Blue Rock Bar & Grill

2010 Boise Ave.

Boise, ID 83706
(208) 555-2010

Memorandum
Date:
To:
From:

Subject:

April 18, 2010

Michael Markley, Owner
Alyce Rollins, Manager
Travis Smith, Head Chef
Veni Rea, Head Server
Christen Sapnas, Maitre d
Proposal for Feasibility Study on creating a company website for Blue
Rock Bar & Grill

Purpose
The purpose of this proposal is to request approval and funding to study whether
creating a company website would increase customer satisfaction and company
revenue in a cost effective manner.
Summary
Blue Rock Bar and Grill is a local Boise restaurant that has been well established in the
community for several years. We pride ourselves on our ability to provide casual and
comfortable dining for families in and around the Boise Area.
Our restaurant has been a favorite in the Boise area for many years. We believe that in
order to continue our reputation, our restaurant should be proactive in ways to expand
and improve. After reading articles on internet marketing, we find that the addition of a
website will help gain market expansion, add value and satisfaction, and reduce costs
associated with print advertising (Simms). This proactive attitude will allow us to grow
not only as a business, but also in the way our customers are served.
As employees of Blue Rock Bar & Grill, we would like to explore the opportunity of
creating a company website that could potentially be a valuable asset to the company.
With proper authorization and funding we would begin researching whether creating a
website would be an excellent advertising tool for Blue Rock, and whether it could
boost our exposure to surrounding areas, and to future visitors of Boise. We would also
research whether our current customers would find a company website useful with
options like ordering online and previewing weekly specials. If our research
determines that a website would be beneficial to our business and if customer interest
in online options exists, then we would collaborate with upper management to

Proposal for Feasibility Study

April 18, 2010

Page 2

determine criteria for the website and explore options for creating the website based on
those criteria.
To perform this research and prepare a presentation for the owner, we would require 54
hours over the next eight weeks, at a total cost of $1,000-1,500 for labor necessary for the
research and materials to print and distribute questionnaires to our patrons. The
website research team represents staff from each area of the restaurant: management,
serving staff, kitchen, and front of house. The project will be a collaboration between
Alyce Rollins, Travis Smith, Veni Rea, and Christen Sapnas. If you were to accept this
proposal, we would begin our research on May 1, 2010 and have a recommendation
report prepared for you on June 28, 2010. The report will contain a summary of the
information we collect from the guests and proposed options for the next phase to
research website creation.
Introduction
We are seeking approval to research the possible benefits of creating a company
website. A website could offer many valuable services to our customers while also
providing a great source of advertising in a massive online market. This proposal is
based on our belief that a website would help boost our company revenue as well as
customer satisfaction.
For our restaurant to be competitive in the growing market we must be able to reach
new customers and to provide more advanced services to our already loyal customer
base. A website could offer the chance for customers to preview the menu and weekly
specials that may be running, as well as the opportunity to place take-out orders online.
With the new generation of smart phone technology and wireless internet applications
that allow people to search for restaurants from anywhere at any time, we need an
appealing website that could attract them to our business specifically. Research shows
that currently 74.2% of all Americans uses or has access to the internet (Internet World
Stats). This averages out to be just over two hundred million Americans that could have
instant access to our restaurants website. The benefits of having access to such an
immense advertising market such as the internet may far outweigh the costs of the
website itself and could ultimately be a great asset to our company.
Our research will help determine whether upper management should allocate more
funds for the creation of a website, or if the creation of a website would not be a cost
effective way to boost revenue.
The remaining portions of this proposal outline the proposed tasks for research, our
combined team experience, the budget needed to carry out research, a task schedule,
and all references.

Proposal for Feasibility Study

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Proposed Tasks
With upper managements authorization, our team can begin to carry out the following
tasks to determine the possible opportunities of creating a company website.
1. Research other restaurant websites
We will review other restaurant websites to gain insight into what features are
successful. Using this information we can draft the survey questions knowing
exactly what other industry websites have used to make the experience for
customers interesting and dynamic.
2. Create a questionnaire form for customer feedback on website.
We will create a short form with survey questions to distribute to our patrons. We
will try to determine whether or not it will be beneficial or necessary for our
customers to have access to the restaurant on the internet. To determine what
features we should offer, we will list options that appeared successful and apply to
our establishment from the research performed earlier. See Figure 3 in the Appendix
for a sample.
3. Distribute questionnaire form to customers for feedback.
Our serving staff can include the questionnaire form with the check at the end of the
meal. These can be collected by the maitre d after the server turns in the check. If
the form has not been filled out then it can be redistributed with another check to
conserve resources.
4. Evaluate the data collected from our questionnaires.
The survey questions will be crafted so that the answers from customers can easily
be compared. By using multiple choice, ranking, and yes/no questions we will have
manageable data to analyze. We will input the information into a spreadsheet and
will use graphs where applicable to make the data quick to review.
5. Identify the information we could make available on the website.
Using the research from the first step and evaluating data from the questionnaires
we can identify the information that needs to be offered on a website if our patrons
respond favorably to the idea.
6. Prepare a recommendation report.
We will prepare a recommendation report that explains the research we did on
industry websites, an overview of the responses from customers, and an evaluation
of our findings. We will include the features and options on a website that we can
offer and what our customers would find valuable. We will submit the
recommendation report for your review by June 28, 2010.

