Vietnamese Style Café in Lappeenranta – Imatra Region: A Business Concept Statement and Customers’ Preferences

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis was to investigate by studying the theories of business concept statement, different forms of business and legal issues needed for opening a food establishment in Finland as well as creating a practical business concept statement for the real business idea of opening a Vietnamese café in the region Lappeenranta – Imatra of Finland. The aim of the authors was to visualize the business idea of the café for the readers through this thesis work.

The information and knowledge used in the thesis were gathered from books, the Internet and the market survey. The thesis started with the basic knowledge relating to Vietnam, Vietnamese coffee, tea and culture. The theoretical section covered the theories of the start-up process in running a business as well as the business concept statement itself. Within the theoretical part, the definition of this statement, its contents and concerns were defined clearly. Empirical work was another important part of this thesis. This part comprised a quantitative market research towards the business idea and a written business concept statement. The study was carried out in both Lappeenranta and Imatra by handing out the questionnaires to the potential customers as well as giving them the samples of possible products sold at the café for testing.

The outcome of this study acted as supportive materials for the process of creating the business concept statement. Generally, this thesis is expected to be useful for people who are interested in doing business and are looking for a potential business idea as well as for students considering writing a thesis of related topic. Further study should be implemented for the creation of a business plan from the concept statement made in this thesis work.