It is very important that Lex were located in Westwood Business Park because it is important that the customers can access Lex such as train, bus, taxi and car. If they were not located in this area then it would be very hard for customers to be able to access Lex. For example if Lex was not located in Westwood Business Park and they were located in the city centre then it would be hard for customers and suppliers to access Lex because of the space and the roads will be busy. They way Lex can get the goods delivered to them is by having good motorway links. The advantage of this is that they can receive and deliver the goods to their customers and receive from their supplier.
The employment level around Westwood Business Park is low, so Lex has to attract the customers by giving out good wages to their employees. The benefit of Lex and the employees because they will have good access for the employees to come to work; they will know where Lex is, so they can arrive to work on time.
It is very important that the suppliers know where Lex is based because they will need to know where to deliver the goods. They need to have easy access to Lex; if they were located in the city centre then it would be very hard for the suppliers to get to Lex because of the traffic. The benefit of Lex being located in this place is that the suppliers can get to Lex easily.
Lex is located in Westwood Business Park which has other business located around Lex; this is beneficial for Lex because this can attract more customers from the other business, which means more customers then more money. Lex can get help and support from other businesses that are located around them in Westwood Business Park.
Location of Express Diner
Express Diner is based near the location of City Centre on Gosford Road, Coventry, CV1 5BL. The surrounding of Express Diner are that they have a school, city college, bars, clubs and a sports centre near Express Diner. This benefits Express Diner because they are located near the city centre and near all this surroundings which will attract customers; this is the best location for Express Diner because it has easy access to Express Diner and is located in a good surrounding.
The location of Express Diner is located in the city centre area which is not an easy access for the customers and suppliers, this is an disadvantage because there will be traffic and too many roads to get through to get to Express Diner and is very hard for customers to find Express Diner. Also they there is hardly any parking space for customers to park their cars, so the customers may have to park quite far from Express Diner, this is bad because it would make the customers to do more walking to Express Diner and it may trouble the customers and Express Diner. This is because the business is not organized and means that poor customer’s service to their customers. In Express Diner they have a small and limited place where they will be unable to reach the customers to help them, so they get served when they are lined up. The benefit of Express Diner is that they situated near other businesses, this means more businesses more customers will be visiting the area.
Where Express Diner is located it is suitable for their suppliers to deliver their goods because in the surroundings of Express Diner there are other takeaway and restaurant which means that their suppliers can deliver their goods to Express Diner and the other takeaways. Express Diner is situated near the ring road which means that the suppliers can do drop offs to that place and Express Diner can go and collect the goods.
A2 - Similarities and Differences
The similarities between the locations of Lex Transfleet and Express Diner is that their location is situated at where it is good for the business for example Lex they are situated in Westwood Business Park where the customers and suppliers can get to and get out, also advertise their trucks and vans. In Express Diner they are located in the city centre where there are a lot of customers and other takeaways and restaurants, so their suppliers can be around there area to do a lot of delivering. Another similarity between these two business is that their suppliers have good access to the business for example at Lex are near the M6 which means they have very easy accessibilities for their suppliers and customers, also the supplier can save themselves time. In Express Diner they are situated around other takeaways and restaurants which mean that their supplier may have to do one delivery in that area which means that they save themselves a lot of time. Another similarity is that both business are surrounded by other business that attract customers this means that that Lex and Express Diner are getting more customers from the other business attracting them.
The differences between the location of Lex Transfleet and Express Diner are that the amount of space both businesses have, for example at Lex they are located in the Westwood Business Park which means that there is a lot of space for their customers and suppliers. In Express Diner they are located in the city centre which means that they have limited amount of space in their business and around the business because of other businesses, this is a disadvantage for Express Diner because they will have limited amount of space for their customers and suppliers. Another difference is that the cost of the land of both business for example at Lex they are based on the out skirt of Coventry in Westwood Business Park, which the land is cheaper then Express Diner because Express Diner is located in the city centre where it is expensive than the location of Lex. Another difference is that roads links between both businesses for example at Lex they are located near the M40 wear this has many other links to get to other areas and for their customers and suppliers to get to them. But Express Diner they have roads but not as big as the M40, they have smaller roads which have fewer roads links, this means that their customers and suppliers will find it hard to find it and get to it.
