SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

AUGUST INTAKE 2014
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF 2 BUSINESSES OF SIMILAR INDUSTRY IN
DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS - FOOD INDUSTRY
GROUP MEMBERS:
JACK NG WAI KHONG 0317980
YEO DOR EEN 0316224
CHAN PEI SHAN 0318350
LEE JIAN RU 0318132
SUBJECT: PRINCIPLES TO ECONOMICS (ECN 30205)
LECTURER: CHANG JAU HO
SUBMISSION DATE: 1 DECEMBER 2014

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Table of contents
NO.

CONTENT

PAGE

1.

KEY SUMMARY

2.

BRIEF BIO OF THE BUSINESS

4-7

3.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE

8-13

BUSINESSES COMPETITIVE TRAITS

4.

RECOMMENDATION

14

5.

APPENDICES

15-16

6.

REFERENCE

17

7.

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Key Summary
Nowadays, businesses are prevalent in capitalist economy. Without good
economy, people are not able to lead a good life and have a proper education. In
this assignment, we are required to do a comparative analysis of two businesses of
similar industry in different geographical locations.
Our group consists of four members- Jack, Doreen, Pei Shan and Jian Ru.
We chose food industry as our topic since food industry plays an important role in
business world nowadays. There are too many varieties of food in the market, so
we decided to make our topic specific. Noodles restaurant has been chosen for our
research.
Noodles are popular among people with different ages and noodles shops
can be found everywhere. For our research, we had chosen two noodles shops in
Seremban and Klang valley. They are Yee Kee Beef Noodles (Seremban) and
Sarawak Noodles House, SS15 (Klang Valley).
We carried out research and went for an interview in these two noodles shop.
After that, we made a comparative analysis between these two businesses. From all
the researches and interviews we have done, we are able to understand how the
business flow and we show our knowledge and understanding about the business in
the report.

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BRIEF BIO OF THE BUSINESS

NAME: YEE KEE BEEF NOODLES
LOCATION: No. 92, Jalan S2 D32,
Seremban 2, 70300
NUMBER OF BRANCHES AND
EMPLOYEES: They have 3
branches where 2 is located in
Seremban and the other one is located
in Kuala Lumpur. Hence they have up
to 50 employees altogether in 3
branches.

MAIN PRODUCTS OR
SERVICES SOLD: The main dishes
they sold is Seremban Beef Noodles
that they been selling for 2
generations. The side dishes they sell
are Penang Prawn Mee, Ipoh
Chicken Hor Fun and etc.

ESTIMATED CURRENT NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS: For weekend, the

customers will be crowded in the morning until afternoon where almost 50 to 60
customers, and slowly the amount of customers start to shrink in the evening. As
for weekdays, the customers will be not as much as in the weekends, where
estimated 30 to 40 customers per day, but the amount will be changed due to
certain circumstances.
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WHEN WERE THE BUSINESSES

FOUND? : The business had already
been passed down by two generation
until now. So they decide to
repackage the whole business from a
small stall to a bigger restaurant, so
that the customers can have a better
space to enjoy the services and foods
served.

WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS? : The founder is called Poon Yee. He is the
original founder. Poon Yee is actually a China man, who came from China last
time. So now he is old. Thats why the name of the shop is Yee Kee after his name.
WHATS THEIR MOTIVE FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS? : The business
had been continuing for all these years but its on a small scale so called stall, we
kind of give in new packaging, a new concept where it is natural, but for restaurant
to survive cannot sell only one item. So we need a few more items, we give in a
concept and we give in an identity.
WHATS THEIR RECENT DEVELOPMENT? : We will be continuing in
Seremban, but we would like to spend more to KL, so that this type of beef noodle
will be more well-knowned, because now this type of beef noodle like dry beef
noodle, mostly famous in Seremban. Outside Seremban you hardly find it. The mee
is called Lai Fun, it is mee but actually it is made out of pure rice. Inside is not
hollow, so it is smooth.

