Business Idea

Business

The business I have decided to set up is a sports bar. Basically, I decided to use this idea, as there are not many sports bars in Coventry, if any that is. The bar will be decorated in sports memorabilia from a number of sports, which will make us, stand out against our competition and also make us unique and therefore memorable. In addition, will show different sports, on the many large widescreen TV’s around the premises, depending on what events are on. Obviously, Coventry City FC will take priority over the rest of the games, as that is more likely to attract more custom. However, they are hardly on TV anyway, so that should not be a major problem. If for any reason Coventry RFC are on TV, they will also take priority but it is even less likely for them to be on TV than the football team, seeing as they are not very good. We will also cater for large groups, or parties if necessary, as there is a room for function purposes. This will be free of charge because we will still be making money out of the drink that they have bought.

I also have a bit of experience as I work in a rugby club, but it will differ slightly but some of the principles are the same, as they show, sport and are open to the public. I have also chosen this type as many people have done it before and proven successful, but this also means my competitors will be harder. I think there will be a great demand for this sort of pub as I have searched on the Internet for a sports pub in Coventry and to no avail have I found one. This is not to say there isn’t any, but if there is then it can’t be very well known. I have then searched for sports bar on www.yell.com and there has been quite many results come up. Namely, 102, but I doubt that there is this many as I think it is only naming the pubs around Coventry. I think this because I found it hard to find any sports bars on Google and other websites, yet so many have been found on yell.

The business will be aimed at any people who are interested in sports basically. These people will be generally of a younger age, and quite probably male. As there are more people of this age & gender who enjoy and play sports. It will not be aimed at the most wealthy of people, although they will be more than welcome if they wish to come into the bar. The main sports it will focus on are football and the rugby, but if neither is on then, cricket is a possibility, but this is less likely to draw the crowds, as it is not that action packed or tense. American sports such as American football could be a possibility depending on the sorts of people who are coming into the business, as I have previously mentioned the people choose the sports, not the staff, unless a Coventry or any of the home nations are playing in rugby or football. There will not be much advertisement, apart from an advert in a few of the local newspapers announcing the launch of it. Any other type of advertisement would be fairly pointless, and not cost effective. For example having an advert on TV, magazine or national newspaper, as the advert will only apply to those who are in the same area.

Staff will obviously be needed to help keep the business running from day to day; the business will employ people on full-time and a part-time basis as well as employing them from another business. The staff who are working on the full-time will be the more senior staff. The part time staff will be called in when there is a big match on TV and/or there is a lot of custom expected. The people who will be contracted from another business will be the cleaners, as these will only be needed for about an hour before opening to make sure the place is in a fit state to trade. All staff will not be employed right away, as this will prove quite costly, especially if training is needed. Employing staff will increase the initial costs but, on the other hand, the right people can make all the difference to the success of the business.

Business Name

The name of my business will be Kicke, as this plays on the word kick, which is to do with most sports. However, kick by itself is a bit boring so I added the ‘e’ to the end of it to make it stand out more. I have searched Kicke into Google and it hasn’t brought up any relevant results to what I’m looking for. It will also stick in customer’s minds, as well as being easy to pronounce.

The above screen print is from a website called companieshouse.gov.uk, which basically has a list of all the registered business which are trading in Britain this is good because it pretty much eliminates all chance of there being another business called Kicke. The website states that names cannot be used if they will cause offence to another person.

Aims & Objectives

All the will have to follow the same rule of SMART ( Specific (Stating exactly what has to be achieved), Measurable (Able to be measured to see if they have been achieved within the time limit), Accurate (Everyone in the business agrees with the aims and knows how to achieve them), Realistic (Able to be achieved after taking into account resources, competition and market), Timed (State a time by which they should be achieved)). The aims and objectives are important to the business as they produce guidelines into what the business is planning to achieve in the coming period, this will show the staff what they are working towards and also prompt the manager to try and boost a part of the business if they are falling short of their aim. The objectives of the business are smaller aims that help to achieve the bigger aims, they are kind of stepping stones to the bigger project, as the diagram shows below.

