Categories
Innovation

Business Model Innovation: Ramen Restaurant

Remember our previous post on Pricing a Ramen? Now, we have an innovation post which follows the same series! For the Ramen lovers who cannot go to Japan, but would love to set up your own restaurant.

As usual, we will be doing our analysis with the business model canvas. In addition, we got this inspiration for a whole ramen series from a friend who loves dining in Japanese restaurants. Note that this is a possibility, no hard and fast rules. After all, the beauty of the business model canvas is that it is just a hypothesis waiting to be tested! We will be putting together things we observed from various Ramen Restaurants in Singapore.

Unique Value Proposition

The challenge of business models as usual would be the unique value proposition.

In this case, we are offering a ramen restaurant which allows you to choose your own ingredients and is highly customisable.

Customer Segments

In terms of customer segments, we can do a behavioural segmentation: Our target customers are those who are interested in Ramens which offer choice of ingredients.

We could also do a demographic segmentation, younger adults may be more open to looking at a modular approach to buying food. (assumption)

As usual, customer segmentation is a really complex approach and so let’s focus on younger customers who may be interested in highly customisable ramen.

Customer Relationship

In order to maintain customer relationship, a loyalty application is a possibility, including stamp collection, or vouchers for redemption.

Publishing about new launches and special ingredients of the month to food blogs is also a method to keep customers updated.

Channels

Through the physical store, an online presence with an own website, which are standard components of a business. In addition, the business could explore working with restaurant concierge applications to reach out to a variety of customers. Over time, developing an own application would allow the customers to be kept in your ecosystem.

Key Partners

Some key partners in this case are:

  • Raw Ingredients Suppliers
  • Staffing Agencies as F&B is manpower intensive
  • F&B Concierge Applications

Key Activities

Some key activities in this case are:

  • Purchasing/sourcing of Ingredients from suppliers
  • Concocting new recipes to keep customers excited
  • Driving Foot traffic through interesting promotions.

Key Resources

The Key Resources in this case are:

  • Ramen Making Machine
  • Ramen Chef

Cost

In terms of Cost, these are the possibilities:

  • Rental
  • Salary
  • Cost of Equipment
  • Cost of Ingredients
  • Maintenance of Equipment
  • Marketing (Own website and royalties from platforms.)

Revenue

In terms of Revenue, these are the possibilities:

  • Revenue from selling the Ramen itself.
  • Side Revenue from fringe items for instant soda drinks, and other sides like Gyoza.
  • Membership Fees / Subscription Model (this model does not seem to be frequently practised though, where customers are locked in for future discounts.)
  • Advertising Revenue (Maybe through partnership with tour companies, or other “Japanese” places like Japan Home.)
  • Consignment Products Revenue (Japanese Snacks Manufacturers, for customers to buy home.)
  • Merchandise Revenue (Think of the Sakae Sushi frog.)

In summary, this is a business model for a ramen restaurant!

Are you interested in exploring other business ideas? Please drop us a note at businessmodel@tanweixiang.com.

If you liked reading about this post, do follow us on our LinkedIn Page. You may also like to build your own hair salon, photo studio or bakery!

Image Credits: Photo by Hari Panicker on Unsplash
Artwork Designed by Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Analytics

Pricing Analytics: Maximising the Value of Your Ramen

Have you always been intrigued by how Ramen Restaurant priced their dishes? Most of the time, the Ramen is a modular product, which can be broken down into many ingredients: The Ramen, the broth, the toppings, etc. Today, we have specially broken down the prices on the menu of a Ramen restaurant which has recently set up an outlet in Singapore, and present to you this pricing analytics piece. Our main questions of the day is how much is each component of the ramen valued at, and which item on the menu gives the most value.

The Dataset: 15 Bowls of Ramen

To start off, we found the menu of a restaurant (which we shall not link because we aren’t sponsored, and also potentially not wanting to swing the sales for the restaurant after our analysis.)

Next we listed the prices, as well as the ingredients offered. This will be the dataset that we would use.

