Starting Accommodation and Food Services at Bradenton Florida

Starting Accommodation and Food Services at Bradenton Florida

Results of a 2020 Expert Interview and Survey

1. Executive Summary

For the last 10 years, Bradenton have continued increasing in population and improved infrastructure creating an avenue for businesses. Most of these businesses have been created by increase in number of visitors in the area, beach, and other tourist attraction avenues. Due to this, many entrepreneurs are working hard to determine the type of business they can start in Bradenton to take advantage of this business opportunities in the area. I am a business researcher and recently, I have been hired by a prominent entrepreneur who want to venture in Bradenton. The entrepreneur wants me to give him a business idea that has market in Bradenton. To do this, I need to carry out an extensive research and present the finding inform of a long, Formal Report. Therefore, the task here is to carry out a research in Bradenton area, I determine the business idea, and I present it to the entrepreneur.

2. List of figures

Crime rate statistics in Bradenton………………………………………………………………………………….

Total response on area of residence………………………………………………………………………………

Total responses on respondent’s activity in Bradenton …………………………………………………

Response of tourist about their feeling on accommodation and food……………………………

3. Introduction

Bradenton Sarasota is a city in Florida located around the Manatee River, at the south of Tampa. The city host the famous Florida Museum that stores historical and cultural exhibits. The city also holds the Parker Manatee Aquarium and the Bishop Planetarium. It also have Riverwalk stretching along the moving water. All these tourist catchment sites have seen the number of tourists visiting Bradenton area to continue increasing every year. According to Florida business news, more than 3.1 tourists visited Bradenton area in 2017 which was a 2% increase from the previous year. Due to this, Bradenton Sarasota have seen its economy growth by $ 1.2 billion in 2017 which was an increase of 5.5 percent from previous years. The rise in number of visitors in the area have continued to create entrepreneurial opportunities for business oriented people.

1. Problem Statement

One of the entrepreneurs requested me to conduct a comprehensive survey to determine the best business idea that can be started in Bradenton area. The entrepreneur authorized me to interview experts and conduct surveys to have the best business idea for the area. To start a business, there must be gaps that need to be fulfilled. Therefore, the entrepreneur wanted to discover these gaps in Bradenton and take advantage of these gaps to start business.

1. Purpose Statement

To meet all these purposes, I carried out a comprehensive survey in the Bradenton Sarasota area. The report discusses various business ideas revealed by this research and propose one of this business idea that the entrepreneur can take and successful start his own business in the area.

1. Scope

The scope of this report is to survey the available opportunities in Bradenton Sarasota in order to advice any willing entrepreneur on the business ideas that can thrive well in the area. All business experts, tourists, and willing entrepreneurs form the scope of this report.

1. Limitations

The study has a number of limitations that prevent meeting an ideal report on the business idea that can thrive in Bradenton area. The sample size did not give an ideal of the whole population of the respondents. I conducted the large part of the survey through sending emails to the respondents. However, some of the mails were not received which made it impossible to receive 100% response rate. Lastly, the study was limited by the time and money available to conduct the research in order to obtain legit and correct information.

1. Background information

Even before I compiled this report, I knew that Bradenton had continued to increase in population due to rise in the number of tourists visiting that area for its rich in tourist attraction sites. For entrepreneurs, population is one factor to be considered before starting any business as large population acts as the market of any business. To come up with the best business idea, most entrepreneurs takes advantage of existing gaps as their business opportunity. With population of visitors in Bradenton increasing yearly, they often need place to sleep and food. Therefore, limited places to sleep and feed is one gap existing in Bradenton. Thus, an ideal entrepreneur will major on accommodation and food service business.

1. Research Methodology

To compile this report, essential information was collected from respective respondents. To collect this information, I used a number of research methodologies. First, I interviewed a business expert. I made a phone call to her and I interviewed her while I recorded all essential information she give in my notebook. Secondly, I emailed thirty business professional so that I could have an alley of information to make rightful conclusions. The sample size of the professionals I emailed included 13 males and 17 females. The emails that I sent to them contained questionnaires that they had to tick where appropriately. I received 27 responses out of 30 sent mails which represented 87% response rate. Lastly, I reviewed several business articles from Florida which is a business insight like Sarasota scenes People and Business and the East Economy Observer (The New Deals).

