English research

English Research(Comparative of two or more

business from the same industry)

English 2 (ENGL 0205)

Final Assignment – Bakery Business

Jacinta Kabrina Majalap

(0311339)

FNBE June 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2

Names of group members: Melika Bordbar (0311455)

CONTENT

CONTENTS PAGE

Research Proposal 3 - 6

Research Essay 7 - 15

Appendix

Photo

Meeting Minutes

16 - 23

Bibliography 24



Research Proposal

The Research Proposal

Name: Jacinta Kabrina Majalap

Student ID: 0311339

Group member: Melika Bordbar

Student ID: 0311455

Class: English 2

Introduction:

This is a research report from interviewing two businesses and making a

comparison between two of those businesses. The business that we chose is

Bakery Businesses. Bakeries are starting to bloom in Malaysia’s food industry

where unlike before, Malaysian started to go for bread instead of heavy food

for lunch. An interview was done to gain more information on that business

itself and that information are used to make a report.



Research Questions:

List the research questions very clearly and concisely. Number each

question.

1. Description of the trade or business that you are studying. Please note

that you should be studying at least two to three or more example of

the trade or business.

2. Origin/family history of trade/business that you are studying. For this

you need to conduct interview.

3. Where are the products marketed to? Local or International market?

4. Who are the main customer? Example: gender, income group? Why

does the product attract this particular group?

5. How does the business promote the product? How does it advertise?

Are the product distributed to various places or only at the business

premises? Why are they distributed in this manner?

6. What/who are the main threats/competition to the business? How are

they threatening the business? What are the strategies are used to

counter the threats/competition?



7. What trade-related policies have been put in place by the government

so far? What are their impact?

8. How does technology affect the trade/business? What are the effect?

Which technology has the biggest impact? Is it positive or Negative?

9. What is the future of the trade? Is the industry growing or stagnating?

What are the possible outcome for this trade in the next 10 years?

10. What is the most special/best selling product you've been selling from

the day the business started until now?

11. How many branches/franchises does the business own so far? Are you

planning on expanding/add more? Where and why? And who are the

targeted customer in that particular area?

12. Is the business coming up with new product? Who came up with the

recipe? And why is it special to you?

13. What are the most valuable thing/experience/scenario that you've

gained from running the business?

14. As one of the most established business in Kuala Lumpur, how do you

keep your business running and present through out the years? What

moral value did the business engaged in up until today



Methodology:

List all your methods one at a time and provide details of when and how you expect to carry

out your research methods.

1. Prepare questions.

2. Call up businesses in Klang Valley area for appointment.

3. Visit business.

4. Take picture as proof.

5. Do the interview.

6. Double check information.

7. Make a draft and rearrange data.

8. Prepare a report.

Conclusion:



Briefly explain what you expect to accomplished through the above methods and the

information that you expect to obtain by carrying out your plan above.

Hope to meet a friendly owner or manager in order to have a comfortable atmosphere to talk

in and gain some personal information of the business.

Expect to have enough information for the research.

Research Essay

On today’s market there is a variety of never ending delicious sweets and pastries to please

both the palate and the eyes. We have become so used to this diverse range of bread, mouth

watering pastries and cakes that seldom we ask just how they come into existence.

Right in the beginning of recorded history there was the discovery of fire making, thus along

with light, heat could be generated. Then there followed the discovery of different grasses and

their seeds which could be prepared for nourishment. With the help of heat and grain, one was

now able to prepare a kind of broth. Hot stones were covered with this broth or the broth was

roasted on embers and “Presto!” the first flat bread was created. This ability to prepare stable

food radically changed the eating habits and lifestyle of our early ancestors, from being hunters

they became settlers. In this research, we were ask to do an interview of two businesses from the

same trade. The trade we chose are bakery business and the bakery business we interviewed are

Homemaydecakes.blogspot.com and RT Pastry House.



