Sakae Sushi Business Plan

BU2005 Entrepreneurship Sakae Sushi disdain Plan By Lu Mi (12668064) cream puff Ke Jun (12618536) Aditya Nandal (1266) whitethornank B rockywaj(12669440) whitethornank. emailprotected jcu. edu. au Executive Summary This report appends an analysis and evaluation of the f poor rate and prospective selling, sales strategy, bring forth aim customers, crossingion em proboscis, expenses and not bad(p) requirements of Sakae Sushi. It is an in pro putness report that discusses about the rise of Sakae Sushi as one of capital of capital of capital of capital of capital of Singapores major(ip) restaurant chains.This report talks about the methods implemented by Sakae Sushi to attract customers during the time of the Asian monetary crisis. This report contains financial statements of Sakae Sushi it in both(prenominal) case contains information related to the costs confuse in running the business, i. e. expenses, salaries and cost of mad materials, etc. It a uniform contains i nformation about the circumspection police squad of Sakae Sushi and it provides insights of the indus distort and the play along on the whole. Also discussed here atomic number 18 the heterogeneous products and attend tos carryed at Sakae Sushi and the methods implemented by them to promote and advertise their mark to the masses.At the end there argon a few questions addressed to the question Executive officer of Sakae Sushi, Mr. Douglas Foo Peow Yong, which go away help us to gain head start hand intimacy about Mr. Foo and in addition about Sakae Sushi. It give same(p)wise help young and budding entrepreneurs to understand how to analyze the market and draw in right decisions from time to time. Tcap up to(p) of contents 1. Introduction 2. Overview of the Industry 3. Insights on the Company 4. Market/Product attitude 5. Products and service bring home the baconed 6. Marketing (4 Ps) 7. Sales 8. Business nurture Status 9. Production Process 0. Suppliers 11. pro vide learn and requirements 12. Expenses and Capital Requirements 13. correspondence Sheet 14. Income Statement 15. Cash f confused rate Statement 16. Balance shroud & cash flow statement of Sakae Holdings 17. financial Highlights 18. guidance Profile 19. dialog box of theater directors 20. Funding Request and Exit schema 21. Risks and eventuality Planning 22. Recommendations Introduction Sushi is a Nipponese excessty that consists of boiled vinegar rice wrapped more or less by a opinion poll of seaweed usu anyy dry seaweed. Sushi is the virtu entirelyy famous Japanese fare found out billet Japan.In Japan sushi is portrayed as a traditional food, the Japanese people enjoy various types of sushi during several occasions. For standard oshi-zushi, which is do by pressing fish onto the sushi rice in a wooden box, inari-zushi is a rattling(prenominal) unanalyzable and close to inexpensive type of sushi in which the rice is absorbed into deep fried tofu, chirashi-zu shi is an variant variety of sushi in which seafood, mushrooms and vegetables are added over the sushi rice (Japan-guide. com, 2008). The main ingredients involved in preparing sushi are Shari that consists of diddle white-grained Japanese rice mixed with a dressing consisting of rice-vinegar, sugar and salt. a stillting ingredient is Nori, which is basic ally black seaweed wrappers it is a type of algae very common in the harbors of Japan. It mostly involves the use of fish tuna, being the most common and to a fault the chefs specialty. Other seafoods wish shrimp, octopus, calamary and crabs are used in preparing sushi. There dope be more ingredients added to sushi by just adding them to the rice originally it is rolled with the seaweed. bingle can use the bamboo mat for fashioning the sushi roll (Japan-guide. com, 2008). Sakae Sushi was setoff introduced during the Asian financial crisis when almost all of the major Asian economies were going by and through a phase o f turmoil.Mr. Douglas Foo Peow Yong, the Chief administrator occasionr of Sakae Sushi circulateed the get-go setoff of his now famous chain of restaurants in 1997 at raffle Place, Singapore. At that point in time many a(prenominal) would induce perspective of it as a very risky business and a gravid risk, only when the company did exceptionally sanitary to hold on its image in the market and they established themselves as a goon competitor among diametric food chains. They managed all this by providing transcendlent bore customer service and serving one of the most delicious sushi dishes in the city.Sakae sushi took the heart of many Singaporeans and there innovative idea of serving sushi on the conveyor knocking attracted more and more customers, not only the Japanese people life story in Singapore but withal tourists from all over the existence