indicate the company’s strategic location on this site.

It will be imperative to acquire a business license at a cost of approximately $50. In addition, registering the company using the selected name, Dough Pizza, will require about $12. The issuance of a business permit in Lynchburg is only limited to companies that record gross purchases of more than $10000. Dough Pizza’s management team may consider this question, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?” (Luke 14:28, New International Version) when assessing its readiness to open the new business.

Conclusion

Every venture is established with a view to fulfilling a particular need in the market. This paper has focused on Dough Pizza, which is a business outlet proposed to operate in the restaurant industry in Lynchburg, VA. Some of the key competitors in this sector include Papa John’s and Dominos. The company’s operators will need to understand the cost of conducting business in this region, including marketing strategies that can guarantee the achievement of the anticipated profit of $96000.

References

Bamford, C. E., & Bruton, G. D. (2018). Entrepreneurship: The art, science, and process for success (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Flórez, L. E. G., Escobar, M. I. C., Restrepo, A. H., Arango-Botero, D., & Valencia-Arias, A. (2018). Influence of social networks on the purchase decisions of university students. Cuadernos de Gestión, 18(1), 61-84.

MacGillis, A. (2018). How Liberty University built a billion-dollar empire online. The New York Times. Web.

Whitehouse, F. R. (2018). Generation Solutions of Lynchburg (B). Atlantic Marketing Journal, 7(1), 103-112.

Project Summary Report

This paper focuses on Dough Pizza, which is a fast-food outlet that is expected to be opened in Lynchburg, VA. Specifically, it will offer a recap of its business concept, the underlying marketing activities, and the profit and loss anticipated in a particular timeframe.

Dough Pizza’s Business Concept

Apart from price differentiation, Dough Pizza’s business concept includes the creation of an environment where families, acquaintances, and university students will enjoy meeting for socialization purposes while consuming their preferred pizzas, salads, and sandwiches among other delicacies. This strategy is evident in the Bible where the family of Lazarus is depicted as having a serene setting that attracted neighbors and friends, including Jesus (John 11:1-4, New International Version). Lynchburg has a high number of families and college students who are expected to purchase this company’s products.

Customers look for outlets that continuously update their commodities and services in line with the changing market demands and tastes (Bamford & Bruton, 2018). Similarly, as indicated in the book of Mathew chapters 8 and 9, Jesus’ teachings were tailored to match the prevailing needs of His targeted audience. Dough Pizza’s business idea involves the introduction of new products in its menu after every three months with a view to retaining the existing clients while at the same time attracting a fresh pool of others. Achieving this goal will require the company to invest in various areas, for instance, suppliers who can deliver fresh items, information technology, and customer safety measures (Zhao & Priporas, 2017). This approach to business is in line with ethical issues emphasized in the Bible, especially the idea of ensuring that consumers get fresh and quality products (Romans 12:2). Dough Pizza also plans to employ college students who have the potential of producing pizzas, salads, and sandwiches that match their tastes and preferences, which, in turn, reflect what the targeted market expects.

Dough Pizza’s Profit and Loss (P&L) Analysis

Dough Pizza anticipates Total Revenue (TR) of $288,000 in its first year of operation. Its projected Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) is $168,000. Hence, the Gross Margin (GM), which is equivalent to the difference between TR and COGS, will be $120,000. Dough Pizza’s Total Expenses (TEs) amount to $79,000. Therefore, EBITDA, which denotes earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, is equal to $41,000. This figure is obtained by subtracting TEs from the GM. Amortizations are anticipated to cost $12,000. Overall, the company’s net earnings (P&L) can be calculated by deducting amortizations from EBITDA, hence resulting in $29,000.

Marketing Activities

Dough Pizza is expected to undertake a wide range of marketing activities. The goal is to create awareness regarding this business, including its unique and reasonably priced products and services. For instance, this company will invest in various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter among others to promote its commodities (Hof, 2016). Most of Lynchburg’s citizens have access to these platforms. Moreover, the company will need to distribute flyers to Liberty University where most of the customers are projected to come from. In addition, this outlet will market its products through YouTube, which is among platforms that have a huge number of subscribers (Hof, 2016). It will be vital for Dough Pizza to invest in televised advertisements with the objective of persuading families to purchase pizzas and other fast-food items from this outlet. The company will also develop a website containing other crucial details such as its location, logo, product categories, and their respective prices.

