The waiting time for the pizza should be no more than 20 minutes for the time the customer orders the pizza. This includes the time it takes to make the pizza from the time it delivered to the customer’s house; therefore maximum effort will be given to ensure orders are taken as quick as possible. Failing to comply with this time limit will mean the customer will get frustrated and are not likely to shop there again. In drastic occasion, they could refuse to take the order.
When the customers are ordering over the phone, the employee who answers the phone is to greet them before the customer before they take the order and give them a valediction before they hang up. This is done so the customer’s feels like the business actually cares about them.
Safety Requirements
In order to successfully start up the business, there are certain laws and regulation that are to be met.
One of these acts is the Health and Safety at Work act 1974. This act states that the employer is responsible for the safety of the employee. Therefore I have to make sure the workplace is a safe environment to work in. To do this, I must make sure any loose wires are tucked away so nobody trips over them, wet floor signs are put up when the floor is wet so nobody slips and any dangerous equipments such as knives are put aside in a safe place. As well as this, the employees will be given training in which hazards of the workplaces are pointed out so they are aware of them and the quickest and safest route to the fire exit will be informed to them. To comply with this regulation, I will put up 2 wet floor signs when the floors are wet, put 2 fire extinguishers around the workplace to extinguish any fires that may occur and fire exit sign above the back door so the employees know where to go in case of a fire.
Another law that I have to meet is the Foods Safety Act 1990. This act states that all food that is being sold must be safe to eat. It also states that the food must not render injuries to the health of the person who is eating it. To meet this act, I have to make sure that all the ingredients used to make the pizza are all of a suitable standard i.e. clean and not past their expiry date. If the materials aren’t to a suitable standard, then the taste of the pizza won’t be as good and it may cause the customer to get food poisoning. As well as this, I have to make sure the work place is hygienic which means I have to clean the equipment such as knives and pizza cutter after every pizza batch and make sure the surface the food is prepared on, is also clean.
The consumer protection act is an act that makes it an offence to supply goods that could be deemed unsafe to the customer. For example, a plastic toy must not contain any toxic material because it is used by small children who could put it in their mouth. A way I can ensure that I meet this act is by making sure the greaseproof paper doesn’t get mixed with the base. Another way I can follow this act is by making sure the ingredients used to make the pizza are safe to eat. If something does go wrong with the pizza, the customer could get food poisoning and send in complaints which would damage the reputation of my business.
The employees will be made to wear safety equipments such as aprons, gloves and oven mitts to stop them from getting hurt. As their employer, I will make sure they are wearing them at all times.
Failure to comply with these regulations could result in serious injuries, fines or my business could end up being shut down.
Material Resources:
The quality of materials used to make the pizza will be high as it is a high quality pizza. The materials used will be bought from high quality retailers such as John Lewis and from Asda. Even though Asda sell low quality ingredients, they also sell high quality as well.
Some of the products bought are organic such as Organic Wildflower Honey and Organic Atlantic sea salt. By including high quality ingredients on the pizza, it will enhance the taste of it therefore the customers will be satisfied with their purchase. The reasons why customers should feel satisfied, is because they are paying good money for a high quality pizza and in return, they should fell they are receiving a high quality pizza.
As well as organic products, I have bought branded ingredients as well such as Napolina Chopped tomatoes and Doves Quick Yeast over low quality ingredients such as supermarkets own brand because it offers a higher quality as well as taste.
The packaging is made from cardboard because it can be easily folded. This means that it can be folded in the necessary places which makes it the perfect material for the pizza packaging.
Physical Resources
Physical resources are equipments used to make a product. To make the pizza I will need a variety of physical resources. These resources are bought from a variety of sources such as Charlies Direct, Argos and Asda.
Oven – 1 home oven
I will be using a home oven to bake the pizzas. There is no cost for this oven because it has already been bought before. This oven contains a grill as well so more pizzas can be made. This oven can make a total of 4 pizzas at any one time
Pizza pan – 15 Necessities Non Stick Round Pizza Tray
These pizza pans will be used as a mould in which I can put the pizza base in so I can get a perfect 12 inch pizza. It will also be used to hold the pizza when it is being baked in the oven. I have bought 15 of these as the oven I have bought means I can make 4 pizzas at a time. I have bought an extra incase they get damaged.
