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The Java Hut Coffee Cafe'

With the proposed idea of opening a Coffee Cafe’ the appropriate research design would be the quantitative research design. The first step to take in this process is to introduce a business plan to the group. The group has decided to research several areas before making any further decisions. The predicament facing a business startup for a coffee shop is finding an appropriate location, revenue for funding, development of a profitable product line, training and marketing strategies for our desire target group. The goal established at this point will be to get a feel for the local market and then plan, analyze, and disseminate the relevant data that is found through the research process. A second and most important goal will be to evaluate and determine the projected return on investment (ROI). This will depend on several variables from choosing the right employees, products, and even economic feasibility of the area in which the shop is opened. Local vendors available to stock the shop’s supplies will need to be contacted and interviewed for maximizing profits and efficiency. The group will use selected strategies in its research process, gathering data, one sampling at a time, to build the information base that is needed to continue with the research design.

Location is the first topic of discussion. The significance of choosing a location can be critical. Certainly, a shop next to or across the street from a popular site may not be the best choice. The owners will need to take a look at differences in taxes on and off campus and see if there are any programs the school offers if the shop is on campus. The variables used to define these topics are availability of real estate on campus, population of potential customers, age, income levels, etc. Also with having an option of having the shop off campus it will add a different group of people and not people who are attending the university. A simple observation of the area and its customers, along with an awareness of competing businesses should be reviewed. This can be done by the use of simple observation and face-to-face discussion with some of the potential patrons.

Next on the list is revenue for funding, development of a profitable product line, training, and marketing. This information should be finalized as soon as a location is selected. The questions that arise will be if the funding is for one coffee shop or a possible expansion in the future. Along with a location will come rent, taxes, cost of revenue, payroll, etc. Research needs to be done on the legal aspects such as leases, taxes, food safety training, printing up menus, tables and seating, etc. to make sure that the shop in within the limits of the startup costs. Staff and human resource training are two of the most significant areas that need to be carried out before the shop opens. Safety and food prep training are legal issues that every food chain has to abide by. There may be a local resource that can help with training or it could be done internally if a member of the management is licensed to do this. Before opening, permits and licenses must be obtained and also a policy on gratuities for the employees. Payroll options need to be explored and a POS system will have to be installed. Most point of service systems will have some of these options built into them which will make everything easier for the staff as well as the accountants and owners.

The problems the team faces are finding a location, funding for the coffee shop(s), a profitable product line, along with training and marketing strategies for the desired target groups. The purpose of the coffee shop is to offer a place for college students to go other than the library. The coffee shop will allow students to meet up there where they can work on school work, study or to just mingle. The significance of the location is critical, because it doesn’t need to be next to a popular site. Researching what business that were brought up on campus and how their location(s) have either worked for failed will help determine where we would like to have the coffee shop located. Fearing that placing it next to an already heavily gathered area may cause the shop to be lover looked. Another main thing that the owners will need to check on, are the taxes with having a property on campus verses having it off campus. There are several variables for this business proposal; which will include hiring the right employees, products to sell, and the area where the shop will be located.

The research design that is used is the quantitative research design. Sampling and surveying is the best method to use to decide what products should be sold. With the sampling method the owners can determine which products the customers actually like. The survey will further give the owners the data needed to know exactly what the customers like and want. Also there will be a statistical test that will be used by the Java Hut Coffee Café, the hypothesis-testing procedure. The test would basically classify a product as being accepted or rejected. In order to come to either conclusion there will be surveys that will state the hypothesis being tested and formulate the plan for analysis. The sample data will include of menu items; such as beverage and food selection that will either be accepted or rejected by our potential customers. The analysis plan will include and describe how to use sample data to accept or reject the null hypothesis. The test method would involve a test of that statistics and a sampling distribution.

The one sample z-test will be used to test the hypothesis. For instance, in the college environment, a team of surveyors will test the new coffee café products to see if it has either a positive or negative effect on the students and faculty, or no effect at all. By using sample data, we will be performing calculations required for the analysis plan. The results will be displayed in the form of a graph or chart. The ultimate goal is for the items that had a positive result being displayed and sold as menu items by the Java Hut Coffee Café. Below shows an example of the graph and how the results will reflect the information that we received back from the surveys.

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Overall, we have choose this testing because we want to get the most feedback from our potential consumers, with having an overview of what they enjoyed testing from our product will first let us know what is most age bracket is most likely to choose what product. Along with people being more continuous of what they are putting in their bodies. Being in the market these days, you have to spread yourself across the board and over all things. Without the survey it can leave out what customers actually want to have on the menu. This allows a lot of room for growth for any company. Now these days, there are a lot more fast food restaurants that are putting more healthier choices such as oatmeal and grits, along with whole grain products, because it draws a different crowd of people into your store that may have avoided it prior to it being introduced to the menu. We feel that we will get the most positive feedback by using the surveying in order to gather information. Even negative feedback from our consumers is a positive because it will open our minds to things we were not considering.

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2012

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The Java Hut Coffee Cafe'