A3 - Making improvement on location of Lex Transfleet and Express Diner
Lex can do the following things to improve their location
Lex Transfleet can improve their location by them carrying out researches on different locations and the cost of labor when finding a new location. They need to know the benefits and the drawbacks of the different location etc. when trying to relocate they must carry out research because they will need consider that quality of the place and size of the place. They will need a location that has all the expectations as the old location but can have extra’s such as they can have more rooms for storage or a different department to work in. They will need to research the cost of labor because this will help Lex to find a good location where there is cheap labor, this means that if they find a location with cheap labor then they will paying out low amount of wages to employees. The benefit from this is that Lex will save more money. But the drawback of this is that there competitors may be paying higher wages which they may take away most of Lex’s employees away. The advantage of Lex Transfleet relocating is that they can find a bigger area and better location and have cheap labor. Lex can relocate to Birmingham where Birmingham is a big city, this is an ideal place to move because it has more popular and bigger businesses surrounding it and have new variety of customers. But the disadvantage of Lex relocating to Birmingham is that there labour cost will be higher than before so they will be losing out in profit.
Lex Transfleet can improve their location by charging their customers when they park in the car park also expand the car park for more space for their employees and customers. This means that the employees and customers will be pleased and there will be an increase in their satisfaction. The benefit of this that Lex will be making capital and there is an increase of customers and employees satisfaction. But the drawback is that customers may not be happy because Lex may be charging too much for parking and the customers may not park in the car park because it is expensive so they may prefer to park outside the car park, this means that Lex will be losing out in capital. Also they can have an increase of Lex Transfleet general facilities, this will be good because the employees will have more space to work in and they can have more departments in Lex.
Lex Transfleet can improve their location by moving to an area where they can be closer to their customers, they can do this by the marketing department doing some research and handing out questioners/forms to their customers. The questioner/forms that the customers receive should include the customer’s details etc. also in Lex the ICT department can help out by publishing out on the website to their customers. Also in Lex they can open a new deport which are like smaller branches of Lex in Coventry so their closer to their customers. This is beneficial for Lex and their customers because the customers will be satisfied that they do not need to travel far and Lex can handle their queries quicker. Also they may attract new customers and be known to the public with the new deport. The advantage of this is that in the long term is that they will be recognized and they will attract more customers but the disadvantage is that in the short term Lex Transfleet’s existing customers will only be visiting it. Another drawback is that the costs because it will cost to open a new deport, the expenses will be like buying the new place, electricity, and other bills. This can result in Lex being in debt but they can get debt free if they put the time and effort in to the new deport. When opening a new deport the customers will be more satisfied because they are near Lex’s deport.
Lex Transfleet can offer better salaries and training packages to their employees so that they can keep their employees to work at Lex. This can attract more potential employees to work for Lex, by offering better salaries and training packages they will not lose their employees and their competitors will be losing out in employees. For example at Lex they give their employees training and they increase their salaries, the employees will be satisfied and their competitors will have to try better than Lex to gain more employees than Lex. The drawback of this is that Lex will be increasing salaries and training packages which means that it costs for Lex, so Lex are losing out in capital but in the beneficial side of this activity is that Lex will have highly qualified employees and can perform well in Lex and their competitors have hardly any highly qualified employees, also Lex will a positive and good reputation.
Express Diner can do the following things to improve their location
Express Diner can improve their location, by doing this then Express Diner can increase their success. I recommending Express Diner to relocate where there are more variety and potential customers and a place where there is low crime rate. Express Diner can redecorate the new business to attract more customers that are wealthier; this means that they may pay a little extra for the quality of the food and service. This can result to Express Diner increasing sales and profit. The down side of this is that it would cost money to relocate and redecorate to attract the customers.
