Managing Small and Medium Enterprises: A Case Study of Cafepod Coffee Co.

This report discusses the nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture, SME start-up process, sources of competitive advantage, challenges faced by SMEs, and growth strategies of Cafepod Coffee Co. in the UK. It also covers government support measures and the extent to which the company has considered sustainability and social goals.

Managing Small and
Medium Enterprises

Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Main Body ......................................................................................................................................4
The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture.....................................................................4
The process of SME start up.......................................................................................................4
The concept of business and any sources of competitive advantage..........................................5
The current level of demand and the competitive environment..................................................5
The development and growth of the business to date.................................................................6
The challenges of running and managing the business...............................................................6
current growth and development strategies of SMEs ................................................................7
Government support measures to overcome the challenges faced by SMEs..............................7
To which extent, the cafepod coffee has considered sustainability and social goals and
opportunities for the business......................................................................................................8
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................8
References .......................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
It refers to the business which depends on number of characteristics and on the country.
The characteristics include number of employees, market capitalisation, annual sales, the

company owned number of assets etc. In the present report, Cafepod coffee company is taken
into consideration. It was established in 2011 by Brent Hadfield and Peter Grainger and it is an
independent craft coffee business in UK (Chochiang, Ung and Bunsaman, 2020). In this report it
will get to know about SME start up process and its nature of the entrepreneur. Apart from this,
the sources and the concept of competitive advantages and the level of demand. Furthermore to
this, the growth, development, challenges, its strategies and how they can overcome from these
challenges.
Main Body
The nature of the entrepreneur behind the venture
It refers to earning profit by the process of running and designing a new business venture.
In order to earn profit the company need to bear the risk of ability to create, operate and manage.
Entrepreneur takes all the risk and challenges, takes initiatives, brings labour, material, assets
and resources into combination and makes the values higher than before. In context to Cafepod
coffee co., they try to provide good quality coffee with innovative and creative method for
adventurous coffee drinkers who can enjoy at home also. It runs its business with single minded
ambition and competitive spirit like no other in the market (Dvorak, Komarkova and Stehlik,
2021). It keeps on innovating new products in the market and pushing the boundaries as its aim
is to become number one UK coffee super brand. It helps the company to build its brand image
and profitability in the market. If the company finds any opportunities it grabs them and make
the things happen at reasonable prices.
The process of SME start up
The process of any start up of SME is to define the vision and here Cafepod Coffee Co.
vision is to make and provide good strong coffee. The mission is the second process and
company mission is to provide high quality espresso home. The company's objective is to sell
good quality products to its customers at an affordable prices and for Nespresso machines sells
high quality capsules. It produces mixed blend coffees and made perfect coffee with best quality.
For this the company uses latest and innovative technology to make the perfect coffee with the
best of nature. The coffee of cafepod is about getting up and doing and not about chilling. To
achieve its goals which are set by the top management of the company can be achieved by
maintaining the good quality of coffee and beans and able to provide exciting coffee to

adventurous coffee drinkers. The company tries to keep the balance between its employees and
customers. For this company gives on regular basis training and development programmes to
staff so that quality can be maintained by optimum utilisation of resources (Guix and Font,
2020). It assures the customers to provide good and hygiene coffee at an affordable prices and
also provide home delivery to them. It operates its business at the centre location so that
customers can able to reach them.
The concept of business and any sources of competitive advantage
The business concept of Cafepod coffee company is to made the products available to its
customers at an online retailers and all the major supermarkets of the country UK. With a wide
range of good quality products like roast whole bean, nespresso compatible aluminium pods and
ground coffee. The company is looking forward to grow its business both online and offline as it
is essential in a busy office schedule of the customers. To make them aware about the company it
will be using social media to influence them to buy the products which are of good quality and
hygienic to consume.
Sources of competitive advantage
The competitive advantages of cafepod coffee company is that it provides good quality
products to its customers at lower prices and focus the location should be at centre of the city so
that they can get major clients. It provide fresh coffee by authentic and fresh taste with superior
and exceptional quality in comparison to its competitors in the market (Johnston, 2021). The
company also provide free internet, digitalised menu and ordering system and for laptops and
phones multiple outlets etc. which are the competitive advantage for the cafepod coffee
company.
The current level of demand and the competitive environment
The level of demand of coffee has increased for non alcoholic drinkers and in the recent
years it has gained the high acceptance among its consumers. At the time of pandemic period the
demand for the coffee has rapidly decrease which affect the business a lot and many small cafe
have to shut down because they cannot able to survive in the market and bear its expenses. The
demand of coffee in coffee in recent years is now growing up company should not loose this
opportunities and fulfil their demand at an affordable price to its customers with good quality
products.

