Tasha's Case Write Up
Case 1: Tashas, Franchising the Boutique Café Experience
1. Why did Natasha Sideris succeed with her first “Tashas” café and with her initial expansion?
I think the main reason behind her success is her passion for this job. She is clearly loving every moment of owning a restaurant. She was also able to communicate this passion to the customers as well as the staff. She was very focused on the service side of the business, and saw it as the main driver. The way she insists on customers’ not waiting more than 20 minutes for the food, which is cooked right after they ordered it. The location of the restaurant is another key driver of her success. Opening up a store in a very rich business district’s shopping center is a very good investment. And finally access to financing was very important as well.
The initial expansion was a success because she was able to differentiate the new store from the first one. The new store was designed to cater the needs of the customers of that specific area.
2. Evaluate Sideris’ expansion plans. What advice would you give her at the time of the case?
I personally believe that having 15-20 stores in the same country is not a good idea. It may be a financially viable idea, as it seems from the case, but there is a great risk of diluting the brand. Taking into consideration the population of South Africa as well as the number of people who actually have enough money to go to cafes and restaurants, having 20 Tashas Cafes doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Coming from Turkey, which is showing similar economic trends with South Africa for the recent years and facing similar income distribution problems, I have been observing boutique cafes and restaurants expand to never more than 10 restaurants nationwide. Sideris offers high-end products at high-end locations and her customer base is not very big. I think she has to be more conservative about her approach to expanding, and she should look into decreasing the risk of
1. Why did Natasha Sideris succeed with her first “Tashas” café and with her initial expansion?
I think the main reason behind her success is her passion for this job. She is clearly loving every moment of owning a restaurant. She was also able to communicate this passion to the customers as well as the staff. She was very focused on the service side of the business, and saw it as the main driver. The way she insists on customers’ not waiting more than 20 minutes for the food, which is cooked right after they ordered it. The location of the restaurant is another key driver of her success. Opening up a store in a very rich business district’s shopping center is a very good investment. And finally access to financing was very important as well.
The initial expansion was a success because she was able to differentiate the new store from the first one. The new store was designed to cater the needs of the customers of that specific area.
2. Evaluate Sideris’ expansion plans. What advice would you give her at the time of the case?
I personally believe that having 15-20 stores in the same country is not a good idea. It may be a financially viable idea, as it seems from the case, but there is a great risk of diluting the brand. Taking into consideration the population of South Africa as well as the number of people who actually have enough money to go to cafes and restaurants, having 20 Tashas Cafes doesn’t seem reasonable to me. Coming from Turkey, which is showing similar economic trends with South Africa for the recent years and facing similar income distribution problems, I have been observing boutique cafes and restaurants expand to never more than 10 restaurants nationwide. Sideris offers high-end products at high-end locations and her customer base is not very big. I think she has to be more conservative about her approach to expanding, and she should look into decreasing the risk of