The Herb Restaurant Business Concept

The Herb Restaurant Business Concept
1.1 The Herb Restaurant Business Concept
Lee and Xiu have been operating in the catering industry for several years. They have opened two restaurants in five years and three food trucks in Yunnan Province. Kunming city which is the capital inhabits different cultures but the most vibrant is the Chinese culture. It has many tourist attractions like Xishan forest park, Dongchuan Red Land, Kunming dragon gate, Yuantong temple, and green lake. The Herb Restaurant is unique and exciting because it incorporates herbs in its cooking. The mission of 'The Herb' Restaurant is to serve food that feels luxurious and, at the same time, promote wellness for both vegan and non-vegan customers. This means clients will be getting herbs in almost any dish they order. Incorporating herbs in Mexican, Chinese, Italian, and Indian cuisines will make the enterprise competitive in the market.
1.2 The Team
The start-up management team will comprise one manager, the chief chef, three chefs, three chef helpers, five servants, and waiters. The restaurant will adopt the idea of employee-centered management by arranging work based on their expertise, competency, and interests. The business culture will fully mobilize employees and motivate their enthusiasm through training and enhancing cohesion.
1.3 The Target Market
The targeted primary customer groups include locals and tourists. People of all ages and diets will be guests of Herb Restaurant. The opportunity exploited by the enterprise in preparing meals using herbs will be suitable for vegans and individuals with complicated health problems. The restaurant will consist of the kitchen, the VIP room, a porch, and a large area for table setting. The pricing strategy will be cost-friendly, given that some herbs will be grown by the restaurant to cut costs.
1.4 The Competitive Advantages
The competitive advantage of The Herb Restaurant entails providing unique food, services, an elegant environment, enhancing health and improved physiological functions, enlightening people on incorporating herbs in their diet, including juices and soup, and providing a suitable environment for vegetarians (Hyslop, 2012). The entity's objective is to become a well-known brand by reaching the net target margin. Other goals include opening the first herb house in Kunming city, increasing sales by improving the restaurant, and expanding the business to other U.S. states. The restaurant's menu choices featuring herbs range from appetizers to meals such as grilled fish, pork spare ribs, and turmeric trio mushroom soup with coriander leaf, lotus root, and dill.
1.5 Sustainability
The keys to success for The Herb Restaurant comprise cost friendliness, suitable environmental conditions, sustainable customer service, and luxury. Others include establishing lasting relationships with suppliers, employing and training workers to meet business standards, and at the mature stage, using an expansion strategy to build its branches nationally.
1.6 The Offering
The three years financial analysis shows that Herb Restaurant will realize increased market growth and positive cash flow. During the first year, the expected return to equity will be approximately 11%.
2.0 The Industry and its Products and Services
2.1 The Restaurant and the Concept
The restaurant is a partnership between Xiu and Lee, who have ventured into this business for years. The success indicated by their previous restaurants shows they have a competitive and vastly growing strategy. The restaurant will offer its customers honest services and a first-class food experience accompanied by a luxurious environment. It will incorporate medicinal and health care through various nutrients and trace elements in its food. Yunnan Province is home to many competitive restaurants known for their unique delicacies and luxurious views. What makes The Herb Restaurant is uniquely customer-centered by focusing on their health and interests.
2.2 The Products or Services
The herbs known to be incredibly nutritious include mint, coriander, lavender, lovage, orange thyme, scented geraniums, chervil, rosemary, plum, parsley, and basil. Culinary creativity using organic ingredients and suitable herbs makes The Herb Restaurant dishes unique (Maftei, 1992). Incorporating herbs into the diet reduces weight, inflammation, chronic pain, and induces cancer-fighting properties. The restaurant's Chef Menu comprises;
* Appetizers: herb juice, parsley soup, smoothies, and carrot soup with turmeric, ginger, and coconut.
* Main course: vegan burgers, lamb chops with chimichurri, red lentil patties, Mexican grilled salmon, herb roasted pork loin, green bean and cannellini salad, grilled fish, lobster with carrots, tacos with fresh cilantro, garlic bread, thyme in scalloped potatoes, and ham, lemon, and thyme on grilled chicken, thyme zucchini sauté, pizza with herbs, french-fries, roasted ribs with herbs,
* Dessert: upside-down grapefruit meringue tart with candied fennel, fruit cake, minty watermelon, and cucumber salad, Caprese salad, apricot, and basil shortbread tart, lemon-thyme pound cake, cucumber-lime pops with gin, blueberry melon salad with thyme syrup, homey and thyme custards, and lime-mint ice cream bars.
2.3 Entry and Growth Strategy
Given that the venture is in the entry stage, a market penetration strategy should be incorporated to increase the restaurant's market share. Attracting new customers with first-time promos will encourage them to give the restaurant a chance. This will be done by reducing food prices by a 15% discount or offering a free dessert to attract customers. The Herb Restaurant should set SMART goals that are attainable in five years. The goals should first focus on attracting customers and being competitive in the business for short and long-term growth. Entry strategies will involve offline and online restaurant advertising and promotions on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok. Making videos and displays of food served in the restaurant will increase the number of customers, resulting in business growth. Incorporating technology in The Herb Restaurant in terms of an online ordering system and booking will boost sales and guarantee business growth.
3.0 Market Research and Analysis
3.1 Customers
The targeted market for The Herb Restaurant comprises locals and tourists in Yunnan Province. The restaurant will focus on attracting customers by serving healthy herb delicacies, and it will become a meeting point for all cultures based on its location in the city. There has been a long history of other restaurants decorating and garnishing their food with herbs and spices. What makes the Herb Restaurant unique is its ability to incorporate herbs in all its dishes, from appetizers to desserts and main courses.
The restaurant will host people with all forms of diets, including vegans, children, the elderly, and tourists (Laurin, 2003). This will make it competitive and grow vastly in the market. The restaurant focuses on serving first-class delicacies and prioritizing its customers in service, delivery, and booking. It will be quickly accepted in the market based on its ability to provide an extra health benefit to customers.
3.2 Market Size and Trends
Xiu and Lee's partnership has resulted in considerable success, evident in their two restaurants and food trucks. Based on their tangible achievements, the business will thrive and hold the most significant share of the market size within five years. The potential profitability will lead to its expansion to other cities in the U.S. The restaurant's potential annual growth will increase income, employment, and market growth. The significant factors likely to affect this business venture include socioeconomic, industrial, government policy, and population drifts.
The highest percentage of customers support fast foods and restaurants that incorporate cultural food in Italian, Mexican, and Chinese delicacies. They appreciate food made traditionally without twists (Haffner, 2014). This poses a threat to the Herb Restaurant, which incorporates herbs in all its delicacies. In the primary market research, many customers support healthy food and drinks that supplement the body with nutrients and vitamins compared to meals that add more calories. A few do not know the difference, while some have tried it with a twist of herbs. Concerning the cultural and social environment, the restaurant will be a multicultural arena that will uphold different flavors and customer service.
3.3 Competition and Competitive Edges
According to the market analysis above, various kinds of restaurants seize the market based on products and services in European style restaurants, western style fast food, Mexican and Chinese (Bordonaba-Juste et al., 2010). These restaurants have target consumers that enrich their catering industry. Therefore, competition depends on the targeted customer approval, service, and satisfaction. This indicates that our competitors are a threat regarding the same targeted consumers, their culture and unique characteristics, and location. Herb Restaurant's competitive advantage is the reduced food cost, high-quality products and services, and seamless distribution channel.
The strengths of the Herb Restaurant products and services are linked to their market shares and distribution channels. The availability of services through orders, deliveries, and in eatery has gained substantial market acceptability. There are various barriers to entry that will protect the restaurant from competition. They include the entity's location, employee expertise, access to capital, and technological know-how. The restaurant's weakness is that herbs occur seasonally, making them expensive in certain seasons and limited in quantities. A lack of necessary herbs might lead to the loss of customers once the flavor of certain delicacies is lost.
3.4 Estimated Market Share and Sales
The fundamental value added by incorporating herbs in menu orders will boost certain foods' flavor and nutritional capacity. Potential future customers include vegans and tourists. Tasting different flavors in different dishes will result in international customers making purchase commitments and reservations. The estimated market share and sales will be at 7% in the first year.
3.5 Ongoing Market Evaluation
The restaurant will continue to evaluate the target markets through new product programs, discounted meal pricing, quality improvement, developing new markets, and upgrading the advertisement focus (Gal, 2000). At the mature phase, the industry should plan on expanding to another production facility.
4.0 The Herb Restaurant Marketing Plan
4.1 Overall Marketing Strategy
Marketing is the sector's foundation of development and success for the catering company. The Herb Restaurant will use brand marketing, advertising promotion, social media publicity, and offline marketing. The products will initially be introduced regionally because Lee and Xiu have established the name and reputation of their restaurant. Therefore, their products will face little resistance from locals. Regionalizing herb delicacies will increase awareness and attract many customers, making the restaurant competitive. The business intends to participate in organizations that promote healthy eating habits. This will make it marketable and known. The restaurant is also devoted to promoting vegan eating habits, which shows its concern for customers. An exclusively vegan menu will make the restaurant marketable, resulting in high income.
Many customers focus not only on consuming the restaurant's products but also on its reputation and reflecting their image in those products. Therefore the market strategy should encompass individual unique visualized services (Chou et al., 2022). Managing the restaurant by incorporating expertise in every bite of the delicacies will be a form of marketing the products from one customer to another. The restaurant will venture into planting herbs that will substitute the seasonal trends experienced annually, which will be used to promote sales when they are out of season. The management will also plan to obtain government contracts for healthy food programs to support product development costs.
4.2 Pricing
Pricing should be high enough to cover costs and generate profits and low enough to attract customers. When making such decisions, the management should lower the cost of meals compared to rival' products and services. The restaurant's advantage over its competitors is growing the herbs itself. This will reduce the expenses of raw materials used in food preparation, avoiding losses during the start-up phase. Therefore, lowering food prices will speed the acceptability of herb delicacies to the market and increase the restaurant's market share.
Through the pricing strategy, the restaurant's economic payback will be sustainable compared to the competitors. This will ensure customers are attaining first-class food services, which are inexpensive and healthy. Pricing the restaurant's products lower than rivals and maintaining profitability will result in greater value through the effective distr...