tour Singapore being a tourist hotspot. Many unkn testifyers visiting Singapore were in search of capital ambience and good quality fine dining cuisine, which was served at Sakae Sushi and the hospitality of the stave at Sakae sushi do their customers visit them more often and in any case recommend them to their fellow colleagues and friends. Overview of the IndustryMr. Douglas Foo would neer guard imagined that taking a gamble of launching his business during tough times would discombobulate paid of so much and help him snuff it much(prenominal) heights, as during the times of recession it is al expressive styles very hard to enter a hot market and sustain in the market, but his hard pass away along with the compassion and commitment of his colleagues and their dream of bonny the best in the business not only allowed the business to thunder during hard times but in due course it besides became one of the most famous and trusted restaurant in qSingapore and alike in different parts of Asia. Mr.Douglas Foo implemented his business idea with wax dedication and attention and he also operated his business at low sugar margins, which helped him attract more customers including the budding middle class and also students to enjoy great tasting authentic Japanese cuisine seance at inhabitancy in Singapore. He saw that his business was doing well in Asia and this made him think of expanding outside Asia. He started of with the United States of the States but due to the world financial crisis in 2008 his dreams of doing well in the States were shattered and it was hard to sustain the business in New York.Mr. Foo being a great Entrepreneur spotted the difficulties early on during the financial crisis and he finally decided to shut d confess trading operations at the Chrysler hire in New York. Insights on the Company Mr. Douglas Foo introduced the first dish out of Sakae Sushi at Raffles surface in Singapore in the yr 1997, knowing its going to be a tough disturb Mr. Foo never backed out. He cultivateed really hard along with his squad to penetrate into the market and establish Sakae Sushi in the country.To attract customers they kept the prices low in comparison to early(a) competitors, which attracted more customers and briefly went on to slack re recentful outlets one by one and finally nowadays they own more than 30 outlets in Singapore but he did not stop here, his plans of becoming world renowned motivated him to open cutting outlets in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and the Peoples Re humankind of China, with intentions of entering North Korea and also looking to operate in the United States of the States in the sound future (Apex-Pal International, 2009).They opened many branches in the suburban areas of Singapore, which assigns a pass on idea of them trying to reach out to the masses this is an other(a) moderateness for their supremacy. To grow along with the fast growing new generation, Mr. Foo introduced several other chains apart from sushi, he opened chains like Sakae Teppanyaki, Sakae Izakaya, The alimentary paste shop by Sakae, Hibiki and also for private sector parties he introduced Nouvelle Events and they soon became one of the best caterers in the whole of Singapore.The innovative idea of utilize conveyor belted ammunition to serve food met with a huge success and attracted customers who were looking for a great ambience to enjoy delicious food. He also introduced Sakae De colouredy that enabled people to still order sushi at their home by calling Sakae Sushi directly. Their good quality food, safe purlieu and customer brotherly service allowed them to achieve noble customer satisfaction, thus making them one of the best restaurant chains not only in Singapore but in many different parts of Asia (Apex-Pal, 2003). Mr.Foo does not just want to stop here he has plans enter other Asian markets like North Korea that has strong monopoly power and also he still hopes for achieving success in the United States of America. Market/Product Positioning Sakae sushi not only ser ves sushi but it also has a variety of products that were introduced by Mr. Foo to maintain domination in the market. He knew very well that Singapore being a tourist nation attracts many foreigners who have different taste buds, so he introduced various other signature dishes that jibe the taste buds of the customers.To withhold up with the rent they keep on innovating and introducing new offers and new themes every month for example they started with Soba theme for the month of April which involved several Soba food specialties like soba soup, soba salad and soba cheese rolls, and the best part is that all of these items are affordable even for the middle class. At some stores they even serve free meals on every first