My business idea is to open a fish and chip shop.

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Unit 6 Business Planning

Task 1(E2 )

My business idea is to open a fish and chip shop. At this shop people will able to buy hot food such as fish and chips and many other things such as drinks.

I have chosen to open a fish and chip shop in Queensbury Parade that is in the London Borough of Harrow. I am providing this service as people have to eat, the food I will sell will be tasteful and above all my services will be convenient. There are many different retail shops at Queensbury Parade supplying various services and goods such as a, *newsagent shop

*Pub

*A bar

*Factories and warehouses

*Safeway supermarket

But there are no hot food services available. I have chosen to open a fish and chip shop as simply because there is no hot food services available at Queensbury and as there is station (Jubilee line) so there would be a lot of passing trade.

My business will be called Usman' Fish and Chip shop, located at 7 Queensbury Parade.

My business will be a sole trader operator as this is the easiest set up. Being a sole trader there are less regulations that I would have to comply with but with serving hot food I will have to obtain permission from the local authority. As with preparing hot food I will have to obtain planning permission for the local authority, as there are certain laws that have to be abided. I have to obtain the A3 planning permission that basically states the laws and regulation on serving and preparing hot food. I will also have to require insurance for the business as you must have this by law. By law any business that employees people even part time must have insurance. This will provide protection against accidents etc. Starting up formalities for a sole trader are fairly simple as only need to register as self employed, I am responsible for all the costs of the business and the debt. All the decisions will be made by me the owner and I will invest into the business a sum of £5000 and obtain a loan form the bank. The amount of loan I will require depends on the total cost of the purchases to find that out I will produce a budget and than will find out the amount needed. A major advantage of being a sole trader is all the profits will be retained by me. I will have to employ a worker for the business as managing this project all by my self would be difficult and the highest level of customer would not be offered. In order to keep the costs to a minimum I will put great emphasis on the operational process. My aim will be to provide the highest level of customer service. By doing so and pricing my goods competitively I will overcome my competition thus increasing sales and making a profit. My investment will hopefully offer excellent returns and I should be able to establish customer loyalty.

Task 2 ( E1)

Secondary research

In order to have a successful business I have conducted extensive research of the competition and hot food market and the local population also their attitude towards eating out.

Population of Harrow

Total number of people Value

Males 99953

Females 106861

Aged 0 to 15 41691

Aged 16 to 74 150514

Aged 75 and over 14609

Harrow has the population of 206814 that is indicated by the census 2001. The total number of males equals 99953 and the females equals 106861 th8s indicates that there are more females than men.

The population aged under 15 equals 41691 and ages between 16 and 74 equals 150514. People aged over 75 equals 14609.

The above secondary results show that there is potentially 206814 numbers of consumers available so there would be a lot of demand for services such as a take-away.

The next set of figures show the number of the population in employment and not employed. (Ages16 to 74)

Employed 93856

Unemployed 4602

Long tern unemployed 1265

Students 6491

Retired 16931

Looking after home family 10334

Sick & disabled 5119

other inactive 5625

The above set of results show the population of Harrow in employment and the number of people not working. My research shows that Harrow as a Borough has lower level of unemployment to the London Borough of Brent. This indicates that by myself opening the business in this Borough would be appropriate and most likely to be successful. By opening the business I am sure that it will run effectively as a large number of people are employed and are mostly likely to eat out as they would be able to afford to.

Marker research segmentation,

potential customers

age: all ages

occupation: beginning from school kids to all types

income: income range in Edgware on average £15000

Britain and chips (source bbc.co.uk). British are chipper about their national dish.

The potato is probably the more versatile than any other vegetable. After extensive research I found out that the British have used the spud and come up with the great British chips.

Facts:

Britons eat more than two million tonnes of chips every year. Potatoes are the countries biggest selling vegetable and chips.

There is normally a national chip week in some parts of Great Britain on February 16th. Chips shops across the country generate on average turnover of 1500 per week. Source from Daltonsweekly.co.uk.

Substantial amounts of taxes are generated from the fish and chip market in the UK. Sales have been rising despite the cod scare around the world. Sales have risen from £6.8 million to £10.1 million. All this indicates that there is need for the product. Chips are consumed on average of 2-3 times a week in Great Britain and chips are the countries most popular dish and all this indicates that the market exists and by me launching would be appropriate.

There is stiff competition from major fish and chip chains such as Harry's Ramsden's who during this year will open three more shops in north of UK.

