economics report final

SCHOOL OFARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND

DESIGNFOUNDATION IN NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

REPORT TITLE: A Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of Similar Industry in Different Geographical Locations

GROUP MEMBERS: LOH MUN TONG (0323680)

TAN JIA SAN (0322406)

ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151)

CALVIN WONG PING KET (0322481)

KIEW CHEE YUAN (0323297)

PRINCIPLE OF ECONOMICS (ECN 30205)LECTURER: MS. TAY SHIR MENSUMMISION & PRESENTATION DATE: 19 JANUARY 2016

LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN WONG PING KET (0322481) l KIEW CHEE YUAN (0323297)

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TABLE OF CONTENT

TOPIC PAGE

KEY SUMMARY 3

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESSES 4 - 5

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE 6 - 17BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS

RECOMMENDATION 18

APPENDICES 19 - 42

REFERENCE 43


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Key SummaryTo deepen our understanding towards our local dessert house

businesses, as a team we researched and interviewed 2 businesses of similar industry in different geographical locations.

Sweet Hug house has been operating for almost 3 years. The founders of this dessert house are a pair of loving couple, Mr and Mrs Ng. It is a renowned shop lot in the state of Perak. It has also been the favourites of many families for a place of good food throughout the area.

On the other hand, Haraju Cube was founded by two ambitious young adult a year ago. It is a brightly-lit renowned cafe in Petaling Jaya, located at one of the shop lots in Empire Damansara. This unique cafe serves one of the best honey toasts in town based on the Japanese Shibuya-style honey toast.

Different environments and other external factors lead to different business outcomes when business such as these two firms are compared and which leads to a series of analytical research that we, as a team had done.


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Brief Description of Haraju CubeHaraju Cube, listed as the best dessert shop in Klang Valley, gained their

popularity from their unique taste of Japanese honey toast. After Shibuya-style Japanese honey toast has generated long queues in Tokyo, Taiwan and Thailand, Haraju Cube founders Daichi Fukuzato and Kent Ong decided that it is high time to introduce this Japanese treat to Malaysian. Nowadays, any Food and Beverage will think of a cool different name to make it on the market to attract customers. Since the founders are Japanese, they decided to use a Japanese name. “Haraju” came from “Harajuku” which is a location in Japan where the young and teenagers dress in their own fashions they invent themselves, or cosplay outfit. While honey toast is in cube size, so they named their shop as “Haraju Cube”. It is located at 103 Level 1, Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Jalan PJU 8/8, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor , Malaysia. The brightly-lit café has cheerful yellow and white walls, huge windows and minimalist furnishings. Haraju Cube has run their business for almost one year, it is still fresh, and therefore they do not have any branches. They currently have 12 employees helping to run their business. The main product of Haraju Cube is Caramel Honey toast because teenagers nowadays like to eat sweet things. Caramel Honey toast is a huge and thick toast, laced with whipped cream, crowned with generous scoop of ice cream. Cutting through the edge of the toast to reveal 8 pieces cubed toast which is actually the “filling” of the hollowed square toast. As we know that Haraju Cube is a famous dessert shop which attracts many teenagers and families. Their estimated customers in one day exceeds 150 customers, during weekends, many customers have to queue up to visit the shop because they have limited seats and it is crowded. The business started during December, 2014. The founders, Kent and Daichi were learning pastry in Japan before they start the business. They decided to start this business because they have a background of culinary and they want to try their best to show people their passion on desserts. Furthermore, they also know that teenagers nowadays have an obsession with desserts. The founders


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mentioned that they still want to focus on their first shop and improve so they do not plan to open any branches at this moment.

Brief Description of Sweet Hug HouseThe business that we have decided to interview is a dessert café that is

located at Kampar named Sweet Hug House. The Sweet Hug House is currently located at 2236, Jalan Batu Sinar, Taman Bandar Baru 31900 Kampar, Perak. This business started since 18th November 2012. This business is founded by a pair of couple, Mr. Ng Kam Wai and his wife, Mrs. Ng. Before Mr. Ng found this business, he was working in the field of hotel management in overseas and local. In Malaysia, he worked at Genting Highland Hotel for three years. In oversea, he worked at a six-star hotel, Star World Hotel for around ten years which located at Macau. Mr. Ng and Mrs. Ng decided to move back to Kampar and operate a dessert shop because of their kids’ education and to earn for a living.

