Case Study: Bible Society
Can a new coffee shop franchise survive the crowded market?
For over 200 years Bible Society has been working to bring the Bible to life; to help people around the world engage with it, relate to it, and make sense of it. That single mission drives a huge range of activities.
Brief:
To establish the viability of a coffee shop franchise that creates a thought provoking third space.
Process:
The sheer number of coffee shops poses the question, ‘How do they all survive’?
When Bible Society approached me to undertake this feasibility study, I could combine my passion for coffee with my skill for evaluating a concept.
The two key questions were:
- Is the coffee sector a viable sector to invest in?
- Would Bible Society be able to operate commercially in this sector and create an inviting and visually thought provoking third space?
Some background – In 2014 UK coffee shops sold between 1.7bn and 2bn cups of coffee from 18,832 outlets. It is predicted revenues will increase by 10% compound over the next 5-years.
How reliable are these statistics? Through my network I was introduced to Billy Fray of Husk Coffee & Creative Space. Billy’s network in the artisan coffee market substantiated the statistics. The coffee market is not saturated and the volume of coffee drunk is increasing Year-on-Year.
What investment did Bible Society require, in what was essentially a start-up and how quickly could breakeven be achieved? Drawing on my business development and commercial management experience a business plan was developed.
How would my business plan stand up to scrutiny? I approached Lummi Coffee to benchmark their financial modelling against mine.
I was confident about the financial model I had constructed, but my research had posed some questions around Fairtrade and the price paid to farmers. As a charity, Bible Society must ensure it is beyond reproach and ensuring their suppliers weren’t exploiting coffee producers was vital.
Identifying partners who would work with Bible Society and help them deliver their mission objectives would be essential if this concept was going to work.
Outcome:
A detailed report comprising a thorough financial model, potential partners and a risk register was presented to board members allowing an informed debate to be held within Bible Society.
Testimonial
Mark did an excellent job for us in analysing the whole concept, market opportunities, competition, and the financials.
We were very pleased with the quality of Mark’s work and that has led to further work for him from Bible Society since then.
When we need to call in extra resource to work on large projects or significant new ideas I know we can rely on Mark’s strategic thinking, careful analysis and thought provoking approaches.
Derek Hill, Director Enterprise
To learn more about how Mark Hurley Consulting helped Bible Society, please email Mark Hurley.