Pizza Hot!!
Doesn't it grab your attention when you know that
there is no Pizza Hut in Mahabalipuram? No wait; tell yourself that it is not
Pizza Hut, its Pizza Hot. The name caught my eyes when I was out for my
marketing research and observations. With curious mind I entered the shop. An aquarium
with blinking lights at the entrance was quite receptive. The Left part of the
shop included a counter which was more like a Pizza shop counter but the right part
of the shop was quite a contrast. There were just few tables and chairs and the
rest of the seating arrangement consisted of just cushions on the ground with
low height tables giving out an Indian touch to the décor!
These
observations pushed me more to know about the owner's mind in selecting such a
name, creating such an ambience and his business
management acumen. I got the man, introduced myself to him and spoke all my
good feelings about the shop so that he becomes comfortable talking to me. And
it worked for me and our conversation began.
Here is the summary:
His name is Deepak Kumar and has done Hotel
Management and Catering from SISI College, Kodambakkam (2002-2007) in Chennai.
After completing his course, he did a 6 month training in Hotel Shringar (3
star) in Kanyakumari. He then got an opportunity to work in US Pizza as a steward.
He worked there for the next 2 years and then switched over to Pizza Hut in
Chennai. After 1 and a half year of work in Pizza Hut as a steward he was
promoted to be a Service Manager with a salary of Rs.7000 per month. He was quite
happy with his work and responsibilities till the idea to open his own Pizza
centre crept in his mind. He then started assembling parts and pieces to start
his own Pizza centre.
He initially approached banks for loan to start
his business but was rejected for some or the other reason. He then somehow
managed to get the money from his parents and friends. And then he explained me
his business strategies which he put this way.
The Name
Pizza hut is in the heart of every pizza lover so
he wanted a name which is similar to Pizza Hut and that’s why he chose the name
PIZZA HOT.
The Location
He knew about Mahabalipuram and its existence on
the global map so he wanted to find a place near the beach targeting foreigners
and tourists as his potential customers and that’s why he chose this place.
The Ambience
He wanted the ambience to be comfortable but with
an Indian touch to attract the tourist, hence he chose to put low height cushion
rather than using normal chairs.
The Marketing
Tourist market is seasonal and at its boom from the
period July to January of the year. So he had to plan his strategy to attract
local customers and market for the off peak season. So he planned for the following,
- Advertisement on local TV
- Circulated Posters and Pamphlets
- Free Home Delivery.
Quality and Offers
The most important point which he emphasized is
that the quality of the pizzas in his joint had to be on par with the pizzas served by Pizza Hut and
also all the offers that pizza hut offers like combo offer, family offer etc.
will be offered in Pizza Hot too.
With all
these preparations Deepak started Pizza Hot on January 1'2012 with a total investment
of 4.05 lakhs. January being the favourable tourism season for Mahabalipuram
gave him a pleasant and motivating sale for around Rs 10,000 per day.
In
normal days he generally receives 10 to 12 orders which mostly include home
delivery orders as well as visiting customers.
He maintains sufficient stock and shops weekly
for the required raw materials and beverages which costs him around 4000-5000
in normal days and 10000-12000 in peak seasons.
Doing a simple calculation with the data he gave,
he must be earning 2, 29,000 Rs/month during Peak season and 33,000 Rs/ month during
off peak season which is way more than his 7000 per month job.
Having discussed all these points, it was time to check Pizza Hot’s quality and claim for having the quality not less than Pizza Hut. I placed an order for a medium sized veg. pizza with cold drinks.
20 minutes over and I had my order on my table with the same Pizza hut effect. White plate, napkins and cold drinks served nicely in an aesthetic glass.
And to be honest
the taste was quite good and did live up to Deepak’s claims.
In sum, after my
amateur marketing observations and conversation with Deepak, I can say that
without going to any marketing class, he could run his business successfully by
using some basic ideas and theories of marketing like finding out target
customers, clever advertising, quality maintenance and customer convenience.
PS: He charged me only Rs.100 for my bill of Rs.220. You can now well imagine the margin Deepak must be getting..JJ
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