Question

Angelica Augustine has successfully completed the culinary program at Niagara College. She has an intense desire to open a restaurant somewhere in Ontario in order to showcase her exceptional cooking talent. Your task is to share with Angelica some basic principles of managing a business by convincing her that she will need to wear two hats: a chef’s hat and a manager’s hat! In your properly formatted emailed response to her, explain the functions of management, the types of basic skills that managers need, the importance of conducting a SWOT analysis and the need to understand contingency planning and crisis management. Be sure to format your response using proper business email etiquette and provide examples in your answer that will allow Angelica to understand the concepts.

Answer 1

Hello Angelica,

Hope you are doing well. I am writing this email to you for making you understand some basic principles of managing a business.

So, while opening a new restaurant the first step is to create a business plan. This can be simple or elaborate depending on its purpose. If you are looking for money, more elaborate if you are looking for a guide through your opening process, less detailed.

Then market research is vital. Get feedback on your idea. Write a page summarizing what you want to open, then edit to a paragraph, then edit to a sentence. This is your elevator pitch. (Suggestion, don’t skip the paragraph part, that will help with your executive summary). Take the sentence and talk to people about the idea. You don’t need positive feedback, you need feedback. Pay attention to this feedback - it could help in the future.

After bearing your soul to the rest of the world, take a minute to ask if your idea is as great as you thought. Self-reflection is key. If yes, then start looking for real estate. Remember the top three most important considerations in a real state - location, location, location.

Find the right people to surround you through the entire process. An operations expert, real estate broker and attorney, an attorney (lots of documents to create and review) marketer or public relations specialist,

Now you are prepared for construction.

Make certain you are not under-capitalized. Most restaurants fail due to a lack of working capital.

Opening a restaurant can’t be explained quickly or simply. The steps written here are more about getting started in broad strokes. We haven’t touched on the menu, storage, decor, architecture, clever ideas, what guests want and hi you alter your idea to make the most money and the best product.

The next step is to conduct a SWOT analysis. The main advantage of conducting a SWOT analysis is that it has little or no cost which means that you can take steps towards improving your business without the expense of an external consultant or business adviser.

Another advantage of a SWOT analysis is that it concentrates on the most important factors affecting your business. Using a SWOT, you can:

• understand your business better
• address weaknesses
• deter threats
• capitalise on opportunities
• take advantage of your strengths
• develop business goals and strategies for achieving them.

Also,it is very important to understand the importance of contingency planning and crisis management before you start the business, contingency plans are backup plans that businesses activate only when a disaster or unforeseen situation disrupts the operations of the company or put its employees at risk.

The purpose of these plans is to minimize the disruption, safeguard the data and ensure the safety of everyone involved. There is a good chance that business never has to make use of its contingency plans. It is still important to have one because you cannot see the future.

I hope my given tips and advice would be a little help for you.I wish you all the success for your future.

Regards