Dough Pizza is a company with the core value of satisfying the needs and desires of customers to consume affordable and high-quality foods. The business has grown through continuously catering to the demands of clients and expanding marketing efforts to ensure a steady flow of new Dough Pizza visitors. Thus, the development of the growth and maturity tactical plan is essential for addressing the needs of the company in terms of staffing, operations, and marketing. This plan is expected to help Dough Pizza grow and strengthen its competitive advantage.
Staffing Plan
For Dough Pizza as a growing company, continuing to hire the staff that will bring positive outcomes for the business is crucial. The restaurant will need a reliable manager with at least three years of experience, whose salary can range between $30,000 to $35,000 per year. An executive chef that will develop new menus will earn between $35,000 to $45,000. To establish an effective environment, the chef will be encouraged to hire cooks that will fit his or her requirements and contribute to the effective operation of Dough Pizza. An estimated pay for cooks (5-6 workers) is between $600 and $650 per week.
Maintenance staff (7-9 workers) such as dishwashers, cleaners, and other personnel will be hired with the help of cooks, the chef, and the manager based on their previous experience working with such personnel; the expected pay for maintenance staff will be $10 an hour. Lastly, the serving staff will be hired through a series of interviews, test runs, and training to ensure that they provide top-quality services to customers. It is expected to pay them around $13 per hour due to their earning tips additionally.
The initial hiring of the restaurant manager and the chef will be conducted by the restaurant’s owner while the subsequent hiring processes will be assigned as the responsibilities of the hired professionals. Any additional training, including management, cooking, and language courses will be given to all workers regardless of their levels of experience. For the manager and the chef, festivals and symposiums represent great opportunities to meet professionals and establish potential business connections.
Apart from the annual or hourly compensations, employees will also be given health benefits, bonuses, and incentives, as well as retirement savings plans. Based on the developed performance management system, workers will receive annual raises depending on their ratings. For instance, if the new menu developed by the chef increases the number of visitors, he or she will be eligible for a 15% to 25% salary increase. Healthcare benefits will be paid separately to cover basic employee needs, including dental and vision care as well as disability insurance.
Operations Plan
The day-to-day operations of Dough Pizza will revolve around working on the menu, maintaining an operational license, and investing in the technological development of the business. In addition to this, the restaurant’s management should ensure that all legal requirements within the Lynchburg, VA jurisdiction are met as well as that all the necessary licenses are obtained. The chef will be responsible for ensuring the passing of all health and safety inspections that occur at restaurants regularly (Santacruz, 2016). All of these processes have the ultimate goal of ensuring the provision of value to potential customers. As mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:17, a man of God “may be competent, equipped for every good work” (New International Version).
When it comes to the cost of capital, it is necessary to estimate to ensure that the expenditures are worth the costs. It is expected that when Dough Pizza will have higher costs of capital compared to companies that work for decades because investors will have stricter demands in terms of ensuring that the money they pay double or even triple in the future. The equipment necessary for the provision of value to customers includes kitchen appliances, maintenance tools, hardware, and software for the digital support of all systems, as well as all components inherent to the interior and exterior of the restaurant. The costs of the equipment will later be compared with the revenue that the restaurant receives as a result of the investment.
In terms of the management structure of Dough Pizza, the organization will be run by the company’s owner, who is the CEO, staying at the top of the hierarchy. The restaurant manager will be directly below the CEO of Dough Pizza and assign responsibilities to the assistant manager and shift running manager. The shift running manager will subsequently give assignments to crew members, including serving personnel and maintenance staff (see Figure 1).
The restaurant’s owner will be in direct relationship to Dough Pizza’s chef whose responsibility is linked to the management of the kitchen staff. This points to the differentiation of responsibilities: while the restaurant manager will be concerned with the management of the staff that serves customers and maintains the restaurant, the chef will manage his or her cooks as well as any procedures necessary for ensuring the success of the menu.
Marketing Plan
Social media marketing represents the main strategy that Dough Pizza will implement for attracting customers to its restaurants. The choice is explained by the fact that 88% of Internet users are influenced by reviews and online comments regarding the hospitality industry. Thus, for the marketing strategy work for Dough Pizza, the company must establish a social media presence that will be interesting and appealing to potential customers.
This means making sure that social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and others are up-to-date and easily accessible, especially when it comes to including special promotions, codes, and contact information. Facebook pages represent a great opportunity to include such information as opening and closing hours, address, popular visit times, and messaging options. Hiring a social media manager will be beneficial for Dough Pizza for ensuring that customers receive answers to their questions promptly as well as that the content is always relevant and appealing. For instance, taking pictures of the dishes served at the restaurant is an effective marketing strategy for Dough Pizza.
While such a strategy may not work for upmarket and niche restaurants that prefer not displaying food imagery, the pizzeria that focuses on friends and family values can benefit from good photographs of food, the interior, as well as customers who would like to be featured on Dough Pizza social media profiles (Craig, 2018). In restaurant marketing, the high level of competition for the attention of customers represents a great opportunity for highlighting the work of chefs.
Google AdWord advertisement is a suitable way for Dough Pizza to market the restaurants and capture a large online audience (Gabbert, 2018). The company should create advertisements that will be displayed on Google search sites (Chen, 2016). This is suitable for a limited budget (based on the cost-benefit analysis developed for Dough Pizza) and in cases when restaurants need to develop better brand awareness. In terms of the anticipated marketing budget, it is estimated that the company will spend between $50,000 and $65,000 annually. In subsequent years, the budget can increase if the efforts show to be successful. Funds for marketing will be allocated from the percentage of sales acquired during previous operational years. This method is beneficial for the following reasons:
- Sales volumes show how much a business can spend on marketing;
- Marketing managers are encouraged to consider relationships between profits per unit, selling price, and promotional costs;
- Competitive parity in the industry is maintained: all firms in the industry spend approximately the same percentage of sales on their marketing efforts;
- A company is continuously oriented on its sales targets.
Overall, the marketing strategy for Dough Pizza will be focused on establishing a positive brand image online and ensuring that customers remain engaged and interested in what the restaurant has to offer. Social media and Google AdWords are the main marketing tools that the company can use. This strategy is supported by the overarching prevalence of online advertising over traditional methods.
Conclusion
In summary, the growth and maturity plan of Dough Pizza will depend on ensuring the provision of high-quality products and services. The marketing strategy will be based on using social media and Internet services for attracting new customers to the restaurant and engaging them in a conversation about the improvement of the restaurant. The specific concerns regarding staffing, operations, and marketing have been addressed, suggesting that the focus of Dough Pizza should remain on customer orientation.
References
Chen, J. (2016). The complete guide to social media for restaurants & bars. Web.
Craig, E. (2018). How important is food imagery for restaurant businesses? Web.
Gabbert, E. (2018). Why use Google Ads? Here are 10 reasons. Web.
Santacruz, S. (2015). Everything you need to know about starting a food business. Web.