Job Production Labour for Mrs sweeting can be intensive as it is quite labour intensive to create cakes with not much help, for example wedding cakes in a short amount of time. Costing of job production is usually higher as the ingredients won’t be brought in batches would could save money for Mrs Sweeting. Batch Production The cakes and confectionary Mrs
Gourmet food is more expensive to purchase, than food at a regular grocery store. A gourmet specialty shop has higher fixed costs. Since there are no food preservatives in the food sold there, there is a high turnover rate for food expiration dates. The product waste potential is high, and ordering needs to be constant. An automated ordering system will help with this issue, as well.
The weakness of Kudler Fine Foods is that an IPO (Initial Public Offering) has many inherent and potential weaknesses that must be examined prior to selection as a means for expansion. An IPO is the first sale of stock by a company. There are many advantages and disadvantages for the Kudler Fine Foods to go public through the IPO. The advantages include generating more capital needed to expand their three locations The IPOs are very expensive undertaking, and a large portion of any capital acquired will be lost to this cost. Because the company must produce all financial information to the SEC many businesses find it to be very stressful and time consuming which takes time and money away from a company that is thriving like Kudler Fine Foods.
FJR has discussed the research with management and highly recommends that they do not open any new locations until further research has been done in other areas. It is very expensive and time consuming opening new locations and Kudler does not have the financial means to do so just yet. What Kudler Fine Foods needs to focus their attention on is other competitor in the market. They can offer coupons or special promotions towards maybe the first of the month which will attract consumers into purchasing more products because most consumers get paid at that time. Kudler will also advertise to the Asian community by having advertisements in their language.
Pricing is what really brings the bulk of customers to purchase the product. There are times that a client is interested in a particular product, but because is to high they do not purchase. Now there are other occasions that even though the price is high, the service is fantastic, so customers preferred to pay extra just for that good service. Kudler Fine Foods is that case, they offer valued services instead of discount and so far that program works for the
Bloomingdales is a higher end store that sells high quality products at a high price. They are currently losing many customers because the economy will not move out of the stagnation period. Right now the customers need to be saving their money in case they need it later to pay bills rather than spending it on clothing. Many consumers are starting to shop at stores like Macy’s or Kohl’s where they are offered almost the same quality products at lower prices. Some of Bloomingdales biggest competitors are Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys New York, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom.
Specialty Shops Because KFF offers sophisticated professions such as butcher, baker, and wind steward, “payroll of these specialty positions is higher than that of the clerks and stock personnel” (KFF strategic plan, p. 9). However, tasking and adding a duty to research and analyze the customer needs to those specialists increase the value of the company as the specialists act and play as a liaison between the customer and the products. Small Management
Fewer companies are willing to enter the market because of the SOX requirements that make going public too costly. Plus, the maintenance required to stay public is too expensive for smaller companies, forcing companies to look elsewhere to raise capital. Rising costs persuade large numbers of companies to exit the public markets to sidestep SEC regulation, creates two problems. First, the overall economy could suffer because corporations limit investment projects due to the higher-cost sources of capital to fund potentially new operations. Second, financially stressed companies that go dark are the very companies’ shareholders need to monitor usually and where transparency is most important.
Panera bread company Panera Bread’s strategy is “to provide a premium specialty bakery and café experience to urban workers and suburban dwellers.” This strategy is most closely aligned with a broad differentiation strategy, or being unique in ways that a broad range of consumers find appealing. Prior to taking the Panera concept nationwide, the owners performed cross-country market research and concluded that consumers could get excited about a quick, high quality dining experience. The concept is a mix between fast food and casual dining, or fast casual. By choosing this strategy, Panera is attempting to achieve competitive advantage in the unique offerings it provides, offerings that rivals don’t have and can’t afford to match. In this case, delicious handcrafted bread arriving fresh daily, served in an inviting atmosphere is the company’s competitive advantage and core competency.
Since the snack foods industry was very competitive, one of the main business risks derives from the competition in the markets. New players of the market would have a big influence on the Hill’s operations on lower price offering and lower production cost. Firstly, the company couldn’t rely on price increases in a high rivalry industry. Secondly, with the increase of competitor, Hill would face the decrease in its potential profit margin, hence, extremely high efficiency would be required and tight cost controls were necessary conditions for success. Another business risk should depend on the position of economic and the lack of productions’ diversification.