Final report research on small business coffee talk english

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HCMCINTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY   FINAL REPORT RESEARCH ON SMALL BUSINESS COFFEE TALK ENGLISH Lecturer : NGUYEN HAI TRUNG Group members : HOANG THI KHANH

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HCMC

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

 

FINAL REPORT

RESEARCH ON SMALL BUSINESS

COFFEE TALK ENGLISH

Lecturer : NGUYEN HAI TRUNG

Group members : HOANG THI KHANH HA-BABAWE20152

TRAN LE TRUC VY-BABAIU21588

VO THI AI MY-BABAIU20455

DAO THI HONG YEN-BABAIU21599

NGUYEN NHU QUYNH-BABAIU21509

Class : Introduction to Business Administration

PART 1 – GENERAL INFORMATION 3 PART 2 – INTERVIEW 3

*Ask the manager the following questions on Business Ownership: 4

1 What type of business ownership does the business use? 4

2 Why did they choose this form of ownership? 4

3 How many hours per week does the owner spend at his business? 4

4 If the owner could change one thing in building his/her business, what would that be? 5

5 What advice does he/she have for a new entrepreneur? 6

*Ask the manager the following questions on Management: 6

1 How many different goods/services does the business produce/provide? 6

2 Does the business have a long-term plan? How does the business owner prepare her or his business plan? 7

3 How can the business ensure that the planned objectives be achieved? 8

4 What are the policies of the business to motivate its

employees to work harder? 8

5 What are the key success factors for this industry/business? 8

6 What are the problems the business is facing? 9

*Analysis 9

1 What are the strengths and weaknesses of this business? 9

2 Indicate one point for the business to change or improve in its strategy for competitive advantage 11

3 Do you think its workers will be committed to working for this business? Why or why not? 11

 Business name: COFFEE TALK ENGLISH.

 Location of the business: 611/4C E Dien Bien Phu, Ward 1, District 3,

Ho Chi Minh City

 Interview date: 9/4/2023

 Interview time began: 8:00 am

 Interview time finished: 11:30 am

 Position of the interviewee: CEO Dinh Minh Quyen (Founder Talks Café)

 Main area of business and production activity: Sell coffee and here, customers will use English to communicate, the service staff is also teaching assistants, guiding customers to speak English better

 The special highlight of Talks Cafe is to combine the model of serving coffee and teaching English with a scale of no more than 6 students/class, with tuition fees from 50,000 - 60,000 VND/student/session

 Number of employees: 82 (including 12 full-time employees, 50 part-time English teachers, 20 part-time employees)

 Number of employees with a college degree or above: all teachers have IELTS degrees and pedagogical qualifications

 Teacher input at this Startup includes:

- Graduated from university majoring in foreign languages, IELTS 6.0, TOEIC 800 or higher

- All candidates must go through the Founder who has interview teaching skills

- After 2 weeks of classroom training

- All teachers must prepare lesson plans

- Teach tests

 Educational level of the business owner:

- Graduated from Sonadezi College of Management Technology

- For more than 9 years, he has held the position of Customer Relationship Manager at several leading foreign banks such as ANZ Bank, Hong Leong Bank

- Advanced pedagogical training and Master of Business Administration

- Lecturer at Sonadezi College

PART 2 – INTERVIEW

* Ask the manager the following questions on Business Ownership:

A joint stock company without a state capital

2 Why did they choose this form of ownership?

In the process of interacting with students, Quyen noticed that one of their weaknesses is limited foreign language ability However, with the current traditional way of teaching and learning, students have little time to practice Meanwhile, not everyone has the financial ability to study English methodically

at foreign language centers

Faced with this situation, Dinh Minh Quyen has cherished building a chain of cafes dedicated to the English-speaking community So, in June 2018, Quyen's brainchild named Talks Cafe was officially born Here, customers will use English to communicate, the service staff are also teaching assistants, guiding customers to speak English better

As a person with many years of experience in business management, when starting a business, Right to determine the current education market has many

"big guys" ahead and thousands of large and small centers

“I realize that the problem that most English centers are facing today is the high cost, fixed hours, and locations, thus limiting many people who want to study In addition, large classes should limit interaction with students” – Quyen to analyze

3 How many hours per week does the owner spend at his business?

“It depends on how you understand work and spend your time on it If you use your time at work, it will be productive If you go home, listening to Chinese when you need to learn Chinese is also useful for work Those skills are not taught in schools,” Quyen said

Running Talks cafe is not Quyen's only job Currently, Dinh Minh Quyen's main income and full-time job are at a finance company, an import-export company

In addition, Quyen expects technology can help Talks Cafe solve lean management problems These are the reasons founders are willing to invest in Talks Cafe

Currently, Talks Café is planning explosive scenarios when it receives the investment amount from the Chairman of Egroup Education Group as committed, which is about 5 billion VND, in exchange for 45% shares of Talks Café

“I am having the opportunity to devote all my time to this project,” plans Dinh Minh Quyen

would that be?

