From the previous section in the problem statement, we had acknowledged that the restaurant
is facing difficulties to sustain in the market, especially in this pandemic era. With Movement
Control Order (MCO) imposition and stringent Standard Operating Procedures or commonly
known as SOPs had led to the downfall of the restaurant. From the interview, the restaurant
owner had expressed his concerns that his restaurant was no longer having customers nor
sales during this pandemic era.
Due to the issues faced by the Modern Baba Nyonya, we must investigate the factors that
caused these problems. Hence, we will be using a renowned technique, which is SWOT
analysis, to evaluate the current condition of the business (Lubis et. al., 2018). The letters in
S.W.O.T represents strengths, weaknesses, opportunities as well as threats, where we will be
exploring the internal factors as well as the external factors that affect the restaurant.
It is necessary to make a thorough analysis on the organisation’s current position in the
market as it will enlighten us in providing a solution that will enhance the marketing strategy
of the restaurant. By using SWOT framework, we will be able to look at the overall picture of
the environment of the restaurant, so that we can help the restaurant towards success. The
SWOT table prepared by our team will be shown in the next page alongside with the
explanation.
Figure 1: SWOT analysis Table
Source: [Link]
own-study_fig1_328930717
Helpful Harmful
Internal Strengths Weaknesses
Family business Owner is the cook, not outsider hired or recruited
Unique dishes – traditional food of Baba Nyonya No organisational chart (entrepreneurial structure)
Strategic location - ambience Do not own the place of business
Loyal customers – word of mouth No proper marketing plans established – STP strategies and
Influence of social media -online marketing 4Ps
Family members are the employees No training for the employees – service quality affected
Externa Opportunities Threats
l Special grant provided for the small, medium MCO and stringent SOPs
enterprises (SMEs) by government – MCO period Slow economy recovery – recession
Collaborate with other online apps – create linkages New entrants
Develop own delivery system Competitors evolved
Table 1: SWOT Analysis Table / Matrix
Strengths
family business – ambiance - landscape
loyal customers
tasty food
strategic location
unique cuisine – competitive advantage – speciality (family tradition)
employees are family – conflict arise? -10 people
influence of social media
Weaknesses
no organisational chart
no marketing plans
no proper channel to market their café – simply rely upon their customers
no benchmarked set against their competitors
rental – maybe high (costly)
no expertise
Opportunities
opt for special grant from government
request for government support
have linkages with the famous app
have their own delivery system – door-to-door service
Threats
no first-mover advantage – not aware of the competitors and new entrants
MCO – not allow people to dine in
proper SOP in set?
customer changing taste
Based on the Table 1 above, we had listed out the possible factors that had caused the
restaurant to face difficulties sustaining in the market during the pandemic era. We will be
discussing on the internal factors, which are strengths and weaknesses, as well as the external
factors in the form of opportunities and threats.
4.1 Internal factor
First and foremost, we will be discussing about the internal factors of the restaurant in 2
forms, which are strengths and weaknesses. Normally, the 4Ps model will be used, which are
product, price, place, and promotions to identify the internal competences of the restaurant as
well as the deficiencies of the restaurant (Budiman et. al., 2018).
4.2 Strengths
Normally, the strengths are related to the core competence of the restaurant. Sometimes, these
competences can be a source of competitive advantage for the restaurant, which they may not
realize when running their business.
4.2.1 Place or Location
From our conversation with the restaurant owner, the location of the restaurant was placed at
Kuala Lumpur, which is a strategic location. This is a significant factor that led to the success
of the restaurant in the first place. Kuala Lumpur is easily accessible by many people as it is a
famous city center and a tourism area. Thus, it is a strength for the restaurant as the location
chosen should be visible and easy to locate by their customers.
4.2.2 Product
Product plays a significant role in the success of the restaurant as delicious food will attract
customers (Othman et. al., 2018). According to the owner, his cooking origins are based upon
the peranakan styles or commonly known as Baba-Nyonya styles. Since he is a baba and a
Peranakan Chinese, the dishes and the menus created are the inspiration from his cultural
background. This is considered a competitive advantage for the restaurant as the owner had
the major upper hand on creating mouthwatering foods tat was passed down from his
ancestors.
References:
Miszewska, E., Bolt, A., & Apollo, M. (2018). A role of an enterprise identification card in a
building process of water tourist investments. E3S Web of Conferences, 63, 00001.
[Link]
Lubis, T., Absah, Y., & Lubis, A. (2019). Analysis of Restaurant Business Strategy in
Developing Business using SWOT Analysis. Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 1st
International Conference on Economics, Management, Accounting and Business,
ICEMAB 2018, 8-9 October 2018, Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
[Link]
Budiman, I., Tarigan, U. P., Mardhatillah, A., Sembiring, A. C., & Teddy, W. (2018).
Developing business strategies using SWOT analysis in a color crackers industry.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1007, 012023. [Link]
6596/1007/1/012023
OTHMAN, M., KANDASAMY, T., ABU BAKAR, A. Z., & CHUA, B. L. (2018). (PDF)
Identifying success factors of Mamak restaurants in Malaysia. researchgate.
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Mamak_restaurants_in_Malaysia.
