Peng Chinese Takeaway, a family-run restaurant chain in the North of England, has been operating for 10 years.

When Peng started his business, the business was small, where orders and the number of employees were limited. His business ran on a simple model in which Peng took orders from customers, prepared the food, and delivered it to the customers.

In the beginning, this model worked well. Peng expanded the business, and seven more takeaways’ locations were opened in different regions of England. Although this expansion led to an increase in demand, sales, and labor, Peng still relies on traditional ways of operating the business, limiting any further success (Pros and cons of business growth, n.d.). Thus, Peng Chinese Takeaways seems to be at the crossroads: should the company continue to expand its physical infrastructure or go digital?

Peng’s business model analysis shows that he does not have the right processes in place to execute this digital transformation. For that reason, Peng’s plan is to start an internal evaluation that will help him define the right digital strategy and implement it gradually over time.

To start, studying and analyzing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) of Peng Chinese Takeaways will be conducted, which will indicate the internal situation at the business (Nordmeyer, 2019).

SWOT Analysis

Peng’s business has many strengths. It is a well-known brand in the area with high-quality food at good prices and friendly service. It has an experienced owner with thoughtful consideration of customer needs and tastes. Peng has already established his business in a good location with high visibility and accessibility, which is suitable for both customers and suppliers.

Peng’s brand is enjoyed a high reputation, which built a large number of loyal customers who visit Peng’s Chinese Takeaway frequently. Finally, Peng has an open mind to new ideas and suggestions for improvement from staff members.

Business expansion led to some weaknesses for Peng’s takeaway restaurant, such as the need for more funds to open more branches. The company doesn’t have enough money to hire more staff, so they don’t have enough capacity to prepare food efficiently during peak hours. In addition, there is a lack of management and organization skills among staff members. Moreover, the delivery services are unavailable for all orders and sometimes are slow due to traffic jams.

However, there are many opportunities that Peng’s business can benefit from. The prices of all fast-food restaurants are very similar in Newcastle, so there should be no competition between them based on price. Usually, Peng’s takeaways are located near the universities campuses and other busy districts, which are the places of high food demand.

Moreover, there is a growing demand for online food ordering services with the growth of Internet technology. Taking into consideration that some other fast-food chains are already beginning to offer online ordering and delivery services.

While being successful, Peng needs to be aware of competitors who may have better digital transformation strategies and faster approaches to integrate new technologies. He needs to come up with something unique or interesting to keep his customers satisfied.

Business Process Modeling Notation

The Peng Chinese takeaway business model is a simple business process from taking orders from customers to delivering them to their address. It can be divided into three steps: taking orders, preparing and cooking takeaway food, and delivering the food to the customers either by themselves or by a delivery service (Mintzberg, 1983).

Peng’s main challenges are related to his business processes model, which is mostly manual and paper-based. Implementing digital technologies will require changes within these processes (e.g., management, accounting, e-commerce). Some processes may need to be re-engineered completely (e.g., customer experience) (Osterwalder & Pigneur, 2010).

Conclusion:

Once Peng has defined its future vision for his business, the next step will be to build a roadmap to achieve the goal of digital transformation for Peng’s takeaway business which is to improve efficiency and change the way that the business will operate in the future.

References:

• Nordmeyer, B. (2019). Advantages & Disadvantages of SWOT Analysis. CHRON. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-amp-disadvantages-swot-analysis-41398.html
• Pros and cons of business growth. (n.d.). Queensland Government. https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/growing-business/ways-grow/pros-cons
• Mintzberg, H. (1983). Structure in Fives: Designing Effective Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
• Osterwalder, A. & Pigneur, Y. (2010). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.