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NAME: SRK NOODLE HOUSE

LOCATION: 84, Jalan SS 15/4b,
47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor.
NUMBER OF BRANCHES AND
EMPLOYEES: Now they have only
one main restaurant, but in the
following December, a franchise
will be opening soon in SS2, Petaling Jaya. They only have 12 employees in the
restaurant that includes the chef and waiter.
MAIN PRODUCTS OR SERVICES SOLD:
The main dishes they sell is Sarawak Kolok Mee
which is the famous dish in the restaurant, and
now they have invented a few dishes, like Ma
Lat Kolok Mee.

ESTIMATED CURRENT NUMBER OF

CUSTOMERS: Since SS15 is quite a strategic
place, where it placed nearby of 3 university
and 1 private school, and also located at an
urban area, so in the weekdays, the traffic there
is chaos, which means there is a lot of
customers especially in the weekdays and in the weekends. They estimate serve
more than 60 customers per day as what I heard from the restaurant owner. The
customers are mostly students, employees and senior citizens as well.

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WHEN WERE THE BUSINESSES FOUND? :

The business were found by the owners fathers
father, which means grandpa, and its passed on to
3 generations.

WHO ARE THE FOUNDERS? : Originally the

mee is from Sarawak and had already bring down
for three generation (by his grandparents), the
ingredients used had never been reduced.
Although I am in Kuala Lumpur, but I still use the
original Sarawak ingredients to make it, so I can
kept many of the customer from Sarawak here.

WHATS THEIR MOTIVE FOR STARTING THE BUSINESS? : I manage

this business from Sarawak to Kuala Lumpur, to do this business. I also have no
idea how to manage it, but the only reason I did this business is how I make this
bowl of mee that makes the customers feel worth it. You will have a lot of market
competition. It is even more difficult to compete with them, so I never take this
business as a market competition. For example, in KL, there is many coffee shops,
but mainly the food is from Sarawak and Penang. But the distance from Sarawak
to KL is only 2 hours. But why there is no businessman from Sarawak approach
KL and start the business. Firstly, which is the soy sauce in KL is different with
Sarawak. I also used a year in KL to find out the originality of soy sauce.
WHATS THEIR RECENT DEVELOPMENT? : Very fast, the second franchise
will be soon opened in December at SS2.

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF BUSINESSES COMPETITIVE TRAITS

i)

NUMBER OF COMPETITORS

For the beef noodle shop located in Seremban which is also known as
Yee Kee Beef Noodles has only one main competitor around the area whereas
for the Sarawak noodles located at ss15 and the shops name is Srk Noodle
House has a lot of competitor at the area as there are a lot of food shops around
the area which are cheap. This is due to the fact ss15 is a hotspot for college
students as there are a few colleges located around the vicinity of ss15 and hence a
lot of food shops at ss15.

ii)

THE MARKET SHARES OF THE BUSINESS

The market shares of the businesses that we interview have slight
difference, where for Yee Kee Beef Noodles he holds the half of the
share of the restaurant since his shop is the second franchise but still he
is under the same family as well, so he holds half of the restaurant shares.
As for Srk Noodle House, he hold all of the shares of the business
because he is the owner of the restaurant and the main franchise of the
restaurant.

TOP COMPETITORS
The top competitors of Yee Kee Beef Noodles is Restaurant Yi Poh.

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Hence, for Srk Noodle House has several competitors like Cosans
Coffee shop, Burgertory and etc.

