Business elevator speech essay

Today, restaurant business may be highly profitable, if a new restaurant is located in the right place and is capable to attract customers. In this regard, the downtown Chicago is the target market for the new restaurant Cantina. Cantina is an international restaurant offering customers international cuisine, including food and drinks from different national cuisine. The restaurant will be located in the downtown of Chicago. Chicago is one of the largest cities in the US, whereas its downtown is a melting pot, where representatives of different cultures work and just spend their free time or traveling. Therefore, they will naturally enjoy attending the international restaurant serving dishes of different national cuisines. People working in the downtown are also eager to taste their traditional food and drinks, instead of fast food or conventional American food. The Cantina will attract these customers along with tourists visiting Chicago, although the target customer group of the restaurant will be customers working in the downtown.

Management

The restaurant will offer customers food and drinks of different cuisines. Each week day will be specialized on certain national cuisine, which changes in the course of the week. At the same time, the restaurant will offer customers traditional food and drinks they enjoy. Loyal customers can have exclusive menu offered respectively to their tastes and preferences. The employees of the restaurant will record orders of customers to trace their preferences. On the ground of the collected information, they will be able to offer loyal customers, who attend the restaurant on the regular basis, special menu that meets their interests and tastes.

To meet needs and preferences of different customers, the restaurant will employ culturally diverse staff. Thus, employees will be able to offer services and products customer expect from them because employees with diverse cultures can understand better different customers, who may have similar cultural background. Employees should be well-trained, experienced professionals.

Furthermore, the restaurant will offer customers entertainment programs dedicated to specific culture. For instance, a day may be dedicated to Japanese culture and the restaurant can invite a Japanese band to play in the restaurant; another day may be dedicated to Irish culture and the restaurant can invite Irish dancers; and each day will be dedicated to specific culture with respective entertainment program.

Promotion

The successful launching of business needs the effective promotional campaign. The restaurant Cantina will work closely with the local community. Spreading leaflets in the local community, downtown Chicago, can help the restaurant to attract the attention of the local population, especially people working in the downtown.
Internet can help to promote the restaurant too and this is probably the most effective tool to promote the restaurant because internet is available to Chicagoans and this is the easiest way for customers to get detailed information about the restaurant and to book a table beforehand.

In addition, the restaurant will use local radio stations, print media and television will back up the promotional campaign. The focus on local media is reasonable because they reach the target customer group of the restaurant that is people working, living or traveling downtown Chicago.

Funding and forecasts

The Cantina can use two possible ways of funding to get started. First, a bank loan is one of the most popular and easiest way to raise funds fast. On the one hand, bank loans provide business with money in short terms and the company can invest money to develop the business fast. On the other hand, bank loans may be costly for the company will have to pay off the loan and interests.

Alternatively, it is possible to use partnership to launch the restaurant. This is an effective way, especially if a reputable and successful company becomes a business partner. On the other hand, the owner of business will have to share a part of the business with a partner. Nevertheless, this source of funding is effective because it also allows obtaining funds fast.

In case of The Cantina, I would use both bank loans and partnership to ease the financial pressure from the part of bank and high interest rates and to obtain a reliable partner that can assist in business development

Financial forecasts concerning the business development in the course of 2012-2014 are presented in the table 1:
Table 1. Financial forecasts from 2012 to 2014

2012
2013
2013

Sales
$461,900
$484,735
$508,712

Direct Costs of Goods
$277,140
$282,620
$288,210

Hidden Row
$0
$0
$0
————
————
————

Cost of Goods Sold
$277,140
$282,620
$288,210
Gross Margin
$184,760
$202,115
$220,501

Gross Margin %
40.00%
41.70%
43.35%

Expenses
Payroll
$86,240
$88,840
$92,840

Marketing/Postage/Other
$6,000
$6,000
$6,000

Depreciation
$2,500
$2,500
$2,500

Legal
$1,200
$1,200
$1,200

Books/Accounting
$1,200
$2,400
$2,400

Licenses/Permits/Memberships
$900
$900
$900

Delivery/Transportation
$4,800
$4,800
$4,800

Insurance
$3,600
$3,600
$3,600

Rent
$30,000
$30,000
$30,000

Utilities
$12,000
$12,000
$12,000

Equipment/Supplies
$4,800
$4,800
$4,800

Building/Equipment Maintenance
$1,200
$1,200
$1,200

Payroll Taxes
$12,936
$13,326
$13,926

Other
$1,200
$1,200
$1,200
————
————
————

Total Operating Expenses
$168,576
$172,766
$177,366
Profit Before Interest and Taxes
$16,184
$29,349
$43,135

EBITDA
$18,684
$31,849
$45,635

Interest Expense
$5,997
$5,107
$4,179

Taxes Incurred
$3,056
$7,272
$11,687
Net Profit
$7,131
$16,969
$27,270

Net Profit/Sales
1.54%
3.50%
5.36%

Exit strategy

The exit strategy should focus on the maximization of the value of the business and exit. In this regard, the restaurant should work for five seven years to become a popular and attractive restaurant for customers in downtown Chicago. Therefore, the time of exit will be seven years after the launch of the business, on the condition of favorable market and economic environment. If the economy or market faces a considerable downturn, then the exit should be postponed to obtain possibly larger profits for exiting business.

The use of partnership is a good strategy to facilitate the exit from business because I can sell my share of business to my partner. If the partner is a large and reputable company, it can easily buy out my share of business and I will take my money for my share of business. In such a way, partnership will facilitate the exit strategy but it is important to remember about the maximization of return on investments. In fact, business partner can offer other options to exit, such as finding another company that is eager to merge or acquire business at attractive price. Anyway, the partnership is an effective and probably the easiest way to exit business in case of The Cantina. However, the most important point in exiting strategy would be the right choice of time of exiting. In this regard, the stable period in the development of the restaurant with the high level of revenues will be the right time to exit.