Express Diner they can improve their location by relocating in the city centre instead of staying near the city centre because it would be surrounded by other big professional businesses, this will attract more variety of customers and potential customers. Other employees in other businesses that are surrounding Express Diner can go to Express Diner and other businesses can help them out. For example Express Diner have relocated in the city centre they will attract more customer that are going to work and customers that are on foot. An advantage of Express Diner relocating in the city centre is that they can do market research in the city centre or outside their restaurant. If Express Diner wants to relocate in the city centre they need to consider that the cost of the land will be higher and they may need to employ new people because the new business may get busier because it is relocated in the city centre. The disadvantage of Express Diner relocating in the city centre is that they will need to improve their security level because they will be in the city centre where there is bars and pubs in town where there can cause disruptive behavior.
Express Diner can improve their location by relocating in the city centre because they are now located where they cannot get to their customers and not making much profit. They need to move in to the city centre because at the moment they are only attracting the local customers that are based in that area. In Express Diner customers, suppliers and employees find it difficult to get to the restaurant because of the roads that located around the shop. The way Express Diner can sort there problems out is to relocate in the city centre so they will attract more customers and make more capital. Also if they relocate in the city centre they will be recognized and popular. The disadvantage of this is that it would cost a lot of money for Express Diner.
Another suggestion of improving Express Diner’s location is to find a new car park or construct one for their customers, so that they do not need to ravel on foot all the time or park their car someplace else and travel on foot to Express Diner. The beneficial side of having a car park is that the suppliers can get in their comfortably and deliver their goods safely and the customers will be pleased because they will no longer need to travel by foot, they can come in their vehicles and park them in the car park; also it would be safer to leave it in the car park than leaving it on the streets. Employees of Express Diner will be glad that they have a car park because they can come in their cars so they can be on time. The disadvantage of developing a car park is that it would be cost a lot of money for Express Diner and would take a long time to do this for a small business like Express Diner; also they may need to take a loan to construct a car park, so this means that they may get in debt because the business may not run according to plan.
A1 – Aims & Objectives
Aims
Aims is when the business set aims for them selves and have to achieve it, this will help them in the future to see where they go. In a business they set more than one aim to achieve. When a business sets aims they would have different objectives to help them to achieve the aims. When they have aims they include profit, expanding, maximize sales, improve product quality, beat the competition, and survive (existence). When the business set an aim they should always be appropriate to the business activity and size, for example a sole trader such as a newsagent wants its aims to be for them selves to take over a bigger company which is a PLC such as Tesco.
Objectives
Objectives are step or target that helps the business to achieve their aims; all objectives need to be measurable so that they can be checked if they have been achieved. when measuring the objective they can use pound (£) or percentage (%) signs to measure them. All objective must be monitored regularly so that the business can see if they have achieved the objectives. They are different to aims because they use objectives to achieve the aims.
Business set objectives to achieve their aims, most business set up SMART objectives:
Specific – This is when the objective is specific on the aim the business is trying to achieve. This shows the detail and precision of what the objective is and what they are trying to achieve.
Measurable – This when the business can measure their objectives by using pound (£) or percentage (%) signs. This is used to measure how much profit they would want to make or they can say they want their sales to increase by 25%, also this can help the business see if they have achieved their objective.
Achievable – This is when the business sees if they can or cannot achieve their objectives. This will help the business because if they set themselves an objective it may not be appropriate for the business for example a small business would want to take over a bigger company such as Tesco.
Realistic – This is when the business should be realistic when the pick their objectives because if their objective is not realistic then how will the business achieve it. This will help the business because then if the business picks a non-realistic objective then this will waste the business time.
