3. 3
InternalEnvironment:
Mission and Vision Statement
Noodle Joy is a restaurant that will be located in Atlantic, Iowa and will exclusively
feature Italian food. My mission for the company is to provide an Italian restaurant to the
residents in Atlantic and the surrounding communities with a “big city experience,”
without having to drive an hour to Omaha or Des Moines. The vision I have for Noodle
Joy is to be able to provide fresh and delicious food to compete with restaurants in the
cities and keep business here in Atlantic.
In rural Iowa, there are many families who are struggling to make ends meet. Because
of the struggle, a goal I have for Noodle Joy is for the revenue to exceed more than
enough than I’d need for profit and be able to give back to the community by donating a
portion of the proceeds to Atlantic’s food bank, which has less supply than demand. In
order to do this, I need to put into consideration the price of each dish. To return a profit,
the original cost of the dish needs to be about 31% to 34% of the sale price. To put into
perspective, on average a large pasta dish typically costs around $2.50 a plate. But if I
multiply that by three (once for cost of items, once for prep, and once for serving), the
total could be around $7.50. Another way to make money would be to round up the
price of the dish. If the price would turn out to be $5.67, I would round up to $5.99 and
get $0.37 more in profit.
Objectives
Objectives for me include great, fresh food at a great price and integrating Noodle Joy’s
Creations night. A great price for the fresh food would be slightly above the cost of the
fresh food, the markup would be the overall cost of the menu items and beverages. For
example: I buy that night’s fresh bell peppers at the farmers’ market in the park for $40
($1/pepper), I could get about 80 servings of pepper out on plates for $0.50 a plate. But
$2.50/COST OF ITEMS
+ $2.50/PREP
+ $2.50/SERVING
$7.50/PLATE
4. 4
I could charge well over a dollar for that single serving of bell pepper.
Noodle Joy’s Creations is a once a week event where the regular menu is set aside and
a meal including a drink, appetizer, entree, and desert would be offered at a marked up
price of the actual cost to make the meal. Each week, the restaurant would serve a
different meal. For example: salad, rigatoni with pesto and grilled basil chicken slices,
and a layered white chocolate, blackberry panna cotta for desert.
SWOT Analysis
Two of the strengths for the business include: little competition in the area for Italian
food and my abilities with money. I am fiscally responsible, and so I am good at setting
aside money for different areas of need including bills, emergency and spending.
Weaknesses include: first time owner of a business, and never having attended culinary
school.
An opportunity for Noodle Joy is the chance to help out the community by giving part of
its profits to the local food bank.
A threat would be local favorite restaurants winning out. These restaurants include the
following: Rancho Grande, a Mexican restaurant in Atlantic, IA, Dusty’s, a diner-type
restaurant in Griswold, IA, and The Redwood, a steak and seafood restaurant in Anita,
IA. Though, none exclusively sell Italian cuisine.
External Environment:
Competition
When it comes to food, Atlantic doesn’t have a competitive market for Italian
restaurants. Of course, there are restaurants around the area that serve pasta and other
Italian foods, but none specialize in Italian cuisine, nor do they have an extensive menu.
The Menu itself wouldn’t be very large, and it would have a ‘create your own pasta’
section, similar to that of Spaghetti Works, with different sauces, meats/vegetables, and
5. 5
noodles to choose from. In addition, one night a week Noodle Joy’s Creation would
have a different menu from normal, as explained above in the objectives section.
The restaurants that I would compete with, that serve Italian food, are based around a
family setting or have local touches. On the walls, they have pictures of area landmarks,
newspaper articles of sports teams/individuals who advanced to state, etc. Noodle Joy’s
atmosphere would first target young parents who want to leave the children at home for
date night, and then high school students who want a nice place to go before a dance or
a place to eat with their boyfriend/girlfriend.
GovernmentalPolicies
It costs money to open a restaurant, more than just purchasing the building and
everything that goes with it. In order to open a business in the state of Iowa, you need to
fill out and submit an application and pay a fee. The fees are determined by Iowa’s food
and processing law section 137F.6 Subsection 1, part D, items 1-5. The policy is at the
following url:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/ico/section/137F.6.pdf.1
The Iowa Department of Inspection and Appeals must also come to do a health
inspection of my establishment once a year and if I fail, they can and will revoke my
license to sell food.
For more basic rules on starting an eating establishment go to*:
http://www.state.ia.us/government/dia/Basic%20Requirements%20FSE%20&%20FE%2
0062105.pdf2
Contact information for the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals, and the Food
and Consumer Safety Bureau:
LUCAS STATE OFFICE BUILDING,
DES MOINES, IOWA 50319
515-281-6538 FAX 515-281-3291
6. 6
When it comes to tax, I would need to get a Federal Employer Identification Number
(FEIN) since I plan on having employees. Iowa tax is 6-7% and food is exempt. I plan
on buying local goods and from a US food retailer such as Sysco or US Foods, so I
should have no problems or unexpected government restrictions. For more information:
tax.iowa.gov3,4
Socialand Cultural
Atlantic, Iowa (and all of Cass County) is a very rural community. However, there are
many people who would enjoy this type of restaurant. Out of towners from more
developed areas and high school students wanting to escape the rural monotony,
especially, would enjoy the ambiance and experience of Noodle Joy. It is different from
the rest of the country-homey style restaurants, single Mexican and multiple fast food
restaurants we have in the community.
