The business plan I chose to do a SWOT analysis on, is a desert bakery business plan called Rutabaga Sweets. This is a very well written business plan that was obviously thoroughly thought out. Rutabaga Sweets is a desert bar and bakery located in Washington DC. This bakery has an interesting twist on what people may think of a normal bakery. I will be conducting a SWOT analysis by providing information about the business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It will explain the health of the business, problems the business venture may face, as well as, ideas that might improve this business venture.
Some strengths in this business venture are, it is a sole proprietorship. Which means there is only one owner, and they are responsible for any liabilities, or cash made by this business. Another strength to this business, is that it is not just a regular bakery. Customers can go in and eat there, and watch their food be prepared, or customers can call in and pre-order deserts for parties and things. This bakery also, offers cooking classes and clubs. These strengths will attract customers, and create many sales.
Opportunities in this business are, Washington DC has the perfect climate for a business like this, and Washington DC residents spend more money dining out than anywhere else in the country. Therefore, Rutabaga Sweets should have plenty of opportunity. Washington DC may have a lot of bakeries, ice cream shops, and coffee places, but no place is quite like Rutabaga Sweets with their cooking classes and such. This business model does have some weaknesses when deeply reviewed. The owner of this business will not hire many people for help, but whomever the owner does hire will only be hire on a part time schedule.
This might be a setback, because not many people are going to only want to be hired on a part time basis. The owner will also be hiring a chef instead going to school and learning how to bake herself. If she did the baking herself she would ultimately make more money, because she would not have to pay the chef she hires. Lastly, I saw nothing about advertising. There should have been something in there about advertisements. Potential threat of this business are having to come up with the $300,000 to start the business. This is a lot of money, and what if the business is not successful? That would be quite a loss.
Another threat, is the product pricing. In the business plan nothing was mentioned on prices, but I would assume that the prices of the product would have to be mark high, because of hiring a chef for the work. They would have to price them high to make any profit. In conclusion, this business plan will certainly strengthen the business. This business model was well thought out, and seems like it will be a very successful business. A bakery like this has much opportunity in the economy of today. There are some weaknesses and threats in this business plan, but with some minor changes the bakery is bound to expand and be successful.
