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Executive Summary
Rooster Den is a dance club/chicken wing grille located on Wrightsboro road next to the Augusta mall. The structure of the business will be a sole proprietorship with Deon Winfield being the sole owner. The daily operations that include handling a kitchen, running a dance floor and marketing will all be be done by his wife, Ashley Holmes.
The owner has a marketing degree and 7 years of experience in food preparation. The tone of the club is to be casual but with high standards dress codes. No excessively baggy clothes, no tank tops, no sleeveless shirts, no boots and no excessive jewelry. The business will make its money off of the tickets sold for entry and serve food at its cost. Entry will be 10 dollars on Thursday, 15 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Rooster Den will market to people through social media and use direct selling to counter the competitions heavy use of the radio, which is the traditional promotion for dance clubs.
Competitive advantage
Competition in the Augusta area is very high with many clubs in the CSRA. Music entertainment is expected and marketing/promotion budgets from competition can outreach a small start-up clubs marketing budget. This means that the only way to compete against those who do best with a large percent of their operations in budget is to give a different experience that does not rely on massive gatherings. The Competitive advantage will be the combination of excellent food, safe dance floor and a wide service of alcoholic drinks. The way to exploit that is through strong word of mouth. Give each customer a good enough experience to come back again and tell their friends. This will keep the mood of the club closer to the owner’s control. Many good clubs get a bad rep with the nature of the business. With a tight knot group of loyal customers The Roosters Den will do well in Augusta’s particular environment by drawing the club goers that are usually older and more mature than the teenage clubs or those that cater to younger crowds. There will be a cop checking I. D’s to not let anyone under 22 get into the club. This will make the target market smaller but easier to reach. Most of the customers are in a perfect scenario people getting off work and enjoying a nice day out. These people do not club hop a lot and do not want the larger club experience with hundreds of people in a small area. The club will be have a cap well below the fire Marshall's maximum capacity fire laws.
Areas to beat competition in
1. Dance clubs- The Rooster Den plans on having a loyal base of customers that like to drink and dance in a safe environment. Augusta is set for clubs to be popular with the city being younger on average and its residents being more party friendly than Columbia, Aiken and Burke County. The Dance floors in Augusta are usually plainly decorated with barely any furniture and some dancers spit on the floor and dump ashes from cigarettes. The dance floor of The Roosters Den will be very distinct from the bar and entrance. There is going to be a giant fence separating it from everything else. The fence will be decorated with all the liquors and free promotion material sent in by sponsors. The Dance Floor will be a place for dance and not for standing around or for anything else. This is to keep the mood of the dancers going. People may also want to take a break and go into the bar to eat something before returning to the dance floor. By having dance crews come through the club can foster an environment where dance is looked at more professionally. This will bring a sub-group of customers who really enjoy dancing.
2. Music and concert- The club plans on inviting local musicians who want playtime to provide free entertainment.This will keep costs low in the beginning. The long term plan is to make this attractive to those who aspire to be a superstar with a Mic. There will be Genre nights where different music will be brought in. Live Rock, Hip Hop, Jazz will be the three day weekend specials. The dance floor is to be designed with platforms (not view-able from the bar and restaurant) with a partnership with J&M studios will provide low cost advice on music equipment, concert setup, digital setup, networking, and prepping musicians who are to perform. The club will have mobile platforms that can roll away and allow for larger crowds. The Club will be less packed than a concert and the musician is closer to the crowd in a smaller stage. My customers would also know more people in a club were in a concert they may travel with 2-3 people they know and be in a different city. The cost will also be a small fraction of what concerts charge. The marketing budget will be set up though to draw heavy names in the first 2 quarters. The James Brown arena, The River walk Amphitheater, Imperial Theatre, Miller Theatre and the hippodrome are large concerts areas that could draw potential customers of mine by having tickets sold in advance. The Rooster Den plans on drawing a base of customers that enjoy music at a place they know and the advantage will be through that experience. Those places are more formal and not expected for a club experience. In concerts you have people of all ages and you are in a mass with no moving around in the seated places.
3. Sports bars- The Rooster Den will have 2 45 inch flat screens behind the bar. This will be accompanied by falcons/UGA/braves/green jackets gear everywhere throughout the bar. To compete against sports bar The Rooster Den has to draw the home team. The club can shut down its dancing for crucial Falcons games and try to invite as many sports celebrities whether from tennis or basketball to attend. The connection to the home team will draw more customer than national sports bars that are more regulated and franchised.
