Glitch Cafe — SME Case Study (UAE)

Business initiation is considered to be the process that takes into consideration the working environment and also the culture within a company. The initiatives regarding any form of business are taken in a company to make sure that specific objectives are being achieved.

The UAE is considered to be one of the major nations to conduct business as the rank regarding ease of doing business is considered to be 17 with a high score of more than 94. With the growing amount of foreign direct investment in the country, young entrepreneurs can make sure that they start their own business in the workplace. There is an increase of more than 30% in the inflow of the FDI in the UAE to reach more than $150 Glitch Cafe billion. Among the cities, Dubai is found to be attracting more than $6.5 billion FDI in the year 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic (Lindgreen & Di Benedetto, 2020). A stable government and fixed policies regarding business are stated to be the main reason for which there is the continuous growth of FDI in the country. A different area where the investment is done in general is identified to be the SME sector, property investment, deposit account, and also personal pension account.

The companies need to make sure that an implementation of proper planning is done for SME companies to make sure that they improve the customer base. Culture is also identified to be playing an important role in the growth of the business to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of growth in the workplace (Lim, 2018.pp.251- 259). It is also important for the firms to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of growth in the workplace.

Overview of the Company The company that is taken into consideration is stated to be Glitch Cafe, which is in the SME sector and sells coffee to people and also allows them to sit in the place.

The company also provides types of equipment such as Hario Dripper Coine for 75 Dirham and also brews up more than four cups. One set has three sets of cups to make sure that there is extraction and also the speed of the extraction is controlled by the users. The company also sells Grinder C40 Nitro Blade to make sure that the process of grinding becomes easier and easier (Glitch, 2021). The main benefit of the specific grinder is stated to be that it is used for both grinding of high grind coarse and also ensuring sufficient French press. The products are made in Germany, and as a result of this, the handle becomes easier and easier to use as the bar strength makes it easy to grind the coffee.

The company started with three young men named Rashed, Abdulla, and Saeed to make sure that there is a coffee shop in the suburbs. All three of them became friends through video games and as a result of this, it is seen that they went past all the different forms of hardship to make sure that they grasp many more hobbies in the workplace (Chang et al. 2018.pp.17-25).

In 2015, they came together to pursue their dream of opening up a café, and just over two years later, with lots of love and passion, they opened up the café.

Mission The mission of the company is identified to be making sure that it serves a diverse number of people through coffee and also higher education, and achieves personal as well as professional success (Glitch, 2021). The mission also includes making sure that there is a strong coffee experience along with an affordable price in the workplace.

Vision The vision of the company is stated to be making sure that it provides the best service and coffee in Dubai.

Glitch is committed to ensuring that there is outstanding quality in the coffees, along with entertainment out of the home to customers (Glitch, 2021). The vision of the company is also considered to be making sure that there are significant amounts of quality meals and also extraordinary experiences in the restaurants for all the customers.

Organizational Structure

Organizational structure is identified to be the system that is used for outlining a certain amount of activities to ensure goals are achieved properly. The importance of organizational structure is identified to be making sure that the activities are divided into separate groups. The types of organizational structure include hierarchical structure, functional structure, matrix structure, and team-based structure. Glitch is stated to be following the hierarchical structure, where the entire process is divided into different departments (Sanaei & Sobhani, 2018.pp.185-196). The first phase is identified to be leadership and it is followed by the service managers and lastly, the employees.

Human Resource management Service Management Finance IT Sales Marketing Three Leaders of Glitch who take decision.

Figure 44: The organizational structure of Glitch Cafe The following are considered to be advantages of

hierarchical leadership

¡ There are clear lines of communication between the authorities and the IT team and sales team.

¡ All the employees such as waiters, coffee-makers, and the service managers are stated to have accountability for their actions.

¡ The different departments starting from leadership and management to employees have responsibilities in the workplace.

¡ There is also a clear path for development for the workers within the company that always motivates employees.

¡ The responsibility of analyzing the job performance also lies on a specific person and as a result of this, the review process becomes more efficient.

On the other hand, the limitations of hierarchical

leadership are the following

¡ The biggest disadvantage of the hierarchical structure is that there is a lesser possibility of collaboration among the employees in different departments.

¡ The limited collaboration influences limited innovation in terms of marketing and also the development of products through the development of a new form of coffee (Lim et al. 2019.pp.136-143).

