Mission

CoJo’s Sports Bar’s mission is to provide an upbeat atmosphere for local sports fans featuring quality locally and regionally brewed beer, as well as mainstream beer choices, a varied selection of food choices, and excellent customer service.

Management

CoJo’s Sports bar is organized as a sole proprietorship where I, Peter Macdonald, am solely responsible for the day-to-day operations including food and beverage purchasing, staffing, and scheduling.

Objectives

The objectives of CoJo’s Sports Bar are:

* To build a successful locally owned and operated sports bar * Develop a loyal client base by providing an excellent atmosphere which make customers feel at home * Source a location for the bar that has easy access and visual impact * Develop a supply chain for quality locally and regionally brewed specialty beers * Provide simple great tasting food option to compliment the sports bar atmosphere

Keys to success

In order to be successful CoJo’s Sports Bar must:

* Appeal to as wide as demographic as possible * Select the most suitable location for the bar * Control their costs at all times * Promote specific sporting events on a weekly basis * Provide customers with unique entertainment options such as sports specific trivia * Advertise through local media and social networking including Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Company Summary

The Industry

Canadian Industry

The Canadian food and beverage industry has taken off in recent years and has had a major impact on the Canadian economy. Nearly one million people are currently employed in the industry, which generates over 60 billion dollars in sales per year. The industry creates almost 27 jobs for every one million dollars in food and beverage sales, which makes this industry one of the top 5 job creators in Canada. Of the 60.1 billion dollars in sales 4% of this or 2.5 billion dollars comes from drinking establishments. This includes bars, taverns, and pubs and will be the market segment in which CoJo’s will be placed.

The average profit margin for the food and beverage industry in Canada is just 4.4 %. The largest expenses for businesses are the food and labour cost which account for 70 % of total operating expenses. In 2009 the average sales for restaurants were $611,000 with a pre tax profit of almost $27,000

PEI Industry

The food and beverage industry is the third largest private sector employer on Prince Edward Island. There are over 320 small business operators in the industry with 5000 employees. These businesses are generating 226 million dollars in sales on an annual basis and with every dollar spent in a restaurant it generates $1.85 in additional economic activity. So as you can see the food and beverage industry is very important to the economy as it produces many economic spinoffs from food and beverage sales.

This type of business can be cyclical especially on PEI with the large tourism industry and small year round population. Dining out is one of the top three tourist attractions in Canada. We need to develop a solid base business focusing on the local demographic with the upside being provided by the tourist traffic. Published statistics indicate that the tourism impact on the food and beverage industry is somewhere in the order of 100 million dollars on an annual basis on PEI. However, for the business to be viable long term we must focus mainly on the local demographics.

The average profit margin for the food and beverage industry in PEI is just 4.0 %. During 2009 the industry on PEI had sales of 173.6 million dollars and a pre tax operating profit of $26,890.

MARKET ANAYLSIS SUMMARY

Market Segmentation

Here is a breakdown of the three markets that CoJo’s Sports Bar will be focusing on:

* Sports Fans: a person with disposable income with interest in enjoying a sports entertainment experience in a unique and enjoyable atmosphere.

* Beer enthusiasts: a person who enjoys not only the mainstream beers such as Budweiser, Moosehead etc but also enjoys the uniqueness of specialty beers that are brewed locally. This may be a slightly older demographic with a higher disposable income interested in experiencing excellent beer in a great atmosphere.

* The Local Night Crowd: This is the crowd who enjoys going out for a drink or a bite to eat and socializing with friends.

Target Market

CoJo’s primary target market will be focused on middle-aged sports fan with generally a higher income level and more free time to enjoy. This market consists of both males and females between the ages of 35-60 and accounts for approximately 36% of the population on Prince Edward Island. Many of the individuals in this age group are willing to spend more money on alcoholic beverages while watching sporting events. Although this age group is our primary focus it is not our only target market. The younger crowd is more likely to take advantage of establishments offering an up beat late night atmosphere. .

