D079 (RNM1) TASK 1
Task 1: Project Management
A. Discuss how you would plan the catered lunch project by completing each of the
following 5 distinct project management phases:
1. Project Initiation
a. In honor of my market’s 10-year anniversary, I have made the decision to start a
catering business. My decision is also in part due to customer demand for organic,
locally sourced food options. My catering service will be for clients who are within
25 miles of the market. Orders will be prepared and packed at my organic food
market and delivered to customers. Aside from special event catering requests, all
orders will be delivered within one hour of receiving the order. Special event catering
requests will require one-week advance notice. The service will provide the same
quality organic foods that I sell in my market. I plan to launch the new program in 30
days to respond to the growing demand of organic local food options. This quick start
allows me to seize an opportunity that I can fulfill before another business steps in.
b. Three stakeholders impacted by this project are the farmers, customers, and me as the
market owner. The farmers that supply produce to my market will be impacted by the
increase in produce demand that will be required to fulfill the packaged food orders.
The farmers will need to ensure they are able to keep up with demand to prevent loss
of revenue both for them and myself. The customers will be positively impacted by
the catering project. My catering business will answer their demand of locally
sourced organic food options. As market owner, there are several ways I may be
impacted. If the launch of my catering project is successful, there is potential for
future growth and increased profits through new catering subscriptions. I am also
responsible for ensuring the catering project is profitable and does not negatively
impact the business of my market.
c. With proper planning and execution, the catering project is feasible. The scope of the
project is to serve organic, locally sourced lunches to businesses within 25 miles of
my market through subscription to our catering service with an initial launch of
providing free catered lunch to the first 10 businesses that subscribe. Since the free
launch lunches will be planned in advance, the launch is feasible. With methodic
planning and the addition of one more delivery van the scope of the on-going catering
service is also feasible. An additional delivery van will ensure orders are delivered
within the stated one-hour delivery time limit. With the budget of $7,000 already
being exceeded by $700, costs for the project have become a concern but can be
mitigated, making costs for the project feasible. By reassessing the budget, I can
determine where we missed the mark, adjust to compensate, and amend future
planning and budgeting to ensure we stay within budget going forward. My current
plan to launch the catering business in 30 days is feasible with a couple of exceptions.
This timeline takes advantage of current demand for locally sourced, organic food
options. The potential for local farmers being unable to provide enough lettuce means
changes to the stated menu. This can be overcome by providing an alternative organic
vegetable in place of the salads until farmers are able to keep up with demand. The
purchase of an additional delivery van could potentially take longer than 30 days.
With proper planning and time management, we can make deliveries with one van
until the purchase of a second is complete.
2. Project Planning
a. Milestone Projection Timeline:
The first milestone is developing a menu and ensuring the farmers we partner with to
supply the market can keep up with the increase in demand. I will also identify
alternate farmers as backups in the event a primary supplier is unable to fulfill an
order. This first milestone should be achieved by end of week one.
The second milestone is to identify and market to potential clients within 25 miles.
Costs for marketing will be lower if we identify and target businesses that are more
likely to subscribe to our catering services than mass marketing to all businesses
within 25 miles. This milestone should be completed by end of week 2.
The third milestone will be ensuring all costs are within budget and will be completed
on days 22 and 23. A full review of costs associated with the start of the catering
business will be reviewed in detail to determine if we have stayed within budget.
Staying in budget is important to the future success of the catering project. Knowing
prior to the official launch of the project on day 30 whether we have stayed in budget
or not, will allow me some time to adjust where possible. Going over budget on the
initial startup would jeopardize my goal of being profitable within the first year of
business.
b. Write a SMART goal for the project.
S. Start a catering business that provides lunches using locally source, organic
produce to businesses within 25 miles.
M. Achieve profitability within one year of start.
A. To achieve this goal I will partner with local farmers to provide organic produce
and create a loyal client base with 10 businesses subscribing to a weekly catering
service.
R. This goal is realistic because I am starting this catering business in response to
demand from current market customers.
T. The 30-day target date for the initial launch as well as profitability within one year
are realistic because I already have a partnership with local farmers, a van for
deliveries, employees, and space in my market to package lunches, and current
customers who are requesting the service. Identify two different potential risks to this
project’s success and describe how each risk could be managed.
c. There are potential risks that need to be addressed.
Unforeseen circumstances can arise limiting the availability of organic
produce required for lunches. One way to address this risk is to preemptively
identify and negotiate with alternate local farmers to supply the required
2
goods when necessary. Another way to address the risk is to outline in the
subscription membership the need to change menu items with short notice.
Example: salads may be replaced with organic mixed vegetables when lettuce
is unavailable.
Another risk to address is not being able to adhere to the promised delivery of
1 hour from time of order. There are multiple scenarios that could lead to this.
One being understaffing at the market to prepare and package the meals. This
can be addressed by cross-training employees so employees from other areas
can fill in where and when needed. Another potential cause for delay in
delivery is only having one vehicle used to make the deliveries. This can be
addressed by limiting the number of orders in a day or the purchase of a
second delivery vehicle.
3. Project Execution
a. I have identified a couple options for addressing the 10% over budget. First option is
to decrease the lunch portions by 10%. This is a small difference, one customers
likely wouldn’t notice. My second option is to combine initial catered lunches. By
catering to two businesses at one time, I would significantly reduce the costs by
cutting the venue rental by 50%. Rather than renting the venue for 10 separate
lunches, I would only rent it for 5.
b. One potential scheduling conflict is the promise of delivery within one hour of
ordering. Many factors play into this that could cause issues with scheduling. If
multiple delivery orders are placed at the same time and the businesses being
delivered to are in different areas, one delivery van will not be enough. The solution
to this conflict is requiring orders be placed in advance and reserving a specific
delivery time or purchasing an additional delivery vehicle. Another potential
scheduling conflict could be the delivery driver is unexpectedly unavailable to make
deliveries, resulting in loss of business. To combat this conflict, I would cross train all
employees including how to make deliveries.
4. Project Monitoring and Control
a. The scope of the project could be affected by the scheduling conflicts discussed
previously. One scheduling conflict discussed is not enough delivery vehicles. The
need to purchase another delivery vehicle could delay the 30-day launch timeline.
b. The budget constraint of the project is already being over budget by 10% for the free
catered lunch launch. With still 2 weeks to go before the launch, there is potential for
additional costs, exceeding the budget even further. The potential for significantly
going over budget will have negative impacts on the scope of the project.
5. Project Closure
a. Upon reflection, there are a couple of areas on which the project may need to be
adjusted. The timeline of launching in 30 days may be too short. By first meeting
3
with the local farmers I partner with I can determine product availability. I can choose
to plan my menu around what is currently available or delay the launch until the
products I would like to feature are available. To account for any changes to menus
due to unforeseen circumstances, I will add to subscription memberships a notice
stating menus are subject to change due to availability. Based on the budget
constraints of the project I think limiting the number of businesses initially served to
6 or 7 rather than 10 would reduce overall startup costs and give me time to adjust
where necessary. I would still be able to increase the number of customers served as
the business grows.