4. BODY
   • The body of the report

Here is the report,

2.1.1 Survey Method

Prior to collecting information, I had a brief meeting with the entrepreneur to determine the requirements of the study. During this one hour-long conversations, we discussed the types of questions to include in the questionnaire and the manner of conducting the survey.

From what we discussed with the entrepreneur, I prepared SurveyMonkey survey that I was to send to all of my online respondents. I grouped all survey questions into a link that I sent to all online respondents through emails. Some of these respondents were business owners and the rest workers. However, the phone interview was for an expert who understands business in Sarasota area.

Having prepared the link, I sent it to all the online respondents and I assured them that their responses would be kept anonymous. For business owners, I requested them to allow their workers respond to the questionnaires as correct as possible.

I also conducted a pilot survey in the area. The significance of the pilot survey is to test the workability of methodology that I was to apply in carrying out the research. From the pilot survey, it was clear that the survey methodology was going to work as planned.

2.1.2 Secondary Research

Secondary research is the information that have been received from somebody who conducted a similar research, or data that have a close correlation with research. To compile this report, I extensively incorporated secondary sources as the base of supporting my research findings. The first secondary source is the United States Census Bureau. This source provided me with the information of the population in Bradenton Sarasota.

Secondary Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/bradenton-fl-population/

The link above provides enough information of the population in Bradenton. As discussed earlier, population is the market for the business that the entrepreneur wants to start. The city has a total population of 57,644. However, due its rich in tourist attraction cites, the city holds more than 3.1 million people annually.

The second important consideration for any business is security in the area. Therefore, the second secondary source that I looked is the annual police report about crime rate in Bradenton Florida.

Source: https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/fl/bradenton/crime

crime rate in Bradenton

POPULATION: 57,644

Figure 1.1 shows crime rate in B

2.1.3 Primary Sources

Primary sources involves collecting information during a study. It involves interviewing face to face or through phone call, asking questions through questionnaires. To prepare this report, I sent 30 questionnaires to thirty different respondents through email. I also conducted a phone call interview to one business expert in Bradenton. This was meant to collect qualitative data.

2.1.3.1 Interview an expert through phone call

Me: hello sir,

Expert: hello too

Me: I would request for your time so I can gather some information

Expert: Okay, am fine with that

Me: What is your name?

Expert: Alexander Michael

Me: How long have you been in business profession?

Expert: This is my 25^th year as a business advisor in Florida.

Me: As an advisor, which business can thrive well in Bradenton?

Expert: due to increasing number of visitors in Bradenton city, I would advise entrepreneurs to invest on accommodations and Food ventures.

Me: Thank you for your time

Expert: Welcome, it was a pleasure to help you.

2.1.3.2 Questionnaires to collect quantitative data

Questions in the questionnaire

1. What is your gender?

Male…………                            female………………

2. Where do you live?

Bradenton……………               outside Bradenton………..

3. If you are in Bradenton, what do you do there?

Businessman/woman………..    Worker …………   Tourist………

4. If businessman/woman, which business have you ventured in?

Hotel and accommodation………… Travel………  Clothing……… others……..

5. If tourist, are there enough accommodation and food services in Bradenton?

Yes………..  No………..

6. In your perspective, does Bradenton area need more accommodation and food services?

Yes………..   No………

I sent these questionnaires to respective respondents through emails. Prior to this study, I had conducted a pilot survey. During this study, I had requested the email address of the respondents so that it could be easier for me to update them with my research questionnaire. I had collected a total of fifteen emails from my respondents. I had collected 13 males and 17 females which totaled 30 respondents which was my sample size. This sample size represented the whole population of Bradenton.

2.2.3 Interpretation of Results

This section presents answers provided by the respondents from the administered questionnaires. These questions aimed at determining how well Bradenton is positioned for entrepreneurs to start accommodation and food restaurant. To ease the reading, I present answers according to primary source and secondary sources. This section also answers the question “Does Bradenton area have gaps that entrepreneurs will use as opportunity?’’

