Case study – Unit one: Small business (answering using PINCC)
The case study
Sarma’s Café is a small café that specialises in exotic coffees sourced from around the world. The café business has one shop located near a busy town centre. There are several other cafés in the area. However, none shares the same unique selling point.
At the moment, Sarma does not have a website and has only just started taking payment by card. However, all orders have to be taken at the till in the shop before they can be processed, and customers have no option for delivery.
Sarma has recently decided that due to an increase in demand and promising financial performance, she would like to grow the café business. She is currently considering opening new premises, opening a website and online app, starting a delivery service and starting to sell food. Sarma has been conducting some market research and is trying to decide the best option to grow her business.
Example answers
One method of analysing a case study is called PINCC: product, industry, customers and competitors.
In the above case study, we can see that:
- the product is exotic coffee
- the industry is the café and coffee industry
- the customers are most likely people of all ages above 16
- the competitors are the several other cafés in the area
Question
Outline one method Sarma’s Café uses to add value to the business.
A (high - 1 mark): Sarma uses the unique selling point of ‘exotic coffee’ to add value to her café business.
Question
Explain how Sarma’s Café could benefit from opening a website and online app.
A (low - 1 mark): Sarma’s could benefit from opening a website and online app by getting more customers, because more people would see the business. This would bring more customers.
A (high - 2 marks): Sarma’s Café would benefit by providing customers with an easier method of ordering because it would be more convenient. This would mean customers no longer had to queue at the till when in the busy town centre, leading to further customers.