Conclusion

Dough Pizza is an enterprise that seeks to satisfy clients’ desire for affordable and quality fast foods, including pizza, sandwiches, and salads in Lynchburg, VA. This paper has presented the company’s business concept, its P&L projections, and the marketing activities it should undertake to realize profits.

References

Bamford, C. E., & Bruton, G. D. (2018). Entrepreneurship: The art, science, and process for success (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Hof, R. D. (2016). Marketing in the moments, to reach customers online. The New York Times. Web.

Zhao, S., & Priporas, C. (2017). Information technology and marketing performance within international market-entry alliances: A review and an integrated conceptual framework. International Marketing Review, 34(1), 5-28.

The business Dough Pizza will be an affordable fast food restaurant operating in Lynchburg, VA. The restaurant industry is highly saturated and competitive, consisting of several categories. Dough Pizza will be competing with other fast food establishments, particularly major pizza-oriented chains such as Dominos and Papa Johns. The restaurant sector is growing but at a slow pace, experiencing various issues ranging from declining foot traffic to high costs of operation which significantly lower margins. However, companies that offer a strong foundation such as service and quality in combination with innovative offerings are showing growth in the industry (Zacks Equity Research, 2018). Dough Pizza will aim to be a community-focused business appealing to the local populations of families, students, and employees of surrounding businesses. The restaurant will offer quick, affordable meals with a wide variety of options and great attention to regional taste which will attract the core citizens of this small college town.

Dough Pizza will use a balanced pricing approach in terms that it will maintain prices on average with the industry. However, it will not use pricing as a primary strategy to undercut competitors in order to attract consumers as this would not be sustainable for a small business in the long-term nor is it effective in most cases. Dough Pizza will base its prices based on food costs and profit that will adjust according to the consumer demographic. The establishment will still attempt to be an affordable dining experience but offer prices that accurately capture the quality of food and choices that are offered through attribute-based pricing. There would be discount specials such as lunch deals, athletic events, and student exams that tend to attract customers for this type of cuisine. However, on a regular basis pricing will remain stable, but offer an upsized version of products. For example, if a regular large pepperoni pizza would cost $12.99, one with a cheese crust, extra cheese would go for just $14.99. This increases profit with very little ingredient cost to the restaurant.

Social media marketing is a necessity in the modern world. It allows extensive marketing reach backed by consumer interest and demographic targeting offered by most platforms. However, social media is more beneficial for small businesses because they can utilize the key success to this method – engagement. The limited area and relatively small followings allow engaging with each consumer comment or complaint, driving forward the potency of social media marketing. It does not take much to stand out, demonstrate creativity, and show appreciation at the local level, something that franchises rarely do. Social media marketing has large initial costs which can average to approximately $7,000 a month, but as word of mouth gets out, the networking will lessen customer acquisition costs (Detweiler, 2018).

Radio and television advertising on local networks can be an effective method for small businesses to be heard. There is a wide audience that tunes into these commercials that cannot be ignored and skipped like other methods and can end up justifying the customer acquisition costs. Such advertising should be done effectively to gain attention and done at the right time, with broadcast times that will appeal to demographics that the restaurant wants to attract in the local area. This type of marketing may cost between $1,500 and $1,750 plus product costs per month (The Staff of Entrepreneur Media, 2018).

Flyers are a more traditional method of advertising that should be included in the marketing mix to gain awareness. The traditional practice of handing out flyers at events or in the nearby radius of the restaurant will be more noticeable than other digital means. This applies particularly to the local populations which Dough Pizza is attempting to attract as flyers are handed directly to consumers in the area. Flyers can include special promotions and limited offers tying them to seasonal sales or events where the advertisement takes place which makes them more appealing (Kirk, n.d.). Flyers are relatively inexpensive to implement if printed out in small batches and should cost several hundred dollars for design, production, and distribution, making it the cheapest marketing method.

References

Detweiler, G. (2018). 10 expert social media tips to help your small business succeed. Forbes. Web.

Kirk, I. (n.d.). Does flyering work for small business? Here’s what you should know. Web.

The Staff of Entrepreneur Media. (2018). Start your own business: The only startup book you’ll ever need (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Zacks Equity Research. (2018). Restaurant industry outlook. Web.

As Dough Pizza advances its business, the environment of stability and consistent profits encourage considerations regarding the future of the company. Thus, the main purpose of the paper is to discuss the current position of the pizzeria in the market and therefore offer a comprehensive look at where the company can go next, and what the opportunities or limitations are. Dough Pizza is positioned as a restaurant that offers great quality pizzas and sub sandwiches at affordable prices with a specific focus on positive relations with customers.