As many of the major sporting events come to an end early in the night the crowds at sports bars start to decrease. The reason for this is because the main purpose of the customers visit was for the sporting event. Although this is usually the case, CoJo’s Sports Bar wants to change this by creating a unique and entertaining atmosphere for everyone whether a big game is on or not. For this aspect of business, which is the local night crowd, we will be targeting mainly towards men and women between the ages of 19-35. These are the individuals who go out on a regular basis to mingle and meet new people while having a drink. CoJo’s will attract the local night crowd by switching over to a nightclub atmosphere when the sporting events are done for the night. They will introduce a Dj or live entertainment to attract the young late crowd. CoJo’s will look to reach out to not only the male market but the female market as well. Females account for over half the population and are becoming increasingly interested and involved in sports. By building an atmosphere that is not gender specific we believe this will extend our market demographic and let our business grow and be more successful. To attract females to the sports bar CoJo’s will offer a varied menu with lighter choices such as fresh fish. They will also offer a large selection of wine and specialty cocktails. This crowd usually arrives at the bar around 10:00pm on a Friday or Saturday and stays until closing.

Beer enthusiasts will be another main focus for CoJo’s Sports bar. Experts agree that some people now opt for non-traditional beers when out watching a major sporting event. Customers are able to get the big name beers at home so when they go out they want a more unique and handcrafted beer. CoJo’s will attract customers by offering a large selection of regionally handcrafted beer.

Competition

Direct competition

For the sports fan market the main competition will be:

Ises- Ises will be our main competitor as they offer a unique and exciting environment for avid sports fans. They offer mainly big named beers as well as the Gahan beer, which is brewed locally. They also have pool tables, video games, and ALC machines to attract customers. One place that Ises is lacking in is their food. They offer mostly bar foods such as pizza and wings and are missing out on customers who enjoy a quality steak. They offer a number of big screen Televisions but are limited to the number of comfortable chairs that are available. Another disadvantage of Ises is their location. Although Ises does have reasonable access at their current location, they are not located in the downtown core, which is a major inconvenience.

Boston Pizza- Boston Pizza does offer a sports bar atmosphere to their customers. It is located just off from their main dining room. They do offer a more varied food selection then Ises as customers are able to order off the normal menu whether they are sitting in the dining room or not. The atmosphere of the bar is good, however, the quality of the sports viewing is limited to the location of customers and number of televisions. Boston Pizza faces the same problem as Ises as it is not currently located in the downtown area. Both Ises and Boston Pizza have sports memorabilia covering the walls to make the sporting experience even better.

CoJo’s will need to combine the best of two direct competitors in terms of atmosphere, viewing options, and quality. As well CoJo’s will provide a unique food and bar menu appealing to a broad segment of the market. It will include fresh healthy food choices that will vary with the season. This will provide some of the continuous change and variety necessary to attract and maintain customers. CoJo’s will also provide customers with a better location, as it will be centrally located in the downtown area.

CoJo’s intends as previously stated to take advantage of the late night crowd. Charlottetown currently offers several options for this market segment. These include The Globe, The Old Dublin Pub (ODP), and St. James Gate. Each of these establishments targets a slightly different age demographic. The Globe appeals to the younger crowd ages 19-23 where as ODP and St. James Gate attracts primarily an older crowd from ages 25 and above. All three bars offer customers with some form of entertainment whether it is a band or a Dj. By offering a new and exciting nightclub atmosphere in a great location. We will focus on featuring quality Djs and great local entertainment along with varied selection of beer, wine, and mixed cocktails.

Advertising and Promotion

CoJo’s Sports Bar intends to advertise through local media such as newspapers and radio stations. These advertisements will be used to attract local customers and have them become aware of food and drink specials. Another way in which CoJo’s will attract customers is through the use of social media. They will continually update a twitter account (@CoJo’s Sports Bar) with food and drink specials as well as events that they are hosting. They will also have a Facebook account to set up specific events using their event creator application. This will allow CoJo’s to interact with customers and to see who will be attending specific events. Both Facebook and Twitter are cost efficient ways to advertise, as they are free. They will also have a website set up to keep customers informed at all times.

As bars are highly competitive with pricing CoJo’s will offer a number of promotional items to attract customers. These will include game night ticket redemption for AUS home games and/or rocket home games. Customers coming to the bar after the game will redeem their ticket for a game day promotion. Twitter will be used to let customers know of the promotion whether it is 2 for 1 beer, half price appetizers, or cheap pitchers depending on the day.

CoJo’s will also feature trivia on Tuesday nights from 8:00-10:00. The trivia will be sports related and prizes for the trivia will include sports related items such as jerseys as well as gift cards for CoJo’s. Once again trivia events including winners and prizes will up updated on a regular bases via twitter. They will also offer regular customers with an oppurtuinity to play fantasy sports. This will be a great way to get customers to come in, watch the game, and check how they’re doing in their fantasy league. Special prizes will also be linked to the fantasy sports leagues.