Marketing opportunities
Augusta Georgia has opportunities in it from a growing economy and an absence of Safe place to dance and get awesome food in a mature environment. There is a large population in Augusta that goes to nightclubs and usually a different one. They constantly comment that too many clubs are getting shut down to guns in the club and gangs clashing. The lack of teen clubs mean that there mixed clubs usually draw a younger group that fights more and cause more problems than a older group of clientele. By the time someone is 25 they are usually more mature and able to control their alcohol. The grille has a opportunity to catch people who like a sports bar that specializes in chicken wings. Augusta does not have many locally owned sports bars and customer will pick a locally business if the owner can foster that environment.
Long term plans
In the long term The Rooster Den plans on having a established medium sized group of repeat customer, a very large variety of alcohol and chicken meals and a positive reputation throughout the city. A widened dance floor and an expanded sports bar will also be long term capital improvements.
Short term
In the first year The Rooster Dan plans on advertising heavily, handling market well and getting a routine to operations. The Rooster Den also wants to have several musicians who regularly perform at the club.
Corporate structure
The Rooster Den plans on being a sole proprietorship but still plans on having a board of directors and crucial decision makers who will be delegated authority.
The Board of directors will include specialists in marketing, accounting, law, tax, entertainment and former/present club owners. The gathering of good advice will be a long term advantage for The Roosters Den. With the proper advice the company will ease through its first years better. The owner plans on having the right person to answer a question or advice if it comes up. The board will meet once a month at the club and discuss the companies issues.
Organizational chart
At the top is the owner with a short ladder under him. It is a wheel style of management with the owner handling a wide plethora of problems. There will be hype men, chefs and bartenders in the beginning to report to the owner. There will be a supervisor assigned as business proceeds to 3 departments of the club. The restaurant will have a head chef, the bar will have a head bartender and the hype men will have a head hyper. With a wheel styled organizational structure the lowest worker will be able to come and talk to the owner. An open door policy will be set to help lower the industry turnover rate that is club workers. The main reason people quit these jobs are because they are not high paying and because they are not full time. As the company grows in the long term the plan is to add a general manager at the original post and let the owner expand the new location.
Market Segments
1. Young-Middle aged single blue collar- The everyday average John Doe.This will be 50% of projected clientele. These customers will have jobs like plumbers, welders and car mechanic. They live with their hands and enjoy a nice place to drink alcohol and meet other singles. This segment will be the loyal workers looking for a nice hang out spot in Augusta. Saturday night is usually the only night that they go out and they want a good experience for their money. The most appealing thing to these people will be the connection the business has in a customer’s mind to sports.
2. Chicken wing enthusiasts- This is 25% of the projected clientele. This group is smaller than the other two but is a reliable group. Chicken wing fans will try as many chicken wings that they can. They will get the nightclub experience with their chicken and they will judge the club against many of the other restaurants they been to. They are looking for good wings and plentiful amounts of food.
3. College students- This is also 25% of projected clientele. This group will come to Roosters Den because of the youthful vibe and college student always want to party. Augusta has several colleges in the area that could foster a lot of business. Paine College, Augusta state, Augusta Tech, Cambridge College, Southern Wesley, Troy and University of Phoenix. Some of these students may be from out of town on-campus and will attend in mass if there is a safe place for them to enjoy themselves. College students also are very attentive to deals through social media. With the rise of face book and twitter this group has become reachable because of the constant presence online, and the deeply segmented advertising information that Technology companies have on their users.
Company’s position in market
The Rooster Den plans on focusing on being the choice for adults who like a semi-formal club that has a cheers atmosphere. Other clubs focus on fostering a criminal element; The Roosters Den will position itself as far away from that with high standards of dress and having a high ticket price. Some clubs try to get a dancing niche of customers and Rooster Den will position itself as a place less focused on dancing good and just getting people to dance. The music will be different than traditional dance/club music with the D.J playing the week’s top 40 and other popular mixes. The Roosters Den plans on positioning itself as a general club/nightlife. There is no need to reinvent the wheel when Augusta lacks something as simple as that. The city is modernizing and the residents are looking for more professional clubs than the common standard of cheap drinks and lenient security.
Pricing Strategies
The Rooster Den has a price structure to make the majority of profits on the tickets to get into the club. ON average the price of admission is very lightly above average for clubs in the area. The cost of bringing in special entertainment will be structured into ticket price on top of the regular admissions. Tickets sold in advance will be sold at a discount to get early bird buyers and let the customer commit to coming to the club by already paying for it.On some nights there will be free admission where there is no entertainment but drinks being served.
