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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

AUGUST INTAKE 2014

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF 2 BUSINESSES OF SIMILAR INDUSTRY IN

DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS - FOOD INDUSTRY

GROUP MEMBERS:

JACK NG WAI KHONG 0317980

YEO DOR EEN 0316224

CHAN PEI SHAN 0318350

LEE JIAN RU 0318132

SUBJECT: ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 1 DECEMBER 2014

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Table of contents

NO. CONTENT PAGE

1. KEY SUMMARY 4

2. BRIEF BIO OF THE BUSINESS 5-8

3. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE

BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS

9-14

4. RECOMMENDATION 15

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY 16

6. APPENDICES 17-18

7. REFERENCES 19

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Key Summary

Nowadays, businesses are prevalent in capitalist economy. Without good

economy, people are not able to lead a good life and have a proper education. In

this assignment, we are required to do a comparative analysis of two businesses of

similar industry in different geographical locations.

Our group consists of four members- Jack, Doreen, Pei Shan and Jian Ru.

We chose food industry as our topic since food industry plays an important role in

business world nowadays. There are too many varieties of food in the market, so

we decided to make our topic specific. Noodles restaurant has been chosen for our

research.

Noodles are popular among people with different ages and noodles shops

can be found everywhere. For our research, we had chosen two noodles shops in

Seremban and Klang valley. They are Yee Kee Beef Noodles (Seremban) and

Sarawak Noodles House, SS15 (Klang Valley).

We carried out research and went for an interview in these two noodles

shop. After that, we made a comparative analysis between these two businesses.

From all the researches and interviews we have done, we are able to understand

how the business flow and we show our knowledge and understanding about the

business in the report.

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BRIEF BIO OF THE BUSINESS

NAME: YEE KEE BEEF NOODLES

LOCATION: No. 92, Jalan S2 D32,

Seremban 2, 70300

NUMBER OF BRANCHES AND

EMPLOYEES: They have 3

branches where 2 is located in

Seremban and the other one is located

in Kuala Lumpur. Hence they have up

to 50 employees altogether in 3

branches.

MAIN PRODUCTS OR

SERVICES SOLD: The main dishes

they sold is Seremban Beef Noodles

that they been selling for 2

generations. The side dishes they sell

are Penang Prawn Mee, Ipoh

Chicken “Hor Fun” and etc.

ESTIMATED CURRENT NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS: For weekend, the

customers will be crowded in the morning until afternoon where almost 50 to 60

customers, and slowly the amount of customers start to shrink in the evening. As

for weekdays, the customers will be not as much as in the weekends, where

estimated 30 to 40 customers per day, but the amount will be changed due to

certain circumstances.

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WHEN WERE THE BUSINESSES

FOUND? : The business had already

been passed down by two generation

until now. So they decide to

repackage the whole business from a

small stall to a bigger restaurant, so

that the customers can have a better

space to enjoy the services and foods

served.

WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS? : The founder is called Poon Yee. He is the

original founder. Poon Yee is actually a China man, who came from China last

time. So now he is old. That’s why the name of the shop is Yee Kee after his name.

WHATS THEIR MOTIVE FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS? : The business

had been continuing for all these years but it’s on a small scale so called stall, we

kind of give in new packaging, a new concept where it is natural, but for restaurant

to survive cannot sell only one item. So we need a few more items, we give in a

concept and we give in an identity.

WHATS THEIR RECENT DEVELOPMENT? : We will be continuing in

Seremban, but we would like to spend more to KL, so that this type of beef noodle

will be more well-knowned, because now this type of beef noodle like dry beef

noodle, mostly famous in Seremban. Outside Seremban you hardly find it. The mee

is called Lai Fun, it is mee but actually it is made out of pure rice. Inside is not

hollow, so it is smooth.

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NAME: SRK NOODLE HOUSE

LOCATION: 84, Jalan SS 15/4b,

47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.

NUMBER OF BRANCHES AND

EMPLOYEES: Now they have only

one main restaurant, but in the

following December, a franchise

will be opening soon in SS2, Petaling Jaya. They only have 12 employees in the

restaurant that includes the chef and waiter.

