Aunt Rita's Swiss Chocolate Company: Financial Analysis

Most small businesses require some outside funding. Not many entrepreneurs have enough personal capital to open and maintain funding for a business. To attract investors and attain partnerships, a business owner should consider a business model necessary. This paper will compare two restaurant businesses, identify the business model and forms of ownership for each business by completing a Comparison of Business matrix, describe benefits by building a sustainable competitive advantage, and giving advantages and disadvantages of each business

At Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker, Jim Harris was the COO (chief operation officer) and was with the company for about 18 months and was observing the increased demand for their chocolate. “America’s finest dark chocolate” company wanted to increase production by equipping factories with new machineries and equipment but did not want any difference in the taste of the chocolates they produced. As the company totally agrees on not compromising the taste of chocolates and increase the production in order to meet the rising demand for their chocolates they should probably get into customizing chocolates blend for the mass-market retailer in order to grab huge market share, increase accessibility of the chocolate to customers and provide variety of choice to the customers by maintaining the taste they are known for. As the demand is increasing from 50%, 100%, to 150% by the start of 2006, Harris has to make a significant decision in order to invest Scharffen’s capital budget in expansion of the Company. Harris is recommended to acquire the required machinery in order to fasten the production and increase the capacity of the plant and should be careful about the quantity to be produced as the acquiring of machinery will increase productivity multiple times but the initial demand for

The basic characteristics of the marketing concept that could be identified in Clare’s Chocolates are as follows:

The industry that I chose is the chocolate industry. Growing up in Pennsylvania the Hershey Company is well know throughout the state and is a factory I have visited on multiple occasions. While the chocolate tycoon has made some negative headlines over the past few years with outsourcing and layoffs, they have done a good share of philanthropy work for the state and the Dauphin County area.

The following statistics stated in the case indicate that “23% of respondents would definitely buy the Montreaux dark chocolate with fruit product and 40% would probably buy the product.” These average ratings strongly suggest that this product should be introduced into the market very gradually. This strategy would enable the company to evaluate consumer buying patterns so that the company could determine future production levels and future marketing strategies that benefit both the company and the consumer. Financial information given in the case also indicates that the company needs to introduce this product very conservatively. Exhibit 1 informs that with 5.98 million total purchases, low awareness, low ACV and mediocre product, Montreaux would gross $17.44 million. Exhibit 2 shows that with medium awareness, medium ACV and an average product Montreaux would gross $25.1 million. These figures do not meet Montreaux’s objective of earning at least $30 million in its first year. Exhibit 3 shows a slightly improved situation: with high awareness, high ACV, and an excellent product, Montreaux would gross

The table on the next page shows how BonBonHolic came up with P50 product price for its chocolate

Dream Chocolate (D.C.) is a small company trying to survive in an industry with many competitors. The competitive environment comes from some factors. Firstly, D.C. bars are sold in specialty markets, fine gift stores and also available online. However, the competitive companies can also provide various chocolate bars for customers with the low price on the Internet. Secondly, comparing to the big chocolate company like Mars, D.C. is a small company that has the lower brand reputation. Therefore, there may be not many people would trust their products.

Since the inception of a revolutionary spicy chocolate recipe, Marilyn Lysohir and Ross Coates have been striving to grow a profitable business in the chocolate industry. Each year Marilyn has loaned the company money to keep it running. Cowgirl Chocolates, primarily run by Marilyn, with help from family and art associates is branded based on the concept that chocolate

The Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker is experiencing an exponential year over year growth rate of their premium product. This is a situation that all new businesses strive for and although Scharffen Berger is pleased with their growth, they are facing a potential dilemma. The company must consider how they will keep up with growing demand while having enough capacity to handle the increase in production and maintain their high quality standards.

Digital Chocolate began as an innovator in a small new market and succeeded due to their ability to foster innovation and creativity in the mobile gaming industry. The social gaming market has opened opportunities to expand Digital Chocolate's horizons drastically. Trip Hawkins needs to promote a sense of urgency and to communicate the importance of the switch for the organization. The next most important step is to have employees get compensated by commission, thus offering a highly competitive environment. The best strategy is to base the social gaming division in Digital Chocolate's

The Cherry Lady falls under the premium chocolate industry. Thus, the porter’s model can be utilized by The Cherry Lady as a framework to structure and analyze its industry. According to the Model, the premium chocolate industry can be impacted by five distinct forces such as rivalry among existing firms in the industry, threats from substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, threats of new entrants, and bargaining power of

What are some of the critical strengths and weaknesses of Cowgirl Chocolates that determine the success of this small business? Can the weaknesses be overcome by the strengths of the business?

From the perspective of Utilitarianism, child slavery contributes the economics position of thecountry. As I know, the economic situation of the country is bad, they are one of the thirdworld countries. What is more, cocoa beans prices decreased in the year 1996 - 2000. So,farmers want to reduce the cost of production with cutting the wages and using slavery.According to Utilitarianism, the “right” action or policy is the one that will produce thegreatest net benefits or the lowest net costs. From that point, they reduce costs, and maximizetheir net benefits from child slavery. The major difficulty with Utilitarianism is that it isunable to deal with rights and justice. For instance, from the point of social justice, it is clear that

‘’organisations exist and function within society and consequently are subject to a variety of social influences. These influences, which include demography, social class and culture, can change over time and affect both the demand and supply side of the economy. Marketing organisations recognise and make use of these factors when segmenting markets for consumer goods and service’’ Worthington, I (2009) p.135.

This case details the position of Carol Sullivan-Diaz, the 28-year-old daughter of Walter Sullivan who died at the age of 56. Walter had bought a Ford dealership in 1983 that eventually grew into what is now Sullivan Ford Auto World. The business sells cars but also services them. Carol is disappointed by current turnover in car sales and sees that the service revenues are below average for this size of dealership. Carol’s now has to decide what way to tackle the future. She can sell the business but will probably only return a value below what it might be worth if profitable or she can look at the operation and see if she can turn it around herself. While she has a bachelor’s degree in economics, an MBA degree and a