Hog wild bbq lawrence kansas

Summary

Hog Wild BBQ has been ranked very high for BBQ in Kansas. Local people would agree that their sauce has Zen ingredients that have their taste buds coming back for more! From the succulent meat choices, to the special sauce, this restaurant has all of the wonderful sides to go with the meals. Hog Wild has filled a niche in the Plains with slow roasted food that is more like Grandma’s style than fast food can offer. I know there are many people that look for an inexpensive BBQ that offers drive through, carry out and dine in, and Hog Wild does that for me and many of my neighbors. They have catering for company picnics or family reunion gatherings. Judging by the expansion to five locations in Wichita Kansas as well as being in three other cities, Hog Wild restaurant will be around for a while. So why not franchise them? This paper begins an in depth analysis of the possibility of franchising this delectable restaurant that so many are fond of. Let’s explore what is compelling about their food and why it would be popular in other locations or states besides Kansas. We can take a close look at their business system to see what elements make it successful. What is it about them that endear their customers to love them? We will examine the quandary of “should I choose franchising versus licensing?” We can identify their competition in the marketplace and who would be their potential target market. What type of customers are they looking for to become loyal Hog Wild fans? What niche are they filling in the food service industry today?

Gary Poulton started Hog Wild Pit BBQ in Hutchinson, Kansas on its Main Street location. From there, he expanded the brand out to multiple Wichita, Kansas locations and some other smaller surrounding cities in Kansas. Then, in 2012, he had gone as far as he wanted in the growth of the business. He entered into negotiations and sold his investment in the company to T.D. O’Connell. The new owner has years of experience in restaurant management from being a former restaurant CEO and President and would be able to take it farther in its expansion. T.D. O’Connell is optimistic about the opening of the branch in Lawrence, Kansas (opening June of 2014) and then possible branching into Nebraska and Iowa if the Lawrence branch does well.

Some of the awards that the restaurant has acquired thus far are: Salina Journal’s 2013 Readers Choice Awards, First Place for The Hutchinson News Readers Choice Award 2013, Voted Best in Hutchinson for BBQ Ribs, The Wichita Eagle’s 2012 and 2013 Readers Choice Award Winner. Catering has been a good business move especially in the Wichita area because of the population size. There are many industrial plants, medical, and health fields in the surrounding area that use Hog Wild’s catering service for their employees and this keeps the business very busy. The Hutchinson restaurant has a very good but also busy location which is right on Main Street that sees heavy traffic daily. That branch has not yet expanded, but should. It has a very busy drive through, but due to its location vehicles back out onto Main Street in the busiest hours of the day. The kitchen is small but friendly. The atmosphere is very casual and the people are very well trained on their menu items. They have a very large selection of succulent meats with sides and toast. There is a condiments bar with ketchup, mustards, pickles, onions, and peppers. They have about nine booths, and 10-12 tables with checkered tablecloths to seat people. They have a niche in the food business that includes a plate of BBQ and sides for fewer than eight dollars and a drive through and catering to go with. Many consumers want the convenience of a drive through with food that you might have eaten at a backyard BBQ. This brings value with also offering that home BBQ flavor off the grill that so many like.

The target market for the restaurant would be non-vegetarian women or men that are between the ages of 20-60, single, couples, or young families, who are in a hurry and want a home-cooked meal. These target customers are looking for a family meal where they can choose to dine in or out (drive through) or have it catered to their gathering. There are many industrial factories around the area and farming is a large industry so beef, pork, and turkey are local favorite meats. This is the type of food that you would expect to see at a neighborhood picnic, but in today’s mad rush most people don’t have the time to smoke it themselves. So for them, this is fast, home-cooked, backyard BBQ taste is the answer!

What if we analyze the opportunity against Porter’s five forces of the niche to see how strong it holds up? The following is a chart of the five forces on a niche.

http://www.caneval.com/images/pictures/fiveforcesmodel.jpg

(Chart accessed from Caneval Ventures, 2013)

New Entrant, Industry Competitors, Rivalry Determinants

Starting at the top of the chart with new entrant threats and competitors, it is possible to analyze threats to Hog Wild’s Franchising opportunities. Hog Wild’s best strategy is to pursue the Best Value, Type 5 from Porter’s generic strategies (David, 2012). Below is a list of seven top BBQ style restaurants in US according to a report from Nations Restaurant News, 2013:

Famous Dave’s BBQ is based in Minnesota but since then it’s simple menu and small restaurants have spread out into 192 units worldwide including Canada, Mexico, and now internationally franchising. By far this is one of the biggest competitors of Hog Wild’s brand because it is already franchising internationally. This can also be a model for Hog Wild brand because it too may have the possibility to break into international markets with demand for similar products in the future.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit was founded in Texas in 1941 and started franchising about 20 years ago. It has grown to 311 units in 39 states as of 2013. It is famous for pulled pork and brisket as well as many other meats, 10 types of vegetables, desert, and free ice cream. Their brand is smaller and less of a threat but the large variety of vegetables can broaden the menu for vegetarians and the free ice cream brings families with children to the restaurant. Good concepts to monitor the competing brands success in.