The first business we interviewed is Homemaydecakes and the person we interviewed was the

herself owner, Miss May Mayvanwy Augusta Mojigoh. She is married and blessed

with a beautiful daughter. Homemaydecakes provide services to anyone who

wants to do personalized custom made cakes and other baking products like

cookies and cupcakes. Based at home in Kuala Lumpur, she does customized

orders for every occasion. Be it for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and

even just-for-fun. She accepts orders of any kind at very competitive and

reasonable prices.

Business started on her own after attending cake decorating courses at the

International Centre of Cake Artistry, Kuala Lumpur. Her cakes are usually

marketed to those in KL but she have had customers who order from all over

Malaysia, Singapore, the UK and US who wants the cakes delivered to friends

or relatives who are living in Kuala Lumpur. Most of her customers are ladies

either brides or mothers of young kids but she have had a few guys order

cakes for their girlfriends, wives, and mothers. Mother's of course want

meaningful birthday cakes that their kids will enjoy. Future brides wants to

have their dream wedding cake and are usually quite particular about what

they want. Hence custom made is the best way to go. Also friends of brides

likes to order cakes for their Hens night. Young people likes a modern and

contemporary idea to their cakes and the designs that they want usually are

about the interests of the person celebrating the birthday. This is why she



gets a lot of orders from this particular groups. Men probably order from her

because they don't know what else to get for the women in their lives.

Young people in their 20s also like to order cakes from her. Most of them

come from higher income people as custom made cakes can be quite

expensive reaching hundreds of ringgit for each. Most are also from the

working class as well. That said she do get a few orders that she give a

special discount. Example, order for some kids in an orphanage. May

promote her business in many ways. She mainly operate her business

through her blog shop Homemaydecakes.blogspot.com.

In her blog, she update the blog with interesting posts on how to do her

cakes this include the process on how she manage her time. This will give

future clients a glimpse of how and what she does, what she can offer and

how to contact her.

May is also very active in parent forums, wedding forums, youth forums and

anywhere online, which she can promote her business. Sometimes she sell

her cakes at events so that the public can have a taste of her goodies and

then offer them her name card if they want to order from her in the future.

For her, the biggest promotion in the custom made cake business is by word

of mouth. If your cakes are good, they will speak for itself. She don't really

have to advertise much at this point as her blog is an advert by itself but



perhaps she will consider advertising on Facebook. Earlier in her business,

she did distribute flyers in her neighborhood's mailboxes. For now her cakes

are only made to be picked up from her home or delivered to the respective

clients home/venue.

It's easier for her to operate from her premises as she is a stay at home mom

at the moment.

May’s competitors are other home based bakeries and commercialized

bakeries. There are so many out there who are doing exactly what she is

doing. She don’t know if she could say that they are threatening her

business but some of them are charging their clients way cheaper than what

is the standard. Custom made cakes are specialized cakes so the prices

should reflect that. Commercialized bakeries of course has a bigger capacity

in producing custom made cakes and can secure larger orders and it's hard

for her to compete with that in her small kitchen.

Well it's not much of a strategy. She just make sure that her work is of

excellent standard and she try to emulate international standard of design in

her cakes. Not many home-based bakeries can execute this, as it requires

personal skill and experience. She also tries to update herself with the latest

techniques and gadgets so that she is up to par with the latest trends in cake

decorating. Applying a certain trademark to her work also gives her cakes a



special touch so that it's different from other custom made cakes. For

example, her cakes always have a 'clean' look and are often very colorful.

May only use the best and freshest ingredients where she only use fondant

from either the United State or New Zealand and dairy products like butter

from New Zealand as well. This is how she differentiate herself from other

competitors.

So far no government policies are affecting her too much but she heard

they might want to regulate all online businesses soon and every online

business must have a proper business license. If that happens, she might

have to register her business as an enterprise and pay a fee every year in

order to do her business. Also if that happens, She’d have to put her full

contact on her blog. She’s not sure if she is comfortable displaying her

address and phone number for the entire world to see online as she only

provide those to her clients.

Technology in baking is very important. High capacity baking equipment

like heavy-duty mixers, large ovens, fondant rollers and airbrush machines

are very useful to the industry. Almost all are positives. The custom made

baking business has a very bright future. It is definitely growing and will be

an ever important industry as you will never run out of people needing cakes

for birthdays, weddings, and events. All of May’s products are special as



each cake is different and it is one of a kind.