Time – This is when the business should set them a deadline to achieve the objectives. When they set a new objective they should set a deadline when to achieve it. This is helps the business because then they will know when to achieve it and they have to put effort and time to achieve the objective, because if they do not have a time to achieve the objective they can achieve it whenever they want to or may be not achieve it because they will not put effort and time into it to achieve the objective.
Aims & Objectives of Lex Transfleet
- Having pace an ambition by being passionate about what they do and act to achieve these goals:- They set this objective because to help Lex to be more determined towards the business, when having pace they will achieve there objective in time. Being ambitious will help Lex because they will set goals to achieve and try achieving them. The benefits of having this objective will achieve their objective quicker or on time.
- They have a lot of support to make a difference by being proud to support each other and everyone is contributing:- They set this objective because to help Lex to cooperate with each other and have confidence to work with their colleagues. This will help Lex by all the colleagues putting in effort towards Lex and contributing. Also Lex would get more of out of this as representation will be high.
- They want to make profit:- They set this objective because to help Lex to make as much profit for Lex, this is beneficial towards Lex because they would make more profit which they can have more money to put back to Lex if they want to. Also this will help them be successful, which means Lex will run smoothly, there fore they may want to expand the business when they have made their money/profit. For this to happen they would need to make more sales or raise the price for each product etc.
- They want to increase market share by having more customers than their competitors:- They set this objective to help Lex to have more customers then their competitors with Lex increasing their market shares, this will benefit Lex because they will have more customers then their competitors which they will be receiving more revenue which they make more profit.
- They want a good reputation and be well known and becoming bigger by expanding:- They set this objective to help Lex to have a good reputation, this will benefit Lex because they will get more customers, which means more customers then more profit. This will make Lex become a bigger by Lex expanding their business.
- They want to survive and not make any losses so want to keep their costs down:- They set this objective to help Lex so that Lex can make a profit and make more revenue than they spend, this helps Lex stay in positive figures. The benefit of this is that they will not make any losses or negative figures, this will make Lex survive.
- To give the best customer services so that they can have loyal customer and increase the amount of customer using their services to increase profits:- They set this objective to help Lex provide best customer service so that there customers fell loyal. The benefit of this is that if Lex have more customers then they will receive more revenue or profit.
Aims & Objectives of Express Diner
- To make profit:- They set this objective to help Express Diner to make profit, they need to make profit because that’s their earnings. Also they need to make profit because they will need to pay of the expenditure for example paying of bills from the suppliers. They need to attract the customers more because if there are more customers then there is more money.
- To increase market share:- They set this objective to help Express Diner to increase their market share because they will be handling with more customers and they can sell their products on the streets and public. Express Diner will benefit from this because they meet new customers and make profit at the same time.
- To give the best customer service and satisfaction:- They set this objective to help Express Diner to give best customer service and satisfaction to their customers because they would want their customers to be happy and be pleased with the quality of food and service. If they are pleased then they would want to revisit Express Diner.
- To grow and expand the business by having more branches:- They set this objective to help Express Diner to grow and expand the business by having more branches because they would want to be known and popular. Also when Express Diner get popular and known then they would be getting more customers, this means that they will receive more money. Also when having more branches of Express Diner they could go worldwide if possible.
A2. The similarities and differences of the objectives at Lex and Express Diner
Similarities
The similarities between Lex and Express Diner are that they do not have any smart objectives; they do not have any measurable objectives which are pound sign (£) which they can not measure their objectives. For example if one of their objectives is to make profit then they will not have to have measurable objectives to help them to achieve it. Both businesses are private sectors this means that they both set objectives to make profit for the business. They both also have objectives to beat their competitors they do this by setting another objective which is deal with customers and improve their customer service. They do this because they will provide good customer service which they will attract more customers and this will help both businesses to beat their competitors. They also have objectives to carry out market research to provide better customer service. They do this because they will know what the customer’s expectations and needs are, so both business will use this information and improve on customer service. Both businesses have objectives to expand their business and they have objectives on market share.
