CafePod Coffee Co.: Strategic Planning for Business Growth and Funding

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of CafePod Coffee Co.'s strategic planning for growth. It begins by identifying the company's competitive advantages, leveraging models such as Porter's Generic Strategies to assess cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies, and PESTEL analysis to evaluate political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is used to assess the company's product portfolio, categorizing products as Stars, Cash Cows, Question Marks, and Dogs. The report further explores the Ansoff Matrix, evaluating market penetration, market development, product development, and diversification strategies. Finally, the report assesses various funding sources, including retained earnings and trade credit, outlining their benefits and drawbacks, providing a holistic view of CafePod's growth prospects and strategic financial management. This analysis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing CafePod's growth and success.

Planning for Growth

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Explain competitive advantages and opportunities of company............................................3
Evaluating Ansoff growth matrix...........................................................................................6
Evaluating sources of funding with its benefits and drawbacks.............................................7
Designing business plan for growth.......................................................................................8
Assessing exit or succession options for a small business with benefits and drawbacks ....11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Planning for growth is the term which is helps to identify the overall performance of the
company. It is the strategic business activity which help owner to plan for business future growth
by their revenue. Planning growth help to analysis the business activity which access with targets
and business goals. The strategic planning also aim to generate the revenue which helps to know
the customer value (Álvarez-Bornstein, and Montesi, 2020). For any organisation or industry
planning growth plays a essential role because it is also help to measure the economy growth
which will help company in order to achieve the future goals. Fro the report CafePod Coffee Co.
is being considered. The report covers the overall consideration of organization with the help of
marketing models which includes PESTEL, Porter generic and Ansoff matrix which helps to
analysis the opportunities growth. This report also helps to identify the resources of funding and
provides to strategic planning for success of organization.
MAIN BODY
Explain competitive advantages and opportunities of company
An organization can achieve the competitive advantages and opportunities with the help
of technologies. In case of Cafe-pod Coffee Co., there are some models which can use to
measure the business growths and opportunities (Ansari, 2018).
Competitive Advantage: In today's culture, competition in the market increases day by
day which can affect the business growth. In case of Cafe-Pod Coffee Co., they can focus on
providing premium quality coffee to their customers, so that can enjoy at home. They have
serving coffee enthusiastic with a range of existing and strong coffee blends. To analysis the
competitive advantages of business there are some models which can help to analysis the growth,
competition, resources etc. which are given below-
Porter's Generic Strategy
The Porter's Generic Strategies refers to determine the direction of organisation. This will
help the Organisations to achieve competitive advantages essentially by differentiating their
products and services with other competitors by reducing cost. There are three strategies that
includes Cost Leadership, Differentiation, focus which can be used to determine the position of
any organisation (Cleberg, 2019).

 Cost Leadership Strategy: It is refers as the strategy which companies use to
manufacture a product in cheapest way and reduced the production costs with their
closest competitor. In context to CafePod, they are targeting coffee lover young
generation which helps in creating large market base of customers. In order to increase
sales and awareness of brand, they can focus on reducing production cost of that will lead
to increase in sales growth as there are people who are loving pod coffee at home. This
strategy helps business in awareness of customer and also increase brand recognition.
 Differentiation: It is the term which help to the making of the products or services
different and more attractive from others. In context to CafePod, they can focus on create
blended coffee with different flavours and as on customers demand. There are various
customers that are purchasing the products because of brand image, so company should
should focus on making creative products that will help in attracting many customers and
also increase sales of business.
 Focus: It is refers to segment to achieve cost advantages or differentiation within the
place market. In context to CafePod, they use this strategy by offering the best products
in a lower cost and also focus on fulfilled their customers needs and wants and satisfy
them, which help to increase the customer expectation (Klishina, and et.al.,2020).
From the above analysis it is recommended to company to use cost leadership strategy aa
it will help the organisation in increase of its sales through by reducing products costs. The use
of this strategy will help in increasing brand awareness in market as to increase customer base.
PESTEL Analysis
PESTEL analysis is a strategic framework which is used by marketers to assess the
Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors that affecting the
macro environment that have an impact on an organisation. In case to CafePod Coffee Co. they
can use this framework for analysis the planning which helps in decision-making.
 Political Factor: Political factors refers to the elements such as tax policies, Changes in
trade restriction and stability of governments which is determine that any changes in new
legislation in the future will affect business. The government policies and laws affects the
Cafepod coffee co. It is also affected with the Brexit.

