Healthy Restaurant Business Plan

Kona-Q will leverage its two-pronged competitive edge to quickly gain market share. The competitive edge consists of an experience focus (ensuring that the customer’s experience is top notch) and offering a fast, healthy dining-out alternative. Kona-Q’s marketing effort will focus on communicating the message that it offers a convenient, healthy dining experience. This will be accomplished through a variety of ways to be detailed in the Marketing Strategy section. Kona-Q’s sales strategy will be an effort to convert potential and first-time customers into long-term customers.

5.1 Competitive Edge

Kona-Q will rely on a two part competitive advantage to help it become the premier fast-casual offering.

• The importance of the experience. With so many restaurants and prepared food being offered at grocery markets, the customer experience becomes extremely important as an effective way of distinguishing offerings. When a customer has a good experience at a restaurant, there is a significant chance that they will become a repeat customer. It is this experience that remains in the customer’s mind well after they have consumed all of their food. This memory is what is communicated to their friends and colleagues.
• Fast, healthy food alternative. There is a huge market demand for fast, convenient food that can be consumed without dietary concerns. Kona-Q offers exactly this, vegetables and meats that are grilled with or without healthy marinades and sauces that add flavor not fat. White or brown rice is offered as the starch of the meal. In addition to the plentiful amount of vegetables offered, green salads are also available.

5.2 Marketing Strategy

The goal of the marketing strategy will be to raise awareness levels regarding Kona-Q and the offerings and value. The message will be that Kona-Q is a convenient, healthy fast-casual alternative restaurant. Kona-Q will employ several marketing outlets:

• Print media advertising: The Willamette Week, a weekly entertainment guide. Similar weekly entertainment guides will be used with expansion to different cities.
• Flyers: Passed around to local businesses with coupons attached to introduce the community to Kona-Q and creating an economic incentive to try it.
• Entertainment book coupons: Presented within the first eight months of entering a market. The effectiveness of these books diminishes after approximately eight months and Kona-Q will turn to more cost effective marketing expenditures.

5.3 Sales Strategy

The strategy of the sales effort will be to convert potential and first-time customers into long-term customers. This will be accomplished using several techniques.

• Punch cards: After 10 meals purchased, the 11th will be free. Punch cards are an effective way of increasing sales from a specific customer. They are effective because they provide the customer with a sense of additional value, it gives the feeling of value with the free entree. People love getting something beyond what they pay for and the punch card provides this.
• Concentrating on the customer’s experience: Customers will not come back if they are not happy with their dining experience. All employees go through a comprehensive training process that includes training on how to offer the customer the finest experience. The employees are empowered to resolve issues and are encouraged to seek assistance from the manager for a conflict that they are unable to resolve.

5.3.1 Sales Forecast

Sales will be modest during the first few months but will grow incrementally.

The second store is forecasted to open on month 13, subsequent new stores will open at the earlier indicated 12 month intervals.

Please note that the sales forecast for the first year reflects store number one. For years two and three the sales forecasts represent the company wide sales figures. Please review the following table and charts for additional detail of the sales forecasts, broken down in monthly and annual increments.

5.4 Milestones

Kona-Q has identified four milestones for the organization. The milestones were chosen to develop achievable yet lofty performance goals for Kona-Q. The milestones were picked to be easy to measure. The following table offers detailed information regarding the milestones.