MAIN PRODUCTS OR SERVICES SOLD:

The main dishes they sell is Sarawak Kolok Mee

which is the famous dish in the restaurant, and

now they have invented a few dishes, like “Ma

Lat” Kolok Mee.

ESTIMATED CURRENT NUMBER OF

CUSTOMERS: Since SS15 is quite a strategic

place, where it placed nearby of 3 university

and 1 private school, and also located at an

urban area, so in the weekdays, the traffic there

is chaos, which means there is a lot of

customers especially in the weekdays and in the weekends. They estimate serve

more than 60 customers per day as what I heard from the restaurant owner. The

customers are mostly students, employees and senior citizens as well.

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WHEN WERE THE BUSINESSES FOUND? :

The business were found by the owners father’s

father, which means grandpa, and its passed on to

3 generations.

WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS? : Originally the

mee is from Sarawak and had already bring down

for three generation (by his grandparents), the

ingredients used had never been reduced.

Although I am in Kuala Lumpur, but I still use the

original Sarawak ingredients to make it, so I can

kept many of the customer from Sarawak here.

WHATS THEIR MOTIVE FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS? : I manage

this business from Sarawak to Kuala Lumpur, to do this business. I also have no

idea how to manage it, but the only reason I did this business is how I make this

bowl of mee that makes the customers feel worth it. You will have a lot of market

competition. It is even more difficult to compete with them, so I never take this

business as a market competition. For example, in KL, there is many coffee shops,

but mainly the food is from Sarawak and Penang. But the distance from Sarawak

to KL is only 2 hours. But why there is no businessman from Sarawak approach

KL and start the business. Firstly, which is the soy sauce in KL is different with

Sarawak. I also used a year in KL to find out the originality of soy sauce.

WHATS THEIR RECENT DEVELOPMENT? : Very fast, the second franchise

will be soon opened in December at SS2.

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESSES’ COMPETITIVE TRAITS

i) NUMBER OF COMPETITORS

For the beef noodle shop located in Seremban which is also known as

“Yee Kee Beef Noodles” has only one main competitor around the area whereas

for the Sarawak noodles located at ss15 and the shop’s name is “Srk Noodle

House” has a lot of competitor at the area as there are a lot of food shops around

the area which are cheap. This is due to the fact ss15 is a hotspot for college

students as there are a few colleges located around the vicinity of ss15 and hence a

lot of food shops at ss15.

ii) THE MARKET SHARES OF THE BUSINESS

The market shares of the businesses that we interview have slight

difference, where for “Yee Kee Beef Noodles” he holds the half of the

share of the restaurant since his shop is the second franchise but still he

is under the same family as well, so he holds half of the restaurant

shares. As for “Srk Noodle House”, he hold all of the shares of the

business because he is the owner of the restaurant and the main franchise

of the restaurant.

TOP COMPETITORS

The top competitors of “Yee Kee Beef Noodles” is Restaurant Yi Poh.

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Hence, for “Srk Noodle House” has several competitors like Cosans

Coffee shop, Burgertory and etc.

iii) BRIEF BIOS OF EACH BUSINESS’

At Seremban, they only have one main competitor and that is the

Restaurant Yi Poh which sells claypot Lou Xu Fan. The Lou Xu Fan is

unique because unlike the Lou Xu Fan that can be found at Kuala

Lumpur which are in pieces which looks like mouse tails as the name

states, the Lou Xu Fan found in Seremban are all connected together like

noodles but the texture and taste is exactly the same as the Lou Xu fan

found in Kuala Lumpur. A lot of food critics have went and tried the Lou

Xu Fan at Restaurant Yi Poh and all have given a positive feedback after

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trying it. This is the reason Restaurant Yi Poh is the beef noodles main

compeititor. On the other hand, for Srk Noodle house, the 3 main

competitors are Foh Foh food court which is famous for its fried rice at a

reasonable price, 96 restaurant which sells mixed rice where you can

feast like a king at a very cheap price and Ooi noodle house which sells

pork noodles and even though the price of the Ooi noodle house is

slightly more expensive than the Srk noodle house which they sell at

RM7.00 per bowl but serves in large portions and is has been said it is a

place for pork lovers. So to enter the food business at ss15 is not easy as

all these restaurant have not only been around for a long time which

means they have a lot of regular customers but they are very cheap and

delicious as well. Hence, these are the top 3 main competitors for the Srk

noodle house.