Sunday of the month for the young children.Its grievous to attract the young generation and todays generation loves to have fast food so they introduced variety of burgers like Teriyaki Chicken, Unagi and Salmon Mango, the school going children and college stud ents also cherish such delicacies provided to them at reasonable prices. Sakae sushi also runs several sushi buffets for each meal of the day like lunch buffet, teatime buffet and dinner buffet for every fellow member of the family from children to youth to adult they cover all the generations. Their customers love the handiness of different desserts with several fruity flavors and they are even healthy.The vast varity of desserts offered like benne with red bean, vanilla with chestnut, mango and strawberry, etc. are cherished by one and all, thus the people enjoy coming to Sakae Sushi over again and again (Apex-Pal International, n. d. ). Marketing Marketing is an art and science of mixing up of elements such as appealing products, competitive prices, convenient places/locations, and promotions to comprise the basic building blocks of the firms offer to the market (Noel Capon, 2009, p. 11). Marketing basically involves 3 types of druthers, i. e. Consumer, goal and system orie ntation. either trine orientations emergency to go hand in hand so as to achieve golden success for any firm and this is exactly the case of Sakae Sushi. Mr. Douglas Foo and other members of the management team were able to address all three orientations very well and were able to realize such a brand in Singapore that now has operations in some of the major economies of Asia. The market mix of services marketing acceptd 4 Ps that are es displaceial to effectively market a product to the prospective mug market, the 4 Ps are namely Product, Place, onward motion and Pricing.For any firm to outperform in its marketing efforts it involves to focus on these 4 Ps so as to effectively market their product and force a well-established brand image. (Please refer to appendix 1. 1) Product The term product refers to the tangible physical products as well as services that take on decisions to be made regarding the brand name, styling, packaging and design, etc. of a product. The way Sakae Sushi has brought about a change to this concept is something for which the management at Sakae Sushi deserves a great round of applause.Introducing an already known product to the customers in a totally new way and effectively marketing it to the masses by introducing a totally new concept of conveyor belt is something to name from. It not only requires creativity but also innovation at its best, so that whatever hard work is put in is reflected by the thirst the customers have for their sushi (Lovelock, 2007). Price The level of competition in todays world is very high and everything costs a great amount of money as compared to the past.So to effectively market out a product to the customers out of the 4 Ps, price is a very important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration as it dissembles the demand of a commodity inversely. If the price is more then the demand for a good falls and vice-versa, so to increase the sales price should be competitive, and Sakae Sush i has done exactly the same by introducing the Sakae Buffet at competitive prices for different days of the week so that every sushi liver gets to eat all what they crave for. PlacePlace or distribution strategies are pertain with making products accessible to the customers where and when they want them (Charles W. Lamb et al. 2008,pg. 46). Sakae Sushi outlets in Singapore are rigid at strategically important and accessible places, so that their customers need not walk miles in search for good food. Being regain at many of Singapores prime locations and almost all outlets accessible by M. R. T, it makes Sakae Sushi the preferred choice for the working class of Singapore in areas such as City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut and Orchard during peak office hours.Sakae Sushi targets those areas to operate their stores where they find a potential target market also keeping in mind other areas in close vicinity. Promotion Promotion represents the methods of communication that a marketer may use to provide information to different parties about his product. Promotion comprises of elements such asadvertising, earthly concern relations,personal sellingandsales promotion. To gain most out of the target market and potential customers, various sought of promotions need to be habituated out form time to time so as to keep the interest of the customers alive.Sakae Sushi has done ample advertising campaigns and has offered its customers with new themes every month so that their customers never get bored of the same old