Venture Concept No. 1

As a student in ENT 3003, I have thought of a concept for a new venture. My concept is a new restaurant for brunch in Gainesville. I believe this restaurant should be within walking distance of campus, and should be accessible to students and residents alike.

I believe the students of the University of Florida need a new place to eat breakfast and lunch (brunch). Most of the places we have in Gainesville to eat brunch are not within walking distance, which means that students have to move cars from valuable parking spots. Also, most of the brunch restaurants have really long lines. I believe that if more brunch spots are opened, the clientele will be dispersed and lines will therefore be shorter.

Students are currently going to places like Peach Valley and The Flying Biscuit for brunch, however I believe my restaurant, Bacon and Biscuits, will be a much more convenient option. I think that the students of UF are pretty loyal to the places they already go, but I believe the ability to walk to the restaurant will sway their opinions.

The opportunity to open a brunch restaurant is a pretty big one. Brunch is a big deal these days, and a lot of students and families go on the weekends- even weekdays. I think the window of opportunity will be open for a long while. Breakfast food never really goes out of style!

My “innovation” will be the restaurant, Bacon and Biscuits. I would open this restaurant close to campus, probably midtown. Meals would be $8-12, depending on what you order, and appetizers would be less. I think I would also sell dry ingredient mixes, like biscuit mix and fritter mix, in local grocery stores, if the business does well. That was the venture that I added to my Amazon Whisperer page, and I think the dry ingredients would sell, if the business was already in good shape!

As I said before, I believe my customers will switch to my restaurant because it is within walking distance of campus. I also hope they will switch for the environment that I will provide, casual and trendy. I think word of mouth will really help get the majority of people to switch to my restaurant. A happy, helpful staff will be really important!

The competitors of Bacon and Biscuits are, as I said before, Peach Valley, The Flying Biscuit, and, recently, The Swamp Restaurant, which has opened for breakfast on Sundays. I believe Swamp has some weaknesses in this area as it is typically used as a bar, and isn’t really a clean, morning type environment. Most people probably won’t want to eat brunch at a bar, if they had another restaurant that they could walk to. Beyond this, Swamp is only open on Sundays, which is kind of a let down for people who want a good Saturday or weekday brunch. I believe that Peach Valley and The Flying Biscuit also have the weakness of distance from campus. As I said before, people really hate moving their cars.

I think customer support is going to be a huge factor in the success of Bacon and Biscuits. I myself am a loyal customer to Peach Valley, and do not usually agree to go to Flying Biscuit, even though I am sure it is just as good. I need this kind of customer support and loyalty if Bacon and Biscuits is going to thrive as a business.

I would need a staff of chefs, waiters/waitresses, hostesses/hosts, and management in order for this restaurant to run smoothly. These people are going to need to work well under pressure, be customer oriented individuals, and need to maintain an optimistic attitude. The size of the restaurant and customer base would define how many employees I truly need.

I believe my most valuable resource in developing this restaurant would be the chefs at my sorority. They would be able to teach me so much about what students like to eat for brunch, what “sells” best, menu suggestions, and how to deal with cooking for large groups.

Also, as I said previously, I really would like to sell dry ingredient mixes at local groceries, if the business takes off. I think it would be an added way to increase profits, as well as another way to increase customer loyalty. People that really like the restaurant will be inclined to buy the mixes to make at home!

If this venture really takes off, I would like to franchise, or at least open more Bacon and Biscuits in Gainesville. Beyond this, I could potentially look at other restaurant ventures in different culinary areas.