THE RED CRAB GROUP: Developing Multi-Brand Restaurant Concepts - Alvin Bilolo
Situation Analysis
It
is thus very evident that the red crab group grew successfully as time
goes by. From the small beginnings of a restaurant in Clark, Pampanga
that caters food to high-end casino players and ‘high rollers,’ they are
now conquering the market with different restaurant concepts lying in
one goal and mission – to be known as a seafood restaurant. The concept
and determination of Raymond Magdaluyo to be known as such and not just
Filipino or Asian restaurant drives the group of company into a huge
success. There are a lot of factors that contributes to where the
company is right now and those factors are worth evaluating and studying
for.
Problem Analysis
Like
any other businesses, the Red Crab group undergoes a lot of challenges
and difficulties while the operation of their business in on-going. They
have started several restaurants without studying their market first.
They haven’t position their business in the market. There is indeed a
problem on positioning and knowing the target market. One factor that
could contribute to their instant success in their early stage of
development is that food industry is actually booming in the
Philippines. Whenever there are new restaurants in town, a lot of people
are willing to try it to see if it is good. The challenge is on how to
retain your market and find ways to sustain and let your business fully
grow.
Raymond
himself acknowledges that he needs to position his restaurant first. It
is indeed true for any businesses. There are a lot of things that
should be considered while starting/opening and running a business.
Raymond admits that he lacks market research and this somehow
contributes to the decline in sales of his restaurant for a while. The
good thing is that he was able to identify his lapses quickly and find
alternatives and solutions to address them.
Alternative Generation
Raymond
tried repositioning his restaurants. As an entrepreneur, it is true
that we need to know first how we want to be branded in the market. In a
simpler parlance, we must really know who we are first before we market
ourselves. We need to know our vision and mission. In this case, they
wanted to be branded as a ‘crab and seafood restaurant.’ This is a
challenge for the company since they can easily be associated as a
Filipino or Asian restaurant, but with their moves, they have proven and
let the people see that they are a ‘crab and seafood restaurant.’
Another
move that the company did is to give what their clients wanted. For the
Greenbelt 3, they conceptualized a new seafood restaurant fitted with
the place. For Rockwell, they made a mixture of Asian seafood cuisines
since it is the demand of the place. This is a good strategy though they
really need to do a sort of research to cater the need of the crowd.
This greatly affects their success since they give what the market
needs. In business, you should either give what your market needs or
tempt them to like what you are offering them.
The
restaurant also emphasize that they are not just selling crabs, rather
they are selling experience. It is worthy to note that people patronize
your restaurant not just because they love your products but also
because they have a satisfying experience with what you are offering.
They
also did an extensive product development and market research to create
a great menu for each restaurant that they have. This is a very
important thing to do when we are having our business. We should never
stop innovation. There must always be something new for the market. Our
customers should be surprised with what we can offer them – an
extraordinary service for very valuable customers.
Another
important thing is the price positioning. As we define our market, we
must also evaluate the prices of our products/services fitted for our
market. This is true for the Red Crab group since they have different
concepts and different prices which depend on the market where their
restaurants are situated.
Decision Analysis
All
alternatives enumerated above are helpful for the growth and success of
Red Crab group. But above all else, I believe that the key factor to
success of their business, and any other businesses, is that everyone
should know what their vision or mission is. Every owner and even
employee should live and act within their vision and mission. They
should be moving forward in one vision. They should know who they are
and reposition their business based on this accordingly. If vision and
mission is clear, I believe the rest of the strategies will follow.
Action Analysis
In
this case, Raymond determines their vision and mission which is focused
on being the crab and seafood restaurant chain. They have the vision of
being the top crab and seafood restaurant chain in the country. This
vision and mission drive them to achieve their goals. They improve their
industry and set standards that will last for generations. All
businesses should thus have a fuel that will push them to do beyond what
is expected of them.