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Budget
Conducting the research to see the feasibility of creating a website would be of minimal
cost to the company while producing precise results. To research the effectiveness of
creating a company website there would be small requirements from interested staff
and very few supplies needed. The hours and supplies are broken down in the
following sections explaining cost and benefits.
First and foremost an employee would have to research what qualities effective
websites of other restaurants have (e.g. features, specials, layout, etc). To place an
employee on administrative duties to complete this, the task would take no longer than
two days of eight-hour shifts.
Secondly to find out how much the company would gain from a website, the current
customers could be used as an essential tool. Creating a questionnaire to be placed in
the ending meal tab would allow the customers to respond on a voluntary basis without
feeling pressured. For this task, employees could obtain the proper supplies and create
the forms. This task can be completed in a one day (12hr) period and have them in the
tabs by the following afternoon.
The best part is that no other cost would be created for handling the forms because the
on duty server would be handing them out and collecting them in a box. After the two
week survey period, the project team can meet to collect the response data and compile
the information in a spread sheet.
At this point a recommendation report will be drafted from the customer responses on
the questionnaires and what their opinion and feedback is. Overall, the direct cost for
the company would be between $1,000 and $1,500 to conduct the research. This overall
cost is minor compared to the potential reward of bringing in new ways to conduct
business and generating more customers. Below you will find a breakdown of each
individual cost and task for completing the research. Through and through, this small
investment is very much worth the gain in the long run.
Employee
Alyce Rollins
Christen Sapnas
Travis Smith
Veni Rea
Team
General Supplies
(Paper & Printing)

Job Duty
Project Management
Obtain Supplies
Web Research
Create
Questionnaire
Distribute Questionnaire
Compile & Analyze Data

Hours

Rate ($/hr)

Total Cost

18

15

$270

16

12

$192

12

15

$180

12
8

14
54

$168
$432
$100

Total Cost
Figure 1.

Budget: Division of tasks, hours, and wages

$1,222

Proposal for Feasibility Study

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Schedule
The following is a schedule for the proposed tasks to be completed for this project.
Task

w/e
8th

May 2010
w/e
w/e
15th 22nd

w/e
29th

w/e
5th

June 2010
w/e
w/e
12th 19th

w/e
26th

1: Research websites
2: Create questionnaire
3: Distribute questionnaires
4: Evaluate feedback
5: Identify options
6: Prepare recommendation report
Figure 2.

Schedule of Project Tasks

Experience
We bring over 20 years of industry experience to the research of this project:
Alyce Rollins, General Manager, has five years management experience, three of
which have been at Blue Rock Bar and Grill. She has a BBA in marketing from
Boise State University.
Travis Smith, Head Chef, has ten years cooking experience, four of which have
been here at Blue Rock. He also has a Culinary Arts degree from the Art Institute
of Seattle.
Veni Rea, Head Server, has six years experience in the industry. She has been at
Blue Rock for two years, and working on a degree in Business at Boise State
University.
Christen Sapnas, has ten years experience, she is currently our Maitre d, but has
also spent two years in management, and six years as head server. She has her
MBA from Boise State University.
Appendix
Do you check online for menus of restaurants before you visit them?
Circle One:
Always Frequently
Rarely
Never
Would you make your reservations online with us if that was available to you?
Circle One:
Yes
No
Would you order take-out with our online services?
Circle One:
Yes
No
What is most useful to you when looking at a restaurants website?
Put a 1 next to the item most useful, a 2 next to your second choice, and so on.
Dining Menus____
Specials & Coupons____
Online Take-out Ordering____
Online Reservations____
Nutrition Information____
Map & Directions____
Figure 3.

Sample Questionnaire Form

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References
Internet World Stats. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2010, from
http://www.internetworldstats.com/america.htm
Simms, J. (n.d.). 12 Benefits Of Having A Website. Retrieved April 18, 2010, from Web World
Index: http://www.webworldindex.com/articles/12-Benefits-Of-Having-AWebsite.html