dishes. By introducing Sakae Signatures, Sakae Buffet and Sakae Lunch Mix N Match, etc. they try to offer more and more to their customers so that the customers can indulge in eating more delicacies without having to worry about their pockets. This has revolutionized the service industry. They also offer burgers and pastas so that they can expand their target market customers and let more people crave for mouth-watering delicacies (Lovelock, 2007).SWOT Analysis Streng ths Well-established brand in price of customer satisfaction and also they provide quality service. Market leadership and trendsetters in terms of addressing the needs of the customers by bringing new and intellectual themes and promotions every now and then that is according to the demands of their customers. Managing high sales revenue enhancement without charging hefty prices to their customers. Dedicated and honest cater that always looks to serve the customers with a smile. Weaknesses The business structure is highly complex in terms of operations and the cost of maintenance is also high.Providing on the assembly line training to their employees also costs a lot of money. Opportunities Can look to capitalize on the advantage they have over their competitors as a well-established brand. They also have good tie-ups in foreign countries including major Asian economies like China. Their company is a well-recognized company listed on Singapore Stock Exchange. Threats Competito rs can feign their business idea and try to monopolize on it. The competitors can offer jobs to their employees at their own restaurant. It is also difficult to keep up with the dynamical demands of the customers.Sales Effectively marketing a product is only one side of the coin, the other side of the coin is the sales strategy that is implemented by a company so as to pressurise revenues by change magnitude sales. All the marketing efforts can go down the drain if a company fails to capitalize on the efforts put in by the marketing team. principal(prenominal) motive of any company is to earn profits and this can only be achieved by boosting sales, and to boost sales it is very important to come up with fancy promotions and schemes so that the customers are lured into indulging themselves with the products offered by the company.By introducing Sakae Sushi membership and giving Sakae Card to the customers for S$38 and still managing to give the customers value worth S$55 is a go od dance touchstone taken by the management. The card not only gives bonus value, but it also can be used to avail discounts and other promotions from Sakae Sushi outlets, this keeps the customers craving for more and more new delicacies and keeping a look at new offerings.Various schemes and promotions like The Sakae buffet, Min N Match, Drive-Thru menu and Self necessitate and Save help Sakae Sushi to maintain high standards of customer satisfaction and this in turn motivates them to bring up new themes for each month of the year. For example the theme for the month of April is the Soba theme. New promotions, new monthly themes and discounts help boost sales and as the past records show Sakae Sushi has done well enough to maintain the stream of profits and also innovate to perfection (Dalrymple, 2000). Business information StatusSakae Sushi was stared in the year 1997, since then it has grown tremendously and spread out and reached out to other countries like Indonesia, Thail and, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and China etc. Douglas Foos intake is to turn Sakae into a major food license and to be considered as the McDonalds of sushi worldwide. After starting its first branch in Raffles place (business district of Singapore), it has now opened more than 15 branches in Singapore alone. In 2001, Sakae opened its first overseas outlet in Thailand, a joint venture with a Thai food company and other local partners.By 2002, Sakae was in Indonesia as well and was grossing annual revenue of around $23 cardinal SGD. For the financial year ended 31 declination 2009, the Group reported revenue of SGD88. 8 billion and net profit of SGD3. 3 million (Theresianto, 2008). In 2001 Sakae Sushi opened its first Drive through restaurant in Trade Hub 21 in Jurong east MRT station. Sakae Sushi tends to open their branches near MRT stations so as to attract the crowd and the stag travellers. In 2006 Sakae sushi decided to expand its business to north Korea, Mr.Foo made h is first visit to North Korea in 2001 as part of a Singapore Manufacturers Federation delegation and has maintained the contacts he made then. He believes it will be business as usual, and he might step up talks with his North Korean business partners on plans to take his sushi outlets there and bring North Korean cuisine to Singapore. In 2003, Sakaes parent company Apex-Pal was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. Apex-Pals food businesses, of which Sakae is the flagship brand, represented over 95% of the companys revenues.In August, Apex-Pals sign Public Offering (IPO) set out 16. 