In addition, I hope to work with the food pantry after Noodle Joy gets on its feet and
becomes profitable to help stock the shelves that never seem to have enough food.
There are many people in our town who lack the resources to buy the food they need to
feed their families, and the demand in Atlantic is greater than the supply on most
occasions.
Economic
Living in such a small community, people tend to go to the city to seek out an escape
from the clutches of rural living. Opening this type of restaurant in Atlantic, which one
would find only in a more urban area, would help keep money in our community. This
supports the “Buy/Shop Local” and “Small Business Saturday” campaigns. By keeping
money in the community, we are able to create more jobs, raise the tourism appeal and
make the town more attractive to those looking for a place to live.
Noodle Joy could bring in a lot of revenue, being so unique from other places around
the community and surrounding areas. It has a good chance to succeed if all the right
elements are in place. Staff, price, ambiance, and of course, food.
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Technological
Technology is a big thing when it comes to most anything now a days. Even farmers are
using GPS to help them in the fields by hooking up the system to their combines and it
will automatically do it for them. In the restaurant business, you want to be able to
market yourself and control finances, order food, etc. So you need internet, computer
and a working cash register. If in a big restaurant, which Noodle Joy will not be, there
are programs out there that are used specifically for seating.
I’m pretty tech savvy and developed/worked on websites while in high school. So, by
using a professional website design tool like wix.com5, I can create a professional
website anywhere from $0-$40 a month. I’d need to buy a cash register with a credit
card attachment, which can run upwards of $1,000 or more6.
Target/ PrimaryMarket:
Demographic
My primary market will be parents who want to leave their children at home for date
night.
Psychographic
Their values and lifestyles will be similar in the means of how they raise their children.
Their children come first and they care for them, but obviously they want time to
themselves on occasion. So having a place where they can come that doesn’t target
families, but couples where they wouldn’t have to go far away in case something
happened at home, could be a relief off parents’ shoulders.
Behavioral
Their similar likes would be Italian food, getting out and having time to themselves
without the hassle of dealing with small children and just enjoying each other.
8. 8
Target/ SecondaryMarket:
Demographics
My secondary market will be high school students who want a fun and hip place to eat
before dances/prom/winter formal or a place to go eat on a date.
Psychographic
Their values and lifestyle will be stereotypical to that of normal high school teenagers.
Grades, extracurricular activities and popularity will be on the top of their lists. Pleasing
their parents will be lower down but by doing that, they’ll get to keep their privileges and
for most parents, pleasing them means keeping them at ease and lessening the worry.
By having a nice restaurant in Atlantic where the high school is located, parents won’t
have to worry about their children driving to and from the city for dinner.
Behavioral
Their similar likes would be Italian food; a nice restaurant close to home (this means not
having to pay for the gas to go to the city since most students are lacking in money).
Other likes include getting to enjoy the last few years left with friends before leaving
home, spending time with their special someone, and getting away from siblings and
parents.
ProductStrategy:
For Noodle Joy, the products will include pasta, add ins (veggies, meats), sauces,
salads, beverages and breads. On Noodle Joy’s Creations night, the menu will include a
desert.
Part of the way I plan to implement my product is by having a ‘Create Your Own’
section. This will not only help establish a diverse menu, but a customizable one that
picky customers will enjoy. By including different types of sauces, noodles and add ins,
there are tens of different dishes that have been created for customers to enjoy and
9. 9
they get to feel as though they created something special and unique.
Another way I plan to implement it is by bundling. With every purchase, the customer
will get free bread and when buying certain dishes or something from the ‘Create Your
Own’ section, a side salad is included “for free” (salad price is actually configured into
the overall sale price of the bundle). When letting people chose numerous items for a
single price (or an additional $1.00, etc.), it encourages people to spend more, creating
better profit margins, making bundling a great strategy to implement a product9.
In addition to the bundling and ‘Create Your Own’, I plan on having a list of ‘house’
items like chicken and eggplant parmesan, lasagna, and stuffed shells to appeal to
people who stray away from the most appealing section of the menu or those who want
something a little more than typical pasta.
Distribution Strategy:
The distribution strategy I would be using for Noodle Joy would be exclusive distribution.
As it is a restaurant with a single location, I would only be selling my goods at this one
place.
Food Supplier
Noodle Joy has a goal to provide fresh food for its customers and food suppliers make a
major impact on providing quality food. The best way to get the word out about your
company is word of mouth. If the experience was bad, word will spread like wildfire,
where as if the experience was great, word will spread at an even pace. Making sure
my food is top notch, by having good food distributors, is key to good word of mouth
distribution.
Advertising
Advertising Noodle Joy is another key to distributing the restaurant’s food. Before I open
my doors, I can put eye-catching signs outside of the building, recording radio
advertising on the local stations, and there is a possibility of a newspaper article in the
10. 10
town’s newspaper.