So far May only plan to operate from home since her business is still

growing. Once she is a little more established, she would be interested in

opening either a little bakery cafe or a small cake decorating course center

with supplies.

She would target urban areas or the suburbs where a lot of retired people or

stay at home moms are. Because they are the ones who usually are

interested in cake crafts. May is constantly coming up with new recipes.

Usually she refers to recipe books and the Internet and tweak the recipes to

her own liking. It is special because it is of her own taste and what she likes.

The most valuable thing and experience May gain from running her

business are patience and tenacity. When she first started the business, it

was very slow. She had to be patient and tenacious in the sense that she had

to keep on marketing her business to get the word out. She would bake for

free for friends just so they would try her cakes and see her work.

Even in cake decorating, she found that that if she was too much in a rush

something wrong would always happen to the cake. So she practiced

patience in decorating as well.

Also learning from mistakes and improving any weaknesses, when she had a

less than favorable feedback from a client especially in the beginning of the

business.



Hard work and having goals. Without these two attributes a business has

nowhere to go.

Moral values is that in business one must always be honest and always be

kind to clients and try your best to help them. This will bring the business a

long way because people remember you as a good and trustworthy business

operator and not just another business wanting your money.

The other business we interviewed are RT Pastry House and the person

we interviewed is the operation manager, Mr. Vic Chia. RT Pastry House was

up and running for more than 10 years. From the year 2003 up till now. The

first outlet was in Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur. The owner was originally from

Taiwan. He started to work in Taiwan, Singapore and finally based in

Malaysia. He and his wife decided to open a pastry shop in Malaysia to

spread the culture of their hometown. Their product is Japanese and Taiwan

inspired and his motto is“5 star quality at a 3 star price”. After 3 years, a

second shop was open in Subang Jaya SS15, and two more years later in

Puchong Jaya. Between 4-5 years, the family members in this company

increase up to 50%.

After the Puchong branch opened, to survive in this industry RT Pastry House

organization started to expand. They develop an operation chasing

production, and a basic department. Their shops introduced Malaysian to a

Japanese and Taiwanese fusion bakery concept. RT Pastry House has grown



to become the choice bakery in the region and demand for products has

been overwhelming. They have now expanded their reach to bring the

premium quality of RT Pastry House to an even wider audience.

When they first started, they were only selling within the premises. But

after the year 2009, the first factory for making their own products and

supply to all of the outlet around Malaysia was built. The products are

targeting the local markets and they are planning to expand internationally

in the future. The main customers are between the age of 25-35 averages.

They are also targeting students and working a person who doesn’t have

time to eat proper meal. The marketing strategy in 2009 was to attract more

housewives by using the best quality at the lowest price. They bring more

technological idea, from other countries to Malaysia in order for Malaysian to

try different type of pastry from different country.

They promote their product by giving vouchers and discount for whoever

becomes member. Other than that, they have a lot of special offer for event

such as Valentine day, Mothers day and Fathers day. The promotion can be

found in their website, RT Pastry House.com. They distribute fliers and poster

around Klang Valley area to attract more customers but distribute of product

is only sold within the business premises to save time and energy.



RT Pastry House have a lot of threats and competition, one of them is TK

Bakery & Lavender Bakery. They tried to copy RT Pastry House’s products and selling it in

their shop. For example, their famous product Green tea Cake was copied and sold in different

shop without their knowledge. To counter the threats, RT Pastry House has come up with a lot

of strategies to overcome this problem. One of the strategies is maintaining the quality of their

products and develop new products for the future. Having an excellent service is a must to

attract loyal, new and possible customer.

Trade related policies that have been put in place by the government so far are an increase

in price of the main ingredient such as sugar and flour. The increase in price of the product

depending on how big is the gap of profits/loss is. But for now, it didn’t really bother the

business flow in Malaysia. The technology for bakery line is very important, if we don’t improve

the technology, we can’t survive in this market. Before, making bread is done by hands instead

of using a machine. Now, the technology of making cake is premix, meaning we’re using hand

and machine together to bake. The greatest impacts are the machine used. With machine to

bake, we can safe time and money because labor work cost a lot of money and machine makes

a heavy-duty work becomes much more easier to handle.