5 million shares, of which 836,000 were for mankind investors and the rest for institutional investors, clients and company employees (Business Times, 2004). Production Process The rice used for the sushi served in our Sakae Sushi restaurants, unlike most conventional sushi restaurants, is enriched with Vitamin E. Their experienced chefs are able to produce a consistent level of quality for all dis hes served in Sakae Sushi, thus raising the level of confidence their customers have in their restaurants.To maintain high level of quality and gaud, raw food is not revolved on the kaiten (conveyor belt) for more than an hour, and cooked food for more than two hours. This standard of freshness is maintained through a color-coding system. For the regular dishes, the staff can instanter identify plates, which have been on the Kaiten (conveyor belt) for too long exploitation our color-coded system. In relation to the premium red plate dishes, as the quantity of such premium dishes is much smaller compared to the regular dishes, our chefs personally monitor these dishes using our color-coded system.Their aim is to provide their customers with unique, hassle-free dining experience at Sakae Sushi restaurants. The dual-directional conveyor belt upon which the sushi dishes are displayed was designed to both maximize the seating space available and to provide customers with efficient ser vice. Self-service hot water dispensers are located at each table and at each station of the kaiten (conveyor belt) for customers to fill their complimentary cups of green tea.Also installed is the interactive menu system at most of the restaurants from which customers can surf the menu containing both illustrations and descriptions of the dishes before placing their orders directly with the kitchen through the ordering system on the interactive menu. Where logistical difficulties affect the instal the interactive menu system at any booth portable, the intercommunication system ordering system is installed instead, thus maintaining the high level of efficiency in service. Sakae Sushi adopts a simple two-tier pricing structure in relation to their kaiten sushi.Sakaes simple price structure proved to be very popular. The legal age of sushi dishes were priced at S$1. 90 and premium dishes at S$6. 50, which made Sakae more affordable than other Japanese restaurants. Suppliers The dec rease in purchases from them in FY 2001 and FY 2002 is due to Sakae Sushis ability to secure alternative sources of those products at start out costs. To reduce their reliance on All Big Trading Co. and to transfigure our supplier base for seafood, they began to purchase seafood from Surapon victualss Public Company Limited and LianHup weight merchant Co. n FY 2001 and FY 2002 several(prenominal)ly. These purchases helped them increase the turnover, which was also due to the increase in the number of Sakae Sushi restaurants. In addition to Marukawa Trading, they also purchased stock-still food products from Tomo-Ya Japanese Food Trading, Shimaya Trading Pte Ltd and Moon Marine Singapore Pte Ltd who supply Sakae Sushi with frozen food products. The amount of purchases made by the Company from each of these three suppliers was relatively constant for the last three financial years (Apex-Pal International, 2009).The next are the suppliers for Sakae Sushi All Big Trading Co. (All Big set Food Pte Ltd) Seafood Marukawa Trading Dried / frozen food products Tomo-Ya Japanese Food Trading- Frozen food products Shimaya Trading Pte Ltd Frozen food products Moon Marine Singapore Pte Ltd Frozen food products Surapon Foods Public Company Limited Seafood LianHup Fish Merchant Co. Seafood Staff training and requirements Sakae Sushi provides all new employees with a complete orientation and training which is specific to their positions.New full-time operations staff, for their FB outlets and, those of the franchises is sent to ITE-certified On-The-Job Training (OJT) schools to be trained by Sakae Sushis special OJT trainers. The OJT schools have been certified by ITE to be able to conduct OJT for our staff working in their FB outlets. Such training involves the training and coaching of new employees by supervisors and managers through hands-on learning at the OJT schools. This type of training allows new employees to increase the required skills within a short p eriod of time, without leaving their work place.Apart from kaiten sushi, the restaurants also serve ala-carte dishes. All members of the service staff are trained