Business_Case_Studies

Business Case Studies Country GuestHouse Schonegg Executive Summary Country Guesthouse Schönegg is a guesthouse and licensed restaurant located in Murrumbateman. It has been operating as a small business since 2003. The owners are Evelyn and Richard and they run the business as a bed and breakfast only. They use the 4ps in marketing of business very well and they know who their target market is and how to appeal to it. The business systems used are of great value to the owners and assist them in running their business successfully. History of the Country GuestHouse Schonegg Country Guesthouse Schönegg is a guesthouse and licensed restaurant located in Murrumbateman, which is part of the Canberra cool-climate wine district and it takes 30 minutes to get there from Canberra. The owners Evelyn and Richard bought 8 hectares of land in 2000 and started developing both their home and two rooms of the guesthouse. Schönegg opened in March 2003 They received a grant from AusIndustry and they added 4 additional rooms; these were opened in 2007. | | | Size of the business Schönegg would be classifed as a small business because there are only 16 peope that work there. There is one full time person, one of the owners, Evelyn, 3 permanent part time people, the other owner, Richard, who also works another full-time job and a breakfast cook and a cleaner. They have about 12 casual staff who help in the kitchen and room cleaning as required. | | | The use of the 4ps in marketing of the business Product – the guesthouse is a bed and breakfast business. This allows the owners to concentrate on the selling of rooms and because it is a very specific product, people who want to stay there know exactley what they will get. As part of the product, the owners have developed their own brand, the Schonegg Duck and this makes it more easy for customers to identify the product and know what it stands for. Price – the guesthaouse is one of the most expensive in the Canberra region. The owners believe they have a premium product and can charge a premium price. The price includes quality wine and canapés on arrival, luxury accommodation, complimentary amenities such as bathrobes, quality toiletries, complimentary papers, quality in-room coffee (locally roasted and fresh ground rather than instant). Also a continental breakfast buffet including complimentary sparkling wine and an a la carte cooked breakfast. The owners adjust their price according to the market, for example if it is a quiet period, they lower their prices. But in periods such as the school holidays or Floriade they keep them high because the demand for accomodation is high. Promotion- the owners do a lot of promotions on websites such as Wotif, NeedItNow, Quickbeds,Bookings and also they have search words on Google. Place – As the guesthouse has a large web presence, most of the bookings are made online. | | | Competition of the business The guesthouse has two types of competition: 1. Geographic. They compete with other B & B’s in the region. 2. Niche. They compete with the Sydney market. | | | Target Market of the business The guesthouse has five target market segments: 1. Sydney Short Break. This segment comprises people who enjoy luxury weekend or romantic getaways within a comfortable driving distance. 2. Canberra Short Break. This market includes those who value being close to home, for example young parents. This segment sees the region as a cheaper option than travelling to more distant tourist destinations, and includes couples wanting a romantic getaway. 3. Food and Wine Tourists. This segment enjoys food and wine for recreation and values the experience of visiting regional restaurants and wineries 4. Last Minute Travellers. This segment often leaves making accommodation plans to the last minute and relies on either websites or regional tourism organisations to make their booking. They value access to ‘real time’ availability and booking confirmation. Demand for ‘last minute’ accommodation is highest during periods such as school holidays, Parliamentary sitting periods and Floriade, the annual Canberra floral expo. 5. Bed and Breakfast Tourist. This segment enjoys discovering and staying at hosted accommodation properties and values the personal service and diversity that this form of accommodation provides. This market can be a mix of regional, interstate and international guests. As our business has grown from a traditional bed and breakfast to a guesthouse this segment has diminished in size. | | | Business Systems Used Desktop PC Windows 7 MS Office MYOB 19.5 with M-Powered Services (linked with online banking for direct payments out of MYOB). ResOnline https://cm.resonline.com.au/ - is a Room management / channel manager application. This application helps to ensure there is no double booking of rooms by removing a room from all sites once it has been booked. The system is web-based so can be accessed via an iPhone or laptop if the owners take bookings off-site. Wordpress - The guesthouse website is built using this application and we update it ourselves. We use to monitor website Google Analytics – to monitor website activity The advantages of the business systems used are: MYOB is industry leader and an Australian product so keeps up with changes to legislation, for example: changes to superannuation reporting. It is very powerful and easy to use. ResOnLine is web-based, no software or upgrades required. Universal access – wherever the owners can log on, they can access their channel manager (e.g. in the car via iPhone). Also, it links to the largest number of partner sites. Wordpress is very powerful and very easy to use, and open-source so upgrades cheap. Google is free and easy to use. Interesting information about the business The owners have been ‘early adaptors’ to these online business systems within their industry which they say is typically pretty conservative, older demographic of business owners. The country guesthouse is often used by their suppliers as a case study and benchmark.