The Santa Fe Grill Mexican restaurant was started 18 months ago by two former business students...

 

Transcribed Image Text:

The Santa Fe Grill Mexican restaurant was started 18 months ago by two former business students at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They had been roommates in college and both wanted to become entrepreneurs. After graduating they wanted to start a business instead of working for someone else. The students worked in restaurants while attending college, both as waiters and one as an assistant manager, and believed they had the knowledge and experience necessary to start their own business. During their senior year, they prepared a business plan in their entrepreneurship class for a new Mexican restaurant concept. They intended to start the restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska. After a demographic analysis of that market, however, they decided that Lincoln did not match their target demographics as well as they initially thought it would. After researching the demographic and competitive profile of several markets, they decided Dallas, Texas, would be the best place to start their business. In examining the markets, they were looking for a town that would best fit their target market of singles and families in the age range of 18 to 50. The population of Dallas was almost 5.5 million people, of which about 50 percent were between the ages of 25 and 60. This indicated there were a lot of individuals in their target market in the Dallas area. They also found that about 55 percent of the population earns between $35,000 and $75,000 a year, which indicated the market would have enough income to eat out regularly. Finally, 56 percent of the population was married, and many of them had children at home, which was consistent with their target market. More detailed demographic information for the area is shown below. The new restaurant concept was based upon the freshest ingredients, complemented by a festive atmosphere, friendly service, and cutting-edge advertising and marketing strategies. The key would be to prepare and serve the freshest "made-from-scratch" Mexican foods possible. Everything would be prepared fresh every single day. In addition to their freshness concept, they wanted to have a fun, festive atmosphere and fast, friendly service. The atmosphere would be open, brightly lit, and bustling with activity. Their target market would be mostly families with children, between the ages of 18 and 49. Their marketing programs would be memorable, with the advertising designed to provide an appealing, slightly offbeat positioning in the market. The Santa Fe Grill was not successful as quickly as the owners had anticipated. To improve the restaurant operations, the owners needed to The Santa Fe Grill was not successful as quickly as the owners had anticipated. To improve the restaurant operations, the owners needed to understand what aspects of the restaurant drive customer satisfaction and loyalty, and where they were falling short in serving their customers. So they decided to conduct three surveys. One was designed to obtain information from current customers of the Santa Fe Grill. A second survey would collect information from customers of their primary competitor, Jose's Southwestern Café. The third survey was designed to collect data from the employees who worked for the Santa Fe Grill. They believed the employee survey was important because employee experiences might be affecting how customers evaluated the restaurant. The Santa Fe Grill was located on an outparcel on the east side near the main entrance of the Cumberland Mall. The mall has 75 or more stores and is considered very successful for the area. A market research company was located in the mall so they decided to use a mall intercept approach to collect customer data. Another Mexican restaurant that had been in business longer and appeared to be more successful was also on an outparcel at the same mall, but its location was on the west side of the mall. The goal was to complete interviews with 250 individuals who had recently eaten at the Santa Fe Grill and 150 diners who had recently eaten at Jose's Southwestern Café. Additionally, employees of the Santa Fe Grill were asked to log on to a website to complete the employee survey. Over a period of two weeks, a total of 405 customer interviews were completed-152 for Jose's and 253 for the Santa Fe Grill. Of the employee survey, 77 questionnaires were completed. The owners believe the surveys will help them to identify the restaurant's strengths and weaknesses, enable them to compare their restaurant to a nearby competitor, and develop a plan to improve the restaurant's operations. Based on your own thinking, what type of research will be most helpful to help their business? The Santa Fe Grill Mexican restaurant was started 18 months ago by two former business students at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They had been roommates in college and both wanted to become entrepreneurs. After graduating they wanted to start a business instead of working for someone else. The students worked in restaurants while attending college, both as waiters and one as an assistant manager, and believed they had the knowledge and experience necessary to start their own business. During their senior year, they prepared a business plan in their entrepreneurship class for a new Mexican restaurant concept. They intended to start the restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska. After a demographic analysis of that market, however, they decided that Lincoln did not match their target demographics as well as they initially thought it would. After researching the demographic and competitive profile of several markets, they decided Dallas, Texas, would be the best place to start their business. In examining the markets, they were looking for a town that would best fit their target market of singles and families in the age range of 18 to 50. The population of Dallas was almost 5.5 million people, of which about 50 percent were between the ages of 25 and 60. This indicated there were a lot of individuals in their target market in the Dallas area. They also found that about 55 percent of the population earns between $35,000 and $75,000 a year, which indicated the market would have enough income to eat out regularly. Finally, 56 percent of the population was married, and many of them had children at home, which was consistent with their target market. More detailed demographic information for the area is shown below. The new restaurant concept was based upon the freshest ingredients, complemented by a festive atmosphere, friendly service, and cutting-edge advertising and marketing strategies. The key would be to prepare and serve the freshest "made-from-scratch" Mexican foods possible. Everything would be prepared fresh every single day. In addition to their freshness concept, they wanted to have a fun, festive atmosphere and fast, friendly service. The atmosphere would be open, brightly lit, and bustling with activity. Their target market would be mostly families with children, between the ages of 18 and 49. Their marketing programs would be memorable, with the advertising designed to provide an appealing, slightly offbeat positioning in the market. The Santa Fe Grill was not successful as quickly as the owners had anticipated. To improve the restaurant operations, the owners needed to The Santa Fe Grill was not successful as quickly as the owners had anticipated. To improve the restaurant operations, the owners needed to understand what aspects of the restaurant drive customer satisfaction and loyalty, and where they were falling short in serving their customers. So they decided to conduct three surveys. One was designed to obtain information from current customers of the Santa Fe Grill. A second survey would collect information from customers of their primary competitor, Jose's Southwestern Café. The third survey was designed to collect data from the employees who worked for the Santa Fe Grill. They believed the employee survey was important because employee experiences might be affecting how customers evaluated the restaurant. The Santa Fe Grill was located on an outparcel on the east side near the main entrance of the Cumberland Mall. The mall has 75 or more stores and is considered very successful for the area. A market research company was located in the mall so they decided to use a mall intercept approach to collect customer data. Another Mexican restaurant that had been in business longer and appeared to be more successful was also on an outparcel at the same mall, but its location was on the west side of the mall. The goal was to complete interviews with 250 individuals who had recently eaten at the Santa Fe Grill and 150 diners who had recently eaten at Jose's Southwestern Café. Additionally, employees of the Santa Fe Grill were asked to log on to a website to complete the employee survey. Over a period of two weeks, a total of 405 customer interviews were completed-152 for Jose's and 253 for the Santa Fe Grill. Of the employee survey, 77 questionnaires were completed. The owners believe the surveys will help them to identify the restaurant's strengths and weaknesses, enable them to compare their restaurant to a nearby competitor, and develop a plan to improve the restaurant's operations. Based on your own thinking, what type of research will be most helpful to help their business?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

For the Santa Fe Grill restaurant the following types of research will be most helpful to help their business 1 Market Research Demographic Research U... View the full answer