The future of the trade is bright, depending on the management and marketing strategy. RT

Pastry House business is still growing. For the next 10 years, they predicted that the business

would still grow with few new outlets along the way. Their best-selling product since the day

the business started is Hokkaido Cake. It has soft moisture to it with different type of filling. The



branches they own so far in total 7 branches where most of them are located around Malaysia.

They plan to expand their business in the near future by opening a new branch in

Klang valley area, because of their factory is located near that area. In that particular area, they

target working people, students, and housewives as the possible customer. The business is

coming up with new product. They have planned to develop more varieties of cakes and the

person who came up the recipe is their chef, owner and someone from Taiwan because the

recipe is originally from Taiwan. It will be healthier, natural, and it’s special because no one in

Malaysia sells it. They will be the first to sell it in Malaysia.

The most valuable thing gain in running the business is experience. Experience for the

worker, and organization. As one of the most establish business in Malaysia, they keep their

business running by having a good marketing strategies, lots of promotion, fast and friendly

service, quality product and an awesome management. The moral value the business engaged

up until now is equality. The owner prefer that every staffs can be able to buy their own houses

and for customers, a 5 star quality at a 3 star prices.

These two businesses are different in everyway. For instants, RT Pastry shop has their own

shop where by Homemaydecakes only move from home if there is an order from a client. RT

Pastry House doesn’t take orders from different countries because their target is only within

the local market. Homemaydecakes has done business internationally where she took orders

for people from other countries. In term of marketing, RT Pastry House promotes their product

by distributing poster and fliers and they even have their own website. In the early days of her



business, homemaydecakes distribute fliers in her neighbor’s mailbox. Now she promotes her

business through her blog, Facebook and even in event of her client. The product sold is also

quite different where RT Pastry House sells different varieties of pastry from bread to cakes,

where by Homemaydecakes only sell custom made cakes, cupcakes and cookies. Thus, this

shows that even if these two business are in the same trade/industry, they way they run their

business is totally different.

AppendixFNBE June 2013 - ENGL 0205 English 2


RT Pastry House



Homemaydecakes



Team Meeting23May2013

13.00pmTaylor Lake Side

University

Meeting called by: Jacinta K. Majalap

Facilitator: Mr. Woon

Timekeeper: Sumit Chai

Attendees: Raychella Richard & Evelyn Paul

Note Taker: Melika Bordbar

Please read: Notes and research proposal

Please bring: Pen and Paper



Minutes

Agenda item: Origin/History of business Presenter: Melika Bordbar

Discussion: History of RT Pastry House

Conclusions: Originally from Taiwan

Action items Person responsible Deadline

Conduct an interview Melika Bordbar

List down Key points

Agenda item: Origin/History of business Presenter: Jacinta K. Majalap

Discussion: History of Homemaydecakes

Conclusions: Got interested after going for pastry course

Action items Person responsible

Deadline

Conduct interview Jacinta K. Majalap List down key points



Agenda item: Marketing strategies Presenter: Melika Bordbar

Discussion: How does RT Pastry House promote their product?

Conclusions: By posting poster, distribute fliers and making a website


Conduct interview Melika Bordbar

List key points

Agenda item: Marketing strategies Presenter:

Discussion: How does Homemaydecakes promote their product? Jacinta K. Majalap

Conclusions: Through her Blog and Facebook


Conduct interview Jacinta K. Majalap

List key points

Other Information

Observers:



Resources: HomHomemaydecakes.blogspot.com, RT Pastry House.com, and Pfisterconsulting

Special notes:

Thank you.

Bibliography

http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm

http://homemaydecakes.blogspot.com

http://rtpastry.com/index.php



http://rtpastry.com/index.php

http://homemaydecakes.blogspot.com/

http://www.pfisterconsulting.com/history.htm

English research

Business

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