The current market that Dough Pizza serves is a community of residents, university students, teachers, families, and friends in Lynchburg, VA. The key strength of the business is linked to close connections with clients and catering to their demands. Being a small company, Dough Pizza can immediately get customers’ feedback and make changes accordingly. Such modifications range from menu adjustments to interior changes in order to please customers and ensure that they return. The main skill is associated with the expertise of the restaurant’s team in providing the best services possible while the resources include the marketing, expertise, and a loyal customer base that can help in reaching success in the future.

Understanding the application of Porter’s Five Forces to Dough Pizza can be helpful in identifying the business’s opportunities. Competitive rivalry is high for the restaurant because of the range of large pizzeria chains and fast food locations that offer food at reasonable prices (“Porter’s five forces for the pizza industry,” 2019). The supplier power is moderate in the case of Dough Pizza because there are a lot of farmers or bulk-buy businesses from which the company can choose. However, these suppliers may raise their prices depending on the circumstances, leading to possible price increases at Dough Pizza due to rising costs.

Buyer power in the restaurant industry is high because clients directly influence the way in which companies develop their prices, which products they offer. Also, marketing efforts are needed for ensuring success. Because buyer power is high, threats of substitutions are also on a high level (Martin, 2018). This is explained by the fact that Dough Pizza’s products are not unique to the company and can be found in other restaurants or chains. Threats of new entries are low in the restaurant industry because it is hard for new businesses to have a unique value proposition that will attract customers.

Corporate entrepreneurship implies the process of developing new opportunities within an existing business to create value and generate revenue. Dough Pizza may look at the process through the lens of developing new products or services to generate value and the growth of revenue through the entrepreneurial perspective. A new market that the company can enter is linked to party planning, with Dough Pizza being the place where celebrations will be held. Such a plan seems ambitious, as mentioned in the Scripture, “many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Prov. 19:21, ESV). The proposal regarding party planning should offer Dough Pizza a unique selling proposition as other restaurants leave the process of organizing a party to their clients. Hiring a specialist in party planning can be of benefit for the restaurant as it will offer confidence in the services provided to them.

Overall, Dough Pizza has multiple opportunities for future development despite the high competition in the market. By listening to customers’ needs as well as discovering new ways in which clients can be attracted to the business, the company is expected to reach a competitive advantage. Apart from expanding the menu to include international cuisine, which was mentioned previously, offering party planning services to customers is a unique opportunity recommended for Dough Pizza to pursue.

References

Martin, M. (2018). Porter’s five forces: Analyzing the competition. Business News Daily. Web.

Porter’s five forces for pizza industry. (2019). Web.

Significance of Cost Allocation

Cost allocation entails a way of attributing costs to specified cost-centers in an organizational setting. Usually, the allocation of costs by companies is necessitated by the need to adequately satisfy sharing of relevantly incurred costs. This can be likened to spreading costs across end-users. The allocation of costs is therefore a mere assignment of costs to a number of units which constitute a company.

In a multidivisional business which requires security services for protection of its infrastructure, for instance, the various units that constitute the business will be incorporated in costs for securing the required security. Allocating costs to the various departments of a company is usually done arbitrarily. Due to the arbitrary nature of allocating costs, it is mostly considered as a sort of cost-spreading (Yuawa, 1991; Maskell & Baggaley, 2003; Johnson, 2011). In the past five or ten years, there has been a noteworthy attempt aimed at enhancing bases for allocating costs by companies (Kaplan & Bruns, 1987). This paper considers cost allocation as has been put to effective use by California Pizza Kitchen (CPK).

Considered Cost Allocation: Cost Allocation at California Pizza Kitchen

CPK is a household name in restaurant service, and offers California-style cuisine, represented through creative pizzas, pastas, soups, sandwiches, appetizers, and desserts. Opened on March 27, 1985, by the attorneys Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, CPK is currently owned, licensed or franchised at 265 locations in 321 states and 10 foreign countries. This makes it a chain company with networked units that are centrally controlled from its managerial framework. The chain has two directions of development, the full service restaurants, and the CPK/ASAP concept which focuses on the fast-casual service in significantly smaller restaurants. As of 2010, the company employs approximately 14,600 employees, among which 190 employees are working in the company’s headquarters in West Century Boulevard (CPK, 2010). CPK has a market value estimated at $343 million, where the revenues in 2010 were $642.2 million, with a non -GAAP net income of $17.1 million (CPK, 2011; Forbes, 2011).