Their shop signature dessert are the cheesecakes, chocolate lava, and fondue. In order to earn more profit for the business, they also sell main course and beverages. Their signature main course included honey chicken chop and black pepper lamb chop while the signature beverages are coffee.

Mr. Ng stated that 50% of their customers are local families, 30% of are students who came to Kampar for further studies at UTAR, and 20% of them are mostly Malays and Indians. The number of customer will change throughout the year. Mr. Ng estimated that they will have average of 100 customer per month if the month is not festive season. For the peak season month, they estimated to have average of 200 customers. Other than that, Mr. Ng hired a total of five full-timer which one is supervisor and the rest are waitress.

Mr. Ng spent a total of RM 100,000 as business’s capital to start up the business. The business has an annual revenue of roughly RM100, 000 per year. Mr Ng said that he still has no further planning to open branch yet.

The business will change their homemade recipes every two to three months in order to adapt customers’ needs and attract more customers. The


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business future goals are to improve their business and open one more branch at another area.

Comparative Analysis of the Businesses’ Competitive Traits

Haraju Cube

Haraju Cube is located in Empire Damansara which is the heart of Damansara Perdana in Petaling Jaya. It is situated in a prime location in Petaling Jaya and

can be accessible easily from different directions through many major highways It is just minutes away from the prestigious and affluent districts such

as Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bandar Utama and Mutiara Damansara, Empire Damansara’s Heritage Lane houses a variety of F&B outlets catered for both

the young and the old alike. Therefore, it encounters severe competition with many other dessert shops.

The top 3 competitors of Haraju Cube are Cat in the Box, Metal Box and Seven Cups. They are all located in the same building as Haraju Cube which is Empire

Damansara.


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Competitor 1: Cat in the Box

Everything found in this place is made from scratch, from their Callebaut Chocolate sauce all the way to hearty pies. Dig into their Chicken & Potato Pie for a comfort, hearty meal. With crust not too thick, its savory pie has generous fillings, which is a good replacement for one’s lunch. Their signature is Callebaut Mocha Brownie with Fat Baby’s Ice Cream. Homemade not too sweet brownies topped with a scoop of Fat Baby’s Salted Caramel.Location: Empire Damansara (first floor)

Competitor 2: Metal Box

Metal Box is a place where patrons flock faithfully to for their meals be in breakfast, brunch or tea. Metal-box’s baked eggs is usually the crowd favourite, 2 free range eggs with slices of chicken breast, chicken sausages and potatoes baked beautifully and served with 2 pieces of sourdough bread. The whole combination is palatable and a suitable comfort food. One can also dig into their Specialty French Toast, French toast pan seared till golden brown and served berries and a shot of gula Melaka. This dish will definitely end one’s meal on a SWEET note.

Location: G12, Empire Damansara


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Competitor 3: Seven Cups

A crowd favourite for a cuppa of Joe when one is in the vicinity. Dig into their best seller, the French Butter & Maple Syrup Waffles. Classic waffles out of the hot iron, with a slab of French butter on the side, drizzled with maple syrup. The waffles were nicely done, fragrant batter and not too soggy nor crispy. The Lescure French butter that came with the waffles was just so creamy and buttery. Order a chocolatey cup of Iced Chocolate or Iced Latte to go with that waffles.

Location: Jalan PJU 8/8, Damansara Perdana

Strategies Employed by Haraju Cube to compete with Competitors

Haraju-Cube dishes out their famous Shibuya honey toasts. Each toast is baked separately, with an outer layer of thick toast and 8 mini toast cubes hidden inside. Since the mini toasts are added with honey and butter, do expect a sugar rush moment. The outer layer toast is thick, whereas the mini toasts on the inside are warm, fluffy and soft. It claims to use special ingredients and its uniqueness in taste and texture make it stands out compared to others.

Haraju Cube is also known of its flavoursome speciality of milk mixed with the cafe's own-made butterscotch & caramel which only serve at RM8.90 each.