Smokey Bones has had its growth problems in the past and has changed ownership. It grew to 127 restaurants, but was struggling for a while trying to broaden its menu. Since it was sold to different ownership, it reduced its operations to 66 units that include the states of Washington DC, Illinois, Indiana, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia. It changed its name to Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill and has concentrated on the smoker and bar scene, trying to get both more popular.

Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Cue is an Alabama company that boasts 30 units, operating in Georgia, North and South Carolina, Colorado, and Tennessee. They are mostly famous for their pork shoulder that is smoked slowly. Their dinner menu has some nontraditional items as well. They are also very involved in the community and with the farmers in Alabama. They are working on coming up with their own hog breed.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Cue is a New York based sports bar type restaurant that has recently also expanded to Connecticut and New Jersey. They offer “pork ribs, pulled pork, wings, sausage and smoked chicken.”(Thorn, 2013.) They also offer non BBQ items as well.

Old Carolina Barbecue Company is made up of seven units and is based in Ohio, but made from the Carolina style of food. People in the Carolinas love-smoked beef brisket, pork, chicken, and ribs with their tangy vinegar based sauce.

Calhoun’s is a seven unit chain only based in Tennessee featuring hickory smoked pork, fried catfish, shrimp, and chicken.

Barriers to Entry & Suppliers

If Hog Wild were to branch out and consider franchising, large scale financing would be a necessity. They would need a business plan to be able to secure this financing. (See page 8 for brief summary of business plan inclusions and 12 month count down plan to franchise.) They would have to meet with local farmers and meat distributers to find new area suppliers. The larger scale costs of suppliers and products would not pose a threat if they grew slowly into other geographical U.S. states. They would have to establish their local menu and brand awareness state by state. Hog Wild would have to establish enough research on their target customers to be able to reach them effectively on a larger scale, slowly testing the success/failure marketing bought with each campaign.

With the rising cost of beef prices, the impact of USDA policies it is important to watch external forces on the industry. These factors can cause undue hardship for the economy and the business. Consideration must be taken to minimize risk factors as much as possible in each location. Pricing and menu items can be changed to reflect constant profits to the franchisees, but final decisions for these changes must rest with the franchisor. If they could keep a basic menu for simplifying the business system, this can be modified to reach tastes in each market in individual basis depending on demand, suppliers, product availability, and costs. The simpler the business system, the less expensive start-up cost would be for the franchisor to create proprietary materials and training needed for the franchisees.

Substitutes

Threat of substitutes could be by grocers in the local area selling cooked, smoked meat. Dillon’s is very big in Kansas and they provide in-house smoked BBQ meat, but their substitute is not as tasty. Very dry meat due to excessive heat makes it a less desirable product. Walmart has a few items in meat department but they are overpriced and small portion sizes that are non-satisfactory to shoppers. The value in the large portion sizes comparatively for the Hog Wild’s products far outweigh any substitutes on the market today. It is advisable to have the central franchisor constantly assess substitutions in new locations prior to expanding as each may differ.

Buyer Power and Incentives of Decision makers

Determining buyer power and incentives of decision makers is important for the business as it has the opportunity to expand brand awareness. It would be a good plan for the franchisor to stay involved with the community, charities, and schools teams. Hog Wild’s restaurant posts all the thank you letters it receives on the bulletin board, as advertisement of the brand involvement. This creates word of mouth advertising and nothing makes a bigger impact than a team or school. The local restaurant can also schedule events like fair booths, tractor pulls, and more charity events for publicity. They can send coupons via social media to raise awareness. They could have a day designated to give a percentage of the proceeds of sales to a favorite local charity or some natural disaster for the publicity. All of these things can help create loyal customers who will choose their brand over other brands.

Improvements

There are some improvements that would help make Hog Wild’s business more profitable. Hutchinson was the first restaurant started and the large growth was not anticipated. But now that it has had success, it is time to invest in a larger space. This branch needs a new larger location that can accommodate even more customers. The drive through backs up into the street at busy times and is antiquated, so replacing this should be a top priority. The parking lot and street parking is inadequate, and a new restaurant location could have more parking. The new space could include a larger kitchen so that the local branch would have happier employees with more space.