 Economic Factor: It involves the several factors such as inflation, interest rates. Income
of consumer which affects the business. This factors affects the economic growth of
Cafepod coffee co. The rise in inflation changes the purchasing power of consumer. As
the GDP is increasing consumer are getting richer, they are more apt to consume tea. This
will increase sales and profit of company.
 Social Factor: It consider the factors such as demographics, buying patters social-
cultural changes etc. The people are becoming health consciousness which will lead to
people shifting to decaffeinated beverages that decreases the sales of cafepod due to
decline in demand (Mittal, and Sridhar, 2021).
 Technological Factor: It involves the factors of automation, research and development
which affects the business. In context to cafepod, it will employ genetic engineering
which involves modifying products as to provide quality products to customer in better
taste. The company will also take use of some coffee machines such as coffee grinders,
drip machines etc. which encourages consumer to take brew at home.
 Environmental Factor: This involves the climate change impact, doing business in
ethical & sustainable way affects business. In case of sustainable farming practice, this
may result to increase in cost for customers which can affect company in context to
cafepoad coffee. The company also adopt the green practices.
 Legal Factor: There are several factors such as health and safety, consumer rights and
laws, etc. In context to cafepod coffee it is required to follow all the legal laws and
regulations as to have smooth functioning of business. It is also required to follow the
food standards as to offer quality coffee.
Boston Consultancy group Matrix
The BCG matrix is a strategic tool which was created by the Boston Consulting Group, It
helps to analysis the position of a strategic businesses unit. This matrix consists into 4
classifications which based on two dimensions. First is the industry or market growth and The
other is relative market share. It is a management framework that helps the companies to analysis
how to prioritize their different business by their degree of profitability. In case of CafePod
Coffee Co, they use this model for analysis the status of growth and opportunities of the
company (Pauley, 2019).

 Stars: The products have high growth market with high market share. In context to
CafePod Coffee Co , there is a positive cash flow product that is coffee grounds beans
and breakfast sandwiches, which is required to made the strategic planning for
development of product.
 Cash Cow:There is low growth market products with high market share. In case of
CafePod the most cash generating product of the company are there Nesexpresso Coffee
Ground. As its market size is small, but is generating more cash than other products of
organizations. CafePod coffee Co received cash cow by investing in stars for support in
future growth (Robynn Rixse, 2019).
 Question Mark: A product the company that has low market share in high growth
market of CafePod is their whole bean product line, mugs, t-shirts etc. by having
premium positioning, customers take pride in owning cafepod coffee merchandise. For
the product development and market penetration strategic planning is considered.
 Dogs: There is dog products of the CafePod Coffee Co that has low market share in low
growth. The use of plastic bag is consider dog which is declining due to great
environment concern.
Evaluating Ansoff growth matrix
The Ansoff Matrix is a tool of strategic planning which analysis the strategies for growth.
Its provides a framework to help executives, senior managers and marketers to analysis the
strategies for future growth. The CafePod Coffee Co. can use this model for commercial
operations.
 Market Penetration: Market Penetration strategy refers to the promotion of the existing
products in the existing market. The CafePod Coffee Co can boost the manufacture
capacities for customers base. Through effectively promoting their products and brand on
by offering deals and offers to customers this will increase customers.
 Market Development: Market development strategy refers to the promotion of existing
products in new markets. In context to CafePod, it is important to understand new market
before introducing brand there (Rudolf and et.al., 2018). After analysing and study new
market trends and base company can focus on attracting new customers through digital
marketing. With the help of social media promotion this will lead to increase brand
awareness in market and increase customers.

 Product Development: Product development strategy refers to the new product which is
launched in an existing market. It is necessary to improve the quality of a product or
launch a new product in the market which helps to increase the sales and demand of the
product. CafePod can develop their products in order to attract more customers.
 Diversification: Diversification strategy can be define as the entry of the new product in
the new market. In context to CafePod Coffee Co, they are investing their new products
in the new market which increase the development of company and also attract the more
customers from another market (Santosa, and Koestoer, 2020).
From the above analysis it is recommended to the company that market penetration will
be best suitable strategy in order to achieve company objectives and goals. It will in increase
brand awareness in market that will lead to increase in customers lead to profits and sales
increments. Through creative promoting of companies products helps achieving goals.
Evaluating sources of funding with its benefits and drawbacks
There are many sources which is help in to start up the business and also help in business
operations. The sources of funding is important for any company, finance is the term which is
called as force of any organization which is help in to start the new business. It is also help in
increase the productivity and efficiency of the product. CafePod Coffee Co. growth can be access
by some finance source which are given below-
Retained earnings- It is refers to the net earnings or the amount of company which is a
profit which is left after pay the all over costs. In context to, CafePod can use this source for
generating the revenue cost for the future goals (Shamim, 2019).
Benefits- It is help the company to provides the income sources includes operating,
flexibility and it is not include any kind of declared cost such as interest, flotation cost etc.
Drawbacks- In any business source of income play a risky role which is not good for the
organization. The Shareholders are unsatisfied because of they are not received the result as per
they want where company can't understand the terms and conditions for opportunity cost.
Trade credit- It is refers to the B2B agreement where customers purchase the goods and
services without paying the cost of it, and able to pay later to suppliers. Trade credit is known as
the short term financing which is also offered by the CafePod for customers which is help in
strong credit structure.