The consideration of CPK here for an analysis of its costs allocation is limited to the year 2010, and is based on the company’s systemic administration through which it has achieved distinct allocation of cost to its various sects. In any case, the considered numerical values as well as the units to which the values apply are only arbitrary.

The performance credibility and an effective cost allocation of CPK have been reflected in its rating by Forbes magazine as being self-made, and on enlistment as one of America’s best small companies. This rating takes into consideration the fact that CPK has annual revenues in the range between $5million and $750 million, being publicly traded at least for a year. The company also has created for itself an appreciably wide marketing platform which constitutes a demography that is economically, naturally, environmentally, technically, and socially suitable for an effective marketing of its products.

Selected inputs for this analysis include cost of labor, the salary of managers, as well as cost of raw material for producing the products. The imaginary costs as to this effect are $60000, $24000, and $12000. These costs are factually based on employees and direct-employees. Direct-employees are allocated 120.0; 25.0 of this is for mixing and for production-control 5.0 is allocated. Packaging takes 35.0. The factual costs of the materials are fixed at 45,000.0, the packaging process takes 10,000.0 and then mixing of the product and production-control takes 5000.0. The allocation of cost could as well be shown as in table below:

Table of imaginary costs allocation for California Pizza Kitchen for the years 2010

From the table, it implies that in allocating the cost, the packaging unit is assigned the highest share.

Implication of the Analysis

This study has proved that the articles in ProQuest are effective in enabling decisions by users of the financial statements.

Reference List

CPK. (2010). California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. and Subsidiaries 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K. California Pizza Kitchen.

CPK. (2011). California Pizza Kitchen Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010. California Pizza Kitchen. Web.

Forbes. (2011). The 200 Best Small Companies: California Pizza Kitchen. Forbes.com LLC.

Johnson, H. H. (2011). Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing-International. New York: Longman.

Kaplan, R. S., & Bruns, W. (1987). Accounting and Management: A Field Study Perspective. Harvard Business School, 27, 237- 238.

Maskell, P., & Baggaley, Y. (2003). Practical Lean Accounting. New York: Productivity Press.

Yuawa, K. (1991). Cost accounting. Journal of Bank Cost and Management Accounting, 4, 1.

Product Description

Ristorante pizza is an exquisite Italian pizza on a thin crispy dough with various toppings. The pizza is prepared according to a unique recipe using high-quality ingredients. The range includes more than ten flavors, including “quattro formaggi,” with mushrooms, salami, ham, and others. It takes about ten minutes to cook this product fully. The pizza maker is Oetker, a German multinational company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, frozen pizza, puddings, cornflakes, and other products. The company is the owner of the Oetker Group, headquartered in Bielefeld. The company also makes pizzas for vegetarians, vegans, and people with lactose intolerance.

Type of Perishable Product

Frozen pizza is a semi-finished product that requires only rapid temperature treatment to be ready. Authentic Italian pizza and frozen semi-finished pizza consist of two main components – the base and toppings. Frozen pizza and other semi-finished culinary products appeared on the market relatively recently. It is worth paying particular attention to the production process of frozen pizza. Specialists in the food industry developed a unique method to manufacture such food products. Using a so-called “flash freezing,” ready-made pizza quickly cooled. This method allows one to save most of the taste and palatability characteristics of the dish. Frozen pizza is quickly brought to perfection using the microwave or conventional oven.

Storage

The duration of cooling of different food products is determined by several factors, primarily by their thermal conductivity. As a rule, most products have low thermal conductivity, so cooling takes a long time – from several hours to several days. For long-term cold storage, food is used to freeze in freezers. When stored properly, unopened pizza packages usually remain in their best quality for two months. Store frozen purchased pizza in the freezer at a temperature no higher than -18 degrees Celsius (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2018). Transportation should also be at low temperatures to avoid food spoilage. Humidity should not exceed 75% because frozen pizza packages and the pizza itself can go bad at high humidity and temperature (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2018). Clearance from cooling appliances, ceilings, and walls must be maintained during storage.

