CafBijoux: A Small Business Marketing Challenge

Abstract

It was five minutes to ten oclock on Wednesday morning, April 7, 2004, and Jennifer Coleman was anxiously driving back and forth on B Street in Hayward, looking for a restaurant called CafBijoux. Jennifer had a ten oclock appointment with Julie Sanders and Mary Carter, the managers and co-owners of CafBijoux but there was no visible sign of the restaurant. After circling around several more times, Jennifer finally spotted a small sign in a window that said CafBijoux.

Jennifer Coleman was a university professor of marketing and a marketing consultant in the city of Hayward, California. The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) of the university invited Jennifer to help CafBijouxs management as part of its cooperative effort with the city to provide assistance to small businesses in need of and interested in consulting services in the universitys service area. The purpose of the Jennifers meeting that morning was to go over the caf current business situation and to establish a mutual understanding about Jennifers deliverables.

At 10:05 am, Jennifer walked into CafBijoux and introduced herself to Julie and Mary. Jennifer apologized for being late and indicated that she had some difficulty in finding the restaurant. Julie said, Yes, I know that we really need a store sign but we did not have enough money to get one. It would cost at least $2000. We had some customers complaining about that but we just couldnt afford it. Our business has been terrible and we were hoping that you would be able to tell us how we can improve. Jennifer replied, Thats what I am here for. But first, I need to learn as much about the caf business from you as I can. Jennifer explained that the primary goals of the meeting were for her to learn about the caf current situation and to explore the next course of action. Both Julie and Mary agreed upon the plan.