Differences
The differences are that Lex is a bigger business than Express Diner, this means that Lex would get more customers than Express Diner. Express Diner is a partnership that owned by 2 people, this means that they will set less aims and objectives and get fewer customers than Lex. At Lex they are PLC (public limited company) that is owned by minimum of 2 people but because there is a maximum number of shareholders. This means that Lex will have more aims and objectives, this will take time to achieve but with the amount of customer’s Lex have they may get their aims and objective’s quicker.
Lex has is a bigger business and so has more aims and objectives.
A3: Suggestions for improvements for both businesses to make them more effective:
Suggestions for improvements for both businesses which are Lex and Express Diner are that they can have smart objectives which are, specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. This will make both businesses more effective such as Lex/Express Diner they can set an objective that is to gain more customers from 100 customers to 150 customers a week, they will need to be able to measure it and have a deadline to achieve it. This will benefit both businesses because they will have more specific and realistic objectives, this will help them to achieve the objective according to the smart objective. There is an advantage of this because they can reach their objective more efficiently. There is a disadvantage of using smart objectives, this is that if the employee and business do not achieve the objective and continuously fail to achieve this will decrease the motivation of the employee.
Also they can update the objectives on a more regular basis as they will be more accurate and smart, this will mean that Lex/Express Diner will run efficiently and smoothly. The objectives will be more realistic and will be more relevant to the employees. The disadvantage of updating the objective is that it would be costly and could take a long time of period to update. The advantage of this is that the employees can actually achieve the target which will make them motivated and have a better performance, if the objective was about 3 years old them they might have already achieved it, so they need to update a new objective.
Another suggestion of improving objectives is to share the aims and objectives with the employees more, this will benefit Lex/Express Diner because the employees will be up to date with the aims and objectives. The business will run more smoothly and the business will be more efficient. The disadvantage of this is that the employee may have too much aims and objectives to handle with, so they will be stressed and they may get de-motivated. This can make them to worry about the aims and objective, this can not benefit Lex because it can decrease the efficiency of Lex/Express Diner.
Another suggestion is that they can ask the employees and managers to contribute to designing aims and objectives for themselves and Lex/Express Diner. This can benefit Lex/Express Diner because they can have everyone’s ideas and put them across. If they do this they will have more suggestions on what aims and objectives to make. The disadvantage is that the employees and managers will have more work to do because they will need to come up with more aims and objectives, they will have more stress because they will need to handle with more aims and objectives, this can slow the efficiency of Lex/Express Diner.
A1 - Activities
Primary sectors
Primary sector are when there are businesses that are implicated in producing and taking out raw materials from the natural sources that are produced from land and sea. Then the primary sector sends it off to the secondary sectors. The followings are examples of primary sectors: -
- Mining:- Taking out metal and coal
- Forestry:- Producing paper and wood
- Farming:- Producing vegetables and fruits
- Fishing:- Taking out fishes from the sea
Secondary sectors
Secondary sectors are when there are businesses that are implicated in manufacturing and man making the raw material that the primary sector had withdrawn from the natural source, then the manufactured the natural source to goods that will be sent to the public shops to be sold. After they have been manufactured from the secondary sector, they sell it to the tertiary sectors to be sold to the public. The followings are examples of secondary sectors: -
- Steel factories:- Manufacturing steel
- Car factories:- Manufacturing cars
- Bread mill:- Making bread
- Construction:- Manufacturing bricks and cement
Tertiary sectors
Tertiary sectors are when there are businesses that are implicated in selling products and goods and providing service to the public. The goods have been supplied by the secondary sectors. The followings are examples of tertiary sectors: -
- Customer service:- Dentist, Doctors and Banks etc
- Retailers:- Selling products and goods the public customers
- Education:- School and colleges
Activities of Lex Transfleet
There are different activities that are involved in Lex but one of the main activities of Lex is that they provide truck rental and van leasing services to their customers. Their customers could also be other large corporate businesses other than the government. In Lex there are other activities and services that they carry out.