Pizza cutter – 3 Kitchen Craft Professional Stainless Steel Oval Handled Pizza Cutter
The pizza cutter will be used to cut the 12 inch pizza into 8 equal slices. I bought 3 of these as each of the employees who are making the pizza (me and the other 2 employees) can each use one instead of sharing them.
Knives - 6 Piece Sevilha Stainless Steel Steak Knife Set
These knives are bought in a set of 6. They will be used to cut the toppings for the high quality pizzas. The knives are made from stainless meaning it cannot stain, rust or corrode as easily as normal steal. I have only bought one set of these as there are 6 knives in the set which is more than enough as there are only people making the pizzas.
Mixing bowl – 3 Kitchen Craft 32.5cm Traditional Stoneware Mixing Bowl
The mixing bowl will be used to mix the flour and the water which will make the dough. Similarly to the pizza cutters, I have bought 3 of these for each of the employees making the pizza to use. This saves time as each of us doesn’t have to wait for the one person to finish making their dough.
Rolling pin - 3 Mega Rolling Pin
The rolling pin is used to flatten out the dough once it has been made. 3 of these have been bought for each of the people making the pizza to use.
Fridge – 1 home fridge
Similarly to the oven, I will be using the same fridge I use at home therefore there is no cost to it. The fridge will be used to store and keep the ingredients fresh such as cheese, vegetables and the meat products.
Weighing Scales – 3 Kitchen Craft Deluxe Electronic Kitchen Scale
The weighing scales are used to measure the ingredients in for example the flour. It is used to get the exact amount needed – not too little or not too much. The scale is electronic meaning it displays the weight of the item instead of someone having to read it. This is useful as it is quicker than having to read it on a non-electronic scale. I have bought 3 of these so everyone can use once and not get in each other’s ways.
Mortar - Cookworks Signature Granite Pestle and Mortar
The mortar is used to grind items into powder. For my pizza, the mortar will only be used to ground the black peppercorn into powder which will be put into the pizza sauce.
Grater – 2 Joseph Joseph Fold Flat Graters
The cheese grater is used to grate the cheese into small pieces which can be scattered all over the pizza. I have bought 2 of these as its only function is to grate the cheese nothing else therefore buying 3 would be a waste of money.
Oven mitts – 3 pairs of Black stripe oven gloves
The oven mitts are used for safety reason when taking out the pizza tray out the oven as it is extremely hot. 3 pairs of these have been bought so each of the kitchen employees including myself can use them.
Hair nets – 2 packets of Sienna Hair nets - clear & brown
These hair nets are used for hygienic reason – to stop hair from falling on the food. Each pack contains 4 hair nets are 2 packets have been bought as some will be disposed of when it is used for a while
Wet floor signs – 3 Caution Wet Floor A Frame Safety Sign
These floor signs will be placed around the workplace. It is used to inform them employees of any wet floors to stop them from slipping. 3 signs have been bought so the employees are more aware of wet floors.
Fire exit sign – 1 Fire Exit Down Sign
The fire exit sign it placed on top of a door and is used to inform the employees that it is the way to go in case there is a fire.
In order to pay of the physical resources, I would need £160.35 which will be paid off using personal savings
Human Resources:
Human resources are the people involved in making a product. To help me make the make more pizzas, I will hire four employees that will assist me. Out of the four employees, two of them will make the pizza, another one will do deliveries and the last one is required to serve the customers. I have chosen to employ only four employees as the business I am running is small therefore having extra employees would be unnecessary and would cost the business.
The two people that are helping me make that pizza will help me make the dough, grate the cheese and add the toppings. The delivery pizza is responsible for getting the pizza to the person who ordered it. However the delivery will only be within a 5 mile radius as it would cost a lot if we delivered to further places. The person who is serving the customers is in charge of taking the customer’s order through the phone and gives it to the employees who are in charge of making the pizza. I have only chosen to hire four employees as the process of making a pizza is fairly simple and easy.