Menu and Price of Ramen
Menu and Price of Ramen

Exploratory Data Analysis

Firstly, let’s get the assumptions out of the way. For this case, the base ramen is assumed as the same for everything in the menu. We also assume that having “Chef’s Recommendation” or “Most Popular” will not influence pricing, though it probably does in many business settings.

Well, we could safely assume that every ingredient will be important in the analysis right? Ironically, no. The first step is to look at any correlated values before we do the analysis. By running a correlation plot, we realised that Spring Onions are missing only in the truffle ramen. We also learned that Leek is always in the Chicken Broth, and Bean Sprout and Pickled Onions are always in the Spicy Yuzu Broth. We are also removing truffle menu items from the analysis as they are way too different from the others and will influence the data. This way, all Tonkotsu broth has wood ear fungus too which should be removed. These data should be counted as part of the broth for a more reflective pricing model which will not exclude any variables.

Correlation Plot of Ingredients and Price
Correlation Plot of Ingredients with Price

Pricing Analytics: Which Ramen is the most and least worth it?

So we ran our model. It fits on a perfect straight line!! The restaurant was very clear on their component pricing. Basically, all the menu items were equally worth it. That was not what we expected but it’s an entirely possible outcome.

Pricing Analytics: How much do you pay for each component in your Ramen?

We looked at the output and thought what’s next, we basically obtained a price chart of the Ramen components! (Assuming the Base Ramen is included in the broth.)

Ramen Price Analytics Outcome
How each part of your ramen is priced

If you ordered just a Tonkotsu Broth (which comes with Wood Ear Fungus) without toppings, it would be $8.90, $9.90 for chicken broth (With Leek) and $12.90 for a Spicy Yuzu Broth (With Pickled Onions and Bean Sprout). Each of your toppings of each Belly Chashu, Hanjuku Egg and Collar Cha Shu is $2 Each. Your Seaweed is more or less free and should not be calculated into the equation, but you do get a bigger seaweed for your large bowls so this should be a plus point!

In conclusion when ordering your ramen, pick the bowl which gives you seaweed of your choice (at least in this store.). In addition, now you have this chart to make a rational decision when ordering Ramen in future.

Hope you liked our post today. Hope that this post will inspire you to do your own analysis of your favourite restaurant menus. If you’re interested in starting your own Ramen restaurant, do take a look at our business model analysis here.

Do bookmark this site, leave a comment in the section below, and follow us on our LinkedIn page as we look forward to curating new content for you every week. Next, do read about how we used Google Analytics to Analyse our top and bottom posts of 2020, or on how we text mined 400 spam comments!

Image Credits: Photo by Hari Panicker on Unsplash
Artwork Designed by Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Management

Time Management while Working and Studying

Time Management, a crucial topic that is ever so elusive. Recently, I wrote a post about juggling between work and studies. Coincidentally, January had also been my busiest month since starting work. Therefore, I will be sharing a bit of my experience in time management in January.

What happened this month?

This month (or rather since late December), I received a special assignment direct from the company CEO, to work on a Branding Strategy Project. This was a rare opportunity for me as a newly minted graduate in the workforce, so I definitely had to say yes!

In the meantime, I had myself enrolled into a Branding Class at NTU as part of my MiniMasters programme, and had to commit to classes in order to attain the certification. Furthermore, I did not want to disappoint on the blog, which I have committed to posting once a week.

Effective Calendar Planning

My first steps to tackle the month was to have a calendar planned out. I started with planning out blocks which I know have a fixed time, for instance my zoom live lectures. These are the times which I cannot schedule any meeting, work through the weekends, or schedule my self-paced online learning.

Next, I came up with a list of the number of hours I needed on each of my tasks, and did a tentative block on my calendar, to demarcate the time for those tasks, while still keeping the schedule open for meetings.

It seemed all too straightforward, but things can still go wrong, first check-in, second check-in, third check-in, and so forth… In the end, I ended up losing entire weekends working on the project.

To tackle effective calendar planning, I figured that moving forward, having gaps is necessary to be able to react to any potential situation which happens.

Not so much Time Management, but Energy Management

Halfway through the month, after my schedule was nice and packed effectively, I realised that I experienced a decrease in productivity on some days. Then, I recalled about the article on Harvard Business Review, to manage my energy and not my time. Right then, I realised I was spending too much time just working and neglecting the importance of leisure.

