sole traders and franchise businesses- unit 1

2. Where the customers are.

In order to be successful you need to be situated in a busy place, so that more people can see that you are there, therefore you will get more customers. This is why McDonalds are located in shopping centers such as Hounslow. If a McDonalds restaurant is situated someplace where there are a lot of potential customers, they will be attracting a larger crowd, meaning, they will be making more sales, resulting in a larger profit. On the other hand somewhere quiet, it will mean that it doesn’t appeal to as many customers as it could be appealing to, this will result in fewer customers and a smaller income.

3. Labour.

Wherever you go, you will find that you will get a higher wage in some places. This means you have to pay your workers more. The average wage varies from place to place. If you were to go to India and work in a McDonalds restaurant, you would be paid a significant amount less than if you were working in a McDonalds restaurant in London, although you would be expected to do the same type of work for the same amount of time. This is another factor that is taken into consideration when looking for an area to situate a McDonalds restaurant, because it will affect the overall income. If you have to pay your workers more, you may make little profit.

McDonalds also needs to take into account whether or not there are people available to work in their restaurants. For example, in Southall unemployment is fairly high and therefore there will be people who are jobless and willing to work at a McDonalds restaurant- this may be something that influenced McDonalds to situate a restaurant in Southall.

5)        Where the competitors are?

If there are many other eateries, near where a McDonalds restaurant is situated, it will mean more competition; this will affect the business they get. It may result in fewer customers. So while deciding where to place a McDonalds, you must see what competition you have and whether it will affect the business in a positive or negative way. Wherever you go, you will find McDonalds, Burger Kings and KFC’s, they are all constantly competing with one another to quality products and a better service. This helps make McDonalds more determined to improve their services.

4. Accessibility

 When looking at where to locate a McDonalds restaurant, it is essential to make sure that there are suppliers nearby and there is easy access to motorways. McDonalds do not want to spend too much on transporting goods therefore if there is easy access to the restaurant then they can be transported at a cheaper cost this will result in an increased profit. Also if your food suppliers are close, the food will be fresh, whereas if they are far away the food will not be as fresh as possible and this is good for both McDonalds and there customers.

The McDonalds restaurants must be located next to good transport links so there are easy ways for suppliers to get to the restaurant; also it must be a place easily accessible for customers. For example if a McDonalds restaurant was at the top of a tall hill with no roads going up it, it would be very hard for suppliers and customers to get there

        There are many McDonalds restaurants located in and around Southall- below are a few examples:

1. Lombardy Retail Park

      Hayes

      UB3 3EX

2. 22-24 Station Road

Hayes

UB3 4DD

3. Iron Road

Uxbridge Road

Southall

UB1 3EG

4. Bath Road

Hounslow

TW6 2AA

5. 200 High Street

Hounslow

TW3 1HE

This map above shows all the McDonalds restaurants surrounding the Southall area.

McDonalds UK headquarters are located:

McDonald's Restaurants Ltd.
11 - 59 High Road
East Finchley
London N2 8AW

Criteria 1C

        In criterion 1C I will be explaining how McDonalds main activities, there type of ownership and location help them to achieve their aims and objectives. 

Criteria 1A

        Over the years McDonalds have made many changes. When beanie toys were first introduced in the happy meals, sales of happy meals rose phenomenally. In just 10 days sales went from 10 million to 100 million. This was great for McDonalds as if children want to go to McDonalds, parents are having to with them too, and the parents were more likely to purchase something. By attracting kids to come and eat at McDonalds, parents are also being encouraged to eat there too.

 I believe this was a very beneficial move for McDonalds in the short term as they provided customers with what they wanted resulting in an increase in sales, however in the long term people became increasingly concerned that young children were indulging too much in unhealthy, fast food. There was much pressure of McDonalds too stop targeting young vulnerable children so much. Although this really helped McDonalds as a business, I believe that morally it is wrong for them to encourage young children to live this way. McDonalds have added a more healthy option to the happy meals- in my opinion this is very good as young children are very much influenced by McDonalds and so will be more likely to eat healthy foods at home.