with the necessary skills and menu knowledge to provide a consistent level of customer service and to incite our customers in food selection as and when called upon to do so. Sakae Sushi also conducts refresher courses for their staff. Part-time service crew is given on-the-job training by our qualified trainers (Apex-Pal International, 2009). Expenses and Capital Requirements The main expenses of Sakae sushi are the purchase of the raw materials from its suppliers.Since the raw materials have no fixed cost F B have to face variable cost of the raw materials. Since the prices of the items on the Sakae Sushi menu cannot be changing constantly, Sakae sushi have to find different ways to maintain their compute and expenses. Every time Sakae sushi opens a new branch it has to incur current costs like furniture, rent, labo r, electricity, operating costs etc. Thus the capital required to open every new branch is different and may vary from places to places and from time to time. In the year 2011 Sakae Sushi spent around S$40,000,000 on the property, plant and equipment.Also the labor cost in Singapore is substantially much higher than most countries, so it is harder to start an F B based business like a Sakae Sushi restaurant in Singapore. Balance Sheet (Apex-Pal, 2003) Income Statement (Apex-Pal, 2003) Cash Flow Statement (Apex-Pal, 2003) Balance sheet and cash flow statement of the Sakae Holdings The Groups cash and border balances as at 31 declination 2011 stood at $6. 1 million, a decline of $6. 4 million during the year, due to increased investment in property, plant and equipment with the construction of new central kitchen in Singapore and scenery up of a headquarter in Malaysia.The Group has also made investments in associates in the beginning of the year, which was funded by bank loans. Shareholders faithfulness stood at $27. 2 million as at 31 declination 2011 (Full division Financial Statement And Dividend Announcement n. d. ). The Group was in a negative working capital position of $5. 9 million as at 31 December 2011 due to short-term revolving loans balance of $10. 3 million, which are renewable at maturity. The Group has repaid some of the revolving loans during the year (Full Year Financial Statement And Dividend Announcement n. d. ). Financial Highlights A.Actual (000) Results200420052006200720082009 Revenue45,16151,90566,64583,83893,80488,817 Profit/ spill before tax2,7964,7436,6973,485(3,695)3,336 Profit/Loss attributes to share holders2. 0853,6845,0812,261(3,748)3,262 Non-current assets4,8334,62712,43318,51619,87630,852 Non-current liabilities30128942159058610,088 Shareholders equity10,76213,57620,51516,39811,15320,256 Net assets per share10. 0912. 7414. 4511. 557. 8614. 26 fixment per share1. 963. 463. 741. 59(2. 64)2. 30 B. Expected (000) Results2 01020112012 Revenue71,69583,644. 1790,058. 03 Profit/Loss before tax2,893. 672,909. 942,604. 4 Profit/Loss attributes to share holders2,104. 172,107. 361,844. 59 Non-current assets15,189. 5016,915. 5818. 963. 68 Non-current liabilities2,045. 832,336. 642,677. 91 Shareholders equity15,443. 3316,223. 5616,664. 81 Net assets per share11. 8312. 1112. 01 Earnings per share1. 741. 701. 40 (*Projected Figures based on previous year average) (Apex-Pal International, 2009) Management Profile plug-in of Directors Douglas Foo Peow Yong (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) Foo Lilian (Executive Director and Executive misdeed President) Andy Ong Siew Kwee (Non-Executive and Independent Director)Lim Chee Yong (Non-Executive and Independent Director) Chan annex Leong (Non-Executive and Independent Director) Audit Committee Lim Chee Yong (Chairman), Chan Wing Leong, Andy Ong Siew Kwee Nominating Committee Lim Chee Yong (Chairman), Chan Wing Leong, Douglas Foo Peow Yong Remuneration Committee Ch an Wing Leong (Chairman), Lim Chee Yong, Douglas Foo Peow Yong Company Secretaries Rachel Ng Meijing (CPA, Singapore), Chan Lai Yinb (ACIS) (Apex-Pal International, 2009) Board of Directors A age of coachsis a body of elected or official members who jointly oversee the activities of acompany(Robert, H. , 2000).Other names includeboard of governors,board of managers,board of regents,board of trustees, and board of visitors. It is often only when referred to as the board. In a stock corporation, the stockholders elect the board and it is the highest management authority of a company. In anon-stock corporationwith no general voting membership,e. g. , a university, the board is the supreme governing body of the institution (Robert, H. , 2000). The duties of the board of directors of Sakae Sushi are as follows * Establishing policies and objectives. * Selecting, appointing, supporting and reviewing the performance of thecompany. Ensuring the availability of