Rental is an activity at Lex Transfleet, which they offer truck rental services that could be a short-term lease or long-term lease that lasts for a year. In Lex there are variety lengths of rental which are from one day rentals to yearly rentals. This benefits Lex and their customers because Lex customers will not have to re-new their leasing contract and Lex will be saving themselves time. If the customers of Lex hire out and lease vans from Lex for a long period of time then Lex will be satisfied because they will be making more capital, if the customers did not then it would be stored away in storage where they will not be making no capital.
Also Lex has another activity that is Fleet management which is like a service to vehicles, they have to make sure that the condition of the vehicles is road legal and making sure that it meets the customer’s satisfaction. Any vehicles that has been hired or leased out from Lex, there will be an breakdown recovery and accident management for the customers hired out vehicle, for example a customer of Lex hired out a van and they had an accident or a breakdown on the M40, then Lex will have to get the breakdown recovery and the accident management to resolve this situation. At Lex they have a regulation on when they have to service the vehicles, this can be timed related such as a brand new Volkswagen has been used and it is 5 years old or more, then they will service it every 6-8 weeks. But Lex can also service the vehicles relating to the distance it has travelled, for example if the mileage is over 7,000 then Lex will service the vehicle.
There is another activity which Lex Transfleet offers their customers a driver and fuel services. Lex will be happy to provide a driver to drive the truck or van for the customers, but Lex may charge extra for the driver. When Lex provides drivers the driver gets fuel service which means that the driver will have a fuel card. When having a fuel card it benefits Lex and the driver because when it is used it will be checked and monitored by the company and Lex, also the driver will not need to carry huge amount of cash. The fuel card acts like a credit card but it is used for only fuel.
In Lex Transfleet they offer 24 hour assistance to their customers because this will benefit the customers. For example a customer of Lex was having difficulties with their van then the customer can inform Lex and Lex will offer their assistance to their customer as soon as possible and try to resolve the problem. When Lex is offering 24 hours customer assistance this will have a very positive relationship with their customers because Lex is providing assistance. Also in Lex they substitute vehicles in the 24 hour customer assistance and service, this only occurs when the customer informs Lex with a substitution vehicle. For example the vehicle does not start then they would inform Lex for their assistance and to get a substitution vehicle. Lex will substitute the vehicle in their calm way of their distribution services. This will benefit the customers because they will receive assistance as soon as possible and a substitution vehicle which they will be satisfied to get to where they want to.
Also Lex offer their customers planning services, this is when a customer would want information on how to get to a specific place. For example a customer calls the planning services of Lex and wants information on how to get to London, Lex will provide them with planning service and tell them the safest, fastest route to take that suits he customer.
Activities of Express Diner
Express Diner is a tertiary sector and within the tertiary sector they are in the private sector. Express Diner is a private sector because it is a partnership business which means that they are a private business and they sell products and provide service which puts them into the tertiary sector.
Express Diner is open every day of the week ad their opening hours are from 11am to 5am and they have a seating area for their customers to sit and eat but the seating area closes at 10pm which then they have to order for delivery or take out after 10pm. Express Diner serve their customers a wide range and a variety of hot and cold food. On Express Diner’s menu for the hot food there are cheese/chicken/lamb burgers and chips etc and they serve hot and cold drinks.
Express Diner is a takeaway which allows them to deliver food to the customer’s door step and customers taking food out of Express Diner and to be able to serve food at late night, in order for them to be able to do this they need to have an A5 licence which they are fortunate to have. This results in having more employees and more working hours for Express Diner employees, this would means that they would have to pay higher wages but at the same time they will be open for longer which means more customers the more revenue/profit they make. In Express Diner they serve some un healthy food such as burgers, fries and kebabs but recently they have come across with healthier options such as veggie burgers and Panini’s to meet the customer’s needs. This will increase the range of food Express Diner serve to their customers.