All storage conditions are indicated by the specific product’s manufacturer on the product’s packaging. Frozen pizza packaging must withstand low temperatures and temperature fluctuations during defrosting without deforming or losing strength. It must also comply with the sanitary and hygienic requirements and regulations that apply to food packaging. The density of the cardboard and the structure’s stiffness should be such that the box will not deform during transportation. In addition, the bottom of the box should not sag under the pizza’s weight. The sides and corners by which the box is held should also not deform.

Lifespan

The maximum shelf life of such a product is approximately 1.5 years. Repeated freezing of this semi-finished product is not allowed. After cooking pizza, the lifespan is reduced to a few hours at room temperature or to two days if stored in the refrigerator (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2021). The average shelf life of a pizza without refrigeration is a maximum of 6 hours. When it comes to selling freshly baked pizza, it is essential to understand that it is a highly perishable product. Waste is necessarily included in the price of the finished product. As for frozen pizza, it can be stored for several months, so losses in this segment are minimal. Frozen pizza producers usually make large batches of frozen products, which reduces the cost due to volume.

References

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2021). Cold food storage chart. Web.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). Refrigerator & freezer storage chart. Web.

Marketing involves planned activities designed to promote and improve the sale of different goods and services. Increasing sales and maintaining equilibrium between suppliers and consumers require a detailed market analysis to identify the product’s potential and new customers (Saidali et al., 2019). Therefore, marketing strategies and plans commence after identifying the target audience. The sale of fast foods in Cuba is less than demand since the larger population consumes pizza and spaghetti more frequently compared to other foods sold in different hotels. Therefore, it creates a market gap which requires a solution towards satisfying excessive demand in the food market. Selling pizza and spaghetti is the best marketing choice to meet consumers’ needs since serving different fast foods in various hotels has not yet obtained customer satisfaction. Using a food truck is the alternative way to attract and maintain pizza and spaghetti customers.

Barriers and Challenges Encountered When Marketing Pizza and Spaghetti

The use of meal trucks in the advertisement of different foods was banned in Cuba after marketers violated public health policies that promoted hygiene and cholera prevention. After the resumption of food trucks in marketing, the public health policy set a fee that marketers should pay before using food trucks to promote their products as it was refunded only when policies were not violated. Raising the fee charged by the public health department became the greatest barrier to the marketing strategy since additional finances are required (Bar-Zeev et al., 2019). The target audience’s low attendance became a challenge because many pizza and spaghetti buyers were at the workplace during the working hours of the trucks. Environmental changes resulting from winter will also limit the accessibility to many customers, and additional transportation costs will hinder the marketing strategy.

Distribution Channel Used

Selling pizza and spaghetti is more sensitive to public policies compared to other goods and services sold in the market. The two foods require strict adherence to health policies that fight the spread of Cholera which is caused by food contamination. Thus, selling pizza and spaghetti directly to consumers is an effective marketing channel because it ensures customers’ contact and feedback to improve service delivery (de Matos et al., 2020). The channel is efficient in maintaining potential buyers. It eliminates intermediaries’ interference to the business, which can hinder its ability to sell selected fast foods. Delivering foods directly to the customer is also easy and faster than using a chain of intermediaries. Selling pizza and spaghetti involves instant delivery from staff members of the cafeteria to different parts of Cuba. Retailers, wholesalers, and other small-scale businesses are excluded from selling the foodstuffs to consumers.

Promotional Strategies

The easier use of unique tactics in analyzing demand and supply to plan and develop effective marketing procedures to increase sales of a particular product has been described as promotional strategies. Collecting views and opinions concerning customers’ feelings towards buying spaghetti and pizza produced by the business enabled them to determine areas of improvement to increase sales and profit margins. The provision of gifts to customers to test and get feedback concerning the product was the core strategy (Bar-Zeev et al., 2019). The use of social media to market pizza and spaghetti creates awareness to customers. Using Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms will also increase sales of goods and services. Moreover, developing ads that will be shown on local television and radios will promote customer consciousness towards purchasing fast foods from the business. Partnering with charity organizations in different events, such as football games, creating awareness about drug abuse, and other activities will contribute to increased awareness about the product. Furthermore, there is a need to understand marketing techniques used by competitors selling fast foods to ensure the selection of an effective marketing strategy to popularize the food selling business. Therefore, selling pizza and spaghetti will meet customer’s needs based on the variety of fast foods sold in Cuba.

References

Bar-Zeev, Y., Levine, H., Rubinstein, G., Khateb, I., & Berg, C. J. (2019). IQOS point-of-sale marketing strategies in Israel: A pilot study.Israel journal of Health Policy research, 8(1), 11. Web.