Benefits- It is help in to determine the credit worthiness of customers. In context to
CafePod Coffee Co, the encouraged sales of the company helps to increase the levels of
inventory, and there is no extra charge for it.
Drawbacks- The trade facility of a company is flexibly engage then there is a risk in
trading, where company can in be danger. There are so many number of funds which is
restricted, which makes funds more expensive.
Public deposits- It is define as the deposits which is unsecured form public investing
and invited by the company. This is the funds which is directly raised by public for need of
working capitals. In context to CafePod Coffee Co, this fund cover the overall financial needs
which are as short term or long term (Smith, and et.al., 2019).
Benefits- It is help in to raised the money from the bank without interest. It is also called
as straight forward and there is no restriction from government.
Drawbacks- It is difficult to easily raised the fund from public. There are lots of barriers
and problems which is faced by the company.
Evaluation of potential sources of funding
By evaluating the sources of funding a company can The company can boost its
performance. In case Of CafePod Coffee Co, they use the retain earning for fulfilled the
requirement which is help in reserve the future positions which is because of saving the money.
For a company public deposit will help the business in funding by sources from general public.
CafePod Coffee Co is providing products according to their customers needs and wants.
Designing business plan for growth
It is the term which is define as the formal document. It is helps the company in achieve
the future long term goals with strategic vision. In case of CafePod Coffee Co, there are many
kinds of elements which states the vision of company, which are given below-
Executive summary- To define the company goals business plan is prepared which serves as
road map and ensures operations growth. The business plan is prepared for the Cafepod coffee
which is located in UK that offers quality coffee to customers. There is discussion on company
vision, strategies as to enhance performance and competitive advantage.
Business description- The CafePod Coffee Co. is an independent coffee organization that was
established in London, 2011, was founded by entrepreneur Peter Grainger and Brent Hadfield.
The main vision of the company is to provide high quality coffee to customers. To bring

happiness to people lives and help them to thrive in their daily grind. In case of CafePod its
mission is to provide the best product with high quality coffee and design a range of exciting and
strong coffee blends for customers (Sparkman, 2018).
Objectives- The objective of the company is to grow their sales and success in order to
achieve that.(Vita, 2020).
 To increase company sales by 5% in next 6 months.
 To increase company sales by 10% in upcoming 12 months.
Market analysis- It is play a vital role for business plan. As per research CafePod
provides online websites which is helps the company in increase the sales and attract more
customers for purchasing the product. In order to analysis the current market situation for
company the 4p marketing mix will help in understanding such as.
Marketing strategy of CafePod Coffee Co will analyze the brand with marketing which
will provide framework that covers the 4ps product, price, place and promotions.
Product
CafePod product mix constitutes wide range of products. The most famous products
offering of brand are Nespresso Pods, Ground coffee and Whole Bean with different flavors. The
products offered by CafePod is main driver in organization's business strategy as it uses to pull
strategy in order to gather more consumers with their main product coffee (Tsatsoula, 2018).
Price
The products offered by CafePod are priced at moderate range because it's target market.
Company wants to target every range of group of people . With providing moderate range it will
ensure in increasing many customers. Brand believes in providing high quality coffee to their
customers.
Place
CafePod operates through online websites and in stores that include Amazon .Co-UK,
Ocado, Sainsbury's, TESCO and Waitrose. Company websites allows their users to place order
which can be delivered through delivery partner particular region.
Promotions
CafePod Coffee Co is a small business so in order to to do brand promotion, company
can focus on advertising, TV and print media. CafePod can also focuses on digital marketing to

promote their campaigns and to connect with their customers. Mostly social media promotions
will help to increase to consumers of company.
Financial Plan- It is the important part for business plan growth. For CafePod Coffee Co
business plan sources of finance helps to maintain the growth of the company. The below graph
show the statement of cash flow, and income which is prepared by the company to analysis the
financial positions.
Objective 1
Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6
£
30,000.00
£
31,500.00
£
33,075.00
£
34,728.75
£
36,465.19
£
38,288.45
Objective 2
Company structure: As per research, CafePod Coffee Co use the flat structure which is
helps the company in spreading and specialisation with broad growth. Organisations needs to
change the environment which helps the flexible structure.
Action plan: It is a document that lists every steps that must be taken to achieve specific
goals. Its main purpose is to clarify resource that need to be required in order to reach goals,
formulate timeline for specific tasks in order to complete and determine resources are required
(Wang, and Vom Hofe, 2020). The company will outline retail space, inventory and supply
needs. It will employee the staff and training will be provided reagarding taking orders, clearing
tables, maintaining washroom etc. To produce coffee it will require purchase of equipments such
as espresso grinder, dishwasheretc.
Monitoring and controlling- In this stage all the progress for business plan by the
company is done then it is compare the sales for increase the market share. CafePod use KPIs
method such as revenue growth, profit margin, customer satisfaction etc. to measure and control
the growth of the company in order to increase the performance and sales. As it will allow to
actually see the growth process through measure of companies growth. (Wang, and Li, 2020).