Express Diner offer food that meets different customer satisfaction such as they serve different dietary requirements which are vegetarian, halaal/kosher options which will satisfy all different customers and meet the customer’s expectations. City College and Coventry University students, employees working in other business in the area and public passing Express Diner etc where Express Diner’s customers are attracted from. In the area there are a lot of different competitors which are in the fast food industry which Express Diner has to do better to beat their competitors in order to be the best in the fast food industry.
A2 – Similarities and Differences in Lex Transfleet and Express Diner in Activities
Similarities in Activities
The similarities between Lex and Express Diner is that they both are private sectors of the tertiary sector, which means that Lex and Express Diner activities are in implicated in providing service and selling goods and products to their customers to satisfy them; this means that they are retailers. Also both business, Lex and Express Diner have the same type of customers they sell their products to. They both sell their products to private customers because they do not sell to government, such as hospitals and schools etc. For example Express Diner cannot sell their food directly to the government but a member/worker of the government can visit Express Diner and buy food as a public customer. But in Lex they do not lease or hire out their trucks and vans to the general public but they do lease and hire out to others except government and general public.
Differences in Activities
The difference between Lex and Express Diner is that Lex is a 24 hour business and Express Diner is open from 11am – 5am, which they are closed for 6 hours a day. Lex is a 24 hour business because they are a bigger and professional business that has a lot of customers to handle and they have different services that may be required throughout the day such as 24 hour customer assistance and distribution services etc. But with Express Diner they are a takeaway business that handles with food, they are open at this certain time because they have to open when it is suitable for customer to come in Express Diner. They open at 11am just before lunch hour and they close till 5am, they are open till late because there are people that work till late for example taxi men.
Another difference is that Express Diner is a takeaway business that sells fast food and Lex is a truck and van company that leases and hires out truck and vans. This leads to another difference between both businesses which is that Express Diner service is quicker than Lex because Express Diner is a takeaway that sells fast food to their customers and Lex leases and hires out trucks and vans which the process may take longer than Express Diner. Express Diner service is quicker than Lex services because Lex is a bigger company that handle with more customers than Express Diner.
A3 – Improvements in the Activities at Lex Transfleet and Express Diner
Lex Transfleet
Lex can improve their activities by renting and leasing out their vehicles to the general public because they are not leasing and renting out their vehicles out to the general public which means that Lex are losing out on making capital and profit. If Lex rents and leases out to the general public this means that they would have more customers to handle and be more known. This can lead to Lex being the best truck leasing and van rental business that is around. Lex can also gain more revenue by leasing and renting out to their potential customers a variety of unique vans and trucks which will satisfy customers. The advantage of this is that they would be an increase of customers, capital and market share. But the disadvantage of this is that they may use the capital back in to the business to carry out market research, pay wages and advertise the vehicles; this means that they will have no profit. Another disadvantage is that they need to produce more vehicles that are unique which will cost Lex a lot of capital, plus when carrying out this activity there will be more paper work and more workers working extra hours.
Lex can improve their activities by researching and finding a cheaper supplier, If Lex finds a cheaper supplier then Lex will have no problems in buying the goods and products. This is an advantage for Lex because if they find a cheaper supplier then Lex can save a lot of capital and spend it wisely on something else that would be beneficial towards Lex or buy more goods and products. In my opinion I think Lex will benefit from making their own suppliers because it would be cheaper and they will save a lot of time. But in the other hand the outcome will be that Lex will have to construct their own vans and trucks which means that Lex will be a business that is a secondary and tertiary sector. The advantage of this is that they will be known for truck leasing and van hiring and constructing their own van and trucks to be sold to other business. But the disadvantage of this is that in the short-term it will cost a lot of capital to go through with this because it would cost for machines, tools, raw materials, employees that are expertise in engineering and designing vehicles, so they may need to take loan out from the bank. It may take a period of time to set this up but another advantage is that in the long-term after it is ready to go ahead then Lex will make huge amount of capital which can pay off the debt more quickly.