iii) BRIEF BIOS OF EACH BUSINESS

At Seremban, they only have one main competitor and that is the
Restaurant Yi Poh which sells claypot Lou Xu Fan. The Lou Xu Fan is
unique because unlike the Lou Xu Fan that can be found at Kuala
Lumpur which are in pieces which looks like mouse tails as the name
states, the Lou Xu Fan found in Seremban are all connected together like
noodles but the texture and taste is exactly the same as the Lou Xu fan
found in Kuala Lumpur. A lot of food critics have went and tried the Lou
Xu Fan at Restaurant Yi Poh and all have given a positive feedback after
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trying it. This is the reason Restaurant Yi Poh is the beef noodles main
compeititor. On the other hand, for Srk Noodle house, the 3 main
competitors are Foh Foh food court which is famous for its fried rice at a
reasonable price, 96 restaurant which sells mixed rice where you can
feast like a king at a very cheap price and Ooi noodle house which sells
pork noodles and even though the price of the Ooi noodle house is
slightly more expensive than the Srk noodle house which they sell at
RM7.00 per bowl but serves in large portions and is has been said it is a
place for pork lovers. So to enter the food business at ss15 is not easy as
all these restaurant have not only been around for a long time which
means they have a lot of regular customers but they are very cheap and
delicious as well. Hence, these are the top 3 main competitors for the Srk
noodle house.

iv) STRATEGIES OF COMPETITIONS AMONG

BUSINESSES
For the business in Seremban which is the beef boodles, how they compete
with their competitors is that they venture more to the social media to
attract the attention for most of their customers for example, they have
created a Facebook page so that more people will know more about the
beef noodles located in Seremban. This is because most people in the
world have a Facebook account. Their business is currently categories as
quite successful as they have a constant amount of income every year and
they currently have 2 branches which are both located in Seremban but
there will be a new branch which is venturing more towards Kuala
Lumpur. As for the Srk noodle house, how they compete with other
competitors is through winning the hearts of their customers by setting an
extremely low price for one bowl of noodles whereas it provides a lot of
comfort for their customers such as a television to watch while eating and
an air conditioners for their customers while waiting so they do not feel
the heat. The business was not doing very well at the beginning but
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business has recently gotten better for them but they are still trying to
cover up for their loss. The business is currently going to open another
branch which will also be closer to the city.

v)

OBSTACLES FACED BY NEW BUSINESSES

The main obstacle faced by businesses today is there are too many food
businesses and it is hard to enter as a new market. This is because there
are a lot of old food businesses with successor that they have already been
taught their techniques to their successor in hopes their food will live on
for years to come. Hence, the older food businesses would have regular
customers and it would be harder for the locals to be attracted to the new
business as they fear it is not worth the money and the locals have already
gotten use to the taste and flavour of the older business and it is harder
for other people to change their preference one they have gotten use to the
old one. In conclusion, it is not easy to overcome this barrier which has
been made by the older business and the new business are required to
work even harder to be able to compete with the other businesses.

vi) NATURE OF THE MARKETS

The nature of the market of the Yee Kee Beef Noodles is that they have
a monopolistic competition and this is due to the fact it has only one main
competitor. The nature of the market of the Srk noodle house is perfect
competition. This is due to the numerous number of competitors at ss15
such as Ooi noodle house, Foh Foh food court and many more.

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vii) SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Name of
business

Yee Kee Beef Noodles

Srk Noodle house

Similarities

1) Both of the noodle shop do not raise the price of their food at will because
both of them have regular customers.

Differences

1) The view point of this shop is to

try to earn money and constantly
trying to attract new customers to
come. This shows that the food stall
focuses on trying to earn money.
2) The shop has a set menu to order
during certain periods of time such
as the breakfast set menu as well as
the lunch set menu.
3) The shop is making good profit
every year which is RM84,000
annually. This shows that the
business is very stable.

1) The way the owner views his

business is not to earn money but is
to try to create a comfortable
environment for his customers and
he constantly thinks of how to make
his food taste better for his
customers this could be known as
comfort food for his fellow
customers as well keeping the price
low for his customers.
2) The shop does not provide any set
menu.
3) This shop is suffering from a loss
due large amount of facilities
provided such as an air conditioner
and a television but the price of one
bowl of noodles does not cover up
the cost of all the facilities provided.