2.2.3.1 Total responses

From a total of 30 sent mails, only 27 of the mails were returned. 12 mails from men and 15 from women. Three of the respondents were two males and one female business owners.

1. Total response on area of residence

Figure 2 shows the manner in which respondents as a whole responded to their area of residence.

(n=27 (12-males, 15-females)

Two main patterns stood out from this figure.

1. First, the largest population in Bradenton comes from the outside as tourists. Most of them are females who works in nightclubs as waitress.
2. Secondly, there exist gaps in Bradenton that especially on accommodation and food.

The findings shows that Bradenton has inadequate accommodation to host tourist inflow. Therefore, this gaps are opportunities for entrepreneurs to invest in and start business.

1. Businesses in Bradenton

Figure 3 shows the respondent’s activities in Bradenton. Whether as businessman/woman, working or tourist.

Figure 3

Total responses on respondent’s activity in Bradenton

(n=26 (12-male, 15-female)

From this figure, we can deduce a number of important information on suitability of starting business in Bradenton Florida.

• First, the number of businessman/women are minimal.
• Secondly, the number of workers is more.
• Third, the inflow of tourist continues to increase.

From this finding, it’s evident that the competition of this business will be minimal as there are no many entrepreneurs in Bradenton. Secondly, there is source of workforce. Lastly and most significant, the increasing number of tourists as in the figure present a good market for starting accommodation and food service venture.

Figure 4

This figure represent responses strictly from tourist. This information was meant to determine if tourists were comfortable with the accommodation and food in the area.

Figure 4

Response of tourist’s respondents about accommodation in Bradenton

From this figure, it can be observed that most of the tourists are not satisfied by the method of accommodation in Bradenton. This shows that there exist gaps for entrepreneurs to use as business idea. To close this gap, an entrepreneur with an idea to solve accommodation and food problems in the area will succeed.

5. The Ending of the Report
   • Ending Summary

From the findings, the largest population in Bradenton is outsource. That is, the population comprises of tourists and workers who comes to Bradenton to work or visit. The results also shows a number of gaps that exist in the city:

1. First, the population continues to increase creating room for more business ventures. This population requires food and shelter which is not enough as indicated in the results.
2. Bradenton has very few entrepreneurs compared to the number of business ideas available.

• Females constitute the larger part of the population.
  • Conclusion

To sum up, the report is a substantive analysis of Bradenton Sarasota area. The report is as a request from entrepreneurs interested in investing in this area. From the findings, Bradenton has an alley of opportunities for business minded people. First, the area has great tourist attraction sites which attracts thousands of visitors each day. Secondly, there are no many business opened in the area that are capable of creating competition to daring entrepreneurs. Lastly, there is a flow of workforce daily to provide the needed human power to new ventures. From the above discussion and the information collected from the area, Accommodation and food service restaurant is a great venture in the area. This is because, the findings have shown that most of the tourists are not contented with the available food and accommodation facilities. Therefore, this report can be an ideal blueprint for the entrepreneur to follow and invest on this venture with expectation of making huge profits.

• Recommendations

Bradenton is an arena for business oriented people. However, when the business idea works well, entrepreneurs can reap huge profits from their endeavors. Similarly, if it fails to work, huge profits can be accrued also. Therefore, I can give the following recommendations.

1. Interested entrepreneurs should start small. This is to ensure a steady progression and reduce risk if the business fails to thrive.
2. I would recommend for my entrepreneur to advertise about his ventures to attract more customers.

Appendix: The Bradenton Sarasota area

Page 1:

Which best business to start in Bradenton area?

• Food and accommodation
• Travel

Page 2: for each of topics below ….

• Indicate to what level of satisfaction do current food and accommodation services are (1=zero 5=excellent)
• Indicate the type of improvement you need ( 1= zero 0=excellent)

Page 3:

How contented are you with current accommodation and food facilities? (1=very satisfied 5=very dissatisfied)

Give a brief explanation