Although the entire café is not spacious but it exudes a cosy and relaxing ambience for casual gathering. The interior of the café is decorated with lots of wooden elements in light tone, coupled well

white walls and highlights of yellow for colour contrast. The decorations are minimal, with potted plants on shelves hanging from wall. Ample of natural lights flow through the French window during


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daytime. Therefore, it serves as a good place to take good shots of photography and also their worthy desserts. This strategy has attracted many blogger to visit the store.

Sweet Hug House

Sweet Hug House is located in Taman Bandar Baru, Kampar, Perak. For these few year, Kampar has been listed as one of the vast development towns in Malaysia. These developed infrastructure has provide convenience to the local residents in Kampar. However, the main purpose of the increasing number of shop lots in Kampar is to provide entertainment and convenience to the college student who stays around there. Kampar has become a bustling education hub after University Tunku Abdul Rahman has set up. Therefore, college students became one of their important source of income.

The top 3 competitors of Sweet Hug House are Super Soya Beancurd, Bread Espresso Dessert and JJ café. These stores are all located at a walking distance within Taman Bandar Baru and each of the business having their own unique characteristics to operate their business.


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Competitor 1: Super Soya Beancurd

The Super Soya Beancurd’s beancurd is rather smooth, full of soya smell. The whole menu is variety of topping for the taufufa. There are so many choices and the variety of topping that work well with beancurd. The almond with raisin topping is one of the popular menu of Super Soya Beancurd. The almond was crispy and blended nicely with the beancurd.

Location: Super soya beancurd located at 414, Jalan Perak 4 Taman Bandar Baru, Kampar.

Competitor 2: Bread Espresso Dessert

The BED café, short for Bread, Espresso, Dessert, is quite a cute and unusual name for a cafe. Bread Espresso Dessert (B.E.D.) specializes in freshly-brewed coffee; decorated with coffee art by a self-taught barista to lift that aesthetic element beyond the usual cup of coffee served in conventional cafes. For desserts, Creme Brulee and Banana Frangipane. The Frangipane is derivative from custard tart, usually flavoured with almonds/pistachio. Filling may vary as the coconut version, whereas besides the banana, the cherry and blueberry version are also available. Slightly above average, the banana complemented well with the crumbly pastry which is not too sweet. As creme brulee literally means Burnt Cream, the coarse brown sugar at the top surface is usually caramelized with a torch.

Location: No 3, Medan Istana 6, Bandar Ipoh Raya, Ipoh, Perak 3000, MalaysiaCompetitor 3: JJ Café

Competitor 3 ： JJ café

The café may have different concepts within, rest assured that JJ café brims with life and rainbows of colours where corners are filled with the owner’s personal touches like teddy bears, funky yellow piano, travel books and souvenirs from overseas. JJ café probably has the most unique chairs in town where the chairs come in velvet fabric, Dalmatian dots and leopard prints. The signature dessert of JJ café is durian mille crepe, the smooth crepes were thin and layered delicately over one another with rich of durian.Location: 116F, Jalan Raja Permaisuri Bainun, 30250 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

http://www.beanhunter.com/malaysia/perak/ipoh/ipoh/bread-espresso-dessert/map



http://www.facebook.com/BreadEspressoDessert

http://www.facebook.com/BreadEspressoDessert

Strategies Employed by Sweet Hug House to compete with Competitor s


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The prices of the desserts are set as reasonable and affordable to the customers.

During festival season, Sweet Hut House always change their decoration to coordinate the trend of public. The beautiful decoration attracted a lot of customers come to celebrate the festival.


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Besides that, the unique homemade recipe enable Sweet Hug House become outstanding at the area, all of the ingredients and dessert are developed by the owner, Mr Ng. The ingredients and dessert are limited produce every day in order to ensure the freshness and unique taste of food. Also to adapt the needs of customers, Sweet Hut House will change their menu every 2 to 3 months to ensure that customers will come back to consume again.

Sweet Hut House provides good quality of services to their customers. Although the shop already have enough worker to serve customers, the owners are still uphold with their workers to serve customers together. The workers there are always serve the customer politely, treat the customers just like their family. The order come fast and correctly according to customer’s needs.