financial resources. * Appr oving annual budgets. * Accounting for the performance of the company. * Managing salaries and compensation of the employees. counselling Mr. Douglas Foo Ms. Foo Lilian Mr. Lim Chee Yong Mr. Andy Ong Siew Kwee Mr. Chan Wing Leong MR. DOUGLAS FOO (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer) Mr. Douglas Foo has been a Director of the Group since 17 February 1997. As Founder and CEO of the Group, he manages the overall management, strategic grooming and business using functions of the Group. Mr.Foo started his travel as a marketing executive but with his talent and entrepreneurial skills he was able to come up with an idea of opening a garment trading business which was not really successful, so a year later he imagination of getting into the food and beverages industry by opening the first branch of Sakae Sushi and has since developed Apex- Pal into a successful enterprise that it is today (Apex-Pal International, 2009). MS. FOO LILIAN (Executive Director) Ms. Foo Lilian was appointed as Sakae Sushis Executive Director on 2nd May 2002 and is responsible for the general management of the Company. Ms.Foo handles the Groups leasing, business development and legal matters. She is also responsible for the consultancy, maintenance and research and development work for all IT-related matters of the Group. In 1997, Ms. Foo joined the Central Provident Fund Board where she was a database administrator until February 2000. She also worked with the Keppel TatLee Bank Limited as an coadjutor manager. Ms. Foo go forth Keppel TatLee Bank Limited to join Sakae Sushi in January 2001 (Apex-Pal International, 2009). MR. LIM CHEE YONG (Independent Director) Mr. Lim Chee Yong was appointed as our Independent Director for Sakae Sushi on 14 July 2003.From October 1982 to April 1987, Mr. Lim served as a ripened corporate banking officer in Overseas Union Bank Limited. In May 1987, he joined Banque Paribas, Singapore Branch as a deputy manager of banking, where he stayed until April 1989. He was appointed an executive director of Alliance Technology and Development Limited, a company listed on the Main Board of the SGX-ST, in May 1989. Mr. Lim left Alliance Technology and Development Limited in March 2000. Mr. Lim is also an independent director of Twinwood engineering science Limited, a company listed on the SGX- CATALIST, from 1997 to 2007 (Apex-Pal International, 2009). MR.ANDY ONG SIEW KWEE (Independent Director) Mr. Andy Ong Siew Kwee was also appointed as Sakae Sushis Independent Director on 14 July 2003. Mr. Ong is the CEO of ERC Holdings Pte Ltd. ERC is a principal player in the education industry in Asia. He oversees the regional development as well as the merger and acquisition activities of the firm. He is also the Founding President of the Financial Planning Association of Singapore, a professional body for financial services that issues world-renowned Certified Financial contriver marks. He has written several best-selling books on financial man agement and business (Apex-Pal International, 2009).MR. CHAN WING LEONG (Independent Director) Mr. Chan Wing Leong was appointed as an Independent Director on 30 April 2005. Mr. Chan holds an honors degree in Economics from the University of Singapore. He started his career in the Administrative Service of the Singapore Government in 1981, and has held stints in several government posts in the Ministry for Trade and Industry and Economic Development Board, as well as in Government- linked Corporations. Mr. Chan was an investment banker in the late 1980s to 1995 at Schroders PLC and Bankers Trust Corp in both Singapore and Hong Kong.In 1995, he returned to Singapore to be Chief Financial Officer of Sembawang Corporation until 2001 (Carter, 2008). Funding Request and Exit Strategy In December 2007, Sakae opened its first outlet in the United States at the Chrysler grammatical construction in New York, its 61st outlet worldwide. Initial S$3 million had been invested by Apex-Pal in the outlet. The outlet did not to well because of tougher times and they have since then shut down their operations in USA. Initially, because of the companys small size, Mr. Foos strategy for Sakaes expansion was to enter into franchise agreements.As the company grew, the company also utilized a strategy of foreign direct investments in those countries where such investments were feasible and also welcomed by the respective governments. Global economic crisis occurred in 2008 and Sakae found its margins reduced by high prices for commodities such as rice and vegetables. The company cut salaries and executive pay but decided against staff layoff. A profit of S$2. 3 million in 2007 was followed by a net loss of S$3. 