Saidali, J., Rahich, H., Tabaa, Y., & Medouri, A. (2019). The combination between big data and marketing strategies to gain valuable business insights for better production success.Procedia Manufacturing, 32, 1017−1023. Web.

de Matos, N., Correia, M. B., Saura, J. R., Reyes-Menendez, A., & Baptista, N. (2020). Marketing in the public sector—benefits and barriers: A bibliometric study from 1931 to 2020.Social Sciences, 9(10), 168. Web.

Introduction

To analyze the financial information of the organization the company California Pizza Kitchen can be seen as a suitable choice. California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) is a chain of full-service restaurants, offering California-style cuisine, represented through creative pizzas, pasta, soups, sandwiches, appetizers, and desserts. The restaurant was opened on March 27, 1985, by the attorney’s Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, who both hold the position of Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Co-President & Co-CEO of the company. The present paper will provide a short description of the organization and the reasons for which it is was deemed suitable for analyzing financial information.

Background

The company currently consists of owned, licensed, or franchised 265 locations in 321 states and 10 foreign countries. The company has 25 years of operational history in the segment of casual dining restaurants (CPK, 2010). The chain has two directions of development, the full-service restaurants, and the CPK/ASAP concept which focuses on the fast-casual service is significantly smaller restaurants. As of 2010, the company employs approximately 14,600 employees, among which 190 employees are working in the company’s headquarters in West Century Boulevard, Los Angeles, California (CPK, 2010, 2011b). The company market value is estimated as $343 million, where the revenues in 2010 were $642.2 million, with a non -GAAP net income of $17.1 million (CPK, 2011a; Forbes, 2011a).

Selection Criteria

The company went public in 200, and thus, it is publicly traded with plenty of information available on its website. Additionally, the company is considerably small having a single direction of development, and a relatively small period of being publicly traded, for comparison reasons. Although the company is currently having a decrease in sales, according to their 2010 financial results, it is appraised on several levels. Forbes magazine put the company on its annual list of self-made entrepreneurs, which are also on the list of America’s best small companies. The conditions taken in consideration include such aspects as annual revenues in the range between $5million and $750 million, being publicly traded at least for a year, and “stock price no lower than $5” (Forbes, 2011a). The criteria for rankings include sales growth, return on equity, and other aspects, for which it is ranked as 192 (Forbes, 2011b). The company might be distinguished among many companies by the fact that the original founders are still taking control of the organization despite going public. Additionally, with the company having its highs and lows during the time it went public, it can be used for comparison purpose with all statements, annual reports, SEC filings, and stock information being available on “Investor Relations” section of the company’s website located at(CPK, 2011c).

Conclusion

The present paper provided a brief overview of the company California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) for the purpose of being approved as the organization to be used during the Session’s Long Project (SLP). The paper argued that the company is a suitable candidate for analyzing its financial information. Being publicly traded, ranked among Forbes 200 small companies in 2009 and publishing all their relevant financial information on their website provides an opportunity for using and analyzing the company’s financial position.

References

CPK. (2010). California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. and Subsidiaries 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K. California Pizza Kitchen.

CPK. (2011a). California Pizza Kitchen Announces Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2010. California Pizza Kitchen. Web.

CPK. (2011b). Investors Relations: CPK Fact Sheet. California Pizza Kitchen. Web.

CPK. (2011c). Investors Relations: Financial Information. California Pizza Kitchen. Web.

Forbes. (2011a). The 200 Best Small Companies: California Pizza Kitchen. Forbes.com LLC . Web.

Forbes. (2011b). In Depth: Self-Made Stars – California Pizza Kitchen. Forbes.com LLC.

Introduction

A feasibility report is an organized presentation in form of a document that describes the economic and operational benefits of carrying out a project to completion against incurred costs (Kuiper & Clippinger). Modeling and analysis displays the logical flow of information and sequence of activities.

The Pizza Shop case study

Actors: owner/manager, two cooks, one waitress, one delivery person, and accountancy person.

Table 1: the domain dictionary of The Pizza Shop

Table 2: The use case summary of customer service

Table 3: The Pizza Shop accountancy use case summary

The Pizza Shop accountancy case summary

The stakeholders include the accountancy person (husband), and the manager (owner). The accountancy person becomes stakeholder through producing the off-the-shelf accounting system. His production is considered an in-house development which lowers cost of acquiring such information systems software (Rosenberg & Stephens 2007).

