Capstone Project Part 3 and 4

Introduction

Business startups and the formulation of business enterprises is by far the hardest part of any entrepreneurial endeavor. Such was the case in the establishment of a startup franchise by two siblings in the United Kingdom; Sahar and Bobby Hashemi. In 1995 these individuals formulated one of the most established as well as successful coffee bar franchise namely Coffee Republic in the United Kingdom as well as internationally. They introduced the company as one outlet in the South Molton, which is based in London. The idea behind the introduction of Coffee Republic rose from the realization that very few restaurants in the United Kingdom, including other parts of the contemporary world, had a brand pertinent to coffee (Hashemi, 2004). It means that it is only they, that had a knowledge of preparing the very best of coffee from acquiring the best quality of coffee beans and making the coffee they so desired hence the reason behind the Coffee Republic. The paper seeks to give an introduction of the business entity regarding the modus operandi of the company, the country of choice pertinent to expansion stratagems and finally the mode of entry concerning its continued success.

The Coffee Republic Company has since seen expansion in terms of the numbers of outlets being created with respect to the United Kingdom as well as other parts of the world.

An Illustration of Number and Location of Coffee Republic’s Outlets

Source (The Coffee Republic, 2016)

From the above, the evaluation of the business entity with regard to the Coffee Republic, shows it has now has a total of seventy-two outlets pertinent to the coffee bars and which some offer exclusive services. These services include free Wi-Fi connectivity to customers at the facility as well as the provision of discounts on certain days in a bid to promote their clients.

Expansion of the Franchise

The success of Coffee Republic depends heavily on the foundation of the company in terms of the number of outlets relevant in its home country. It is established that there are fewer than thirty bars in the United Kingdom under which is supposed to have market dominance in the region (Hashemi, 2004). The expansion strategy of the firm will depend on the increment in the number of coffee bars in the United Kingdom laying emphasis on all the key streets. The intention is to have a strong foundation which will create an enabling environment to expand into the international arena. Companies such as Starbuck’s and MC Donald’s’ have a strong foundation base for their products with the former having more than one thousand outlets in the United States alone. Such a figure is infinitesimal in comparison to the Coffee Republics.

Therefore means of establishing the relevance of the company in the United Kingdom in terms of ensuring that there are hundreds of outlets is crucial in developing a strong consumer base in the United Kingdom for progression into other countries. For this to happen, strategies need to be formulated to guarantee the achievement of the set objectives.

It is crucial to note that the company derives satisfaction in accordance with its mission statement in the achievement of gratification from its clientele. It involves the provision of quality roasted coffee and other products such as soft drinks, tea and hot chocolates to its consumers (Hashemi, 2004). It also includes ensuring that the services provided by the human resource team with respect to the personnel are courteous as well as satisfactory.

An Illustration of the Progress of Coffee Republic since its Formation

Source (The Coffee Republic, 2016)

Rising of standards in service delivery with respect to product quality as well as the timely provision of products is the first step in the propagation of growth. However, this is not enough, as rival firms will strive to improve the quality of their products.

Mode of Entry

The success of the company in the United Kingdom with the twenty additional outlets is due to the incorporation of the franchising technique (Hashemi, 2004). In this system, there are various franchisees whose intention is the maintenance of the image of the parent company with relevance to the Coffee Republic. The simplification of the formation of a franchise procedure is one of the mechanisms under which this business entity is subject to grow. For instance, in the past two decades, the company has been on both an upward and downward trajectory in terms of expansion owing to administration disputes. The minimization of conflicts as well as limiting the numbers of hearings concerning the company will lead to the minimization in the time of establishment of a franchise. Thus it will lead to the continuous and positive trajectory in the expansion stratagems. An example of such a mode of entry is during the recent expansion through the opening of the following outlets:

a) Rumford in South Street

b) Bedford in High Street

c) Golders Green in London

d) Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire

Other strategies for involvement include the collaboration and formation of partnerships with restaurants and hotels as well as cafeterias that are under proper management subject to being independent in nature. The integration of angels who are venture capitalists subject to injection of capital into the business entity will also propagate the firm to even higher heights (Hashemi, 2004). The opportunity for growth and gaining market dominance in the United Kingdom is relevant and practical in that it the Coffee Republic will need to create customer loyalty. The need to incorporate and amalgamate intensive marketing is also crucial in making known the existence of the conglomerate as well as its objectives.

References

Hashemi, S., & Hashemi, B. (2004). Anyone Can Do It: The Building Coffee Republic from Our Kitchen Table-57 Real-Life Laws on Entrepreneurship. John Wiley & Sons.