Hottie Hawg's is a blooming food truck business that specializes in bbq which owners Vaughan and Rybka have formed by partnered together to create a unique and bold food truck business, which specializes in a unique grilling method to present the more budget friendly market with a great tasting product. The main concept of the company sprawled from the natural knack of entrepreneurship and food when Vaughan and Rybka decided to invest their money and time into getting the business on the road and towards success.
HHBBQ is faced with early issues regarding the use of appealing women as their servers, an idea which is questioned at first due to the un-originality of the concept but is later seen to be highly beneficial towards the brand image, just as long as the women hired were qualified enough in the aesthetic department when compared to a business such as Hooters. This idea ended up being very well needed for the success of the business due to the poor economy, and was seen as being “aggressive” yet effective. Hitting the road with an appealing image and a logo that could not be forgotten easily, the business received a kick start when it was first introduced into Spring Break, Florida, only as a sampler to gather consumer reactions and feedback. From here Vaughan gathered enough data to return back with his appealing waitresses “Hotties” and created enough of a buzz for Vaughan to consider a more feasible option, one which made him set up in a better location next to a beer station (perfect hand in hand combination of beer and bbq), but Vaughan was still unable to gain the desired success due to the lack of his products need and awareness. The business took a turn for the better when HHBBQ is able to land a free advertisement on a popular Atlanta station (Fox) which led to the business being called out to sponsor a major team in NASCAR racing, being only the start for the businesses upcoming opportunities.
The business went on to receive an advantage in the appeal department due to one of the “Hotties” winning the title of “Miss Bilfish”, which gave HHBBQ the boost it needed to compete with the girls over at Hooters. Vaughan was then presented with the option to have an agreement with a friend who sampled one of the companies food items, this all led to a growing demand for more staff and a better infrastructure to properly function the business.
With the continuing success of Hottie Hawg's, the business ends up receiving an amazing proposal to be a vendor at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. But needing upfront capital and not having enough supply to feed a much larger 16,000+ customer base kept Vaughan from being fully confident from committing. All of this while still managing his already established business “ATC”, Vaughan is now faced with the challenge of not knowing his next step towards the success of Hottie Hawg's
Identification of the Problem
Many of the problems that Hottie Hawg's faces are internal and could be fixed with the the right managerial and marketing structure. The issues that the company is faced with are as follows:
The death of partner Rybka - This was one of the major factors that caused disruption in the business. Rybka knew the ins and outs of the food business being that he himself had established a successful catering venture for over 25 years.
Lack of structure (manpower) - A main reason as to why HHBBQ's is not able to be established on a larger scale is due to the fact that Vaughan does not have the proper guidance due to the passing of his partner.
Necessary marketing – The current marketing the Hottie Hawg's has seems to be consisting strictly of words of mouth and reputation. Although this is the best way to receive free advertisement for a business, it hinders chances of market penetration in newer areas where the business is unheard of.
Capital – So far
