Evaluation Essay on Hot Dog Business

Introduction

The 1901 Hot Dog Company is a very strategically managed fast food business in Malaysia. The company owes its strong image in providing better and high quality products to its customers and has a strong capacity to move to the international market. This is because the company has an extensive amount of resources that are necessary to venture into international markets. As a franchisor, 1901 Hot dog Business's key resources that and capabilities that support its international marketing effort include its more than one hundred franchisees within and outside Malaysia that helps it spread its wings to capture customers in both domestic and international markets. The company is also so much advantaged due to the presence of agile leaders that are always proactive to customer needs and would overstretch to fulfill it for the benefit of both its partners and the customers. Rozidar, the chief executive officer is a very creative person who believes in the continuous improvement of the product quality for the benefit and love of its customers. One notable weakness of the company is that unlike other businesses, 1901 Hot dog Business does not over-focus on profits. It looks rather on growing the franchisees to ensure they prosper alongside prospering the company. This has affected marketing in a slightly negative manner since the company may sometime spend a lot of money to fund and improve the image of its franchises within or without Malaysia to attain this goal. However, the firm has adequate resources and capabilities to support international marketing. The numerous businesses that have partnered or are still showing interest to partner with 1901 Hot dog Business show the real hope that the firm has in saturating the local market with its products as well as moving outside the country to capture the vibrant market abroad. The issues counteracting the firm's business includes the entry barriers in some countries and the fact that the company's products are not famous in those countries. Therefore, the company must find suitable ways as well as the appropriate means of entering and operating in those regions (Ling, 2017).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The 1901 Hot dog Business uses the franchise concept to enter into new markets. Through this strategy, the company issues licensing rights to other businesses abroad that are interested to run the business in partnership with the 1901 Hot Dog Company. The company offers the necessary guidance for its franchisees on the basics of running and maintaining the business to enable them to manage the company's core values to its customers and enhance the ongoing relevance and popularity of the company's products among both the loyal customers and other prospective customers. To achieve this, the company holds frequent discussions with its franchisees to ascertain the maintenance of the nutritional value of its products to the general public. All the company staff is taken through specialized training sessions to enhance their professionalism and have them more equipped with operational skills necessary to running and sustaining the viability of such a massive and successful business (Surin, 2017).

The main reasons for using a franchising strategy for entering into the new markets are because of the following reasons. First, businesses are better adapted to the local population. Therefore, they can have or provide a better opportunity with which the company penetrates to the prospective customers in the various regions (Ibrahim and Palaian, 2017). Second, franchises help the firm to avoid being prevented by multiple barriers to businesses. As the company moves or relocates to new places with new business environments, it would not be easy enough to get established faster since it has to take time to get known by the customers and patiently wait to gain recognition. This barrier is removed through licensing other businesses that are already established in those regions to help in marketing and selling the company's products (Oseni, 2016).

The 1901 Hot Dog was successful in its efforts to enter new markets for the following principal reasons. First, the company has an excellent and trusted relationship with its business partners, the franchisees as well as its customers. Therefore, the partners are very much motivated to perform their tasks most effectively thereby causing no negative effect to the business. In addition to that, the company hired only those franchises that demonstrated higher and competitive interests, dedication, and compatibility with the firm's goal and objectives of the business. Second, the company's continuous strategic research h and development of its product is a cutting edge strategy that helps it remain relevant to addressing the needs and expectations of both the loyal and the prospective customers in the new markets. Third, the quality of the firm's products acts as a magnet to the customers' taste and therefore, compelled the customers to accept and consume it readily.

Product Analysis

Customers are very attentive to the quality of the products they consume. Being aware of this, 1901 Hot Dog Company exceeds the expectations of its customers by providing them high quality products made in a special way using high quality ingredients. The products are smokeless clean and tasty since the firm uses a steam approach to prepare its products thereby, guaranteeing the ultimate hygiene. In addition to that, the products are packed in very clean, nice packets that fit the customers' tastes and preference encouraging them furthermore to consume more of the products. The products, especially the halal brand, are mainly targeted to the Muslim community, but because of its general popularity with the public, it is purchased by persons from all cultural backgrounds. The company's marketing strategy such as product branding and re-branding have played a key role in boosting sales of the product among them. 1901 Hot Dog's products have been a rich source of nutrients to its customers for the last twelve years. Rozidar, the chief executive officer and co-founder of the 1901 Hot Dog Business developed the brand, and it has maintained its unique taste and high quality ever since the beginning of the business. That is the trademark for the business. The product has been customized over time to fit the cultural values of people to which the company targets. This has led to the development of some hybrid brands such as the halal brand, which in Islam means fit for use. The halal brand has been the favorite brand for the company's Muslim customers both in Malaysia and the Middle East. The company's sale for the halal brand has also been successful in the neighboring ASEAN countries where the largest Muslim populations are found (Hassan, 2016).

