1. Is there a need for this service in the area?
2. Is the organization in a position to create value for customers?
3. Business Model
3.1. Provides hot and frozen meal delivery to the elderly and disabled.
3.2. Regular check ups from friendly staff - personal aspect of the delivery.
3.3. Use grant funding to provide the meals at a loss to make it more affordable.
3.3.1. The problem here is that competitors can provide the same meals for the same price.
3.3.1.1. Possibly due to volume discounts?
3.4. Resources
3.4.1. Volunteers
3.4.1.1. very friendly and talkative, also seniors (similar to clients, able to connect with them)
3.4.2. Red Cross support - look into this
3.4.3. Relationship with LHIN (grant) - look into this
3.4.4. Customer relationships???
3.5. Product
3.5.1. Menu - do the menus span a wide variety of foods for people with different preferences? Halal? Vegan? Gluten-free? Vegetarian?
3.5.2. Pricing - same pricing as competitor (Cooper County), so not actually at a discount
3.6. Competitive advantages?
3.6.1. Very flexible to client needs (e.g. they have guidelines but don't follow them in order to help clients)
3.6.1.1. e.g. want to deliver frozen meals Wed - Fri, but will adjust for clients easily
3.6.1.2. e.g. flexible to meal choices
3.6.2. Personal aspect of the delivery (clients are very happy to see volunteers), volunteers are very friendly, seniors helping seniors
4. Organizational Structure
4.1. Red Cross
4.1.1. Lots of rules and restrictions here: e.g. website, not providing financial statements
4.1.2. Possibility of brand dilution - the non-profit branding may drive away potential higher wealth clients
4.1.3. What value does Red Cross provide to MoW?
4.2. 3 FT staff + 1 PT staff + Laura who is the coordinator for multiple Red Cross programs in the area
4.2.1. Sana - new full time staff (hired in August), worked for transportation with another Red Cross program (coordinated another program) > new coordinator for MoW
4.2.2. Sandra -
4.2.3. Very routine, staff just do what they've always done, 'thinking inside the box', restricts creativity
4.2.4. No infrastructure in place to deal with any changes
4.2.5. Town Hall meeting to address organizational aspects (e.g. marketing, new ideas from volunteers), get volunteers to be in charge of new initiatives
5. Internal Operations: who is responsible for what?
5.1. Marketing
5.1.1. What sorts of marketing activities do they do? How do they reach out to their client base? Do they have community relationships (e.g. doctors, counselors) to help the promote the service?
5.1.1.1. Brochures in doctor's offices?
5.1.1.2. Don't keep track of any marketing efforts (e.g. who has brochures, how often they distribute)
5.1.2. We know that doctors do recommend the program (evidence from current clients).
5.1.2.1. Call doctor's offices
5.1.2.1.1. ask if they've heard of MoW, do they have brochures, how often do they recommend the program, how often they receive brochures
5.1.2.1.2. call, pretending to have someone we know who can't make their own meals, ask for recommendations for available services
5.1.3. No organized marketing efforts - volunteer can pick up an drop off brochures as they please
5.1.4. Should definitely get some brochures in senior living apartments
5.1.5. Need some sort of cohesive marketing plan... or anything at all really
5.2. Finance
5.2.1. Open to being asked specific questions
5.2.2. We will ask about particular expenses
5.2.3. Cash on hand == surplus?
5.2.4. Construct an income statement
5.3. Meal Preparation
5.3.1. How long does it take? How many meals per volunteer per hour?
5.3.2. Where are the meals prepared?
5.4. Delivery
5.4.1. How are the meals transported?
5.4.1.1. One volunteer drives and delivers the meals.
5.4.1.2. Preferably would have two volunteers (one to drive and one to run and deliver the meals)
5.4.1.3. Insulated delivery boxes
5.4.2. What is the distribution of deliveries throughout the city? How many deliveries per volunteer per hour?
5.4.2.1. City is sectioned off, each volunteer is assigned a route. The routes are designed by the staff.
5.4.2.2. How do they plan the routes?
5.4.2.3. Do the people who order hot meals get the deliveries first?
5.5. Volunteer Recruitment
5.5.1. What are the requirements?
5.5.2. Recruitment and training process?
5.5.3. Where do volunteers learn about the program?
5.5.3.1. Seems to be no outreach initiatives
5.5.3.2. Volunteers actually reach out to MoW asking about opportunities
5.5.3.3. Does Red Cross help in any well?
5.5.4. Demographic / profile of volunteers? Seniors? High school students? Young adults?
5.5.4.1. Seniors do majority of delivery (giving back to the community, keep them busy in retirement, intrinsic)
5.5.4.2. High school students - office/administration stuff
5.5.4.2.1. What do they actually do?
5.6. Taking orders/ calls
5.6.1. Who is responsible for this? How many calls per day? Distribution of calls throughout week/month?
5.6.2. Who usually calls in to make the order? Customer, family member, friend?
5.6.2.1. This is a question on the form for new clients but no one fills it out
5.6.3. What's the process for a new client who calls into get information? Do they usually call in to make the order? Can we get statistics on this?
5.6.3.1. Calls in, fills out a form, form goes into database, mail the new client a pamphlet,
6. Economics / Regulations
6.1. Pensions
6.2. Immigration
7. Client Profile
7.1. Food preferences
7.1.1. Ethnicity (e.g. Chinese food, Indian food)
7.1.2. Religion (e.g. halal, kosher)
7.2. View of getting external help to provide meals
7.2.1. Ethnicity
7.2.2. Culture
7.2.3. Research how different cultures would view the Meals on Wheels service
7.2.4. Importance of family helping each other (some cultures would find it very inappropriate to use an external program to help feed their family members)
7.3. Language capabilities
7.3.1. Immigration
7.3.2. Ethnicity
7.4. Health
7.4.1. Are they capable of regularly heating up frozen meals?
7.4.2. Can they get groceries delivered to their home and prepare their meals?
7.5. Living arrangements
7.5.1. Do they live with family members who can help them? Senior residences? Do they have personal aides? Do they live alone?
7.6. Income level / resources
7.6.1. Can they afford to order delivery from restaurants or have a personal aide cook for them?
7.6.2. Higher income individuals may shy away from using a non-profit organization.
8. Competition (Alternatives)
8.1. Copper County
8.1.1. The only competitive advantage over Cooper County that we can see so far is that MoW heats up the meals. However, the supplier for the frozen meals and the price is the same. Copper County has nicer advertising and the ability to order online and a better website. DO A MORE THOROUGH COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS.