KwanG Venture Blog

Just recently we were invited to present our profile and idea to a group of General Mangers and Marketing Managers of a development company who is developing an upscale shopping mall. Before we could really begin to present our thoughts, we were bombarded with this question: “How can we get the target tenants into their mall?” And the whole was only focused on that particular problem that they could seem to solve. To us the answer to the problem is simple Marketing Planning. Simple Economic and Marketing is more than enough to solve their worries or problem.

They should just step into the shoes of their potential tenants and they would realize what tenants want in return for paying the extra cost they would have to endure if they operate in shopping malls. If I am paying for the high rental fees and maintenance fees, all I want is as follows (demand part of the equation):

• A steady flow of quality consumers,
• A good steady flow of revenue income,
• Optimal efficiency of income over cost,
• No or low direct competition within the mall,
• A well structured and organized management to handle issues that may occur.

So, as the Management of the shopping mall they would need to make sure happens is the placement of the followings before they can really speak of attracting potential tenants (supply part of the equation):

• A forward looking vision of the mall as a whole,
• A proper detailed marketing plan for the mall as a whole and for the individual tenants,
• A niche or specialty that attracts constant flow of quality shoppers for the long run,
• A plan to optimize not only revenue income but the also the profitability of their tenants,
• A reduced supply of competition, • A strong professional team to run and manage the shopping mall and to serve the tenants,
• A well plan traffic flow or circulation of shoppers within and out of the mall.

If I am to pay for the high cost involved in operating in shopping malls, I would need to first be sure that I can make sufficient margins to pay for the costs and still make a hefty profit or better profits as compared to the current made at the current location. What businesses want is just a simple brighter future, as with everyone on this island!

Starting your own business is the desire or dream of many working stiffs, and entering the F&B industry is one of the easiest choices by considered by many. But does the many have what it takes to be a successful and profit churning restaurateur? Annually many enter in to this sexy industry which combines together science and art to produce creations that enticed our senses through the manipulation of flavours and sight, but as many as up to 50% to 60% are forced to leave this industry with their tails between their legs suffering huge losses within the first three years of operations. The failure rate is about 26% for the first year itself. Even experience and establish chefs are not spared this tragic ending if they are not well prepared and do not have what it takes to fully participate in the daily managing and marketing of their restaurants. Does your restaurant want to be part of these statistics or is your restaurant equipped to face the challenges to stay afloat or make a lucrative profit margin?

To become a restaurant owner is not difficult; one would just need to have the answers to the following simple but yet hard questions:

1. What are your current and future plans for your career or business?

2. What is the reason for establishing a restaurant?

3. What kind of food do you have knowledge and passion in?

4. What is the trend or market demand in your target area?

5. How much capital do you have for start-up?

6. How much funds can be pooled for daily operational expenses? My suggestion would be a minimum of six months.

7. What business or corporate structure should be chosen?

8. Who and how many competitors are in the area?

9. Determine what is the most suitable size of the restaurant?

10. How much is your involvement in the daily operations?

Entering into the restaurant industry is easy; it is the daily managerial and marketing activities that will actually be the challenged to become a successful restaurateur. On the operational front, as an owner you must be ready to participate in every level of managing the restaurant be it in the kitchen or dining floor up to the ‘selling’ of your products to servicing your customers. It is all hands on!

Case Example:

As Restaurant and Marketing consultants, we recently encounter a restaurant in a prominent mall in Penang that abruptly closed down due to long term mismanagement and inexperience that left it bleeding profusely since the beginning of its operations. From our initial encounter with the restaurant and its owner we already set its life span for between 6 months to 1 year the most. The reason was simple:

· Right concept poor execution,

· Inconsistent and poor quality of food served,

· Lack service initiative by the service crew,

· High level of wastage that ultimately eat into the margins,

· Lack of right experienced management to lead the operations and oversee the kitchen activities,

· Slow adaptation to environmental changes,

· Inefficient Marketing Strategy and Management,

· Inefficient control of budget and expenses.

Therefore to succeed in creating and operating your own successful restaurant, you need to have the right concept, proper execution, good management and leadership direction, cost efficient control methods, sound targeted marketing strategy and tactics, and most of all adaptable to changes. Thus, to have the following focus in place before operation of the restaurant begins would provide a higher probability of survival of your restaurant:

Ø Let the staff know what your expectations.

Ø Develop a good marketing strategy and tactics according to your budget, capacity and target market. to get the word out to more potential customers about your restaurant

Ø Make sure a system is ready to provide customer satisfaction in terms of food and service.

Ø Work hard to meet your budget limitation and revenue goals.

Ø Consider using a restaurant consultant and marketing consultants, if sales are continually down.

Am i a zebra or a horse?

What is Marketing or Strategic Marketing and what is Branding? Are they the same? These are some of the questions that many are still not sure of the answer or have confused these two concept to be one. Therefore, we would have to begin from the very basics to answer these questions.

What is Marketing to me? Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably.  Therefore, it forms a social and managerial process which individuals or businesses finds an unsatisfied need or want, creates a product or service and supplies it in the most efficient manner and price to provide value to the consumer or buyer and earn a premium or profit in the process. In short, the Marketing process places customer or consumer satisfaction in the focal point of all business activities.

Some of the important elements in the Marketing philosophy or concept are as follows:

• Marketing focuses on the satisfaction of customer needs, wants and requirements.
• The philosophy of marketing needs to be owned by everyone from within the organisation.
• Future needs of the market have to be identified and anticipated.

And what is Branding or what is a brand? A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or value, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services or businesses that differentiate one from another. Therefore, it is understandably that branding is about getting the potential customers to notice you as the most suitable solution provider to their needs and wants. Thus, the objectives of branding or a brand should be:

• To delivers the message clearly.
• To confirm your credibility.
• To capture the emotions of your target prospects.
• To encourage or motivates potential buyers to act to your benefit.
• To create and strengthen loyalty or emotional attachment.
• To generate value to the brand.

Therefore, to succeed in branding your business or products, one must first understand the needs and wants of your target audience or market and create something that can satisfy and give value to the target market.

To summarise, Marketing is the social and managerial process of satisfying customer needs and wants, and branding is the process of persuading your target audience to choose you from the others.