However, the general public elsewhere has been under the influence of the anti-fast foods advocacy in the United States been a little bit reluctant at consuming the products. The protesters against fast foods have claimed that fast foods are unhealthy and not fit for human consumption all over the world. This notion has taken the company back as far as profits are concerned since the people have been sensitized and warned to keep off from fast foods for their health concerns (Munoz, 2015). To counter such a lethal campaign against its product, the company has been forced to rebrand its product and put more emphasis on its participation on the corporate social responsibility activities such as donating to various charity programs, engaging in the community work at the old folks home, among many other community work activities in Malaysia. Furthermore, the company has made notable efforts to dissociate itself from the image of other companies dealing with fast foods in the United States. This can be seen through the change in the color of its packages from red to green and rebranding its product to 'food for friendship' to enhance peace, love, and harmony among the consumers. Therefore, the company is hopeful of gaining unaffected access even to other areas in entire Asia and get customers there (Hanafiah, 2017).

Competitor Analysis

The key direct competitors in the fast foods market include KFC, Dunkin's Donuts, Domino's Pizza, A&W, McDonald's, and Auntie Anne. A&W has stood out to be the main competitor of the 1901 Hot Dog Business, especially in Malaysia. The company has been selling hot dogs in Malaysia ever before the rise of the 1901 Hot Dog Company. Since this company existed before, the best thing to do is to persuade the people to change brands by leaving their original brand to come to the newly found brand. This has not been easy at all since the 1901 Hot Dog Company has been forced to slash large amounts of money to fund active and rigorous advertisement and campaigns for its brand as the defensive strategy to withstand the stiff competition. This move has reduced profits for the company due to increased expenditure on promotions and advertisement. Zakir, the managing director and the co-founder of 1901 Hot Dog Company, reveals that the company spends about ten percent of its earnings on financing brand advertisements and promotional activities to persuade people to switch brands. Apart from that, the company also spends a lot of money to maintain high quality products that may make its customers remain loyal and also attract new customers (Grunhagen and Terry, 2017).

The continuous increase in the number of startup companies flocking the fast foods business has upgraded the level of competition in Malaysia. The firm finds it very challenging handling competition alongside its goal of raising young entrepreneurs to succeed in their goal in business. Several issues are involved including having to sustain a fair relationship with its franchisees, maintaining the quality of the company's product to ensure uniformity in all its approximately a hundred franchises all over the country and outside the country. This is very difficult due to the diversity of people in every part of the country where the business is established. It, therefore, requires a lot of money to manage all these activities without destroying the open relationship between other business partners, which would have very adverse effects to the survival of the company (Nguyen, 2015).

The competition has been changing radically both locally and internationally as many businesses try to make their way into the bustling markets in the Middle East where there are vast populations with the higher market for fast foods. Expanding internationally is therefore not an easy job since the company has to concentrate on developing its brand in the country to which it is establishing its branch while also watching not to be beaten in its own country. This has caused a lot of confusion and challenges that not only affect the company's income but also even the workers' welfare since the company must now consider hiring only those employees that will be able and interested in working anywhere they are posted, whether locally or internationally. The firm should respond to this change by understanding its market before moving into it (Thurman, 2016). This can be well done through active and rigorous research and development. The company ought to appraise its business environment and make efforts to train its workers regularly to fine-tune their skills to suit the ever-changing customer needs and expectations in various environments.

Environmental Factors

The key environmental factors affecting the survival of the 1901 Hot Dog Business include the political environment, economic environment, and the socio-cultural environment. Looking at the political factors, the Malaysian government can be seen to have granted much favor to the franchise business, especially to the local firms as a governmen...