In December 2019, Talks Cafe is having a very sustainable development model with a space-sharing economy model with 9 cafes in HCM - 3 in Bien Hoa - 3 locations in Da Lat

However, the specter of Covid19 came and swept this business

"With the disbursed capital of 3 billion from Shark Thuy, we always have a cash reserve for 3-4 months of business expenses, but the Covid epidemic from Tet has wiped out all the remaining cash and the company may not survive until the end of April," said CEO Talks Café

Mr Minh Quyen said that the business has not accumulated with a start-up business, and it is impossible to have the capital for a risky business All the money is for business development and system investment, so this Covid 19 epidemic almost leaves businesses with no backup plan

Difficulties caused from March this year, all Talks Café staff had to work part-time, reducing their salary by 50% However, this situation cannot last because some of you have families with small children Full-time workers are taking a lot

of leave "It's heartbreaking to see the staff leave," Quyen said

Minh Quyen confided that investors are also facing difficulties because they work together in education Talks Cafe is difficult once, they are also difficult

100 times, so the two sides are also exchanging a few hundred million more for each other

"Talks Cafe has a good model that can grow, but the business may die of running out of money before it has a chance to be remade."

In a difficult situation, Talks has reduced 15 sites to 7 sites In addition, Talks negotiates with coffee shop owners to help reduce the cost of premises by 50%

In parallel with the above, Talks has an online English program in the morning, afternoon, and evening to generate revenue

On this question, I think it's about attention to detail Although COFFEE TALK has debuted almost perfectly, I still have a few mistakes in financial management, I am confident that I have had a lot of experience in this before starting my business, but I still have problems a little difficulty in cash flow when the Covid epidemic hit I am not a perfectionist but I love details and I understand that it is the smallest details that will make a customer happy or disappointed

If there's something I want to change, I'll change myself and what I'm doing to develop myself and my business Read more, grow up, become more confident, and learn how to be a better leader

I believe both negative and positive must be changed in a business Negatives should be changed into positives and positives should be made more positive

5 What advice does he/she have for a new entrepreneur?

teachers, and location costs nearly 100 million He is about to start with the 3rd shop, with a larger scale than the previous 2 The hard part is to manage it The reason is that his system allows teachers and students to choose the time and date of school, so the operation is often confusing Quyen has solved that problem, so according to Minh Quyen, that is Talks Cafe's competitive advantage

“When teaching, many students ask me: Should I give up everything to start a business? I ask again: If you fail, how will you live? If I feel confident about my startup, I leave it all But do you see the consequences of failure? Does your family support you or do you have other sources of capital to live on?”, shared Minh Quyen

“Or for example, you have 500 million dong, you start a business and fail, lose all 500 million, and still have debt Do you start to get bored and complain about life?”, Quyen added

Right that, due to the skill of each person If someone feels right, just do it, and 100% focus is even better Due to each person's management skills

“As Shark Thai Van Linh said, before starting a business, you should go to work

to get your lessons and skills I think this is very true,” said the CEO of Talks Cafe

You can go home before 7 o'clock, but then you should go to soccer or coffee with your partner, it's also for work

When asked, we learned that Quyen had previously sold Thai products, sold cosmetics, and distributed goods to The Faceshop

“I sell and all make a profit But I think it's not good to be big After banking, each client gave me an idea Because when explaining, they will tell me what the cash flow is, and how the profit and loss will be When will it payback? Why should invest in this industry, invest in that industry ", the guy born in 1988 said

* Ask the manager the following questions on Management:

1 How many different goods/services does the business produce/provide?

 Test English Online

Students are tested on their ability to use English with American/Australian teachers, teachers will evaluate 5 factors (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, listening ability, fluency/coherence) and course arrangement the most suitable course for the student

Make an appointment and make a test appointment with your teacher for advice

on effective English learning methods

 House For Rent: Study, Meeting, Living

100,000/hour - 150,000 - 200,000 · 1 hour or more

Fully air-conditioned, fan, tea, board, writing

Convenient parking for you guys

Opening hours: 8 am – 10 pm every day

 Study English

To assess the quality of students, an average of 40 lessons per course, every 8 lessons, students have to take a test once and must pass a final assessment to

be certified to a level In addition, students must commit to participating in 2-3 courses to get the basic knowledge

Besides, the teaching staff at Talks Cafe are all directly elected by Quyen They can be excellent teachers, even students, but must have IELTS speaking 8.0 or equivalent and have prepared lessons before teaching In each lesson, Quyen will arrange foreign teachers from different countries, usually, in each lesson, foreign teachers will participate in teaching for 20 minutes so that students have the opportunity to communicate directly with teachers native language

2 Does the business have a long-term plan? How does the business owner prepare her or his business plan?

"Since I built Talks Cafe, I have not thought about making money here in the short term Because I have to invest in the long term," Quyen said

“For me, in business, if you want to survive in the long run, you need to balance between profit and social benefits, and profit will come in the long run The most important quality for me is to be consistent with my goals for the long haul Society will support its model when it sees the value that the project brings” –