When creating the signs, I should make sure to include big letters that can be seen from
the road, bright colors and Noodle Joy’s name. I could hang an “OPENING SOON”
banner on the front of Noodle Joy’s building to get the attention of passers-by. For radio,
the advertisements can be done using the voice of myself or an employee of Noodle
Joy, or I could ask for one of the radio personalities to do the advertisement for me. In
the first advertisement, I would include the name and location of Noodle Joy, the
opening day and hours, regular days and hours. For ads further on, I’d include the
name, hours and days and specials as well as the menu for Noodle Joy’s Creations
night. As for the newspaper article, it would sum up what Noodle Joy is about, who I am
(the owner), as well as specify normal business days and hours.
InternetMarketing
Developing a website and Facebook page, for my secondary market, are a must when
distributing Noodle Joy’s menu items. On these sites, placing the menu (including
prices), pictures of some of the food and of the business as well as Noodle Joy’s
information (hours, address, etc.) are a necessity. I can use these platforms to help
promote deals and specials, as well as Noodle Joy’s Creations night menus as well as a
“money raised” (for the Atlantic food bank) ticker.
PromotionalIdeas
On opening night, the first x amount of customers could get a free pen with Noodle
Joy’s name on it, so that every time they use it they see our name and think about us as
a possibility for dinner.
PromotionalStrategy:
Implementing Noodle Joy into the market is relatively simple in Atlantic, IA, as any new
business gets free publicity by word of mouth and almost always a free article in the
local newspaper. As a small community, any news is big news. However, the
newspaper isn’t really the place my target markets go to find out about the big news.
11. 11
Creating a Facebook page is probably the most effect form of promotion for Noodle Joy.
A Facebook page is ideal because teenagers and young parents go on to find out about
the latest gossip and current happenings. By creating a Facebook page, I’ll be able to
get the word out, along with the menu, hours, specials, and coupons. By Facebookers’
hitting “like” and “share”, others will see it on their news feeds and like/share, and the
cycle will continue.
Atlantic has three radio stations that would be great for local advertisement. By creating
a radio ad, whether using my voice, another restaurant employee’s voice or one of the
radio personalities’, I’ll be able to get the word out to hundreds of people around the
community that Noodle Joy is opening up. This will also be an option for future
advertisements to continue to promote Noodle Joy, special offers, holiday hours, and
more.
Pricing Strategy:
According to “Forbes” magazine, restaurants do well if they have a profit margin of at
least 5%10. Because of this information, Noodle Joy’s pricing strategy is based around
achieving that minimum of a 5% profit margin.
Income
I’ve figured out that on average, Noodle Joy could make about $63,840 a month on
main dishes alone. Of course this will be give or take depending on the night, demand
and other factors including the cost of the ingredients, payroll, utilities, etc.
Menu Prices
190 MEALS/NIGHT
x 14 DOLLARS/PERSON
x 6 DAYS/WEEK
x 4 WEEKS MONTH
$63,840/MONTH
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The cost of each dish typically will be about $2-3. The menu price of each dish will be
$8-14, Noodle Joy’s Creations night will strive to consistently be $17 (includes three
courses, bread and drink). With this, I can expect to make $6-12 on regular menu items
and $5-9 on NJC’s night menu. Drinks will be marked up. A box of Coca-Cola syrup11 is
about $37 and can give you well over 100 glasses of soda. If each drink is $2, that’s
$163 of revenue on Coca-Cola alone.
Payroll
I figure one manager, three cooks, five waitresses and three bussers are enough to be
on the payroll, the owner of Noodle Joy would be a good number of people to help keep
the business going. With waitresses and bussers at $3.75-5.50/hr, cook $9/hr and
manager $12/hr, payroll would be about $378 a night for eight employees. Monthly cost
of payroll would be around $9,072.
Utilities and Rent/Mortgage
$84.00
$63.00
$63.00
$38.50
$38.50
$38.50
$26.25
$26.25
Payroll Per Night
Manager $12/hr
Cook $9/hr
Cook $9/hr
Waitress $5.50/hr
Waitress $5.50/hr
Waitress $5.50/hr
Busser $3.75/hr
Busser $3.75/hr
Total = $378/7hrs
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In Atlantic, commercial electric bills through Atlantic Municipal Utilities (AMU)12 is
$17.50/month (May-September) and $24.85 (October-April) for all electric. For the
whole year, this is $254.10. Rates per kWh for all energy used per month May-
September is $0.0985 and for October-April it’s $0.0452. For water through AMU, it’s
$3.70/1,000 gal for first 15,000 gallons down to $2.50/1,000 gal for 130,000+ gallons.
Rent/Mortgage is undetermined at this time but can be at a minimum of $1,000.
Recap
To cover the cost of food, utilities, rent/mortgage, payroll, advertising, etc., it’s important
Noodle Joy make enough money per month through sales. Noodle Joy is something
different in the community and gives a different option to the numerous Mexican and
American restaurants around the area. I think it’s something that my target market will
really be appreciative of, as it cuts down on drive time, is convenient and close to home.
By using my marketing strategy, a strategically designed website/Facebook page and
good advertisements, great customer service and even a well put together menu
design, I know Noodle Joy can be successful.
