The Following Are Three Excerpts from a Business Plan for the Beautiful

question 37

Essay

The following are three excerpts from a business plan for The Beautiful Dog, a food truck that serves gourmet hot dogs (including vegetarian options) on a public thoroughfare near a high-enrollment college campus. Identify which section of the business plan each excerpt comes from, and explain your reasoning.
Excerpt #1:
The Beautiful Dog will be a welcome addition to the College Avenue community, which already sees 8 to 10 food trucks lined up on a typical day, include Bodacious Burgers, Terrific Tacos, Very Vegetarian, Tantalizing Thai, Perfect Pizza, and Champ's Chunkalicious Chicken. The Beautiful Dog will have a strong market position as the only food truck that serves hot dogs, which national market research has shown is the third most popular fast food in the United States. Our ideal customers are students, faculty members, and other members of the college community who need a quick bite to eat in between classes and on their way to their other responsibilities. Because our hot dogs are boiled, we will be able to serve people much more quickly than our competitors who cook their food to order, such as Bodacious Burgers and Tantalizing Thai.
Excerpt #2:
The Beautiful Dog has a very strong position with regard to pricing. The fast-food market expects to pay higher prices for hamburgers and chicken; moderate prices for pizza; and low prices for tacos and hot dogs. We will therefore be priced at the low end of the scale, making our products more affordable to college students, who are often on tight budgets. We have already begun tweeting at @TheBeautifulDog, and our Facebook page is up and running. We are gaining hundreds of new followers per day, and we will use the Facebook page not only to advertise our special "Dog of the Day" but also to reward our followers with special deals that they can get by saying the "Magic Dog Word of the Day."
Excerpt #3:
We expect that The Beautiful Dog will have an operating loss for the first three months as we purchase equipment and get the food truck up and running. In months three to six, we expect to break even as we pay off some of our start-up costs. By month seven, we expect to turn a profit of $8,000 per month. Thereafter, we expect profits as follows: $9,000 per month during the months that school in session full time (January through May, September through November); $5,000 per month during the summer, when there are fewer students on campus (June through August); and $2,000 in December, when the cold weather and the holiday break combine to greatly lower foot traffic past the food truck.

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Definitions:

Recruiting Programs

Initiatives or plans designed to attract and select suitable candidates for job positions within an organization.

Employee Development

The process by which an organization invests in improving the skills, knowledge, and abilities of its workforce.

Human Capital

Represents the skills, knowledge, and experience possessed by an individual or population, viewed in terms of their value or cost to an organization or country.

Consulting Firms

Organizations composed of experts or consultants who provide professional advice or services to other businesses or individuals in various fields.