The aims and objectives of my business are to:

Break even within 3 months of trading

Minimise spending for the first few months while customer numbers are growing

I have chosen this aim as it will help focus the business on what it has to achieve in the coming months, and also will show the bank who the company has got the loan off when the business is looking to make a profit and how likely the bank is to get a return on the loan.

Have the bar fully furnished & decorated within the first year

Steadily build up the amount of spending each month on decorations
Make sure spending is pretty much directly proportional to the profit

When the business is fully furnished and finished it will make the place look more presentable and bring more revenue into the business, as people will prefer the look of it.

Promote choice, quality & value

Give the customer the choice of what sport
Keep price to a fairly average price
Use promotions to help draw in the customers

The more choice the customer has the bigger the amount of customers coming through the doors of the business to spend there money. Also the better quality & value the more chance the customers will be coming back through the doors and developing “locals” which keep coming and spending money in the business regularly.

Expand the business in 3 years

Open another branch when the money becomes available

If the business is creating enough money within this time, I will be looking to expand the business by buying another one or two businesses to turn into a chain of businesses so the company will be making maximum money, and also possibly expanding the business outside of Coventry and the midlands.

I am willing to change these goals to a certain extent depending on how well the business is going. If it is a success, I might be able to afford to open a ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

Expand the business in 3 years

Open another branch when the money becomes available

I am willing to change these goals to a certain extent depending on how well the business is going. If it is a success, I might be able to afford to open a new branch before the third year, or if it is not going as well as hoped then I could put that back a few years, and concentrate on the one project.

Mission Statement

The company strives to achieve the perfect atmosphere for all sports fans to enjoy the game.

Research

Primary Research:

Questionnaire

Questionnaires help businesses to choose what is right for their business and also take into account what other people think can be changed/improved so they will come back. As this is only in the introductory stage there is nothing that can be changed and/or improved, as there is currently nothing there to change.

Kicke Questionnaire

My name is Sam Bickley owner of Kicke sports bars, thank you for taking time out to fill in this questionnaire to help make your experience of this company as entertaining as you want it to be. If you leave your name and address where stated at the top of the page, you will be entered into our free prize draw, in which you could win free drinks on the house for a night of your choice.

- About You -

Name: ……………………………………………………

Address: …………………………………………………

Age: …………………..

Sex: Male Female

- About Us -

1. What is your favourite sport?

Football

Rugby

Tennis

Cricket

Other

2. What is your favourite alcoholic beverage?

Carling

WKD

Vodka

Strongbow

Other

3. Where do you watch sport normally?

Pub

Home

Friends

Other

- Please answer questions 4-6 as appropriate -

4. Why do you go to the pub to watch sport? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

5. Why do you stay at home to watch sport? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6. Why do you visit a friends house to watch sport? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

7. What is your favourite football team? (If applicable)

Coventry

Man U

Liverpool

Arsenal

Other

8. What is your favourite rugby team? (If applicable)

Coventry

Leicester Tigers

Neath Ospreys

Bath

Other

9. Would you consider visiting us in the near future?

Yes No

10. What would you expect the average price of beer to be? ................................

11. Where do you live? ………………………………………………

12. Do you smoke?

Yes No

13. Do you drive a vehicle?

Yes No

Results

What is your favourite sport?

This question focuses mainly on what sport the pub will be showing the majority of the time obviously if there is a bigger rugby game on than a football game, such as The Heineken Cup Final (Rugby) or a premiership football game, the rugby will prevail as it is a bigger and more important game. Tennis is not likely to be shown, as not only is it not as popular as the other sports as it shows, but also it is not as exciting and I doubt it will attract the drinkers, same goes for the cricket.

What is your favourite alcoholic beverage?

This generally shows what sort’s of alcohol I am looking to get in for when the business first opens (Lager, Spirits, Cider etc). Obviously this will change with time depending on demand for certain products and also if some are not selling. This question could have been better by asking if they liked lager, cider etc instead of certain brand names.

Where do you normally watch sport?