The minimum wage for a person working in the UK is currently at £5.80 an hour. Therefore I will pay the four employees £5.80 an hour as making a pizza isn’t a skilled job. However the delivery person will be a commission based wage where they get a 5% of the sale as they are only needed when a customer needs the pizza delivered to their house. I will pay myself however much profit the business makes after the costs and wages are deducted. A total of £1015.05 is spent weekly on the employee’s wages.
The four employees will be required to work approximately 8 hours a day. They will work from Monday to Saturday and the working hours will be from 11:00AM – 7:00PM with a 1 hour lunch break in between.
There are 2 types of training: on the job and off the job. On the job training is training that takes place in the workplace in my case on school premises whereas off the job training is training that takes place outside the work place such as courses.
I have chosen to train the employees on the job because I have a relatively small business which means I cannot afford to send the employees off the job to train. Using on the job training allows the employees to train in the working environment which gets the familiar to work place and other employees.
I will train the staff how to make the pizza. I will do this be demonstrating a step-by-step visual guide on how to make the pizza so the staff can learn from me.
Financial Resources:
Financial resources are the financial implication involved in making a product. In order to start up the business, I will be needing some financial resources for the funding of the physical resources. I will be using personal saving because I have the money there and then. I don’t need to wait for the money or, if I was taking out a loan, for the loan to be approved. However, using personal saving would mean I have to dip into my own pockets for the money which I could use to by something for myself.
If I were to take out a loan, it would mean I have to pay interest on the amount I have taken out. This could be a problem especially if my business isn’t making as much sales as predicted. If I cannot pay the loan back, my personal possessions are at risk of being taken away to pay off the loan as it is part of the agreement when signing for the loan.
It is important for my business to get the right selling price in which the customers are willing to pay. Putting the price too low would make the customers think that the pizza isn’t a very good quality. Similarly, putting the price too high would mean the customers won’t be able to afford it and could end up with them going to other fast food restaurants.
I have chosen to put the selling price at £11.99 for many reasons. The first reason is because it was what the customers were willing to pay a high quality 12 inch pizza:
This graph shows that 35% of the people surveyed said they’re willing to pay between £11.01 and £13.00 for a high quality 9 inch pizza. The reason why 15% said they’re willing to pay above £13.00 is because some people said they shop at pizza hut/dominoes meaning they’re used to paying high prices for 12 inch pizza.
Another reason why I chose this price was because of the competition. I looked at other fast food restaurants around the area my business was located and put the price of the 12 inch pizza based on the price they were selling their pizza at. I made the price slightly lower because it would attract more customers to my business.
The final reason why I put the price of the pizza to £11.99 is because of psychological pricing. This is when you put the end price of a product/good to ‘99’ or ‘98’ because it makes it look cheaper. Using psychological pricing meant it would attract more customers as they think the price of the product is cheaper whereas it is only cheaper by only 1p.
The variable cost of making the pizza is £4.32. This includes all the raw materials used to make the pizza such as ingredients and packaging. The weekly cost is £1,296 which is based on making an estimated amount of 50 pizzas a day (300 pizzas a week). Selling 50 pizzas a day would mean my business would make a weekly revenue of £3,597. After deducting the human resources the weekly profit for my business would be £1,285: (£3,597 - £1,296) – £1,015.15.
This shows the price Dominoes pizza charge for their pizza. They currently charge £13.39 for a medium pizza with green peppers, roast chicken and sweetcorn. There medium pizza is also 11.5 inch, half an inch smaller than mine. Therefore customers are more likely to go to my business because it is cheaper and they’re getting a better value for their money.
My main local competitor is Rocco’s Pizza. On their websites, I chose to edit the Margherita pizza so it included green chillies, chicken and sweetcorn so I could compare their prices to mine.
This picture shows that they charge £12.75 for their pizza which is 76p more than mine. This again shows that customers are likely to choose my business over there.
All though my prices suggest my pizza is cheaper; consumers may still want to go to competitors. A reason why customers would still want to go to competitors is because they have loyalty to them. Another reason why they may want to go there is because they have the option to go order in the actual shop whereas in my business, they can only order over the phone. Dominoes Pizza are known worldwide therefore consumers may want to go there because they have a higher reputation.