To react to the situation, I ensured that I ran minimally once a week. After the change, I felt a lot more refreshed and able to concentrate on what I was doing more effectively.

Moving forward, I intend to add a mix to my exercise routine, maybe the gym or a swim, to allow me to recharge after a fine day at work. How about you? How do you intend to manage your energy? Do leave your comments down below!

Next Month: Proper Planning and Pacing

In the month of February, I intend to plan for proper breaks within and outside my work day, as well as control the pace I complete what I intend to complete. After all, life is a marathon and not a race. A sprint at the start may result in massive burnout and damaging health, which decreases productivity and quality of life.

Either way, I’m glad that January has ended! I have successfully completed my branding course, and would be embarking on my digital marketing course next month. With our pre-read submitted, we are left with preparing for a presentation, before welcoming my next assignment at work!

As a plus, I managed to post for 5 weeks consecutive this year. If time permits, I intend to do a massive rebranding of the site over the next few months, to put my branding class knowledge to the test.

Hope you liked our story today. Do bookmark this site, leave a comment in the section below, and follow us on our LinkedIn page as we look forward to curating new content for you every week. Next, do read about our tips to succeed in management internships and jobs. If you are currently looking for a job or internship, we have also put together a guide for you.

Base Image credits: Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
Original Design by: Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Marketing

Marketing Research Quantitative Survey Fielding Reflections

Marketing post this time! It’s the 4th post of the year and if you followed the narrative it’s time for a marketing post! Recently, I had the chance to carry out end to end planning and execution of a marketing research for my work on Branding and Pricing Strategy.

I learned marketing research in school, and ran researches while at NTU Students’ Union. Planning, fielding and analysing. Back then, I didn’t realise how hard fielding was. It was just a mass EDM (Email Direct Mailer not Electronic Dance Music) to the whole school, and gifts were provided to participants.

Marketing Research: Problem

Initially, I thought that fielding this survey would be a walk in the park. How hard can it possibly be? I could not have been any more wrong than that.

Marketing Research: Photo of Cold Storage Tampines 1
I was standing right here at the entrance.

After 4 hours at night, standing outside the supermarket with aching arms and legs, there was only 15 respondents, half of what I planned to get in half the time. Reflecting on the experience, I faced 3 main problems:

Firstly, I was abruptly cut off and rejected on introductions.

Good Evening, I’m a Market Researcher from Company X……

I believe that the lag time before running away would likely be glancing for free gifts or maybe something else.

Secondly, I held my tablet with one arm, and definitely that was not the best thing to do. Furthermore, I was travelling with a laptop slung on me inside my bag. As a result, my body was aching all over at the end of the day.

Thirdly, many people were rushing for time and could not take 5 minutes off their schedule to complete the survey.

Either way, my study received minimal participation.

Marketing Research: Solution

After an unsuccessful night, I needed to find a simpler way to get participants to take part in the survey. With careful thought, I thought of 3 solutions:

Solution #1: Refine the Pitch, Starting with Pain Points

I figured out that the first few words spoken influences if customers will continue to listen, and to tie it to their interests. For instance, I did this pitch:

We’re looking at improving our product offering in Company X. Can we take 5 minutes of your time for a short survey?

I started with the customers’ pain point, basically what they came to the supermarket for — to meet their needs.

Naturally, more customers became open to conversation, especially when their needs are met.

Solution #2: Travel Light and Position Strategically

When I turned up for the second day of the survey, I left my laptop at home, only armed with my tablet and QR Code (More on the QR Code Later). Besides that, I also found a place to station at. This meant that I did not need to carry the heavy tablet for the whole day, and could focus on delivering the pitch and executing the survey! The location which I picked also has some foot traffic, which allows more chances to deliver the pitch!

I stationed myself at an ice box where I could leave my items and also reach customers.

Solution #3: Explore Alternative Methods for Participation

If the customers are rushing for time and just have no time, you can bring the survey to them! I printed a QR Code to allow customers to scan and carry out the survey on the go, which solves the rush hour problem. In addition, when I went to the store on a weekend, I noticed the long queues forming. Instantly, I jumped onto the opportunity to survey the customers in the queue! When customers are already there and do not spend additional time, they are more open to being surveyed!