This doesn’t really give me any information on what I can change in the business, it just gives me an idea about where the percentage of people watch the games, but it doesn’t show how I can win more of the share, the questions below look at that area.

Why do you visit the pub to watch sport?

This and the next to charts will show me what I need to do to achieve my aim to be a successful pub. Obviously I will need to create a pleasant atmosphere for the customers to be in, this involves getting the right sort of people through the doors, not the sort who will be looking for a fight if the wrong teams wins for example, this could be combated by employing two bouncers to keep out the trouble makers. Also the customer shouldn’t be confined to drinking only one type of alcohol, for example there should be at least three different drinks for each category e.g. three sorts of lager: Fosters, Carling & Castle for example. To get the maximum sports available for viewing we will sign up for all the major sport channels sky & Setanta for example. The business cannot really do much about helping people to meet new people, that will just come naturally as more people come in.

Why do you prefer to stay at home to watch sport?

The major factor it seems why people stay at home to watch the games is that the drinks are cheaper from the discount off licences such as “Bargain Booze”, the business will sell beer not at the same price as there because then the business will just not be making enough money to survive, as draught beer is more expensive than canned or bottled. But instead the prices will be fairly cheaper than the rest of the competition and have special offers to attract more people in. Another big factor is how they will get home, as they will not be able to drive if they have had too many to drink. A possible solution to this is to try and get a special contract with a taxi company, to wait outside the premises around closing time or after a match to take the customers home so they do not have to wait around afterwards. There is no way to make the pub truly as comfy as it could be at home due to costs and sofa’s are more likely to get damaged than chairs and stools, but I will buy more comfy ones, instead of buying the poor quality cheap ones. For the people who want to watch the game with younger family the pub will have a policy where all ages are allowed in until 9 pm which will allow the younger people to watch the earlier games with the rest of the family. Also to provide more variety there will be at least two screens showing two different games or sports if need be. Unless there is a much greater demand for one than the other such as if the FA cup final was on, the chances are all the TV’s will be showing that game. There is a small minority of the people that I asked who are worried about violence during or after the game if a team loses, although this is quite uncommon it can still happen and the business will want its customers feeling as safe as possible, so bouncers will be employed to stop any violence occurring.

Why do you go to a friends house to watch the game?

Again it looks like the main reason why people do not go to a pub to watch sport is to do with price, which I have covered in the last analysis. And all the rest of the points which came up in this survey have been covered in the last two analysis’s anyway, so I will not delve into this any further.

What is your favourite football team (If applicable)

This gives me a rough idea on what football teams are most likely to be shown throughout the business, due to the demand. Coventry as expected topped the chart as the business is based in Coventry and also my research was also done there. Manchester United and Arsenal are the other two major teams that are most likely to be shown. Surprisingly this question produced few answers of Chelsea, which surprised me, so they were put in others. This could be due to the people I asked, all of this is bound to change though by two accounts, the type of people who come in and also the importance of the game in hand.

What is your favourite rugby team? (If applicable)

Rugby is unlikely to take precedence over football due to it being shown at the same time normally, but when there is a game which doesn’t clash with football or is more important, then Leicester Tigers will be shown, as they are a major force in rugby and also has a large fan base.

Do you see yourself visiting us in the near future?

This is very good news for the business as the majority of people who filled in the questionnaire said they are likely to visit the pub. Then hopefully since they came in once they will come back more often and spread the name of the pub so more and more people visit.

What would you expect the average price of beer?

People want the beer to be between £2.00 and £2.50 which is ok because I was planning on selling it at £2.30 anyway. Some people wanted it below £1 which was pointless in saying because the business will be losing money fast as this just does not cover the costs. The same goes for the people who said they will pay £1-£1.50. There will be special offers that I have previously mentioned where beers will be between £1.50 and £2 until the first goal/try is scored, this will be applicable to all football and rugby games. There were a minority willing to pay over £3 but most people will not spend that much on a beer and they will go elsewhere leading to a loss of revenue.

Where do you live?