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Obstacles faced by new business who wish to enter the market

A new business which wish to enter the market normally will faced intense competition. As there are many famous dessert shop in the market, it would be a great challenge for them to survive in this market. If they do not stand a chance to compete with others, their business probably would not

sustain for a year or even six months. In addition, it will be difficult for the new business to earn the customers loyalty because they just started to enter the

market. Many customer prefer to remain at the old shop rather than trying out new things. Moreover, the lack of capital is another obstacle that is normally

faced by new business that enter this industry. Most of the new business does not have enough capital to maintain their shop for the first few month because

they lack of experience in running the business.

Nature of marketBoth of the dessert shops are in a monopolistic competitive market.

There are a lot of dessert shops in the same area, which creates lots of competitors to against with them. The dessert shops have weak barriers to entry the market. This means once entrepreneurs acquired the technique of making dessert then the new firms are able to enter and exit the market freely. Besides, the dessert shops have weak pricing power, because they have no ability to charge a higher price than the market price unreasonably. This will cause their customer to turn to other competitors. Therefore, having a good quality food with reasonable prices will bring back trustworthy customers.


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Summary Table of the Similarities between Both Businesses

Sweet Hug House Similarities Haraju-CubeLead by owner Leader Lead by owner

Ng Kam Wai Main Founder Daichi Fukuzato1 Number of Founder 10 Number of Branch 01 Number of Shop 1

Expand size of shop Future Business Plan Expand size of shop

Summary Table of the Differences between Both BusinessesSweet Hug House Differences Haraju-cube

2236 Jalan Batu Sinar (Taman Bandar Baru), 31900 Kampar, Perak

Location 103 Level 1, Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana, Jalan PJU 8/8, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor

RM 100,000 Amount of Starting Capital

RM 200,000

Around RM 100,000 Annual Revenue Around RM 216,000

5 Number of Employee 12

4 Number of Competitors

3

50% families, 30% students, 20% Malay & Indian

Targeted Customers Young generation

Lack of publicity Obstacles Faced Production preparation, number of customers exceeded their expectations

Difficult to keep the ingredients as they have to be fresh

Chocolate lava fondue, Homemade Cheesecake

Special Dishes Honey Toast


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Based on our analysis, Haraju Cube is more commercially successful. There are a few aspects to support this statement. First, is the location of Haraju Cube. Haraju cube is located in Empire Damansara. Empire Damansara is a new mixed development which aims to satisfy both business and lifestyle needs. Therefore, it houses with both residential area and commercial area in one place. Besides, the location of Empire Damansara is better than other location as it is closer to Mutiara Damansara where one can access plenty of amenities easily and also has a close proximity to the entry and exit point. In addition, the location itself can be assessable from different other directions through many highways. Nonetheless, this has become one of the biggest attractions of Haraju Cube. Next is the aspect of income, in the table above, we can see that Sweet Hug House required RM100K for their starting capital while Haraju Cube require approximately RM200k, however, Haraju Cube gain approximately RM216k for their annual revenue while Sweet Hug House only has RM100K. From this we can conclude that Sweet Hug House did not experience any profit or loss but Haraju Cube is gaining profit in the business. To wrap up our analysis, Haraju Cube is more successful than Sweet Hug House.

Recommendation LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN

WONG PING KET (0322481) l KIEW CHEE YUAN (0323297)

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Based on the analysis that we have done the research regarding the two dessert shop, Haraju Cube and Sweet Hug House, we have proposed a few recommendation to further improve and expand their competiveness in the future.

One of the biggest obstacles faced by Haraju Cube is that their product takes a long period of preparations. Therefore, they can hire more number of workers to reduce workload and increase their productivity. This way they can earn more profit and be able to expand their business in the future. Besides that, the number of customers have exceed their expectation. The possible way for them to solve this problem is to open another branch to separate the amount of customers. With this, they can solve the problem of not having enough tables for the customer and also earn more income. In the interview, the owner of Haraju Cube also mentioned that is it very difficult for them to keep the ingredients fresh. They focus on quality over quantity. One of the way that could be the possible solution to solve this problem is to expand their business. As they expand their business, they would be able to have more customer. This way the ingredient will be used more often and finished faster. They would be able to use up their ingredients when they were still fresh.