Express Diner
Express Diner can improve their activities by updating the menu and making more options on healthier food for their customers because the customers will have many options on the variety of food from the selection on fast food and healthier food. Also having more options on the menu means that customers may choose to eat it and Express Diner will be receiving more revenue which they will be making more profit. But for Express Diner they will need to do their own research on what healthier options they can offer their customers and set a pricing on them, so they can go ahead with the new activity to serve healthier food. An advantage of this is that when there are healthier options of food then vegetarian customers will be interested to visit Express Diner because there are most likely to have more vegetarian food to make it healthier. Another advantage of Express Diner serving healthier food is that the pressure groups that want other business to serve healthier options will decrease because Express Diner will be serving healthier food. For instance the NHS is a pressure group and they will try their best to increase healthier food to be served to the public. If Express Diner serves healthier options then it will increase even more and NHS will decrease the pressuring of Express Diner and the percentage will decrease. A disadvantage of this activity is that Express Diner will have to carry out research and this will take time and effort and on the other hand they need capital to go through with this activity to buy new products and goods so they may take out an overdraft from the bank.
Express Diner can improve their activities by varying their style of cooking their food such as they can grill their food instead of frying, this would mean that they will using less oil which will satisfy customers because it is more healthier. But customers may want to fry their food so Express Diner may use oils but different type of oils that contain less fat so it could be as healthy as possible for customers. This is an advantage because this will increase the customer’s satisfaction and the pressure group will decrease, also they will be pleased with the high quality of food which is healthier. But the disadvantage of this is that Express Diner’s customers may not like the changes which they may want to be back to the old way.
They can also improve by being specialist in different cultural foods and their cultural specialist could be Bangladeshi and Indian cuisine etc. This can help Express Diner because they can be known for their specialties and they can have their old menu and new menu for the new specialties and fast food. The advantage of this that they can attract new customers with their new specialties because customers may like the different cuisine that is available on the menu. But the disadvantage of this is that they have to do research on what specialty to choose and then they have to buy more products and goods for their specialties, also they have to consider of getting a employee that is a specialist in the cuisine that they pick. If Express Diner considers doing this they need a lot of capital before they start this activity because they need to pay for research, products and goods, wages for new employees.
Another way Express Diner can improve their activities is to serve their customers fresh food that has been freshly cooked when it has been ordered because customers will be satisfied with the quality and freshness of the food. The disadvantage of this is that the customers have to be patient for their food to be served to them. The advantage of this is that Express Diner will be serving freshly cooked food to their customers and they do not have to leave the machine on for the whole day except when cooking the food. This activity leads to another activity which Express Diner can help the environment and be eco friendly because they will make customers and other pressure groups pleased. They can do this by saving gas and electricity in Express Diner because the more gas and electricity is used then Express Diner will be polluting the area more. Also Express Diner can save them a lot of capital because they will be using less gas and electricity. An advantage of this is that they can only use the machine and equipment to cook the food when the customer has ordered. This means that they will be saving capital on using less electricity and gas and the polluting will decrease which there will be no pressure groups to pressure them. The disadvantage of this that customer will be waiting to be served its food which will take time because they are making it fresh, so the customer has to wait.
Express Diner can also improve their activities by them changing the opening times because they may hardly be making any capital in the late hours between 3am – 5am. So I recommend Express Diner can open earlier in the mornings for instance 10am and close at 3am because then they can serve customers that are going to work in mornings. The advantage of this is that they will save themselves capital from paying extra wages, electricity will decrease and there will be less pressure group because they will close earlier at night. The disadvantage of this is that their customers that visit Express Diner at the times 3am – 5am will not be able to visit at that time, so they have to come earlier or may not visit again which they are losing out in customers. Also the workers may be tired to work early in the mornings so they may be late to work and be very tired which can affect the way they work and affect the sales at Express Diner.