CoJo’s also wants to give back to the sporting community by sponsoring a team whether it is hockey, baseball, or soccer. They plan to find a team as soon as possible and have them get CoJo’s Sports Bar on the back of their jerseys. This sports team will most likely be legal drinking age and therefore CoJo’s will offer them food and drink specials on their game nights.

It is CoJo’s intention to appeal to not only to men but also women. CoJo’s will attract more female customers by featuring a ladies night every Friday. This will allow females to purchase drinks at a discounted price and will also keep the male crowd happy, as more women will be in the crowd.

Operations Plan

Location Cojo’s Sports Bar and Grill will be located at 63 University Avenue in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. The building that will be rented is 3200 sq. feet in size and will need some remodeling to prepare for the grand opening of the business. The monthly rent expense will be approximately $2,200.00. This location will be great for the business because there are many pedestrians walking in the downtown area, especially during the summer months of June, July, and August when the tourism season it at a high on Prince Edward Island. The Sports Bar will be located in the main restaurant area in Charlottetown with the hopes of having many walk-in customers. It is also just up the road from the new Holman Grand Hotel and will provide customers staying there to relax and enjoy a game or simply have a drink. Facilities and Design As stated earlier, there are some major leasehold improvements that will need to be done to the building to get it ready for business. It is our intention to have a Sports Bar that has a unique design and provides customers with an atmosphere and experience like no other bar. From the appendices, you can see the planned layout of the bar. The plan is to renovate a kitchen area, which will be approximately 1000 sq. feet leaving 2200 sq. feet for the bar and restaurant area. The Bar will seat 44 people at 11 tables as well as extra stools in front of the bar area. This will allow the bar to be spacious and make it easy for customers to socialize amongst each other. As you can see there will also be a games area with a pool table and air hockey table. There will also be room for a band or dj to set up over to side of the bar on the nights of special events. To be a successful Sports Bar we feel it is necessary to provide customers with as many viewing options as possible. There will not be a seat in the bar that a customer will not have a good view at a television. There will be 3 televisions located just above the bar, 2 over by the games area, and the biggest one being located on the wall by the kitchen area. There will be new hardwood floor put in and the walls will also be painted a dark red color. The walls will be covered with memorabilia from all different sports. It is our goal to continually change the memorabilia that is up on the walls so repeat customers have something new and exciting to look at when they come. When we decide to change the memorabilia on the wall we will auction off some of the older memorabilia or they will be put into a prize for a certain special event Equipment The business will require some necessary equipment and furnishing before the opening day. The kitchen equipment will be purchased from Russell Food Equipment in Halifax, Nova Scotia and is estimated to cost almost $60,000 (See appendix). This will be a large start-up expense for the business along with the leasehold improvements. The Sports bar will also need to be furnished with tables and chairs, as well as bar stools in front of the bar. CoJo’s will use a touch screen point of sale system to take care of customer’s orders and other business transactions. This will cost approximately $3,500 as shown in the appendices. Hours of Operation CoJo’s Sports Bar and Grill will be open seven days a week to provide customers with a place to watch sports any day of the week. The following is the hours of operation: Monday-Thursday 11:00am-11:00pm Friday 11:00am-2:00am Saturday 11:00am-2:00am
CoJo’s will close at 11:00pm from Monday to Thursdays, as many people will just go home after a sporting event finishes up for the night. However, we will stay open until 2:00am on Fridays and Saturdays for the late night crowd to enjoy some music and drinks.

Human Resources
CoJo’s will require a number of staff on hand including myself to have the operations run as smoothly as possible. The first month of business has a higher labor cost, as is usual in a restaurant start-up. Labor cost will come down as the operations begin to run more smoothly and staff begins to get used to the menu. Our employees will all be selected through a proper hiring process to secure the best possible employees to set us apart from our competitors. CoJo’s will be functioning out of the one location on University Avenue and will need to fill the following positions:

* Bartender * Head Chef * Servers * Bar Manager * Prep Cook

I, Peter Macdonald will take the responsibility as bar manager, as well as helping out bartending on a part time basis. I have had experience over the past number of years working at different restaurants and getting to understand the business and its functions.

Below is a table that provides information regarding the number of employees CoJo’s plans to have on staff during a normal week