iv) STRATEGIES OF COMPETITIONS AMONG

BUSINESSES

For the business in Seremban which is the beef boodles, how they compete

with their competitors is that they venture more to the social media to

attract the attention for most of their customers for example, they have

created a Facebook page so that more people will know more about the

beef noodles located in Seremban. This is because most people in the

world have a Facebook account. Their business is currently categories as

quite successful as they have a constant amount of income every year and

they currently have 2 branches which are both located in Seremban but

there will be a new branch which is venturing more towards Kuala

Lumpur. As for the Srk noodle house, how they compete with other

competitors is through winning the hearts of their customers by setting an

extremely low price for one bowl of noodles whereas it provides a lot of

comfort for their customers such as a television to watch while eating and

an air conditioners for their customers while waiting so they do not feel

the heat. The business was not doing very well at the beginning but

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business has recently gotten better for them but they are still trying to

cover up for their loss. The business is currently going to open another

branch which will also be closer to the city.

v) OBSTACLES FACED BY NEW BUSINESSES The main obstacle faced by businesses today is there are too many food

businesses and it is hard to enter as a new market. This is because there

are a lot of old food businesses with successor that they have already been

taught their techniques to their successor in hopes their food will live on

for years to come. Hence, the older food businesses would have regular

customers and it would be harder for the locals to be attracted to the new

business as they fear it is not worth the money and the locals have already

gotten use to the taste and flavour of the older business and it is harder

for other people to change their preference one they have gotten use to the

old one. In conclusion, it is not easy to overcome this barrier which has

been made by the older business and the new business are required to

work even harder to be able to compete with the other businesses.

vi) NATURE OF THE MARKETS The nature of the market of the “Yee Kee Beef Noodles” is that they have

a monopolistic competition and this is due to the fact it has only one main

competitor. The nature of the market of the Srk noodle house is perfect

competition. This is due to the numerous number of competitors at ss15

such as Ooi noodle house, Foh Foh food court and many more.

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vii) SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Name of

business

Yee Kee Beef Noodles Srk Noodle house

Similarities 1) Both of the noodle shop do not raise the price of their food at will because

both of them have regular customers.

Differences 1) The view point of this shop is to

try to earn money and constantly

trying to attract new customers to

come. This shows that the food stall

focuses on trying to earn money.

2) The shop has a set menu to order

during certain periods of time such

as the breakfast set menu as well as

the lunch set menu.

3) The shop is making good profit

every year which is RM84,000

annually. This shows that the business is very stable.

1) The way the owner views his

business is not to earn money but is

to try to create a comfortable

environment for his customers and

he constantly thinks of how to make

his food taste better for his

customers this could be known as

comfort food for his fellow

customers as well keeping the price

low for his customers.

2) The shop does not provide any set menu.

3) This shop is suffering from a loss

due large amount of facilities

provided such as an air conditioner

and a television but the price of one

bowl of noodles does not cover up the cost of all the facilities provided.

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viii) CONCLUSION Based on my group’s analysis about both the noodle shop we interviewed,

we have concluded that “Yee Kee Beef Noodles” at Seremban is more

successful than the” Srk noodle house” which is located at ss15. The main

reason is because one bowl of noodles sold at Srk noodle house suffer a

loss of RM 3.00. The loss from each bowl of noodle is because the owner

of the noodle shop is selling one bowl of noodle for the price of RM5.50

but his accountant told him that he needs to sell one bowl of noodles for at

least RM8.50 to earn some profit as the owner wanted to install a

television as well as an air conditioner to his shop for the comfort of his

customers but he stuck to his principles and kept the price at RM5.50 per

bowl. Besides that, another reason the beef noodles is more successful

than the Srk noodles is because the beef noodle has been in business

longer than the Srk noodles. The beef noodles has a 10 year experience in

the food industry and even though the Srk noodle has been done for 3

generation, it has been repackaged and moved elsewhere several times

and has been in the food business at ss15 for 3 years only. Thus, the beef

noodle shop is more renown than then Srk noodle shop. The beef noodles

also has a franchise at Seremban 2 which is the new side of Seremban and

it will soon branch out to Kuala Lumpur and since the beef noodles have

been in the business longer, it has more regular customers than then srk

noodles. Hence, this proves that the beef noodles is more successful than

the srk noodles.