The next improvement would be to change their potato salad to a different recipe. There have been some complaints on the social media blogs that this item could be improved. Next, they could offer more vegetables and health conscious salads which also go with BBQ but accommodate the healthier vegetarian palate also. Hog Wild’s target customer is not vegetarian but this could be a small improvement to the menu not to alienate the health-conscious, vegetarian, or dieting customer. The other menu improvement they could try is offering a bar menu. They offer soft drinks and Tea only now, but this bar menu could be done as a trial to see if popular.

Brief Summary of Business Plan Inclusions & 12 month Action Plan to Franchise

Hog Wild’s Business Plan would need to include (SBA, 2014):

· Executive Summary

· Company Description

· How business is organized and who will manage it

· What products and services it will offer

· Market Analysis

· Sales and Marketing Plan

· Financial Plan and Request for funding

· Appendix including resume, licenses, leases

Hog Wild’s 12 Month Action Plan would go as follows:

Conclusion

Hog Wild has a very good chance at Franchising into the neighboring states, especially the ones bordering Kansas. They can take their time and spend due diligence to research feedback on what menu items work for which areas. They can find the best suppliers in the local areas that have a quality product for a fair price. It would be prudent planning on their part and worthwhile to the franchisees that buy into their business system. Careful training to ensure same standards of flavor and juiciness of meat is preserved during cooking techniques across all franchise units is necessary for consistent brand message. Would I purchase or buy into the franchise model of this business? I would, because I know the units in the area here are already profitable and the community likes and knows the brand well. They have excellent publicity and a catchy jingle that people remember. The niche they fill is great value for money well spent.

Link to website of the business:

http://www.hogwildpitbbq.com/wichita-menu.php

References:

Go Hog Wild Pit Bar-B-Q and Catering. (2014). In Hog Wild Pit BBQ. Retrieved May 27, 2014,

from http://www.hogwildpitbbq.com/

Vision on Innovation: 2. Models on the dynamics of innovation. (2013). In Caneval Ventures.

Retrieved May 27, 2014

Thorn, B. (2013, July 3). Nation's Restaurant News. In 7 barbecue chains that are leading the

way. Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://nrn.com/food-trends/barbecue-chains-are-leading-way?page=2

The Famous Dave's Franchise Opportunity. (2013). In Famous Dave's. Retrieved May 30, 2014,

from http://famousdavesfranchising.com/famous_daves_opportunity.html

David, F. R. (2012, January 8). Strategic Management Concepts: A Competitive Advantage

Approach. 14th edition. Ininkling.com. Retrieved May 30, 2014, from https://www.inkling.com/read/strategic-management-david-14th/chapter-5/michael-porters-five-generic

How to Write a Business Plan. (n.d.). In SBA.gov or the US Small Business Administration.

Retrieved May 30, 2014, from http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/starting-business/how-write-business-plan

January

Meet with attorney, accountant, and team of franchise personnel to acquire licensing, discuss implications of taxes/fees, and organization of business headquarters.

Determine memorable "image"franchisor wants to sell

February

Write a business plan and action plan for franchising units

Meet with finance options and decide what type of financing wanted, secure financing

March

Come up with Franchise Mission

April

Determine marketing objectives

June

Identify the target customer or group

May

July

Analyze the niche the product/service is to enter

Asses the 4 P's: price, promotion, product, and place

Understand and discuss market strategies to reach target group and measure feedback and compare with competition in market

Develop a culture of brand pride and loyalty within headquarters

Balance internal and external marketing information

Develop ways to bring support to franchisees and a contingency plan for unhappy franchisee buyer or bad publicity of brand

August

Determine what research will be done and how often to remain ahead of competitors

Finalize business system to be offered and standardize training manuals

Strategic Planning for Long and Short Terms

September

Decide attributes of franchisees to advertise to and accept

Decide on advertisement, qualifying process for franchisees

October

Interview franchisees and select best qualified.

Promote and advertise business and brand as well as franchisee offering

Train franchisees and select advertising for Grand Openings.

Collect Franchise Agreements with initial fees from Franchisees, Have them sign legal paperwork, and collect training fees.

November

December

Continue marketing for Grand Opening

Hiring of Franchisee's employees and training for Grand Opening

Press Kit Introduction to TV and Radio for Grand Opening Events.

GRAND OPENING of franchisee's units

Determine objectives for distribution network, human resources, operations, controls, financial, according to importance

Come up with franchisee location territories and site selection for restaurants. Start procuring leases and permits.

Continued marketing and training for sales success