ECONOMICS

Economics

Economics

Introduction

Cold Stone Creamery, ranked in the top 100 of America's fastest-growing franchises by Entrepreneur magazine, provides consumers with freshly made ice cream, yogurt and Italian sorbet creations blended to order on a frozen granite stone with the consumer's choice of mix-ins. This interactive concept allows consumers to personalize their own dessert experiences.

Incorporated in Arizona in 1988, Cold Stone Creamery is privately held, employing over 50 people at its headquarter offices. The company currently has 311 stores open and 660 stores awarded in 40 states and the US Virgin Islands. More than 50 percent of Cold Stone Creamery's new stores are owned and operated by existing Cold Stone Creamery franchisees.

And that's a statistic we're very proud of! Bankers will look for security and gearing. Gearing is the proportion of borrowed money to proprietors' own money in the business, i.e.: the debt/equity ratio. Bankers will often say that they prefer that proportion to be about 1:1. Gearing higher than 2:1 often becomes the outward visible sign of bankers' anguish. It is usually unreasonable to expect banks to put more of their depositors' money into a business than the money put in by the proprietors or by others who subordinate their claims to the bank.

International Business

Cold Stone has planned to move abroad in other countries as well. Fist country, which is being considered by Cold Stone top management, is Mexico. But the problem is that Cold Stone has never gone international. That's why to make the decision easy for the top management; a survey has been conducted in the Los Angeles and all the participants in the survey were Mexicans.

Sample Size

Sample size for the survey was 100 Mexicans.

Out of the sample of 100 people, all are selected randomly on below-mentioned age ratio:

15% below the age of 18

25% between the ages of 18 - 25

30% between the ages of 25 - 30

13% between the ages of 30 - 35

17% above 35

Following are the questions asked during the survey:

What is your Age?

Below 18

Between 18 - 25

Between 25 - 30

Between 30 - 35

Above 35

Fixed and Variable Costs Should Be Adjusted To Maximize Profit

What do you usually like to do when you are free? If go to ice cream parlors then………

How many times a week you go to an ice cream parlor?

What flavor you like most?

Do you take the same flavor every time you visit?

Do you like to visit Cold Stone?

Why you visit Cold Stone? What you like most

Environment

Taste

Price

Others

Findings of the survey

All the findings of the survey are categorized according to the age group of the samples.

Income Level:

Below 18: 130 - 165 dollars per month

Between 18 - 25 200 - 250 dollars per month

Between 25 - 30 245 - 300 dollars

Between 30 - 35 245 - 320 dollars

Above 35 250 - 350 dollars

What you like to do when you are free

Below 18:

15% nothing specific

25% movies

30% pizza or burger shops

30% ice cream parlors

Between 18 - 25:

28% nothing specific

30% clubs and restaurants

20% pizza or burger shops

22% ice cream parlor

Between 25 - 30

35% nothing specific

37% clubs ...