It is been analyzed that, formation of an effective business plan involve various steps
which are taken into consideration so as to ensure the efficient utilization of the resources in
terms of the CafePod Coffee Co. A business plan helps in making a blue print which tells that
how the strategy will going to be executed to achieve a desired goal, that is important prior to the
formulation of the final thought. It includes evaluation of the market strategies and the financial
structure of the company.
Assessing exit or succession options for a small business with benefits and drawbacks
Every business organization is needed to prepare an exit plan or the succession
alternatives by having a complete and clear knowledge of the present market scenario. This
particular leads a business enterprise towards an effective decision making related to the growth
and development of the business. In the case of the CafePod Coffee Co, they must undertake the
exit plan of succession strategy in order to expand its business. Because the alteration and
modification both are required for enlargement of the business enterprise. These two aspects are
closely related to the term 'expansion'.
Exit Plan- This particular plan helps in determining the factors that impacts the business
operations. As, the success of any business unit is supported by identifying the difficulties which
the enterprise is facing while carrying out the day to day activities. This plan is specifically made
to minimise the encumbrance related to the tax policies and furnishes maximization of the
economic worth of the business. With respect to the CafePod, this plan is used which includes
the following aspects-
 Selling the business unit in the open market- For the individuals who wants to start
their own business, this could be the better option in which the entrepreneurs are required
to purchase the business organization which is already established in the market. They
only needed to transfer the rights and the responsibilities in their own name by becoming
the owner of the enterprise (Weli, 2019).. Now, the owner will be accountable for the
commercial reciprocation and the different business activities in order to make it more
effective and attractive which will create an interest in the minds of the buyers or
purchasers for the product or services that is being offered by the business corporation.
The only demerit of this point is that the selling value will decrease and the time taken by
this process is much more than establishing a new business unit.

 Liquidation- The process of liquidation includes the diminution in the debts and the
liabilities by selling the assets of the company. The leftover amount is being distributed
equally between the employees of the organization.
 The merit of this procedure is that the top managing bodies of the company get rid
from the liabilities of loans and debts.
 The demerit is that the enterprise is required to prioritize the creditors in terms of
settling the debts.
Succession Plan- This plan helps in strategizing the process of staffing by employing
other personnels in the organization as a replacement of the existing employees who left the
company. There is transfer of authority from one individual to another. The concerned enterprise
that is CafePod Coffee Co can undergo with the planning procedure for the organization that can
be efficient in foreseeing the future concerns of the business by anticipating the uncertainty or
any unfavourable circumstances that could affect the business.
 Merger and acquisition- This helps in keeping the succession plans of the various
departments. Under this, one business corporation gets unified with the other business
enterprise so as to ensure the effective functioning and the successful completion of the
business activity. Acquisition means when a large scale business corporation undertakes
the management of the small scale or the similar business unit (Wijaya, and Imran, 2019).
 The merits of mergers and acquisition are that the skills are multiplied which helps in
handling the problems arising out of various factors.
 The demerits of the same is that, there could be confusion and frauds in the
commercial dealings which could be a disadvantage for the business organization.
 Transferring ownership through management or employee buyout- The management
team and group of employees pool resources as to acquire all part of company. It is
considered as one of the best option for Cafepod coffee owner what want to preserve
corporate culture of business. It provides the merit of reward management for long term
support for the business and protects legacy and business independence. The demerit is
management have limited access to capital and affect price & teams.
From the above observations, it is clear that the succession plan would be a correct choice
for the CafePod Coffee Co because there are various merits offered to the enterprise which will
help in the future administration. As there are different exit strategies are available which

includes selling of the business, liquidation, etc. And accordingly the company that is CafePod is
looking forward to expand its business
CONCLUSION
The above report concludes that the matter of planning and strategising is very crucial for
the growth and development of the business organizations. It is important for every business
enterprise to examine all the factors that affects the business in one or the other way, whether
positive or negative. The external and the internal factors determine the market conditions for the
business enterprise. It will also helps in analysing the various sources that can assist in raising
the funds for the future expansion of the business. There is a detail evaluation of the planning
process in the business which involves both succession and exit plans.

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