ARCA : a contextual, strategic, operational and financial analysis of a Business Project for a Food & Beverage/Recreational venue in Lisbon, Portugal

Our thesis consists of developing a Business Plan for our business idea: a food and beverage venue in Lisbon, Portugal. In this theoretical section of our body of work we will be reviewing some of the existing literature on the subject. In order to facilitate the reader’s understanding of our literature review and its structure, it seems logical to introduce it with a brief explanation of what ARCA is about. ARCA is a product of the imagination of four ambitious Lisbon locals in their early twenties. A lack of employment opportunities in the country by the time we finished high school and curiosity to see the world has pushed us to work and study abroad for the past few years. However, our entrepreneurial spirit and everlasting love for Lisbon has motivated us to come back and give back to the city. The Portuguese capital has been slowly realizing its potential, evolving into a cosmopolitan destination for people from all over. If in the past the Portuguese were known for exploring the world, in the present we’re making a name for welcoming it. We want ARCA to be as much of a place for local people who want to express themselves as for foreign people who want to discover them. As such, we imagined a venue that provides a fully sensorial experience: acting as a window into Lisbon’s artistic scene, its past and its present, its flavors and its sounds. Value Proposition • A cultural and recreational venue that combines simultaneously diverse types of art with delicious food and drinks. Provide a unique view of the city, what it was and it will become: combining historic elements of Lisbon’s past with a contemporary look into the future of its evolving artistic scene. • A platform for aspiring and renowned young artists from Lisbon with few opportunities to exhibit their work. • A part of the city’s routine by breaking its routine: a weekly format where a different artist or a collective of artists bring their vision to the public through image, sound, flavor and atmosphere. • Destroying the resistance people have to the tedious and pretentious aspect of museums and art galleries. • To give the Lisbon crowds a new and exciting place with a young reference to gather and meet with people of similar tastes and curiosities. The literature review will consist of laying down the theoretical elements necessary to understand the complexities of building a business plan but also managing a food and beverage venue. The structure we have followed for this review is a conjugation of the logical sequence of a classic business plan document with important themes we have found from researching food and beverage management literature. We will begin by looking into how an executive summary is made before we explain how a company should develop its vision and mission statements. Then, we will look at conceptual development theory for a food and beverage business and what are the important factors that we will need to take into account. After doing that we will come back to business plan theory to understand how to present the management team, conduct a market analysis and devise strategies to obtain an appropriate marketing mix. Finally, our focus will turn to operations planning: understanding the importance of the purchasing function and storing in food and beverage but also scheduling staff to fit the levels of demand.