These will also give the club chances to expand into new ways of entertainment like arcade games, darts, bowling and cards. The sports bar & grille will be priced just to recoup the loss of having them. The low price of the food will encourage drinks which is where Rooster Den plans on the rest of its profits. When people eat food they are more likely to be a drink. With the margins as high as 500% drinks are the bread and butter of the company. College students make great club patrons and there will be discounts on college students who have an active id.
Risk Issues
Property insurance will be bought through Geico and will protect the real estate in the case of a fire. Food sanitation will be a major issue. With the proper rules and training set by the owner then the company can reduce risk for exposure to things like salmonella and under-cooked chicken. Food thermometers, sinks, and timers will help to make sure that all food is cooked and sterile. The owner will fire any employees that are not practicing sanitation. It is a golden rule in food that when preparing other peoples food you should make 100% sure it is edible.
Business insurance will be bought when the company can afford it because the club industry has a lot of risk s in the general operations. This insurance will cover anything that might happen as the result of plain old business.
The Roosters Dens plans on having health insurance available to its employees after 1 ½ years of service. The insurance has a 50% deductible and will assist employees with coming back onto the job. But there will be recruiting standards to avoid hiring anyone that may make the insurance to pricey. There is to be a risk consultant to come in and review the business every three years beginning in the first year. This is to keep the chances of fire, death and other tragedies from happening at all and saving on insurance payments.
The economy poses a risk to a business with recessions claiming businesses that are not prepared. The Roosters Den will be prepared with a second price structure, a rainy day fund and a line of credit established. A great recession just hit America in 2008 and the owner realizes the bad things that come with not planning for a downturn. The owner will keep a strategy in mind if the economy is failing. More often than not to survive companies revise their price structure and offer cheaper products or services. The Roosters Den plans on getting through a recession by keeping the price the same but changing quantity size of service/products and by aggressively marketing with any lost time due to cyclical economies.
Products/services offered
Chicken wings- This is the main course of the business and a great southern food. Everyone likes chicken wings and they make great complimentary items with alcohol. Chicken wings are easy to eat with just your hands and you can customize them in many different ways. It is reminiscent with sports and clubs already and is the standard of a excellent Grille.
Liquor- The Roosters Den will have a very wide variety of liquor products. The drinks set up will be the houses own special shots. There will be brandy, vodka, wine, rum, tequila and all others. The bottles make great decorations for the business and will draw those who want to drink several kinds of liquor in one night and by having all kinds of liquors there will be a price any customer can afford.
Dancing- The club will have a music environment with the right tone set and hype men creating a dancing environment. The club will have everything that people expect when they are dancing. The light flashing and the disco ball will make the floor seem like the place for anyone to dance.
Other food products- this includes things like French fries and mashed potatoes. By having these items people can complete their meal and feel more formal instead of getting just chicken wings. These products are usually cheap and able to be sold just to keep the customer in the club. Free peanuts will make people thirsty to buy some alcohol and red bull will give people the energy to dance.
There will be several house specials that will be used to draw customers into the club. These include a special with 12 wings and a beer for 5 dollars. Rhine harts use a similar strategy on their specialty which is shrimp and they do well with it. This will make 20 dollars even with admission into the club. On certain nights there will be seafood cookouts in the parking lot and the food will be brought back into the club for people to enjoy. The mixed rinks made up by the house will also draw customers in. The Roosters Den will have the major liquors such as Vodka, Gin, Whiskey and Brandy mixed right in front of the customer with multiple mixers from sweet, sour to tangy flavors.
SWOT analysis
Strengths- Wide variety of chicken wings and alcohol, a safe place to dance and experience nightlife, A environment unlike others in Augusta that foster criminal elements, A connection to customer through sports teams like the falcons and UGA, A place for local talent to get noticed on the mic, a owner who is experienced in the food industry, a heavy traffic area, a “Cheers” feeling when surrounded by everyone who knows your name.
Weakness- Lack of decoration/furniture, low marketing budget in first few years, no name established, club is priced out of many consumers range, bad reputation in city for clubs, The restaurant only offers chicken products and simple sides, the club is very loud being a dance floor and restaurant, no professional music events with big names, a large amount of competition already in the area.
Opportunities- Can expand menu later if customers consent says so, Can bring in exclusive celebrities if they enjoy the small vibe of the business, A chance to become a place for aspiring musicians to practice, A lot of side parties hosted with the structure already set in the company for holiday parties and special events such as first Friday on the river.
Threats- Legal contingencies, A lack of prepared and motivated workers who can do their job and contribute to customer service, A lack of financial experience for the owner, a possibility of heavy financial liability if someone is injured or killed on property, Losing liquor license, Other clubs who market against The Roosters Den and the threat of new clubs opening up copying The Roosters Den.
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