Executive Summary
It is proposed to take up the study of Yummy frozen yogurt which has created waves of customer delight and satisfaction in the United States and European destinations and is now ready to take the Middle East region by storm. Unlike ice cream, yogurt has low-fat content, which makes it an ideal dessert for weight watchers and health-conscious people. Besides, Yummy frozen yogurt is prepared under high standards of hygiene and quality control, the mix is just perfect and does not have high ice contents like others. So, the real flavor of yogurt is found in this brand. Besides, this company has a committed team of professionals with wide experience in the food trade and they intend to make this a brand leader, at least in the Middle East markets.
At the moment, there are around eight kinds of flavors available at the most reasonable prices, but it is expected that more and more popular flavors would be added and marketed in the future.
The Board of Management of this company is very experienced, competent, and committed and they would be supervising the day-to-day operations of the company, including quality and hygiene. This study also considers the exit strategy that needs to be put into place in the event the business does not go along on expected lines. However, it is widely believed that ROI in this food business is expected to be high, through good management policies and investors would get handsome returns on their money.
Mission Statement
Yummy Frozen Yogurt is the first company to make the tastiest and freshest frozen yogurt in UAE, so every customer can enjoy the taste of delicious frozen yogurt or a taste of summer. We emphasize providing natural and different flavors of frozen yogurt that all people with different relish can experience the taste of summer. We value our customers so we use organic, sustainable farming practices to give people safe and healthy food choices. We are committed to bringing you a low in fat, high in fiber, with vitamins and made fresh for you. Yummy Frozen Yogurt is committed to bringing you healthy frozen desserts. Life is short; enjoy the taste of yummy frozen yogurt first!
Objectives and goals
In short term, we want to introduce Yummy Frozen Yogurt into a new market by launching our first frozen yogurt shop in Dubai mall. In long term, we are planning to gain a bigger market share by expanding our branches in UAE. Hopefully, by being recognized as the leader in frozen yogurt production in UAE, we are scheduling to gain a wider geographic coverage by expanding our shops in the Gulf region. A stronger reputation with customers and customer satisfaction are our priorities, so we will have Superior customer service. Yummy Frozen Yogurt’s financial objectives are:
- Growth in earnings
- Wider profit margins
- Bigger cash flows
- Higher returns on invested capital
- Attractive economic value added (EVA) performance
- Attractive and sustainable increases in market value added (MVA)
- A more diversified revenue base
We hope to meet these objectives by providing our customers with higher product quality than our rivals.
Company and Industry
Frozen yogurt was introduced in the 1970s as a healthier alternative to ice cream. But in the 1970s frozen yogurt couldn’t be as successful as today. Likewise, there were a lot of complaints from customers about the tart taste and yogurt-like consistency. For this reason, manufacturers began production of a recipe that consumers would enjoy and frozen yogurt made a comeback in the 1980s, reaching sales of $25 million in 1986. with attention, frozen yogurt had captured a large part of the frozen dessert market, Yummy Frozen Yogurt entered the business in 1985 by opening its first branch in Houston Texas. Since then Yummy Frozen Yogurt has become the largest chain of frozen yogurt specialty stores with more than 1950 locations throughout the United States and 4800 around the globe.
Products and Services
Months of top-secret research and testing went into the new no-fat frozen yogurt flavors finally paid off. Yummy Frozen yogurt is proud to bringing balance to the frozen dessert universe with its three new flavors of super premium No Fat Frozen Yogurt. Cappuccino, Strawberry, and Vanilla Fudge are now available coast-to-coast. The no-fat flavor trios are all-natural yogurts. Cappuccino is a smooth coffee flavor with just a hint of chocolate. Strawberry is studded with strawberries throughout. Vanilla Fudge is rippled with rich swirls of chocolaty fudge. So here are our flavors including our three new products.
Yummy Frozen Yogurt’s Flavors
Management and Organization
For the successful functioning of Yummy Frozen Yogurt, there should be people with immense experience and capabilities in management. We will have to first find out the key owners and members of the management. Once we are aware of the responsibilities that should be assigned to each personnel, we can decide on the background and qualifications that they require in taking forward Yummy Frozen Yogurt successfully in the market.
Board of Management
The members of the board of management will include the following personnel:
- Managing Director: Abdul Rahiman
- Chief Finance officer: Soil Haqim
- Vice-President, HR: Sayed Ali
- Vice-President, Marketing: Javed Salim
- Vice-President, Operations: Jino Jacob
- Director, Consumer Communications: Faidulla Haq
The qualification, background each board member possess and their proposed responsibilities are discussed below:
Abdul Rahiman, Managing Director, and Founder: Mr. Abdul Rahiman is a graduate of the University of Wales, who has also received a Ph.D. in Economics. He has to his credit a total experience of 39 years in the food industry. He was working as the deputy director for 7 years with Galadari Ice Cream Company (Baskin Robbins, GICC).
Mr. Rahiman will play a vital role among the board members as the Founder of the Company and Chairman of the Board of Management. He will be responsible for managing all the day-to-day activities of the company with all powers and discretions. He will also hold responsibility in:
- “Setting the culture of the company.
- Developing strategy and direction for the company.
- Leading the executive/senior management of the company (including firing and hiring)
- Managing Financial and Physical resources.” (What is the job description for managing director? 2009, para.1).
Soil Haqim, Chief Finance officer: Mr. Haqim joined Yummy Frozen Yogurt from Al Ajeera plc, where he was Senior Managing Partner. He has extensive international experience in finance, working in senior positions in many companies across the globe. He played a chief role in structuring and financing Al Ajeera after its diversification into ice creams, as one of its products. Starting his carrier as an accounting professional, with wide experience in the industry he was a key business strategist in all the companies he has worked. 3 The CFO’s basic responsibilities will include creating, coordinating, and executing financial programs and ensure compliances for budgetary requirements. “Develop and implement finance, accounting, billing, and auditing procedures.” (CFO: Primary responsibilities, n.d., para.6).
