SWOT Analysis for Ruby Tuesday
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SWOT Analysis for Ruby Tuesday
Ruby Tuesday is a multinational restaurant with a mission of quality, passion and pride. It has 714 dining restaurants in the country, 36 domestic franchises and 43 international restaurants. The restaurant operates in 45 states and the District of Columbia, and in twelve foreign countries. The company owns different restaurants including Lime Fresh, Truffles, Wok Hay, and Marlin & Ray’s (Business Week, 2012). This has enabled it to diversify the foods on its menu and other offerings. It excels in several areas of food diversity, service, and décor, which form its main areas of its strength.
Strengths
One of the main strengths of the company is its insistence of using fresh produce and serving quality products. An additional strength is the company’s effort to produce handcrafted menu with creative signature items. It has developed menu items that are only found in its restaurant, and this has made it unique among other restaurants. In addition, they have invested in their employees, who are passionate in their work. The employees welcome every person that visits the restaurants, and they offer excellent services. They make sure that all the customers in the restaurants are satisfied and that they have an enjoyable and pleasurable experience. The company offers membership cards, where members can pay less for their food. This is a considerable strength for the restaurant because it makes people want to come back since they can pay less for the services and products offered. The restaurant has many items on its menu, and customers have a choice of many varied dishes. The company trains its managers on different things, and this enables them to know the direction to take in ensuring that they deliver their service. The managers learn different things from the training sessions, including how to treat customers and handle different problems.
Weaknesses
A major weakness of the company is that it is expensive. Although it prides itself in presenting a casual dining experience, the restaurant’s foods, drinks and other products are on the high end. This makes it less appealing to many people who would want to try out their products and services. Some customers may feel that they can get the same products offered at the restaurant at a cheaper price. The company has a high turnover rate in its lower ranks (Segal, 2009). This can act against the company because it means that it has to keep on training new staff all the time. This can be expensive in terms of money and time. In addition, some of the new staff members may not be qualified, and they will not work efficiently as the more experienced workers will.
Opportunities
The company can benefit by expanding to all the states in the country. The success it has experienced in the different areas of operation is evidence that it can succeed in the other states as well. The restaurant offers a menu with items that appeal to many Americans because they are familiar with them, and it uses some of the best products to make them. The company could also benefit by offering some of the products at a lower cost, depending on the area of restaurant location. The company can diversify and increase its customer portfolio if it lowers the costs in restaurants located near colleges and other institutions of higher learning, as this would increase the number of people visiting it.
The restaurant can benefit by engaging the clients more. The restaurant has managed to keep a low media profile. However, engaging with the clients is essential because it enables the company to know what the customers want from them. Companies are able to know and rectify the mistakes they make, as well as try out different ideas and suggestions that the customers offer. This enables the company to satisfy their customers fully. The company can take advantage of the social media to engage their customers and other stakeholders. The company can take advantage of its training program to train its lower rank employees as this can go towards reducing the turnover rate. The company can use a different approach from that it uses when training managers. This will ensure that the staff members know what the restaurant and the customers expect from them.
Threats
The company operates in an intensely competitive industry. Many restaurants offer the same kinds of products, and some have specialized on specific products. Some of the competitors offer the same food items that the restaurant does at cheaper prices. This is a threat to the company. The increasing number of restaurants in the country and in different places where the restaurant has franchises means that customers have many choices. Therefore, the company needs to look for ways of ensuring that they maintain their loyal clientele and that they are able to attract new clients. Another threat facing the restaurant is the economy. The harsh economic times have changed people’s eating habits. Many people are choosing to eat home cooked meals instead of dining out or ordering for food. This has had an impact on the restaurant since it means that it has lost some of its customers. Many people are looking for ways of saving money money, and they have decided to cut out on restaurant meals.
References
Business Week (2012). Ruby Tuesday Inc: Company description. Retrieved from http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot_article.asp?ticker=RT
Ruby Tuesday (2013). What makes Ruby Tuesday unique? Retrieved from http://www.rubytuesday.com/franchise/uniqueness
Segal, D. (2009). At Ruby Tuesday, casual dining dons a blazer. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/business/08ruby.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0