        Recently, things haven’t been going so well for McDonalds, sales have plummeted, in 2004, the sales went down by 71%. This is due to a lot of media attention on the contents of the food sold in the restaurants and the amount of fat content. A film was made called super size me focusing on a man who ate nothing but McDonalds meals for a month. At the end of the month his health was very bad. I believe this is what led to McDonalds downfall. It’s caused them to change their menu to try and encourage people that their food is now healthy. They’ve introduced a breakfast menu consisting of toast, coffee, muffins, porridge, yogurts, bagels and a fruit bag. They’ve also introduced a range of salads; this idea has worked well in the US, where sales have begun to increase again. In the kid’s happy meal you now get a fruit bag and the fries have reduced amounts of salt put in.

        

        Changes have also been made to the way the restaurants are presented, to make them look more modern as McDonalds is no longer considered a “cool” place to go for teenagers. In some restaurants TV and Internet is available, to try and encourage teenagers to come in. personally, I believe that this was a good step for McDonalds to take as it would help them to detach McDonalds from there former frowned upon selves and help them to get a new, improved image. It also means that the restaurant appeals to a larger range of people.

The golden arch has now been changed to a question mark. I think this was done because once the golden arch was what McDonalds was associated with, but they want to let go of everything from before and make a complete change. This has all been done in a bid to win their customers back. This seems to have worked as sales have began slowly increasing again.

Although McDonalds have made many drastic changes in the recent years, there is still much that they could do to improve their image. One of the activities that they have carried which has been extremely controversial is the retrieval of meat from the Amazonian rainforest, which was derived by cattle ranching. To compensate for this, they could perhaps start a small organization whereby individuals from McDonalds make regular visits to local schools and educate young children about the need to have a healthy, balanced diet and why it is essential for the environment to be kept clean and litter free. They should carry out fun activities with the children meaning they stay interested. They must teach them the consequences of unhealthy eating and what will eventually happen if the environment carries on being treated in the way that it is being now. On a larger scale McDonalds could even male trips to the Amazon rainforest and educate locals about alternative ways of living rather than logging, cattle ranching, etc. I believe that McDonalds should make teaching young children about the drawbacks of unhealthy eating and destroying the environment a priority and it should become another of there aims.

Criterion 1

Sole trader

“Sandhu

Wines”

Criterion 1F

        

For my portfolio I will be looking into Sandhu Wines an off license. For criterion 1F I will be describing its main activities and their aims and objectives.

Sandhu Wines is in the tertiary sector as they sell ready-made goods onto customers. Their main activities are to run the business day in, day out. Mr. Sandhu, the owner of Sandhu Wines purchases and transports products from a cash and carry situated close to them although bread and milk is delivered to the shop every other day. Due to stiff competition, Mr Sandhu relies on customer loyalty, meaning he must interact with customers on a daily basis.

Sandhu Wines is situated on 219 Stoney Stanton Road; there are many reasons as to why Mr Sandhu decided to buy a shop in such a location. At the time of purchase there was no competition nearby from other off licenses, meaning they would make a lot of sales. There is a pub located next door to Sandhu Wines; this would encourage punters to buy something from the shop. There is also a block of flats and other residential areas close to the shop meaning that residents would regularly visit the shop. Sandhu wined is located on a main road, so it there is easy access for customers and is visible to more people. When the shop was bought land wasn’t as expensive as it is now, this means that when Mr Sandhu decides to sell up, they will make a profit due to the rise in price.

 

 

        The arrow on the above graph shows the location of Sandhu Wines.

Aims that Sandhu Wines aspire towards:

• To make enough profit to provide a good life for family.
• Provide a very competitive service.
• Stay in business and perhaps expand in the future and begin sell more products.

Objectives to help them achieve their aims:

• They wish to provide a good, friendly and efficient service whereby customers are satisfied.
• They want to continue communicating with customers on a personal level.
• Attract customers into their shop using special offers and cheap products.

Sandhu wines is a sole trader, there are benefits and drawbacks of being a sole trader.

Advantages:

• You provide your own service, the way you want.
• You make your own decisions regarding the future of your business.
• There is little legal paperwork to be carried out.
• You form a bond with regular customers, which encourages them to come back again and also mean your business is advertised by word- of- mouth.

Disadvantages:

• Unlimited liability meaning the owner must pay off any debts and they could lose personal belongings.
• Because it is your business, you work 7 days a week.
• The capital the owner invests in the business may have come from their savings.
• Owner needs previously developed business skills.
• Business ends on owner’s death

Criterion 1

In this section of Criterion 1 I will be explaining how where Sandhu wines is located, Mr Sandhu’s main activities and the fact that Sandhu Wines is a sole trader help the business to achieve its aims and objectives.