Sayed Ali, Vice-President HR: Mr. Sayed Ali is an established HR Practitioner holding a post-graduate degree in business management from Middlesex University, Dubai. He held senior-level HR positions in companies like BCT Enterprises and Extreme brands. With his extensive knowledge and experience in human resources, he has been a successful leader. He worked as Senior HR Manager with BCT Enterprises till Dec. 2009 where he proved his unbeatable HR skills and capabilities.
Vice-President HR, Mr. Sayed will provide leadership and coordinate all human resource functions. He will develop and implement all human resource strategies and programs.
Javed Salim, Vice-President Marketing: Mr. Javed has 10 plus years of marketing leadership experience in the food and beverages industry. He has proven expertise in business development and in achieving high sales targets. In his previous positions in Al Jazeera, he has proven his capabilities in leading various projects and marketing teams.
Mr. Javed will have to ensure the successful launch of Yummy Frozen Yogurt in the UAE market. He will be responsible for exploring new market growth opportunities and lead the team in business developments. He will be the key decision-maker for opening outlets in various regions of UAE and will head the team for branding campaigns.
Option of business exit strategy
It is important that each business needs to develops a sound and reliable exit strategy at the time of its inception. This could save a lot of trouble at a later stage when investors wish to opt out of the business. In the case of public limited company, it may happen that the investors may not be gaining any returns on their investments (ROI). Under such situations, the option would be for them to sell their shares, preferably at higher prices. But, there may be no takers in some instances. The next option would be for them to get their business sold to a larger company as a merger, or acquisition. While this may work in certain instances, there is no guarantee that acquisitions and mergers could happen in all instances. Thus, the next option would be either to sell the business or dissolve it.
However, in the case of private limited companies, there are other options also. The several legal options of private limited companies in terms of a sound exit strategy could be, either transferring it to a family member under “family succession” laws, sale to “employees”, “management buyout”, “buy in”, convert it into a public company, franchise it, sell to a third party, merger or final dissolution of the business. (Exit strategy planning, n.d., chap.4).
Perhaps, one of the major aspects that need to be considered is that investors should not stand to lose monetarily in the event of which they would be reluctant to take up any such kind of investment business in the future. Again, they also need to be well acquainted with the pitfalls of consumer business like seasonality, customer preferences, competitive influences, public health issues, which may impact the frozen yogurt business either currently, or in the future. Thus, care needs to be exercised concerning the origin and implementation of a sound exit policy if and when the need arises. For this kind of consumer business, the best option out would be franchising it to other people in the trade. “Services also have the virtue of being absentee types of businesses, run by managers and executed by employees. This makes them easier to sell at any time, as opposed to a more hands-on concept that depends on the skills or personality of the individual franchisee.“ (Goldberg, 2004, para.18).
Thus, the timing and kind of exit strategy are also important in that it should serve to help everybody, and nobody should feel like a loser- buyer, seller, or the investors. There is truth in the statement that an exit strategy should be implemented when the business is in top gear, especially for frozen food consumer items, since we do not know what would happen in the event the business goes down dramatically and losses start accumulating. It could be easier to implement an exit strategy when the business is going on well, rather than when it is in the doldrums. This way, it is possible to get a good profit and invest the proceeds in similar or better business propositions, with higher returns on investments.
Conclusions
We have seen from the above deliberations that this company is poised for good growth in the future because of its committed, disciplined, and capable team of directors, and also the high demand that is available for these kinds of food products. It is also necessary that the workforce, especially at the middle and lower rungs, co-operate fully with the top management in all their plans and projects to make this unit a strong, viable, and sustainable one. Considering the climatic conditions in the Middle East, the large influx of tourist traffic, and the plethora of beach resorts and hotels that are found in cities of the Middle East, especially in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, it is quite possible that this would be an acceptable and rewarding venture. But at the same time, it is also necessary that the business should be run in a well-organized and systematic manner, costs kept low, revenues enhanced and managerial control measures instituted and implemented that could take care of the sustenance and future success of this business plan. The quality of raw materials, its ready availability, quality, and development of a good infrastructure for its marketing are major areas that need to be instituted and enforced over some time. It is believed that with the co-operation of the local community, employees at all levels, the board of directors with their experience and commitment, it would not be long before Yummy Frozen Yogurt becomes a brand leader in its product ranges and can cater to a cross-section of the public with tasty, healthy, wholesome and nutritious food items. “Ultimately, it has to be about the taste of yogurt,” said Mr. Lee of Pinkberry’s recipe for success.” (Dining & wine, 2008, para.6).
Thus, it is very much necessary that there should be many flavors for frozen yogurt to make it more marketable. Market surveys need to be conducted to find out which kind of flavors are more in demand. Again, an in-depth study of the industry is necessary to understand how this business could be further improved at in later time. For this, the active help and efforts especially the quality and life of frozen yogurt, its mix and not much of ice, etc should also be observed, free of defrosting.
Reference
CFO: Chief Financial Officer: Primary responsibilities. (n.d.). HRVillage.com. Web.
Dining & wine: The legions of frozen yogurt push east. (2008). The New York Times. Web.
Exit strategy planning: Chapter 4: What are the exit options for your business?. (n.d.). 2009. Web.
Goldberg, E. (2004). Exit strategies: Timing is everything. Franchising.com. Web.
What is the job description for managing director?. (2009). Answers.com: The World’s Leading Q&A Site. Web.