For Sweet Hug House, the obstacle that they faced is the lack of publicity. They can have more advertisement to attract more customer from the area around them. The other obstacle that is faced is the number of customer they have is not stable as more of the students will have their semester break which cause less customer that period of time. To overcome that they should do more promotion, such as, using online promotion code and promotion set for their dessert.

Appendices Appendix 1:


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Interview Questions

1. When was the business founded?

2. Who are the key founders

3. What type of business plan did you employ to operate your business?

4. What prompted the founder to start this business?

5. What are your main products or services provided?

6. Who are your customers? ( age , group , income level, education level)

7. What is your annual revenue?

8. How many employees do you have currently?

9. What is your estimated current number of customers

10.Your recent development? (What has the business accomplished, what changes had occurred?)

11.Why do you choose to sell desserts?

12.What is the uniqueness between your desserts and many others?

13.What is your Future development?

14.What difficulties you had face running this business?

15.Who are your competitors?

16.How do you compete with your competitors (what strategies do you employ to divert customers away from your competitor?

17.How much capital is required to start this business?

18.Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?

19.Where do you see your business in the next year? In the next five years? The next ten years?

20.What do you most attribute your success? What would say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?

Appendix 2:

Transcript (Haraju Cube): Daichi Fukuzato Kent Ong

Q: When was the business founded? LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN


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A: Mid-December 2014

Q: Who are the key founders?A: Daichi Fukuzato and Kent Ong

Q: What type of business plan did you employ to operate your business?A: We apply our culinary knowledge learned in Japan to the making of our desserts.

Q: What prompted the founder to start this business?A: To bring Japanese culture (Japanese dessert) to Malaysia.

Q: What are your main products or services provided?A: Shibuya Honey Toast

Q: Who are your customers? (Age, group, income level, education level)A: Mostly are the younger generations. For instance, teenagers and college students.

Q: What is your annual revenue?A: Our Monthly income is RM18k, therefore annual revenue is around RM216k

Q: How many employees do you have currently?A: There are total of 12 workers in our shop

Q: What is your estimated current number of customers?A: Approximately 150 customers daily

Q: Your recent development? (What has the business accomplished, what changes had occurred?)A: We have produced a new product recently which is the honey cheese tart.


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Q: Why do you choose to sell desserts? A: Our background prompted us into this field as both of us are major in the culinary field. Besides, we also wanted to share to people about our ideas in desserts and to show people what we can do.

Q: What is the uniqueness between your desserts and many others? A: The quality of the ingredients we used is different from other desserts shops, we only use good quality in our desserts. Moreover, we do not sell same type of desserts as well as beverages compared to other dessert shops.

Q: What is your Future development? A: Not sure yet as we are still newly open. We wanted to concentrate on the current branch at the moment.

Q: What difficulties you had face running this business? A: We lack of time for product preparations at the beginning of the business as the number of customers exceeded their expectations. We also having a difficulties in keeping the ingredients fresh.

Q: Who are your competitors? A: To be honest we have lots of competitors in this market, however we have also other competitor which sell similar type of desserts with us which are all located overseas such as Cruis dessert in Thailand, Hanito café in Tokyo and Dazzling Café in Taiwan.

Q: How do you compete with your competitors (what strategies do you employ to divert customers away from your competitor?A: Our ingredients makes us different from other desserts shop. To be precise, the fact that we pick our ingredients make us unique. We only use the best ingredients for our desserts.

Q: How much capital is required to start this business? A: RM200k approximately

Q: Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why? LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN


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A: It is quite hard because we are new in this market and have no experience in it. In addition, we also need to make sure that we provide the best services to our customer.

Q: Where do you see your business in the next year? In the next five years? The next ten years?A: As we have not deciding to open any branches at the moment therefore we will just focus on this shop. We were hoping that we will become best of all desserts shop.

Q: What do you most attribute your success? What would say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?A: I think it’s time that matters the whole succession. We dedicate lots of time for the preparation of our honey toast.

Transcript (Sweet Hug House): Ng Kam Wai and Cheong Phooi Leng

Q: When was the business founded?A: started since November 18th, 2012


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Q: Who are the key founders?A: Ng Kam Wai and Cheng Phooi Leng

Q: What type of business plan did you employ to operate your business?A: We use our own recipe to produce our desserts

Q: What prompted the founder to start this business?A: I used to work in a 6-star hotel in Genting Highland before that and I move back to Kampar recently to take care of my children. Therefore, I decided to start this business to earn a living.