This question doesn’t really bare much relevance to my research as I have already decided on where the business will be situated. The one thing that this graph does show me though is that people from different areas might have varying opinions to those who live in others. So as you can see I have hardly asked anyone who lives in the Whitley area, so I could do two things about this, I could go around that area asking people their opinions, and do this for all the areas until I get a equal response, or ask people in town, where they live before they take the questionnaire. But that is not necessary really as I am quite satisfied with the results I have already gained.

Do you smoke?

This is quite an important question because of the smoking ban which is coming into effect on July 1, as this will affect the business quite a lot, I will go into this factor later on in this document. So this chart shows that I will have to buy a premises which has a garden, for those who do smoke to go outside in to smoke.

Do you drive a vehicle?

This doesn’t really give me much information as most people if they were going for a drink or two will not bring their car with them. But there are those who are willing to take their car and leave it in the car park overnight and come back the next day to collect it. Bearing this in mind I will have to purchase a site with a car park for those who are willing to do that, but I have to make sure as the premises I am looking for is in town. So I need to make sure that nobody takes advantage of this car park and goes into town.

Secondary Research

I have visited the local bars to find out information on the competitors, for example their prices & promotions etc. From this data, I can decide on how to price my drink, and also what special offers to have on. Not only did I take notice of the prices etc, I also had a look at the service I received and how I could adapt it and make it better for my company.

Source: http://www.who.int

From this graph it shows that the amount of male drinking is decreasing, but only slightly and it looks as if it is to level off soon, the females on the other hand is increasing rapidly, but that is not that good news really considering my business is aimed at the male population mainly. However, as you can see this graph is quite old, so the data is not 100% accurate and the figures could have changed since.

I have researched on the Internet also for competing pubs. I have not found any from Coventry, but I have found a good website that reviews all the best sports bars in the midlands (www.sportspubs.co.uk). Each one has been given a score out of ten for different aspects of the business i.e. atmosphere, screen visibility, value for money & service. This has helped me gain an insight into what the customers do and don’t like about the pubs, which will then help me to change things about my business. The best one that I have found in the midlands as there is not much point searching through pubs from around the country as these are not likely to be my competitors. Also there are none in the Coventry area listed on the website which is good news to my business as there is no direct competition. The best sports pub in Midlands, is the Wellington Arms Hotel, but that is in Watford, which scored 10/10 in one of them, and 9/10 in the other three. So I could learn something from that, such as prices and the layout of the business etc. Some of the pubs on this website do not have actual written reviews but that is ok as some others do. But just because there are no sports bars listed on the website and also there are none to my knowledge, there are other pubs which show the live games, as well as the normal pubs showing these games also rugby clubs, cricket clubs will show these games, so I will face stiff competition from all of these places as well.

Potential Problem: Smoking

There are many points for and against this proposed smoking ban. Some affecting business and some to do with health risks to the staff.

Passive smoking affects staff and causes 700 deaths a year
Encourages smokers to quit
Voluntary bans do not work
People have the right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation
Restrictions are preferred to bans
64% of the population think that it’s a personal matter if someone was to smoke
There is no clear evidence between passive smoking and ill health
Businesses could lose revenue

This could be a problem for the business as smoking in all public places is being banned from July 1 onwards. Which could encourage more people to stay at home and watch sport because that means they will not have to go outside whenever they need a cigarette. But this will not give any advantage to other businesses around me as it will effect all of them.

(Source adapted from www.statistics.gov.uk)

This survey which I found on the above website gave information on how many people smoked. There were 2000 people aged 16 and above who took part in the survey. As you can see not many of them actually smoke anymore, so it shouldn’t affect the business too drastically.

Price

As being a bar there will be too many prices to list individually, but I shall name a few of the bigger sellers so you can have an idea about how much money the business will be taking in.

Cans of pop 60p
Carling £2.30
Guinness £2.50
Red Bull £1.00
Alco pops £1.80

I am guessing that they are the main drinks that people are going to be drinking, but that’s not to say that is all that I will have, as there is not much variety and people will take their custom elsewhere. These prices are based on research I have done at the local rugby club, as this business has proved quite successful with these prices. There will be special promotions where if you buy a certain amount of any Alco pop you’ll get a discount. In addition, there is also another idea that I have seen that is all pints are £1.80 until the first score, in rugby and football games. This means if the game is a boring 0-0 draw then people will still be enjoying themselves due to the cheaper drinks.

