Starting and running a business is faced by a number of challenges right from the start up. However different business environment pose different challenge to existing and upcoming businesses. A successful business is one that as victoriously overcome the hardships of startup and operation.
P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt enjoys the freedom of customers. It is located in sugar land in Houston, Texas.
In case other restraunts venture in that market (Houston, TX), P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt will face a good number of challenges.
Initially, keeping up with its market will pose a great difficulty. This is because other restraunts which have come in the market will be struggling to win and secure their customer. They are likely to employ any means possible to sway the existing customers (who P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt enjoys) into their premises. In a nut shell competition will be raised a higher notch.
Despite enjoying monopoly, it’s necessary for P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt to keep abreast with market conditions. The business risks operating or implementing business decisions that are based on out of date information. This is because business conditions are very flexible and are prone to change anytime. A big challenge is for the business to review its business conditions continually.
Loyal customers to P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt are likely to be attracted to by the alternative businesses who are providing better terms and conditions. In business, as services age, profit margins and sale growths become squeezed. Customers using this restraunt will become used to the services with time. The management of the restraunt will need where their services and products are in their lifecycles will enable the management maximize on its profitability.
Secondly will be how to find and retain good customers. P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant management will be faced by a big challenge of identifying and reaching a level of customer satisfaction such that the customer will be a good one to them. As a matter of fact, good customers are hard to come by. However in a business setup an investor will experience good and bad customers. The management must be ready to guard against bad customers at whatever costs.
Good customers will always be willing to forgive the business and apologize in case of a mistake. They are very loyal and they will strive to do the right things that are deemed to steer the success and maturity of business.
In all means possible the restraunt will need to establish and strive to maintain and hold good customers. Nonetheless, bad customers also exists and will be looking for loopholes that may exist in the company’s policies with an aim of generating some gains. A big challenge will be that the new restraunts set up in the vicinity are likely to send emulate with an aim of bringing down P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant. They therefore will pose as customers but in the real sense bad customers.
Thirdly, a mother of all challenges is competition. Healthy competition is necessary for ensuring creativity and stimulating innovation and enhance production of quality products at favorable prices. The newly set up restraunts are likely to venture in the market by selling their products at a lower price, hence most of the customers will tend to go for the cheap product. At such a situation P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant will experience low sales.
They may also come in the market and create favorable conditions for instance offers. This being a restraunt business, the cleanliness of the business premise is of ultimate value. This will include aspects ranging from sitting arrangements, lighting systems and dressing code and etiquette of the employees. With all this in mind P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt will require to keep its premises and services at a higher level in order to retain the customers. Failure to this will see it losing a good number of its customers.
Fourth, is the challenge of unforeseen business expenses. P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant is likely to incur a lot of money to retain customers and maintain their sales and even to increase the sales. They ought to have a clear budget or a flexible source of capital such that in rapid situations such as this of similar businesses venturing the market will be effectively managed. Will enough capital, it will be possible to win customer preference in relation to the new comer businesses.
They should be sure that the new businesses have a clear business plan and adequate resources, hence they should invest more to continue enjoying business continuity. If less is done to feed the unforeseen business expenses, then it is likely to result into negative cash flows constantly which will eventually lead to the restraunts closure.
Fifth, the big challenge of adapting to industrial changes and trends. Now that P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant has continued to enjoy monopoly, venturing of the new restraunts is likely to cause instability. They will face a big problem of operating in line with similar businesses. They should be flexible enough to adjust their policies and plans with the principal goal of maximizing on profit.
Adapting to change will also be of utmost importance. They should fast embrace the change to their advantage.
Sixth, this will be a challenge of the business operator’s skills and attitudes. This is a whole idea of competence of management team. Now that a new trend have come in the market, a change have been encountered, how will it be solved. It will be upon the management to employ high skills of carrying out market research will an agenda to place P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant higher in rank than the new restraunts.
This will be how the restraunt can handle change, their skills to do the same. Additionally, the attitudes towards the whole idea of market change might trigger a lot of reactions. Such a change might cause frustration to the management of may cause motivation to do business more. In attitude the challenge will be how this change will affect the willingness to continue in the same business and the magnitude of the measures employed.
Initially, market share is likely to decline. Therefore a stiff competition will arise with P.F Chang’s Bistro Restraunt aiming at retaining the market share while the rival restraunts straining at getting a market share.
Secondly, competition will be to ensure customer satisfaction. With rival businesses coming in to the market, better deals are likely to be made to woo the customers. P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant will therefore struggle for and maintain customer satisfaction in order to retain the customers.
Thirdly, competition will be important to ensure maximizing of profits. The aim of P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant and the rival restraunts is to make profit. Hence each one of the company will employ all means possible to avoid losses.
Fourth, competition will be necessary to keep abreast with the new changes in the business environment. As it is always the norm of every market, there will always be new customers. Therefore competition will enable the attraction of the new customers and retain them. With healthy competition a business will keep on its toes hence venture into new markets.
How the company needs to attract competitive weaknesses of rivals
They will need also to look at the mechanisms the rivals employ to have customer loyalty and might be any back-up services they might be offering. Customer loyalty is of utmost importance, once a customer is loyal that translates to good business now at in time to come.
It will be important to know who owns those businesses and go deeper to try to know the type of persons they are. This will assist one to determine or rather associate the success of that rival business with the character of the owner hence try to identify weaknesses where one can major on.
It will also be necessary to take time and look at their business report- might be annual, weekly or monthly report. This will hint something about their operation. P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant will be able rate itself and see where it can make changes to overpower the competition force.
It will be important for P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant to know how its rival competitors treat their customers. Of great necessity is who their customers are, the management should get to know them. Then, get to know what those customers see as the strengths and weaknesses of their company (in this case P.F Chang’s Bistro Restaurant competitor). They should also try to establish whether the competitor could be having any long standing customers. Finally, establishing if the rival have had an influx of the customers in the recent past will enable then monitor the trend.