Mr Quyen asserts

According to Quyen, the key to opening the door to the education market lies in quality Learners may be curious, and experiment for a few months, but to be profitable, an education brand must ensure the stability and development of quality training

In addition to learning, listening to feedback, and sharing experiences with people around, Quyen has invested in the application to determine the number

of each teacher’s lesson

In fact, out of 10 startups, 9 fail Even the lesson of company survival from the Covid pandemic is one of the countless lessons that Quyen and startups have learned about the market experience, competitors, and how to deal with risks Dinh Minh Quyen himself has also encountered many failures, so he thinks that

“The game of starting a business is a game of daily learning The result you get after a project is not money, but maturity This means that we have to constantly update and improve ourselves, through reading books, and learning from previous mentors, including the mentality of being ready to start a business, and ready to listen to criticism to improve Kindness is also a skill that everyone must practice for themselves

According to the guy born in 1988, it will be very difficult for a founder if people send financial, marketing, and strategic information without knowing if it's right or wrong And another thing is the ability to present when calling for investment If investors do not understand, how can they invest money?

3 How can the business ensure that the planned objectives be achieved?

As a person with many years of experience in business management, when starting a business, Quyen determines the current education market has many

"big guys" ahead and thousands of large and small centers Therefore, for the project to be successful, it is essential to make a difference

Technology is the competitive advantage of Talks Cafe Quyen and his colleagues have built a management software that allows teachers and students to flexibly set schedules, and study locations, and evaluate teachers after each lesson This model solves three problems that other English centers are facing, which are lower cost, quality, and flexibility for everyone

4 What are the policies of the business to motivate its employees to work harder?

Finding a team with the same goals and ideals as well as grasping the view that this is not a project of "earning food through the day"

5 What are the key success factors for this industry/business?

From the perspective of the owner of the Talk Cafe chain, the answer consists

of 11 factors, and according to him, these are also the lessons he has learned from his "child": Where is the money, where is the person, there is no other person , easy to imitate, the form of sales (direct and online), promotion, technology application, market size, unknown issues (finance, law, human resources), advisor, and Entrepreneur mentality Dissecting and analyzing these 11 issues in turn, Dinh Minh Quyen has the most comprehensive and basic view around the keyword "start-up"

is an indispensable part of "feeding" and developing business projects Minh Quyen believes that capital can be from its economic potential or supported by investment organizations and businesses However, he also reminds you to "be careful" in concentrating capital

Human resources is also one of the important keys behind the capital It is very difficult to attract people to join the same "boat" in the first place Quyen's answer is to find like-minded companions Only when finding collaborators with the same passion, creating ideas, and complementing each other, the success

of a new model is possible

Take real examples from big bosses in the world like Coca, Mobile World's business model, selling on e-commerce platforms Shopee, Amazon, or simply

as a selfie stick made by Korea Nationally manufactured and then in the market with fake products, Dinh Minh Quyen analyzed clearly for everyone to see the expensive lesson of the factors of sales behavior (directly and online), how to promote, technology adoption, market size, etc

6 What are the problems the business is facing?

I have never doubted the feasibility of the project Talks Cafe 100% English bring back to society I will present and convince the jury about that feasibility One million young Vietnamese who speak English fluently is the destination of Talks with tuition fees of just one cup of coffee a day

- As said, society will support you when they see your value as beneficial to society Do the best you can for the cheapest price, money will come when people trust you With any business, this idea must be widely spread from founders, shareholders to employees Healthy competition is the factor that helps businesses become giants

*Analysis

1 What are the strengths and weaknesses of this business?

* Strengths of a Coffee Talk English Business

- New business model (combination of enjoying coffee and learning English)

Although a coffee shop is a fast turnaround small business, this small business has known how to create a novel cafe environment, now people come to coffee not just for coffee anymore The target market and customers that the company targets require high-quality services such as clean places, clean cups, good seating arrangements, nice seats, and highly qualified teachers All these little things give the impression of a healthy environment

Coffee is a small item that people can make at home But they want to go out for coffee with friends somewhere outdoors That's why customers keep coming and going throughout the day, whenever they have time

- Team Work

Running a coffee shop business isn’t the job of one person The number of members in a team varies on the size of the business If it’s a small shop, then there’ll be 2 or 3 people If the shop is big, then there’ll be more people When these people work together towards a common goal, productivity multiplies

- Clear Work Values

Everyone in the coffee shop business knows the whole functionality of the business They know that their work values are to serve the customer with better quality and a smiling face

- Direct Relationship with Customers

Customers physically come to the shop to have coffee Therefore, it’s a great opportunity for the owner of the staff to connect with the customers and make him/her a regular client

- Highly focused Niche

The coffee shop business is a highly niche-focused venture It’s a general store, where you can offer a variety of things from different brands

- Customer-focused strategy

The coffee shop business focuses on serving the customer better than competitors

* Weaknesses of a Coffee Shop Business

- Fewer market data

When you start a new coffee shop business, then you need data to check the statistics It is very difficult to collect market data, especially in this field

- Manual System

If you want quality products and services, you have to do things manually When we talk about manual processes, it’s good but time-consuming and costly