The market

I already know a bit about the market as I have worked in a bar for the past year, which has gave me a fair amount of knowledge about prices and what the competition is going to be like. I will face a fair bit of competition but I will not know precisely how much until I have decided where my business is going to be situated. The market at the moment is still rising which is very good news for my business as it gives it room to muscle in on the current business as there is still a demand for it. “The 5% rise in sales from 1999 to 2004 was fuelled by demand for wine as UK overall”(news.bbc.co.uk). The part where my business is most likely to succeed over others is variety, and choice, as some bars only have the one game on, on every TV in the building; my bar will have different games on in different sections of the bar to attract different supporters in. Obviously if there is a lot greater demand for one than the other then the same game might be shown on more than one screen. I have noted this point from a few of the reviews I found on the website I mentioned earlier.

Ownership

I will be going into this business venture as a partnership, with three other members, as this will give me more money to start off with. Therefore will help me to achieve my goals of setting up a successful business. This could be a problem if terms cannot be agreed on certain problems, or how the business is run. Another problem is that the partners face unlimited liability, which means the partners could lose the personal savings and possessions. Also a factor which will have to be considered is drawing up a Deed of Partnership which is legally binding but doesn’t have to be drawn up by the law. Overall the main factor which made me decide to have a partnership is that there will be more money to start the business off, as pubs are generally not cheap to set up/run. The other possibilities that I have considered are to be a sole trader, which I have turned down due to a lack of money. PLC, which stands for Public Limited Company. I am not going to use this as anybody can buy a stake in my business. For the reason that my business is not big enough to sell on the market. LTD’s are the other type of business I can choose from. They are private companies and they can choose who buys the shares in the business. Again, the business will not be big enough to sell shares at the moment. A franchise is not applicable here as yet, as the brand name has not developed itself as of yet. But as it grows there is the possibility of selling the ideas and names to another business (franchisee). The original business being the franchisor will provide facilities and help with factors such as marketing to the franchisee.

Stakeholders

A stakeholder is somebody who has a interest in a business. The stakeholders a business has will have to be taken into consideration when setting up and running a business, such as their needs. Every stakeholder will have different needs so will be affected by the activities in different ways.

The local community will have an interest in the business, as it will create more local jobs, and a higher choice of places to go.

They might also be interested in how much noise the business will produce, and the amount of congestion built up. This ties in with the fact that the local community will want the business to respect the local environment.

Customers will be interested in the business as they will have a greater choice of places to go out and they will be the main contributors to the profit that my business generates. This can conflict with the owner’s interests in the business as customers will want low prices and the owner wanting high prices. Along with prices they will want quality, good customer service, highly trained staff who are also friendly.

Government will be interested in how much money that the business is making so they can work out how much tax they are going to take out of the business. They will also be concerned about the employment issues.

The owner/shareholders will obviously have an interest in the business, as they would be looking to make as much money as possible. In addition, no money would want to be lost by setting up the business, and it to fail. Also in addition to this they will want to see the company grow.

Employees will care about the business, because if they didn’t and the business failed they will be out of a job, also they might be interested if there were certain bonuses for selling different products. They will also be interested in things like wages, good working conditions, strong leaders and also the be recognised for what they do in the business.

The managers (if it isn’t the owner) will want pretty much the same as the employees, but as they have the power to influence the success of the business they will tend to want more than the rest of the employees.

Suppliers will want the business to renew their contract fairly regularly as well as having fair prices for the product and making sure that all payments are met.

The bank will take a great interest in the business as it is currently lending the business a loan or mortgage, because if the business is successful then it will be able to easily pay back the loan.

Location

This is probably one of the most important factors of the business, as if it is in the wrong place then the business could fail due to that. So getting it in the right place is essential. There are many things that will come into context when deciding where to place the business, such as the price, competitors & transport links. I will go into these further later on.