¡ A centralized power structure implies that only the three top-level leaders can make a decision regarding the expansion and also make improvements in the operation.

¡ There is a high possibility of organizational politics that often derail the possibility of promotion of the right person and as a result of this, they feel less motivated.

Leadership Leadership is identified to be important for Glitch to ensure that it meets the vision and mission. Being self- made entrepreneurs, it is identified to be important for the firms to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of respect along with the funding process (Glitch, 2021).

The leadership style that is implemented in the article is identified to be autocratic leadership, where Rashed, Abdulla, and Saeed take the suggestions of the sales and HR team into consideration. However, the decision- making process completely relies on the three leaders.

The business idea is stated to be implemented to ensure that more people can come to the coffee shop to enjoy coffee and also spend time there. All the three leaders started to gather ideas to make a selection of specific ones so that the customers are satisfied.

The management of Glitch needs to make sure that there is the implementation of restructuring in the workplace, especially during the time of a pandemic. The functional organizational structure is needed for the companies to make sure that it is divided into smaller groups, such as service and IT (Glitch, 2021). The role of the service department is to provide service to customers and also making sure that they are satisfied (Di Benedetto & Lindgreen, 2018.pp.5-12). The role of the IT team is to improve the gateway so that online booking is done properly and also makes the inclusion of online payment for customers to boost digital payment in the UAE.

A business strategy is identified to be a strategy that is used for making identification of the long-term objectives that will be pursued. Strategies regarding cost leadership are identified to be cost leadership, focus, and differentiation. Implementation of differentiation and also cost leadership is implemented by Glitch to make betterment of the services. The differentiation in the business is identified to be unique in the flavor as there is mango, milk chocolate and peach (Purwanto et al. 2019.

pp.150-154). Along with this, there is also a facility such as dark chocolate, forest berries, and red cherry that are provided to customers.

The equipment that is used is identified to be handmade stoneware, Nitro Blade Grinder that helps to grind both the French and Turkish coffee equally well. The AEROPRESS Set is also beneficial for the coffee-makers as being lightweight and also a durable product with rubber steal helps to make greater extraction. Providing such a form of equipment along with coffee is identified to be the primary strategy that makes Glitch unique in the area.

Figure 45: A look at the beans roasted by Glitch Cafe

An operational strategy is considered to be important for making sure that there is strategic success for the business in the future (Glitch, 2021). Spotting partners and also implementing operational changes is identified to be important for the installation of operational strategy.

With also implementing consumption habits, there is a significant amount of improvement in the behavior among the customers and there is growth in demand for the coffees in nearby areas in Dubai.

Glitch provides services such as online booking, where customers can make sure that they select a date of their choice and ensure that they book a place online with the help of it. On the other hand, it is also stated that the operation of the company includes wholesale to ensure that there is a variety of taste to different moods (Crick & Crick, 2020.pp.206-213). It is also important to notice that the operation of the company includes delivery to the home and it implies that there is a significant amount of opportunity to improve sales.

Operation Strategy Top-down Perspective Market Requirement Perspective Bottom-up Perspective Operation Resources Perspective What the business wants operation to do What operations resources can do What the market position requires operations to do What day-to-day opportunities suggest operations should do Figure 46: Glitch Cafe’s Operational Strategy

A marketing strategy is identified to be important for firms to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of awareness about the working process. The main aim of the marketing is to make sure that companies can express the uniqueness of their coffees and also the types of equipment that are used for making it.

Glitch implements the word-of-mouth marketing strategy, where the voice of customers becomes the most important factor. It also uses social media as a way, but it’s just an Instagram account, sword-of-mouth marketing is implemented and that is how I personally knew about it. The implementation of that marketing strategy is considered to be important for Glitch to make sure that the brand value of the coffee shop grows and more people come (Glitch, 2021). On the other hand, it is also important to notice that dependency on word- of-mouth implies that it takes a long time to reach out to a large audience. More than 84% of people in the UAE have stated that they believe in face-to-face recommendations about products from friends and family. On the other hand, 39% and 48% of people take into consideration comments on social media and also radio advertisements (Crick & Crick, 2020.pp.206-213).

Hence, it is stated that Glitch has been right in making a selection of the word-of-mouth advertisement for marketing its products.

