The ups and downs of the economy are known as the business cycle. This cycle has several phases. The owner of your restaurant chain will give an overview of what happens during each phase and what decisions you must consider during each part.
Phase I
The economy is going up because more people are buying and selling goods and services. Your franchise has been selling more and more throughout the last few months. We would like to keep our productivity going with a new advertising campaign.
Research your company’s roots and come up with a new logo and motto that fit with its history and or geography. The logo and motto should be appealing to your main consumers. Use this website in order to see what other companies do to attract consumers attention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Restaurant_logos
Phase II
We are now in a boom period for the economy. Your franchise is producing and selling at full capacity. You are now prepared to expand your business in order to better serve your customers. You must make the choice to invest in seating for your restaurant or expanding the menu of your restaurant. No matter your decision, you will have a trade-off. To learn more about what a trade-off is, click here. Also, check out what McDonald's has done to improve their restaurant through the years.
http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/trade-off
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcd_history.html?DCSext.destination=http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_company/mcd_history.html
Make your choice based on what you think will increase the productivity of your company the most.
Phase III
The economy is now starting to slow from its big boom period. The restaurant is not as full every night and we are looking at cutting back our production. This of course means that we must also look at cutting back our staff since our production will be less. No one ever wants to send a worker to unemployment, but in this case, it is a good possibly. We have hit the recession and must get by where we can. Inflation has affected the demand of our customers, in turn this will affect our supply. We must also look at all other costs in the budget to see where we can trim our excess costs. For the last three months, our average sales have been ten percent lower than our budget. You must cut the budget you are given by ten percent. It must fall from $5,038 to $4,534.20 in order to keep your business running. For some tips on where to cut, see what this website recommends.
http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/education/restaurant-operations/create-use-budget.aspx
Phase IV
We have now passed the recession and luckily there was no depression. The economy is once again looking up and we are looking to start another franchise. However, this time we are looking to invest in a different country than the United States. You may invest in any country of the world, but must take many things into consideration to make this decision. A country’s sources of wealth and GDP should be considered to see if that country is economically sound for a restaurant franchise. The country’s scarcity of resources, specialization, and culture must be discussed and thought about before making a final decision. This is how McDonald's chooses to vary its menu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_products_%28international%29
Once you have made a decision on a country, you should design one meal to be served in that country.