In competitive environment the substitute of coffee which is tea is also in demand which
is increasing rapidly. Now even a young generation also prefer to have tea instead of coffee
which creates a competitive environment for the company (Klikauer, 2018). It creates threat to a
new entrant for coffee in the existing market as there is already a huge competition in the market.
Th company can increase its market by gaining customer satisfaction and expansion in the
market.
The development and growth of the business to date
The journey of the cafepod coffee company has started making nespresso capsules and
unusual and exciting coffee as an independent shop in the market. It also started with rise across
a coffee plantation. Later on the company has started selling a exciting range of high street
coffee and strong coffee blend to enjoy at home for the coffee enthusiasts. It increase a wide
range of products like roast whole bean, ground coffee and delicious blend include ristretto,
intense roast, supercharger espresso etc. They made them available at online retailer and in all
major super markets of the country. The company has also increased its quality, uses latest
technology machinery which is cost effective for making the product and market share (Lokuge
and et.al., 2020). It started using its own labelled cups and bags in comparison to its starting.
More skilled staffs and employees they use in their business which creates the better quality of
coffees in the market and this helps the company to increase the profitability, market share and
builds brand image in the market in comparison when the company started.
The challenges of running and managing the business
The company faces various challenges at the time of covid and normal while running the
business and managing them which are as follows:
Managing Employees – It is major challenges that the company faces is to manage its
employees. For which the company need to provide regular training and development
programmes.
Manage and get the right menu – It is an important part for the company as to match the
consumer wants with product needs. It should provide the balanced menu like not too small or
not too large otherwise they will feel dissatisfied.
Building a brand and marketing – It is important tool which is a challenging part for the
company. It needs a separate budget to manage the things and to create a digital marketing
platforms which is much needed to increase its market share.

Lack of equipment – For running the business in the long run the company needs to overcome
from the lack of equipment which needs to be upgrade with the latest technology and equipment.
It helps in reducing the cost of the products (Rodrigues and et.al., 2020).
Stiff competition – There are many big and established coffee competitors available in the
market. It is big challenging task for the company to stay competitive in the market. It needs to
focus on quality, uniqueness and innovative products and pricing of the products in comparison
to its competitors.
current growth and development strategies of SMEs
The SMEs plays a key role in developing countries and in transition. It helps in reducing
the poverty and identifies the opportunities for its growth and expansion. The current growth of
cafepod coffee is increasing by providing good quality and innovative products to its customers
at an affordable prices. The company is focusing to provide healthy and hygiene coffee at
minimum time to its customers which helps the company in its growth.
For the development strategies company must use innovative and high tech machinery to
produce the coffee at low cost premium quality which help to increase its profit margin for the
company effectively and efficiently. The company can make the innovations in its services by
introducing new products range at regular interval (Tepeli, Taillandier and Breysse, 2021). It
can increase services by using its logos on the crockery, cups and bags which helps to build its
brand image in the market in comparison to its competitors. To gain the customer satisfaction it
should provide free Wi-Fi at the cafe so that people can relax and able to use their phones,
laptops.
Government support measures to overcome the challenges faced by SMEs
The government of UK takes many measures to overcome the challenges which are faced
by the small companies for its survivals. Some of them are as follows:
Provide Funding – Small companies or enterprises do not have enough funds to starts its
own business. For this the government of UK provides funds easily at low interest from the
others. It helps the small companies in purchase of new machineries and space for the cafe.
Home delivery at the time of COVID – At the time of covid many small and medium size
company suffers and to the point to wind up its business. But the UK government start the home
delivery options where can customers can order from their homes which helps cafepod to survive

its business during covid and become cashless by making online payment (Vegro and de
Almeida, 2020).
Easily provide license – UK government easily provide food license in the food industry
which encourages the start up business to start coffee shops, restaurants and cafes easily without
any hurdle. It makes the easy process so that one can get the license easily.
To which extent, the cafepod coffee has considered sustainability and social goals and
opportunities for the business
The cafepod has to considered the sustainability and social goals for the welfare of the
society by improving the manpower and their skills and development. The company should
provide more job opportunities which helps in growth and reduce unemployment. For the social
goals the company uses eco friendly products and try to make the products from biodegradable
which is cost effective process and saves the environment (Zabaniotou and Kamaterou, 2019).
The company makes the optimum utilisation of resources as the resources are scare in the
environment and need to be saved for the future generation.
Conclusion
It has been concluded and analysed from the above managing medium and small
enterprises that behind the venture the nature of the entrepreneur and the process of SMEs start
up. Apart from this, it has been discussed about the business concept and for competitive
advantages its sources. How the company has developed and its growth of the business to date.
Further more to this, which challenges are faced by the company in managing and running and
its current growth and strategies for the development. Moreover, it has been explained that to
overcome the challenges faced by SMEs what measures are taken by the government and to
which extent business has considered sustainable and social goals and the opportunities for the
business.
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