Figure 47: A visual of the the word-of-mouth marketing strategy

Glitch has stated the products and services in detail to make sure that there is a sufficient amount of challenges in the workplace. The following factors are considered to be important for Glitch to make sure that a sufficient amount of details are provided. The products and also the types of equipment are identified to be stated clearly in the workplace.

EQUIPMENT COFFEE Figures 48-49: A look at equipment and services offered by Glitch Cafe The details regarding coffee, manual brewing, white, and also signature lattes, as well as milkshakes are stated clearly in this article. The details regarding desserts, pancake poppers, waffles, as well as crepes, are also identified in this article. The details regarding croissants such as butter, cheese, egg, and cheese along with turkey and cheese are stated completely in the article.

Successful Best Practices

¡ The most successful strategy is identified by making sure that there are strong teams to make sure that operation is done properly.

¡ The focus of the company is considered to be the development of habitual consistency so that the quality of foods and also products become more effective.

¡ Making sure that people are nice with the clients in the coffee shop and also serve them better in the workplace.

¡ Making sure that recycling of the is done so that the coffee shop is implementing its corporate social responsibility in the workplace.

¡ Expected to implement a large showroom to ensure that there is a sufficient amount of exhibition in the workplace (Crick & Crick, 2020.pp.206-213).

¡ Making sure that the founders communicate with local influencers to ensure that the process of marketing is implemented well.

¡ Having a variety of fruit such as frappe, milkshake, and also mojito is considered to be something that is done well by firms for better benefit.

Along with successful practices, there is also some

important failures that need to be pointed out

¡ A large portion of the types of equipment comes from Germany and foreign places and as a result of this, there is a significant amount of challenges especially during the time of COVID-19.

¡ Overdependence on word-of-mouth is also an area where there is a need for continuous improvement by the company. If any of the users forget about Glitch while recommending it to the friend, then there is less marketing for the firm and as a result, the effect becomes lesser (Crick & Crick, 2020.

pp.206-213). The use of social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are needed to be used for expanding awareness about the workplace.

¡ Lack of online payment and also not implementing e-commerce is another mistake. There is an increase of more than 170% in the digital payment in the UAE in 2018, and it implies the growing trend of online payment among people in the UAE (Glitch, 2021). As a result of this, Glitch is losing out on a large number of potential customers who prefer to make an online payment for products.

The Company as of Today and Challenges The ambition of Abdulla is stated to be one of the best in Dubai and to expand to important places such as Sharjah, and also Dubai (Glitch, 2021). Based on his point of view, it is stated that the company wants to double its customer base within three years.

Beginning from a small account, it is stated that there is a sufficient amount of improvement in the company made in the last three years (Crick & Crick, 2020.pp.206-213).

For example, the company has made sure that there is the distribution of beans from Spanish partners and also Glitch distributes them in the UAE. The implementation of wholesale distribution to various coffee shops is also identified to be something important for the firm.

The coffee shop presently does not have any form of a showroom, which is important to make sure that it reaches more people.

Figure 50: A look inside Glitch Cafe SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis takes into consideration the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat of a business. Glitch’s

is below

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats S.W.O.T.

Analysis

• Sudden outbreak of Covid19 that

affects the Supply chain of the company.

• Threat from competitors such as

Mokha 1450, NightJa, and Brew Café.

• Does not have any specific social

media presence.

• Having over-dependency on Word

of Mouth.

• Not implementing any form

of E-Commerce platform.

• Having a strong strategic location

playing in DUBAI.

• Strong and skilled IT and finance

Team.

• Open a new branch in other

location such as Sharjah to make increment of the operation.

• Implement innovation through

including online payment and online booking

¡ It is important to implement a strong marketing team to make rapid expansion.

¡ Having diversity in products and also a strong supply chain helps companies to build strong success (Crick & Crick, 2020.pp.206-213).

¡ Digital operations such as online payment are considered to be important for making sustainable growth.

Based on the analysis, it is stated that diversity in foods is considered to be beneficial for the company to earn a strong reputation. On the other hand, it is also important to know that having strong word-of-mouth and presence in Dubai works as an advantage. Based on the above statement, there is a sufficient amount of improvement needed in the digital operation to ensure that the conventional way of making payment and also marketing become better. Hence, it is considered to be important for the company to put more of a focus on innovation in terms of marketing and online payment to reach more people.