111122.docxSea city Sweets & Treats
Mission Statement
Our mission is to create a guilt free dessert experience that not only tastes the best but makes you feel your best. A mission statement is “a clear statement of an organization's purpose or reason for existence”. The mission statement also needs to be enduring and inspirational, which will not only draw customers in but will turn them into returning customers. As much as this is important for the customers it’s also important for our company and employees. The mission statement contains a strategic objective that flows from the purpose statement that is “a more specific goal that unifies company-wide efforts, stretches and challenges the organization, and possesses a finish line and a time frame”. By having the core values and goals be the main priority of all employees will make the customers' experience better.
Our organization is an ice cream company that is in downtown Sea city. We will provide a variety of different flavored ice creams to our customers. The ice cream will be made in house with locally sourced organic ingredients. This will give a healthy option to customers while providing just as much satisfaction. The main target will be families and college students. There is no ice cream shop like ours located in the downtown area. This will give an option to college students without cars, or families who are looking for healthier dessert options to indulge in delicious desserts. As a part of our company, we want to provide an experience as well. Healthy ice cream options are available at many stores like Hy-Vee and Target however people just buy and consume them in the comfort of their own homes. Having an ice cream shop downtown that many people can go to will give them an outing where they may be hosted instead of just buying it in a store. Another plus to being downtown is that there are many restaurants surrounding the area. This will give them the perfect dessert spot that is just around the corner. We want to advocate for healthy sustainable ways that will also stratify the cravings for sweets.
Situational Analysis
Conducting an honest and periodic SWOT analysis is integral to future business success in any competitive industry. A situational analysis, also called a SWOT analysis, for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in an organization’s internal environment and the opportunities and threats in its external environment (Williams, 2021 p.XXX). It allows a business to identify those areas it must advance, while simultaneously identifying which areas must be maintained for sustainable success.
Strengths:
The proposed geographic location allows us to be in the heart United States dairy processing, minimizing shipping costs. This provides our business flexibility to spend more money on quality ingredients without raising our price point, something East and West Coast firms cannot do.
· Because this operation is an ‘expansion’ and not a start-up, we are assumed to have some liquid assets available for expenditure. Time does not need to be taken to source investment or build reputation to creditors.
· Within this hypothetical we have patent protection over our product recipe, acquired proper licensing, and already promoted ourselves to the local community with fliers, meet and greets, and public sample tasting.
· Founding Partner Lau has a background/work experience in the Midwest Dairy Industry.
WEAKNESSES:
· We must strengthen our connections with local Farmers, Producers, and Truck Drivers to realize our product for consumers. This network is critical to sustained profitability and will take time to develop.
· We must assemble and train a team of employees, as well as purchase machinery and base inventory.
OPPORTUNITY:
· There is a growing appetite for organic, locally sourced produce in the USA. This trend shows no indication of going away any time soon. INDUSTRY INTEGRITY is strong. (Shahbandeh, M., 2023)
· Being the only business in Sea city that offers the products we do will give us the opportunity to control more of the market share.
· There is consumer appeal for a broad audience of people who want to feel as though they or their loved ones are making healthier choices.
THREAT:
· Increased competition in the organic produce industry due to changing personal health trends. This means we must rely on product differentiation to separate us from our competitors. Product differentiation is defined as “The characteristic or characteristics that make your product or service stand out to your target audience. It’s how you distinguish what you sell from what your competitors do, and it increases brand loyalty, sales, and growth.” (MailChimp, 2023) This will come with increased production cost.
· Established businesses may have an easier time pivoting towards organic products than we will have beginning ground up. They already have the machinery and labor capital to reverse engineer our recipe.
Industry Positioning Strategy
An industry positioning strategy is the position an organization takes in order to best focus on their target audience. The specific strategy a company will choose is dependent on two variables and can often be categorized into one of four positions. These crucial variables will change from business to business and industry to industry, but everything comes back to the type of audience being targeted (broad or narrow) and the company focus (cost or differentiation). IC Sweets & Treats will take on a differentiation strategy, as its consumer appeal lies in the organic locally sourced ingredients that the competition simply doesn’t want to take the time or money to acquire.
As a college town, Sea city sees a steady influx of visitors and students who are on the lookout for a sweet treat. There are several shops that cater to different preferences, offering a wide range from vegan options to artisanal flavors. Some of the popular shops are Heyn’s Ice Cream, Yotopia, and Dairy Queen. Each of these companies has a unique selling proposition, such as offering various flavors, pricing, and brand name. A strength of our shop would be local support. Being based in the Midwest allows our business to take advantage of the farms and fresh products around us. We would have exceptional ingredients that could set us apart from the competition. Our company focuses on the differentiation strategy to find our niche in Sea city’s ice cream market. Differentiation is “making your product or service sufficiently different from competitors’ offerings that customers are willing to pay a premium price for the extra value or performance that it provides” (Williams 6-4b). Sourcing our ingredients locally not only helps our position in the community but also boosts the local economy and ensures the customer that products are fresh and of high quality. Iowa nationally ranks 12th in total milk production and 8th in milk production per cow. Iowa’s milk production represents 2.45 percent of the total U.S. milk production (Iowa State Dairy Association). Although our prices may be near the higher end of the spectrum, the product received makes up for the cost.
Strategy Canvas
Upon market inspection, there are three main companies in the region in direct competition with IC Sweets & Treats in the region. They are Yotopia, Heyn’s Ice Cream, and Dairy Queen. There are four critical factors of importance that will determine our ability to sustain success at a local level. They include Product Taste (T), Product Price (P), Environmental Impact (E), and Quality of Ingredients Used (I). IC Sweet & Treat founders’ consensus opinion over the competition is as follows:
· Dairy Queen
· T: While Dairy Queen taste is not horrible, franchises leave a lot to be desired within local markets.
· P: Being a nationally recognized brand means DQ has a comparative advantage in pricing compared to most smaller companies.
· E: Because DQ is this nationally recognized chain business, its environmental impact is tremendous relative to local business.
· I: There is little scrutiny for ingredient sourcing when operating a business as quantitatively large as DQ.
· Heyn’s
· T: Heyn’s is a local business which has endured the changing environment in the corridor area for decades. This is a testament to its consistent great taste.
· P: With more care comes a higher price than national chain businesses.
· E: Environmental impact of Heyn’s is rather small, as they have prioritized their customers and sustainability over expansion.
· I: Being a local business like IC Sweets & Treats, Heyn’s ingredient sourcing is likely fresher than franchise competition.
· Yotopia
· T: Taste is great, though it operates in a parallel market. Their Frozen Yogurt is a direct substitute to our product.
· P: Like Heyn’s Yotopia will have a higher price point due to the nature of small business bargaining power.
· E: Limited Environmental Impact. While not as established as Heyn’s, environmental impact has been limited due to limited expansion.
· I: Yotopia sources quality ingredients for their inventory. No history of corner cutting.
Attached in the appendix (Figure B) is a plotted visual representation of the strategy canvas described above.
Conclusion
To sum up, IC Sweets and Treats mission is to create a guilt free dessert experience that not only tastes the best but makes you feel the best. Our plan is to take advantage of living in the heart of dairy country by offering fresh, organic ingredients to the customer. Being the only business in Sea city that offers the products we do, it will give us the opportunity to take more of the market share and gives the customer an opportunity to try something new.