Q: What are your main products or services provided?A: Our signature dessert is cheesecakes, chocolate lava, and fondue. For main course, we have honey chicken chop and black pepper lamb chop.

Q: Who are your customers? (Age, group, income level, education level)A: 50% of his customers are families, 30% of them are students and the 20% are mostly Malays and Indians.

Q: What is your annual revenue?A: About RM100k

Q: How many employees do you have currently?A: 5 full time, 1 supervisor and 4 waitress

Q: What is your estimated current number of customers?A: about 100 people for normal season and 200 during peak season.

Q: Your recent development? (What has the business accomplished, what changes had occurred?)A: We’ve makes some new changes to our menu and collecting customers’ feedback.


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Q: Why do you choose to sell desserts? A: Because I have experience in this field by what I observe when I was working in the hotel before that. Moreover, we have less competitor in selling desserts in Kampar too. Another reason is there are many students living in this area.

Q: What is the uniqueness between your desserts and many others? A: What special about us is that we use homemade recipe. In addition, we will change our recipe every 2 to 3 months according to the customers’ need and liking.

Q: What is your Future development? A: We plan to open another branch if possible.

Q: What difficulties you had face running this business? A: Since we are not franchise therefore we lack of publicity. We need to work really hard to attract more customer.

Q: Who are your competitors? A: We don’t have much competitors as our food taste differently compared to other shop. Therefore, it is based on the customers liking.

Q: How do you compete with your competitors (what strategies do you employ to divert customers away from your competitor?A: What we different from other desserts shop is that we produce our recipe on our own.

Q: How much capital is required to start this business? A: Approximately RM100k

Q: Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why? A: It is not easy as it needed a lot of time and effort in order to make it

succeed. LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN


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Q: Where do you see your business in the next year? In the next five years? The next ten years?A: As the economy now is not good due to the falling of currency. I hope that there will be an increasing number of customer each year.

Q: What do you most attribute your success? What would say are the five key elements for starting and running a successful business?A: Time and effort. We spend lots of time and effort in our recipe.

Appendix 3: Comparative Analysis Summary Table

Competitive Traits Sweet Hug House Haraju Cube

1. Number of Competitors

4-5 3


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2. Barrier to Entry Weak. This means that many competitors can enter the market easily. -No legal barrier which is regulated by the government.-No strategies barrier because most of the businesses will not adopt aggressive strategic moves to prevent new competition.

Weak, which means that many competitors can enter the market easily.- No strategies barrier because most of the business adopt aggressive strategic moves to prevent new competition.

3. Differentiated or Standardized Products (if differentiated provide 2 to 3 examples)

Differentiated products (dessert, main course)

Differentiated products(dessert, main course, drinks)

4. Pricing Power (Price Maker or Taker? Why?)

Low. -According to law of demand, quantity of demand will decrease when price increases. Customers will switch over to other dessert shop if the business raises the price of the products. Pricing decision will also be affected by the competitors. So business should not simply adjust their prices.-The business has high price elasticity of demand, which means that a small percentage of price difference will lead to a big percentage change of quantity demanded.-Generally speaking, if a business doesn't have much pricing power then an increase in their prices would lessen the demand for their products.

Low.-According to law of demand, quantity of demand will decrease when price increases. Customers will switch over to other dessert shop if the business raises the price of the products. Pricing decision will also be affected by the competitors. So business should not simply adjust the prices.-The business has high price elasticity of demand, which means that a small percentage of price difference will lead to a big percentage change of quantity demand.

5. Other Constant advertising could Their products are quite


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Characteristics (e.g. Any close product substitutes, mutual dependence, constant advertising)

really boost up their products.

unique where there is less close product substitutes, but there are also similar products outside which is cheaper.

6. Verdict (Monopoly? Oligopoly? Perfect Competition?)

Monopolistic competition-Large amount of small firms-Each selling products that are differentiated from one another.-Weak barriers to entry

Monopolistic competition- Large amount of small firms- Weak barriers to entry

Appendix 4: Photos

Following are the photos taken in the interviews and document related to the related businesses.