This pub is perfect for my business as it located in the city centre, so it can be accessed easily by everyone. The best part probably about this pub is that it has only just had recent refurbishments, so I should not have to spend too much getting the building up to standard so I have more money to spend on other things.

At only £55,000 as well it is quite a cheap option apart from the annual rent of £23,000 but this should be ok because the business should make enough to cover this. Also as it is in town there are easy links for the staff to come to work so there is a wider base to scout for employees. As it is only 0.5 miles from the nearest train station, although it doesn’t really matter where the train station is as not many people will take the train to a pub. The main drawback from this is there are five other pubs within a 0.1 mile radius, although being in the city centre it is inevitable that there will lots of competition nearby. But the special offers and prices should attract the custom to my business rather than the others.

The other pubs in the area are as follows: Five Monkeys Bar And Restaurant, Phoenix, Oak Inn, Whitefriars Olde Ale House, Browns Café Bar. I will now research these bars in more detail to see how I can get ahead of them in the market.

The website I am using is: www.beerintheevening.com

This has limited information on the bars, but gives them a score out of ten which will help see which ones will be the main competitors. The Hope & Anchor which I am going to purchase has been given a score of 7/10 which I hope to improve to at least a 9 by the end of the first year of trading. The competition is as follows.

Five Monkeys Bar and Restaurant: 4.6/10

Phoenix: 5.1/10

Oak Inn: 6.7/10

Whitefriars Olde Ale House: 6.8/10

Browns Café Bar: 3/10

These scores are very good for my business as they show my pub should already be ahead of the other competition, the only two which seem to prove as the major competition are the Oak Inn and Whitefriars. I have since visited both of these on a match day and the Whitefriars does not have a TV so will not really affect the business too much, so it seems the biggest competition will be coming from the Oak Inn. The competitors however aim their business at different people. Browns for example is aimed at the more trendy students whereas the phoenix is more for people who enjoy rock music. Whitefriars is more of a mix between the elder generation and students. Below is a map and satellite picture of the building, the Hope & Anchor is marked as A.

Legal

There are many legal implications that need to be taken into consideration when setting up a business as there are certain laws and regulations that need to be taken into consideration. These will be listed below.

Tax: As the business venture I am taking is as a partnership I will have to pay income tax on the businesses profit. When the business turnover is exceeding a certain point VAT will be added onto the customers bills as well as income tax being taken off the employee’s wages.

NI: NI stands for national insurance and the business will have to pay this to the government, and deduct it from the employee’s wages.

Licence: The business will need a licence to trade as it is selling alcohol, if the correct licence was not obtained then there will be heavy penalties that the business faces.

Legislations

Consumer Legislation: This stops the business exploiting the customer by making false statements about products or misleading the customer about a product. This all falls in to the Trade Descriptions Act, 1968.

Employment Legislation: Stops the business from exploiting the employees which stops in this case people from under 18 serving alcohol. The Employment Act, 2002 enforces this.

Health And Safety Legislation: Protects employees by making sure that businesses offers health and safety training before they start the job. Health And Safety At Work Act 1974

Environmental Legislation: This legislation is going to be fairly easy to enforce as there is not many emissions going to be released by the pub, and with the smoking ban coming into place there will be even less than previous. Clean Air Act 1993

All businesses have to keep a record of all the transactions that they have done, which are used to produce accounts and graphs to show how the business is getting on. They also might be wanted but the Inland Revenue to calculate how much tax is owed. The records that might be kept are, invoices, injuries to staff or customers & damage reports. The building is also required to have insurance against things like fire, theft accidents to customers and employees and damages as well. I will not be able to include the insurance quotes for the business as I need to be able to verify that I legally own the building, which I do not so no company will quote me on this.

SWOT

In the next section I am going to use a form of analysis called SWOT which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & weaknesses. SWOT takes a more in-depth look at the business, and can also help to show if the business can succeed or not. The strengths and weaknesses are referring to internal, whereas the opportunities & weaknesses refer to external.