Grind Time, LLC, Business Plan Example

The Grind Time Coffee shop is a new cafe located in Portland, Oregon. The main product produced by the cafe will be artisan coffee beans roasted in house. In addition to serving of coffee-based drinks, Grind Time will also allow customers to buy coffee beans to take home and brew at their leisure. This business will be a limited liability company because the owners will be running it alongside their normal careers.

Coffee shops are allover in Portland, Oregon including coffee roasteries (Baker 20). It is exceptionally easy to find where to take a cup of coffee in Portland, but getting the best place or restaurant to do so is not easy. Grind Time location is in a strategic position for customers from various occupations and aspires to offer unique services for customers.

Customers- Target Market

The target customers will include the local market made up of business people in the town, government workers and old people who look for leisure places (Hawn 100). We are also targeting to attract academicians, as there is a large population in the city dealing with academics. Portland has a large market base for coffee shop businesses. Thus, Grind Time will enjoy the market base, though; it needs to package the products in an attractive manner for the customers. Most of Eugene’s limited and full-service restaurants are among the establishments offering coffee drinks to customers. We will also have direct competitors in coffee shops, which are near the University of Oregon. They include Cafe Roma, Starbucks, and The UO Bookstore including other establishments dealing with food service offering coffee. Cafe Roma is one of the main competitors considering its strong, established marketing and operational practices and financial position (Wang 27). However, despite the strength of Cafe Roma, most customers in the area prefer small, independent coffee cafes offering an appealing atmosphere and quality coffee at moderate prices (Starbucks Corporation SWOT Analysis 2012). The Grind Time will strive to be a unique coffee shop offering the best tasting coffee, comfortable, homelike, and cozy environment, which lacks in the other shops.

Promotion

We are planning to promote sales of coffee by using loyalty cards persuading customers. The cards will bear “Get the Fifth Coffee for Free!” In addition, we are planning to produce posters telling customers of Grand Time’s incomparable services in the area. We will also offer unlimited coffee later. In this case, we will increase the price slightly and then offer refills for the customers. Therefore, we will, produce the drinks easily, and customers will not complain, as they will be getting refills. We have budgeted $ 500 for the Grind Time promotional plan. The cost might even be higher than the estimate, but the outcome will take care of all these expenses.

Grind time coffee ltd

Sales Forecast 2012, 1^st June to December 31^st

Note: Units used are dollars ($)

Pricing structure and strategy

The overall strategy of Grind Time will focus on retaining existing customers, getting new ones, encouraging them to spend and come back for the services as often as possible.

The prices we will offer need to be competitive compared to the other shops around. We will ensure affordable prices for the customers, but we will ensure that the profit margins remain high. This is because, from market research, we have learnt that low prices can bring down the profit margins and that low prices are not essentially an attraction to customers (Beech 102). We will adopt moderate prices but leading on the coffee quality served and that of the coffee beans. We will sell a cup of coffee at $ 1.50, which is moderate and affordable compared to the rest of the coffee shops.

Works Cited

“Starbucks Corporation SWOT Analysis.” Starbucks Corporation SWOT Analysis (2012): 1-11. Business Source Complete. Web. 25 May 2012.

Baker, Linda. “Hot & Cool.” Oregon Business Magazine 35.4 (2012): 20-21. Business Source Complete. Web. 25 May 2012.

Beech, Wendy. Black Enterprise Guide To Starting Your Own Business. Wiley, 1999. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 25 May 2012.

Hawn, Carleen, and Nina Munk. “Drunk On Coffee.” Forbes 159.3 (1997): 100-101. Business Source Complete. Web. 25 May 2012.

Wang, Jennifer. “The COFFEE Connoiseur.” Entrepreneur 39.7 (2011): 26-35. Business Source Complete. Web. 25 May 2012.