Sweet Hug House


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The exterior design of Sweet Hug House

The interior design of Sweet Hug House

Interview notes LOH MUN TONG (0323680) l TAN JIA SAN (0322406) l ADELE LU KHAI SYN (0323151) l CALVIN


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We ordered a pandan lava cake. The dessert is designed in a Christmas theme as Christmas season is closed that time.

Name card taken from Sweet Hug House

Details are as follow:

Name: Cheng Phooi Leng

Job position: Promotion & Event Planner

Phone number: 016-441 7760

Email address: [email protected]

Sweet Hug House Facebook homepage

Link: https://www.facebook.com/sweethughouse


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https://www.facebook.com/sweethughouse

mailto:[email protected]

Group photo with Ng Kam Wai and Cheong Phooi Leng

Haraju Cube


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Exterior design of Haraju

Interior design of Haraju Cube


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Haraju Cube’s menu

Haraju Cube’s Honey Toast

Interview notes

Photos of our group member interviewing the interviewee


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Haraju Cube Facebook page

Link: https://www.facebook.com/harajucube103/?fref=ts

Details are as follow:

Name: Daichi Fukuzato

Job position: General Manager

Phone number: 0377335973

Email address: [email protected]


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https://www.facebook.com/harajucube103/?fref=ts

Appendix 5: Minutes of Meeting

DATE : 1st December 2015

TIME : 10am-12pm

VENUE: Library , Event Hall (2nd Floor)

NAME OF GROUP MEMBERS TUTORIAL GROUP ROLE

Loh Mun Tong TUESDAY (11.30am-1.30pm) Chairman

Calvin Wong Ping Ket TUESDAY (11.30am-1.30pm) Secretary

Tan Jia San TUESDAY (11.30am-1.30pm) Member

Kiew Chee Yuan TUESDAY (11.30am-1.30pm) Member

Adele Lu Khai Syn TUESDAY (11.30am-1.30pm) Member

NO. ACTIVTIY ACTION TAKEN BY

1. Introduction

i. Discussed the details of brief and understandwhat we were assign to

ii. Figured out what type of business to research

All members

2. Discussion

i. Decided two locations of business which is in Klang Valley and one is in outside of Klang Valley

ii. Did some research on how to make an interview with proper English

iii. Listed out some of the interview questiond.iv. Minutes of meeting will be recorded by Calvin

Wong Ping Ket

All members

3. Conclusion

i. We decided to use desserts shop for business research

ii. Briefly draft for interview questionsiii. Next meeting will be on 4th December 2015

(after showing progress)

All members


34 | P a g e

DATE : 4th December 2015

TIME : 11am-2am

VENUE: Library (2nd Floor)










1. Introduction

i. Role of group members during interview ii. Preparation for interview

All members

2. Discussion

i. Decided locations for both desserts shop ( Kampar & Damansara)

ii. Finalized the interview questionsiii. Distribution of roles of members during

interview : (Kampar)1. Loh Mun Tong : Interview 2. Calvin Wong Ping Ket : Record notes

for interview 3. Kiew Chee Yuan: Videographer4. Tan Jia San : Photographer/Record notes

for interview5. Adele Lu: Brief Description/ Appendix

iv. Equipment needed for interview :1. Camera

All members

3. Conclusion


35 | P a g e

i. Interview session for Sweet Hug in Kampar will be at 11th of December 2015

ii. We will be having meeting after the interview to analyse the answers and information of interview

iii. Only some of the group members will be doing the first interview

All members

DATE : 15th December 2015

TIME : 2pm-5pm

VENUE: Library Event Hall










1. Introduction

i. Analyze interview answers and information

ii. Plan for next interview for Haraju Cube

All members

2. Discussion


36 | P a g e

i. Roles of group members for report assignment 1. Loh Mun Tong : Cover page ,

content, key summary , Comparison2. Adele Lu :Brief Description3. Tan Jia San : Appendices ,