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viii) CONCLUSION
Based on my groups analysis about both the noodle shop we interviewed,
we have concluded that Yee Kee Beef Noodles at Seremban is more
successful than the Srk noodle house which is located at ss15. The main
reason is because one bowl of noodles sold at Srk noodle house suffer a
loss of RM 3.00. The loss from each bowl of noodle is because the owner
of the noodle shop is selling one bowl of noodle for the price of RM5.50
but his accountant told him that he needs to sell one bowl of noodles for at
least RM8.50 to earn some profit as the owner wanted to install a
television as well as an air conditioner to his shop for the comfort of his
customers but he stuck to his principles and kept the price at RM5.50 per
bowl. Besides that, another reason the beef noodles is more successful
than the Srk noodles is because the beef noodle has been in business
longer than the Srk noodles. The beef noodles has a 10 year experience in
the food industry and even though the Srk noodle has been done for 3
generation, it has been repackaged and moved elsewhere several times
and has been in the food business at ss15 for 3 years only. Thus, the beef
noodle shop is more renown than then Srk noodle shop. The beef noodles
also has a franchise at Seremban 2 which is the new side of Seremban and
it will soon branch out to Kuala Lumpur and since the beef noodles have
been in the business longer, it has more regular customers than then srk
noodles. Hence, this proves that the beef noodles is more successful than
the srk noodles.

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RECOMMENDATION
Based on the analysis of two shops we interview, we learnt quite a lot of knowledge
regards about how businesses being managed, how the elements of businesses
which is plan, organize, lead and control had taken place in the process of
business, the obstacles they faced when there is a downfall, how to change the
prices of products based on market price and a lot of it which cant be mentioned.

Different people have different ways to manage their business as some of them
treated business as a way to be filthy with profits earned, some of them is to inherit
the business where their parents left and even some of them make business as a
dream of theirs.

But still the recommendation I give on improving the competitiveness for each
business with proper justification. Firstly, for them to compete with the market,
they need to have certain skills and strategies so that they wont struggle from loss,
like for example which is the marketing skills obtained. Like how you promote your
products, services and of course your restaurant. So the main way to promote your
business is through social media, like for example which is Facebook and Twitter
as promotion. Through Foursquare and Swarm is another to promote your
marketing by checking in the location. Advertisement on television and radio can
also help a lot by attracting customers to approach you.

Secondly, we need to research the overall market, where we can discovered the
hidden strength and weakness of our competitors or even our own businesses as
well. After you analysis everything, then you need to compare between your
business and other businesses so that you can know what to improve and
improvised for your business, so that you can monopoly the whole market as well.

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APPENDICES
Facebook Page

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 Photo of restaurant interview and competitors

(Premises, Products, Services)
All the photos is included on the slides above:
Brief Bio of the restaurant interviews section &
Top Competitor section.

Interview Videos (YOUTUBE LINK)

1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SQZfn9Ufc (BRIEF BIO VIDEO)
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vMCVZFe6OU (COMPARATIVE
VIDEO)
3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n21w3Xmcik
(RECOMMENDATION & CONCLUSION VIDEO)

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REFERENCES
1) Yee Kee Signature Dish. Assessed on 30/11/2014:
http://ivanyeekee.getmybusinessonline.com.my/_image?album_id=ah1zfm
dvb2dsZS1idXNpbmVzcy1zaXRlYnVpbGRlcnIQCxIKUGhvdG9BbGJ1bRgCDKIB
JWl2YW55ZWVrZWUuZ2V0bXlidXNpbmVzc29ubGluZS5jb20ubXk&image_in
dex=2&pp=home
2) Sarawak Noodles. Assessed on 30/11/2014:
http://www.mydeliciousfoods.com/only-rm11-for-sarawak-cuisine-setmeal-main-dish-dessert-for-2-persons-at-srk-noodles-house-subang-jaya/
E-BOOK & BOOK REFERENCES
1) Author unknown. (2011). Defining and measuring oligopoly, Retrieved on
30 November, 2014 from
http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Oligopoly.html
2) Buchhoitz,K. (2009). Business & society. South-Western/Cengage Learning.
3) Business today, (2001). Twenty First Century Media.

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