For this, he will be constantly required to make modifications for the systems software. He will recommend re-use possibilities, and running tests for the system. His benefits extend to the part that he could change the utility class software into business class to be used with similar businesses.

The manager is the owner who provides the capital, conducts feasibility study, and makes sure that the business either breaks even or remains profitable (IBM n.d).

The actors include the cashier for data entry into the system, the manager for making payments to sourcing and payroll. The accountancy person ensures that the system meets expectation.

The manager and the accountancy person carry out an analysis to check the project’s feasibility. They run a break-even analysis. This is after they have assigned each of the actors including themselves wages. They come up with management requirements for the business to continue operating (Wang 2011).

Activity diagram for withdrawing cash in an ATM

The ATM cash withdraw starts with the system requesting the customer to insert a card. After inserting the card, a compulsory test on the card is run for a few seconds. If the card is validated, the system asks the customer to insert pin number, and choose language.

Followed by which activity he/she would like the machine to conduct such as check balance or withdraw cash. In this case, it is cash withdrawal. If the card does not meet validation requirements, the customer is told to take his/her card. When the requirements are met, the customer chooses amount to withdraw and takes the card, then cash (Sarknas 2006)

An activity diagram displays the logical flow of activities (Ashafi et al 2009). In this case, the system is the ATM machines which uses complex software that are hidden from the outside world to prevent customers from changing how the system functions. With the systems programming, the ATM machine is able to make accurate decisions about what the customer wants (Rosenberg & Stephens 2007).

Class diagram for the Pizza Shop Credit Card Validation

The attribute is what an object knows. In this case, the attributes of the customer are the ability to make wise decisions provided with choices, and reliable information (Jalloul 2004). He/she knows how the system expects him/her to behave. The waitress attributes are knowledge of what a majority of customer prefer to be treated and served.

The waitress is supposed to notify the cashier of purchase intentions and the preferred mode of payment. In case of issues, the cashier notifies the waitress who will proceed to notify the customer. If there is no agreement, the customer can go to the cashier directly for better understanding.

Operations are the activities carried out by the objects. Operations and attributes begin with small letters while the classes begin with capital letters. The operations are in circles within the box. The classes are waitress, cashier, and customer.

Classes are known from their ability to do the same operations for different business settings. For this characteristic, they are said to have the ability to be generalized. The three classes here are all business classes. Only the account tracking system may be classified under utility class because it has only been developed for this particular business.

Sequence Diagram for the Tenderfoot Generate Weekly Payroll

The sequence diagram indicates the interaction between the objects. The objects are placed at the top of the diagram. The arrows show the exchange and flow of information. This interaction includes the space and time. The timeline on a vertical scale moves downwards and the space line on a horizontal scale moves towards the right-hand side.

In the above sequence diagram, the messages that are exchanged include the working hours that each employee has worked as per the records (Satzinger et al. 2008). The clerk is the one who keeps the records and the department head has to obtain them from the clerk before working out the payroll.

The list can be obtained daily or weekly. After the department head has calculated the number of hours, the list is forwarded to the payroll clerk who may place it as a poster for the employees to view. The employees who think that the working hours are not correctly entered contact the payroll clerk for verification.

When the verification period is over, the problem time is closed. This opens the solution time, whereby the payroll clerk notifies the department head of the necessary changes, if there is any. The solution space therefore is in between the department head and the payroll clerk (Shelly et al. 2009).

List of References

Ashafi, H 2009, COIT 11226 Systems Analysis and COIS20025 Systems Development Overview, Pearson Education, New York.

IBM n.d., Introduction to Business Modeling using the Unified Modeling, <https://www.ibm.com/ua-en>.

Jalloul, G 2004, UML by Example, Cambridge University Press, New York.

Kuiper, S. & Clippinger, D 2012, Contemporary Business Report Writing, Cengage Learning, Mason.

Rosenberg, D. & Stephens, M 2007, Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML Theory and Practice, Apress, Berkeley.

Sarknas, P 2006, Pro.Asp.net 2.0 E-Commerce in C# 2005. Apress, Berkeley.

Satzinger, W. J., et al. 2008, Systems Analysis and Design in a Changing World. Springer, New York.

Shelly, G.B., et al. 2009, Systems Analysis and Design, Cengage Learning, Mason.

Wang, R 2011, Research Summary: Introducing the 43 Use Cases for Social Business (Social Enterprising), <https://www.forbes.com/>