Bibliography 4. Kiew Chee Yuan : Competitors,

strategy, Comparison5. Calvin Wong Ping Ket: Obstacle

Faced , recommendation

All members

3. Conclusion

i. Compile interview questions and answers for first interview by 23th of December 2015

ii. Next interview session will be on 23th of December, 2015

All members

DATE : 12th January 2016


37 | P a g e

TIME : 12:00 pm-3:30pm











1. Introduction

i. Finish incomplete information and data need to be compiled

All members

2. Discussion

i. History of both business shops:- DoneBrief description :

- DoneVideo editing :

- Video for second interview not complete yet

Comparative analysis:

- Not CompleteCompetitors, strategy:

- Strategy part will be done in this meeting

Artistic cover :

-Finalize draft

All members


38 | P a g e

Obstacle faced , recommendation :

- will be done in this meeting Appendices, bibliography, references

- Not complete

3. Conclusion

i. Complete the tasks above and compile together by 15th of December 2015

All members

DATE : 14th January 2016

TIME : 1pm-4pm








39 | P a g e





1. Introduction

i. Finalization of compiled research report All members

2. Discussion

ii. History of both business shops:- DoneBrief description :

- DoneVideo editing :

- DoneComparative analysis:

- CompletedCompetitors, strategy:

- CompletedArtistic cover :

- Finalization stage

Obstacle faced , recommendation :

- Done

Appendices, bibliography, references

- Will be completed in this meeting

All members

3. Conclusion

I. Complete all the compilation and submit hardcopy of the report with a CD of interview videos on 15th of January 2016

All members


40 | P a g e

ReferencesA brief History of Desserts ( Irtiqa RSS) Retrieved from http://www.irtiqa.co.za/a-brief-history-of-desserts. Accessed on 2 January 2016.

History of Baking and Pastry Cooking (History of Baking and Pastry Cooking)

Retrieved from http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm. Accessed on 2 January 2016.

Harajuku (Urban Dictionary) Retrieved from

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Harajuku .Accessed on 30 December 2015.

Haraju Cube (Time Out Kuala Lumpur) Retrieved from

http://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/restaurants/haraju-cube . Accessed on 30 December 2015.

Sweet Hug House (Foursquare) Retrieved from

https://foursquare.com/v/sweet-hug-house/50ba1aece4b04656297d6f0d . Accessed on 30 December 2015

10 Spots Not To Be Missed in Empire Damansara | OpenRice Malaysia (OpenRice Malaysia)

Retrieved from http://my.openrice.com/klangvalley/article/10-spots-not-to-be-missed-in-empire-damansara/735 . Accessed on 31 December 2015 Seven

Cups & Epique, Empire Damansara, Damansara Perdana (The Garden NOM)

Retrieved from https://thegardennom.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/seven-cups-epique-empire-damansara-damansara-perdana/. Accessed on 31 December 2015

JJ Cafe @ Ipoh, Malaysia (Always Travelicious)

Retrieved from http://alwaystravelicious.com/2013/11/07/jj-cafe-ipoh/. Accessed on 1 Jan 2016

Bread Espresso Dessert

Retrieved from http://softshellcrabtemaki.blogspot.my/2012/10/life-in-bed-bread-espresso-dessert.html. Accessed on 3 Jan 2016.


41 | P a g e

http://softshellcrabtemaki.blogspot.my/2012/10/life-in-bed-bread-espresso-dessert.html

http://softshellcrabtemaki.blogspot.my/2012/10/life-in-bed-bread-espresso-dessert.html

http://alwaystravelicious.com/2013/11/07/jj-cafe-ipoh/

https://thegardennom.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/seven-cups-epique-empire-damansara-damansara-perdana/

https://thegardennom.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/seven-cups-epique-empire-damansara-damansara-perdana/

http://my.openrice.com/klangvalley/article/10-spots-not-to-be-missed-in-empire-damansara/735

http://my.openrice.com/klangvalley/article/10-spots-not-to-be-missed-in-empire-damansara/735

https://foursquare.com/v/sweet-hug-house/50ba1aece4b04656297d6f0d

http://www.timeout.com/kuala-lumpur/restaurants/haraju-cube

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Harajuku

http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm

http://www.irtiqa.co.za/a-brief-history-of-desserts

http://www.irtiqa.co.za/a-brief-history-of-desserts

economics report final

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