Market size of the fish and chip market Great Britain

In order to find out if demand exists for my service I conducted secondary research on the net on bbc.co.uk and on marketresearch.com. My results indicated that fish and chips is once again Britain's most popular dish. Britons eat more than two million tonnes of chips every year. The results also indicated that fish and chip sales in the country have increased even after the cod crisis. Sale of the product have soared form £6.8 million to £10.1 million.

To find out the general demand for my service I have conducted secondary research that will show the size of the market, the number of competitors and where the competition is. To be able to run a successful business I need to conduct marker research. I have collected secondary data as it already exists and cheaper to obtain rather than primary as that consumes more time and money.

The above source gained from bbc.co.uk/news. The site also showed that chips were the main food people went for after a visit to a pub or after a night of clubbing. Most fish and chip shops are situated near pubs as after drinking the human body needs food so the closest shop they will see is a fish and chip shop and that is one of the reasons most chip shops are situated near pubs.

The first piece of secondary data that I have researched is at the web site (www.Yell.com). I used the search engine to find out the number of fish and chip shops and other hot foods services in Queensbury and the surrounding areas.

In total there are approximately 87 hot food take-aways in Harrow. The hot food market is rapidly growing with more and more hot food take- aways opening. Source from Harrow.gov.ac.uk it stated in the planning options that more and more restaurants and take-way are opening in Harrow.

Below is a list of all the competition my shop will be facing and it is within 2-3 miles of my desired location,

Mollison Way fish and chips, shop is based at Mollison Way and sells fish and chips, kebabs and also caters a small eating area.

Skip Jacks fish and chips, this is one of the major fish and chip shops in London Borough of Harrow. It sells a variety of hot food and has a take-away and a large seating area. The shop is one of the biggest fish and chip shops in the area and is well recognised.

Kebabish Original is another major franchise located only two doors away from Skip Jacks. It has a large take-away and a family seating area. The shop sells many varieties of hot food beginning from kebabs to fried chicken and even curries dishes.

Chicken Cottage, the shop is based at Edgware that is only a mile away from my desired location. It sells American fried chicken and also many forms of burgers. The shop is in the heart of Edgware town centre and has a lot of potential customers especially from a school near by.

PFC Perfect Fried Chicken, based in Hendon that is only two miles form my location. Again this specific shop deals with fried chicken and American burgers. This shop is too far from my location to be causing major concern.

MacDonalds, based in the town centre of Edgware and serves French fries, lunch meals and also breakfast specials in the morning.

Nandos, is a major restaurant dealing with special Mexican food. Its prices are very high compared to all the above listed take-away. The shop caters for eat in and take-away. A typical burger and chip meal can cost around £6.99. The shop is too far away to cause any competition to my business.

The competition is extensive as many competitors. The average fish and chip shop makes a turnover of over £1500 - 2000p.w. There is tremendous potential for my fish and chip shop. The above list shows that there is demand for this service but I will face large competition and my shop will have to work hard. The average fish and chip shop turnover I found out by visiting Daltons weekly the web site where it stated what the fish and chip shops are making in Harrow.

The competition will not have a major effect on my business as the competition is at a greater distance and if someone were hungry they would buy the food from the closest shop. The reputation on the other hand might play a small part as my shop will be new and not many people will know about it so people might stick to what they know.

Competition and its operating hours

There is huge competition and the opening hours that most chip shops use are seven days a week with the some having an exception of closing on Sundays. Trading hours are from 11:00 to around 11pm with some opening till 11:30. This indicates that my shop will have to run from midday to midnight in-order to beat the competition.

The next piece of secondary information I found out was that people attitude towards using take-away and the general size of the market.

The hot food market has seen an increase from 60% to 69.9% between 2000 to 2001. The market is growing rapidly with more and more shops opening. The competition in the market has increased and will continue to increase. The source found from local library in the Borough food market report. By visiting (Daltonbusiness.com) I found out what kind of turnovers the fish and chip shop are making and also gained knowledge of there running costs. Also I found out what kind of equipment my shop must have in-order to perform effectively all this has given me knowledge of my running costs and later on will benefit me when producing my cash flow forecast.
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Another secondary piece of information I found out was what equipment I would need. I have used specialist magazines that are designed for restaurants and take-aways such as (Business Equipment catalogue). I also used Dalton the web site to find out what kind of services existing fish and chip shops are providing and the sorts of equipment being used.

Sources of information:

bbc.co.uk

Daltonsweekly.co.uk

harrow.gov.ac.uk

Primary research

In order to find out what consumers look for in a fish and chip shop and their general attitude towards using take-aways I ...

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