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RECOMMENDATION

Based on the analysis of two shops we interview, we learnt quite a lot of knowledge

regards about how businesses being managed, how the elements of businesses

which is plan, organize, lead and control had taken place in the process of

business, the obstacles they faced when there is a downfall, how to change the

prices of products based on market price and a lot of it which can’t be mentioned.

Different people have different ways to manage their business as some of them

treated business as a way to be filthy with profits earned, some of them is to inherit

the business where their parents left and even some of them make business as a

dream of theirs.

But still the recommendation I give on improving the competitiveness for each

business with proper justification. Firstly, for them to compete with the market,

they need to have certain skills and strategies so that they won’t struggle from loss,

like for example which is the marketing skills obtained. Like how you promote your

products, services and of course your restaurant. So the main way to promote your

business is through social media, like for example which is Facebook and Twitter

as promotion. Through Foursquare and Swarm is another to promote your

marketing by checking in the location. Advertisement on television and radio can

also help a lot by attracting customers to approach you.

Secondly, we need to research the overall market, where we can discovered the

hidden strength and weakness of our competitors or even our own businesses as

well. After you analysis everything, then you need to compare between your

business and other businesses so that you can know what to improve and

improvised for your business, so that you can monopoly the whole market as well.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ackoff, Russell L., Re-Creating the Corporation, Oxford University Press, New

York, 1999.

Blass, Eddie and Hackston, John, “Future Skills and Current Realities: How the

Psychological (Jungian) Type of European Business Leaders Relates to the Needs

of the Future,” Futures, Vol. 40, No. 9, 2008, pp. 822–833.

Marcum, David, and Smith, Steven, Egonomics, Simon and Schuster, New York,

2007.

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APPENDICES

Facebook Page

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Photo of restaurant interview and competitors

(Premises, Products, Services)

All the photos is included on the slides above:

Brief Bio of the restaurant interviews section &

Top Competitor section.

Interview Videos (YOUTUBE LINK)

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SQZfn9Ufc (BRIEF BIO

VIDEO) 2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vMCVZFe6OU (COMPARATIVE

VIDEO)

3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n21w3Xmcik

(RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION VIDEO)

CONTACT NUMBERS YEE KEE BEEF NOODLES: 012-698 7315

SRK NOODES HOUSE: 03-5611 9516

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REFERENCES

1) Yee Kee Signature Dish. Assessed on 30/11/2014:

http://ivanyeekee.getmybusinessonline.com.my/_image?album_id=ah1zfm

dvb2dsZS1idXNpbmVzcy1zaXRlYnVpbGRlcnIQCxIKUGhvdG9BbGJ1bRgCDKIB

JWl2YW55ZWVrZWUuZ2V0bXlidXNpbmVzc29ubGluZS5jb20ubXk&image_in

dex=2&pp=home

2) Sarawak Noodles. Assessed on 30/11/2014: http://www.mydeliciousfoods.com/only-rm11-for-sarawak-cuisine-set-meal-main-dish-dessert-for-2-persons-at-srk-noodles-house-subang-jaya/

E-BOOK & BOOK REFERENCES

1) Author unknown. (2011). Defining and measuring oligopoly, Retrieved on

30 November, 2014 from

http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Oligopoly.html

2) Buchhoitz,K. (2009). Business & society. South-Western/Cengage Learning.

3) Business today, (2001). Twenty First Century Media.

4) Ian I. Mitroff, Can M. Alpaslan and Ellen S. O'Connor, (2014). Everybody’s

Business. Retrieved from 12 February 2014.

5) Greenwald, Douglas. (1994) McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Economics. 2nd

ed., McGraw-Hill

6) Heyel, Carl. (1982) The Encyclopedia of Management. 3rd ed., Van

Nostrand

7) Henderson, David. (1993) Fortune Encyclopedia of Economics. Warner