Cool Moose Creamery Case Study

Cool Moose Creamery Case Study
Situational Analysis: External Analysis
Competition:
The competition for Cool Moose Creamery consists of the popular Dairy Queen ice cream parlor. Dairy Queen was made popular for their soft-serve ice cream and backs up that product with multiple other ice cream products along with lunch and dinner options. The company focuses on customer service and their pricing model is higher than industry. The quality of their product and service has allowed then to keep their pricing model above industry and be successful doing so.
Location:
The Cool Moose Creamery stores are placed far enough away from Toronto that they avoid and competition within the city. Aliston, Ontario is home to a popular tourist attraction (South Simcoe Railway steam train); this brings in possible customers that correlate with the operating seasons of the parlor. Also in the community, a Potato festival takes place that brings in thousands of people, which while visiting have an opportunity to pass the ice cream parlor and stop in. Cool Moose Creamery is also located on the corner of a popular downtown street, which attracts frequent shoppers.
Internal Analysis:
SWOT Analysis Strengths
-prides itself in customer service
-strong brand recognition
-loyal customer base
-involved in helping community
-inspired employees
-exceed customers’ expectations
Weaknesses
-small available capital
-inexperienced
-seasonal business
-small population size
Opportunities
-new soft-serve ice cream product
Threats
-Dairy Queen, well established company
-Store bought ice cream
-other entrants to market
-Fast food ice cream (McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc.)

Issue Identification and alternatives
Qualitative Analysis
The main issue at hand is whether the purchasing decision of a soft-serve ice cream machine will prove to be profitable. There are two options for this purchase; new machine with triple-head, used machine single-head. They both their pros and cons:
Machine
Price
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