Principles of Marketing – In Class Assignment 1
The Company: A local, fast food burger restaurant by the name of McFarland’s (very similar to McDonald’s in terms of service, quality, atmosphere, type of food, etc.)
The Assignment: You have been hired by McFarland’s Burgers to conduct a comprehensive SWOT Analysis in order to help grow the company. Your assignment should be researched and sourced, wherever applicable, and typed. (Hint: You should conduct the PEST NDC test as part of your analysis.)
From your research and your SWOT, you will then make recommendations for McFarland’s upper management based on where you see the company’s strengths are, and where you see opportunity in the marketplace. Below is some information about the company to get you started.
note, you cannot add any additional information about the company. You may ONLY use the information presented below. You will, however, be expected to research external trends currently going on in the fast food industry to identify opportunities and threats.
Information about McFarland’s (the company):
McFarland’s is a local landmark in the city of West Palm Beach. The restaurant only has one location on the corner of Military and Okeechobee, and is known for its large “M” outside the building. McFarland’s is owned by its founders, Jennifer and Stuart McFarland who started the business 12 years ago. Jenn and Stu don’t have any formal training in owning a restaurant, but they have been able to survive in the highly competitive restaurant business for more than 12 years. The restaurant is known for having burgers and shakes that are described as “decent” by some of its customers and similar to the quality of McDonald’s. In fact, the restaurant is very similar to McDonald’s, but has nowhere near the resources and brand recognition as its largest rival. The company has been trying to be innovative by putting money in research and development of several new low carb foods on the menu, however, these items haven’t been very popular with the restaurant’s client base. The restaurant did have some trouble when it first started in that is received some bad press with a few bad food reviews and then was closed for a short time period by the local Food Administration. Since this time, Jenn and Stu McFarland have invested more of their personal finances (and finances are running thin) in employee training and facility management. But since this is a family owned business, the McFarland’s only pay its employees minimum wage, which usually results in young employees and high turnover rates. McFarland’s tried to open a second location approximately 6 years ago, but had to close the second location, which was near Clematis, due to escalating rent costs. Additionally, the cost of doing business has also increased over the years with gas prices, rent, and operational costs continuing to go up. However, some of the major equipment such as the broiler has been paid off over the 12 years, but the facility overall is relatively basic with basic cash registers and no drive thru lane. Also, in terms of facility, the restaurant is relatively small, but there is room for expansion on the lot if zoning permits. Currently, the restaurant is open 6 days a week, Monday thru Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (and is closed on major holidays). So where does the company go from here?