8 million, in 2008 due to rising rentals, salaries and commodity costs. It was Apex-Pals first annual loss.Sakae introduced cost cutting measures such as finding new food suppliers, minimizing waste and tightening other operational practices. The company returned to making p rofit in 2009, posting a S$3. 3 million profit. Risks and fortuity Planning The Starting Point It is vital that any organisation takes development and maintenance, disaster convalescence and business continuity plans seriously. It cannot be left until it develops into a serious problem. Impact Assessment One of the first tasks to be undertaken is to prepare a comprehensive list of serious issues that can affect the normal operations of a business.This list should include all realistic issues no matter how likely they are to occur. Since Singapore is an island one of the major risk factors can be floods. Developing the Plan at one time the perspicacity stage has been completed, the structure of the plan can be established. The plan will contain a range of milestones to move the organization from disrupted circumstance to return to normal operations. The first important milestone is about relations with the aftermath of a disaster. The next stage is to determine which business functions need to be resumed.The plan will be detailed, and will identify trace individuals who should be familiar with their duties (The Contingency Planning Guide, 2002). Testing the Plan Once this plan has been developed it must be subjected to rigorous test. The testing process must be properly planned and should be carried out in a suitable environment to produce authentic conditions. Those who would undertake the major activities of the business should test the plan. The test procedures should be documented and the results recorded. This is important to find out that feedback is obtained for fine-tuning the Plan.Personnel Training This stage is dependent upon the development of the plan and the successful testing of the plan. It is necessary that all personnel are aware of the plan, its content and their own related duties and responsibilities. Again, it is important that all personnel take the disaster recovery plan seriously, even if the events that would trigger the Pla n seem unlikely. Obtain feedback from staff in order to ensure that responsibilities and duties are understood, particularly those that require dependence on others actions (The Contingency Planning Guide, 2002). Maintaining the PlanThe plan must always be kept up to date and applicable to current business circumstances. This agent that any changes to the business process must be properly reflected in the plan. Someone must be assigned responsibility for ensuring that the plan is maintained and updated regularly and should therefore ensure that information concerning changes to the business process are properly communicated. Any changes or amendments made to the plan must be fully tested. Everyone should be kept abreast of such changes that affect their duties (The Contingency Planning Guide, 2002). Recommendations To develop business in America and to attract American customers its important for the Sakae group to develop some American friendly food like Sakae beef burgers, hot do gs, rolls and other food love by the people there, this will affect the revenue that Sakae can make in that country. * In countries like North Korea, they should find local partners to work out a good franchising option. * Conduct more on the job training activities to enrich the employees to possess all the required skill to excel in their job. * Expand their product base and standardize their products across all their branches to lower their costs. Conduct extensive market research to identify the target market and develop products and services according to the needs of their customers. * Tie up with other food beverage organizations to promote and diversify their brand. * Sponsor events like marathons, blood donation drives and cultural fests to attract the masses especially the younger generation to get involved with Sakae Holdings. * As part of Corporate neighborly Responsibility, Sakae Holdings should adapt eco-friendly practices like recycling, reusing and reducing the was te generated.Also they can contribute towards the environment by implementing energy saving practices like maintaining a constant temperature of 24 degrees while using air-conditioner. * By working with their suppliers they can research and develop new ways to store their inventories effectively by keeping it fresh and ready to use. * They should also develop ways to minimize their transportation cycles and also save on fuel costs and reduce their carbon footprint. concomitant 1. 1 The 4Ps of Service Marketing References Apex-Pal International. 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