Did up a QR Code! Intentionally Truncated the QR so that it can’t be used!

Marketing Research: What more can be done?

While I did finish my survey after 3 days? What could I have done better? If I had more time to plan, I would have set up an actual booth, and prepare gift vouchers from the company as incentive for taking part in the survey.

Marketing research on a weekend!
Fielding my research on a weekend well spent!

Closing Words

Finally, I hope that this reflection provided a new perspective on improving your quantitative marketing research. I wish you aspiring market researchers the best of luck in your next research!

If you liked this post, do check out our course review on the Mini Masters in Marketing Management at NBS, where I have also reviewed about the marketing research course.

In addition, if you liked reading about this post, do follow us on our LinkedIn Page. Also, you might want to read about learning analytics versus marketing!

Image Credits: Original Photography from Tan Wei Xiang

Categories
Innovation

Business Model Innovation: DIY Bakery

It’s the third post of the Business Model Innovation series and also the third post of the year! In this new normal, the traditional bakery businesses have been hit very hard. While there is less people out on the streets, which means less customers, how can bakery businesses cope? This is where your opportunity lies! You can start your own bakery business right here and now!

As usual, we will be doing our analysis with the business model canvas. Also, we would like to thank one of my colleagues, who always bakes and brings her best creations to share, which inspired me to write this post! There’s no hard and fast rule to run this bakery, so get innovative in the comments below!

Unique Value Proposition

We provide you the freshest baked artisan bread and pastry, right in the comfort of your homes!

We deliver this UVP through a DIY kit of ingredients. Furthermore, this kit comes with a recipe, so you can replicate the best bakes, right in the comfort of your own kitchen.

Customer Segments

Younger people, who have picked up the hobby of baking, while they spend more time at home, are our potential customers. A large proportion are likely females, who may value surprises a lot.

Key Partners

The core partners of the business are Bakers, Patisseries and Chefs, whom we can co-innovate with. These partners will be key to develop the recipes which are not only wallet-friendly, but also easy to execute in the kitchen.

Key Activities

Some key activities includes prospecting for sales to customers, as well as enrolling more professional F&B veterans onto the platform.

Key Resources

Online channels for enablement and distribution of recipes.

Supply and logistics network, which impacts the fulfilment of the orders.

Customer Relationship

We may want to consider having a platform, which is necessary for customers to stay excited and expressive. Therefore, creating an Instagram page where customers can showcase their best bakes weekly might be one way to go about it. Furthermore, we can run contests on the Instagram page, for customers to showcase their own creations, stand a chance to be featured on our Instagram, and win exclusive prices.

Channels

An omni-channel approach could be taken, which consists of both online and offline channels.

We could have a website and application for e-commerce transactions. This can be supplemented with Instagram, which trends among the young people.

We could do offline marketing at partner bakeries, where there may be foot traffic but not too many buyers due to hygiene concerns. By including a QR code to purchase our baking tools and ingredients online, the expertise in the physical bakeries will not go to waste.

Cost

You will incur the following costs:

Cost of goods sold, basically to simply put it, the cost of the raw materials in the ingredients.

Platform fees to maintain your website.

Transportation and Supply chain, which is essential in bringing your products to the consumer.

Marketing expenditure is also one of the costs which are incurred.

(Rental does not apply in this case, as this business is more logistical and taps on the capital investment of existing F&B establishments.)

Revenue

You can consider these revenue streams:

Per Unit Sales Model, where customers can order through a system.

Subscription model, where customers enrol in a monthly membership to be surprised with new recipes every week!

Advertisement revenue, which can be gotten through sponsored recipes with larger businesses, for instance Gardenia or Sunshine Bread factory in Singapore.

At last, this is a DIY Bakery business summarised in one page! Do let us know if this worked for you!

Are you interested in exploring other business ideas? Please drop us a note at businessmodel@tanweixiang.com.

If you liked reading about this post, do follow us on our LinkedIn Page. You may also like to build your own ramen restaurant, hair salon or photo studio!

Image Credits: Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash