SWOT

History ANALYSIS
One day, Jason Edwards was tired of eating sub
sandwiches and pizza as a college student at
BYU, so he decided he wanted to create
something different, new, and simple. While
walking around town, he passed a small looking
shack and decided, That would be a great spot
for a hot dog stand. Being a poor college
student, he had to pawn his guitar to his dad for
the money to open. In June of 2004, he put his
plans into motion and opened a small shack just
south of the campus and called it J Dawgs. In
3 months, he made six figures. J Dawgs became
known for bringing a modern twist with their
special sauce to something that has been
around for a long time. After ten years of
building a reputation and being a successful

J
Dawgs

Academy

of Hospitality&
To u r i s m

Mrs. Paulsen

Rebecca Weight, Luis

Alv arado & Fabi an
Gonzalez

Strengths
1. Staff
2. Catering
3. Area
4. Recipes
5. Reputations
6. Quality
7. Simplicity
8. Coupons and gift
Certificates
9. Special sauce
10.Website

Weaknesses
1.
Social Media
2.
Price
3.
Loyalty
Program
4.
Mission
Statement
5.
4-5 minute
wait
6.
Toppings
7.
Little variety in
restrooms
8.
Wifi
9.
Uniforms
10.Drive Thru

Opportunitie
s
1. Weather
2. Location
3. Growth Rate
4. College Events
5. Word of Mouth

Threats
1. Competition
2. Lack of space
inside/outside
3. Parking Lot
4. Look of Building
5. Weather
6. Suppliers

STRENGTHS
J-Dawgs doesnt have as much strengths as weaknesses. They have
the opportunity to make many of their weaknesses into strengths and it
wouldnt take much.1. The strengths that J-Dawgs does have it there staff is
very well trained to treat people kindly, make eye-contact, and are very
talkative; in having this specific strength they have a better environment and
customers feel as valued customers. 2.Catering for J-Dawgs gives them the
opportunity to go out and sell their products to bigger events and expands
beyond the restaurant making this a strength. J-Dawgs can either have you
pick up your catering order, deliver it to you, or they can go on-site. 3.
Another strength J-Dawgs has is the area they are located, J-Dawgs is located
around the freeway with a plaza filled with stores and restaurants, this area
is great for J-Dawgs because of the large amount of people in compacted
areas. 4. J-Dawgs owns all their recipes from bun to Dawg and they also own
the recipes to their special sauce, this ensures that they never have to

change the quality of the product and making it a less of a hassle to

franchise. It also holds the opportunity for the cost of the production to
decrease 5. Reputation in Utah County is large because about 75% of the
population has some kind of connection to BYU, which is where J-Dawgs
started. Most people at BYU know about J-Dawgs, with all of the activities
that they are involved in which makes this strength 6. The quality of the dogs
is another strength that J-Dawgs have. Consumers can always count on a
quality made and cooked dog. 7. Simplicity, J-Dawgs has a menu that is
simply, which makes ordering 10 times easier than McDonalds or another
restaurant; they also have tax included so the price you see is the price you
get, I loved it and Im sure many other do. 8. Coupons and Gift Certificates is
another strength, they do coupon and they usually do it at football game
where there is a lot of potential for new customers, and gift certificates are
also available to buy. 9. J- Dawgs special sauce is another strength; they
have many topping but most are things other restaurants can get, the
special sauce is theirs and its pretty good, it completes the J-Dawg
experience. 10- Website, J-Dawgs has an awesome website that looks super
professional, and easy to navigate around, it makes the hotdogs look that
much more appetizing!

WEAKNESSES
The main weaknesses J Dawgs is currently dealing with is their price on hot dogs. J
Dawgs has over-priced food. Its a simple combo meal which includes the choice of a polish or
beef dawg, chips, and a drink. That concludes to a seven dollar combo meal. The hotdog alone is
four dollars which is very expensive for a hotdog.
J Dawgs reviews have revealed why they have lost some customers. Most people love the food
but dont see much difference from it being a Costco Dog. The Costco Dog is only about two
dollars and fifty cents. That is very reasonable for a hotdog. J Dawgs food needs to have value or
perception to the customer for them not care about the price. In almost every review, people love
J Dawgs the only complaint is that the price of the food is expensive. One review had said that he
spent fourteen dollars for two combos when he took his wife out for lunch on Valentines Day.
However, J Dawgs meat is high-grade. That could be why its so expensive.
Another weakness that this rising company has is that they lack in social media and they
dont have a mission statement. The mission statement is very important in business because its
the base line of what the company is trying to accomplish. When people come into J Dawgs they
should know what J Dawgs is trying to accomplish through the purchase of a customer. The
mission statement also helps remind the company what their goal is. If the company gets
sidetracked and wanders off, they can refer back to their mission statement. It also helps the
employees know why they are working and why they are so important to fulfill the mission
statement.
Social Media now plays a big part in society and many companies use social media as a
way of advertising. Machias the General Manager of J Dawgs in American Fork, said that they
lack in using social media only because most consumers and management are very old and dont
know much about the internet. They also dont seem to worry about social media very much.
Although, they do have an Instagram and if customers take pictures of something or of
themselves that is J-Dawg related they can put #JDAWGS and it goes on their Instagram page.
They have the social networks but they dont use them to improve themselves or do research on
what their customers want.
Those are J Dawgs main weaknesses. However, they have several minor weaknesses.
J Dawgs doesnt offer any type of gift cards because they cant afford losing the money to the
government if the customer never went to purchase a dawg before the expiration date. Another
weakness is that J Dawgs cannot open a drive-thru because they arent fast enough to provide the
food. When a customer purchases their product its a four to five minute wait and the wait
becomes longer when there is a crowd of other customers waiting for their food. The general
manager said Our dawg is cooked to the order. Which explains, why its such a long wait and
plus the time the employee is adding the toppings to the hotdog. They also lack in variety of
chips. They have a lot of kettle cooked chips instead of the more popular brands. Their last
weakness is that they do not have WIFI available in the store for customers to use while they eat.

OPPORTUNITIES
J-Dawgs has many things going for them, but they do have a few
opportunities that help them as a business. The first opportunity we
came up with is weather. Weather is an opportunity because warmer
weather brings in increased sales, but sales still come in during the
winter. Being that J-Dawgs will still sell hotdogs no matter what
weather, it provides as an opportunity. Second is Growth rate of city.
Utah Counties growth rate is in the steadily increasing (2000-2010:
59%) and is still growing. This means more people, more opportunity
for business. Next is location. Since J-Dawgs is located in an urban area
with a high population and is close to two major colleges, their sales
are fairly large. College activities are also a major opportunity. When
colleges hold events, the area becomes busy which increases sales by
a large amount and people who dont know of J-Dawgs may be
exposed. Last is word of mouth. Lots of people know and talk about JDawgs because of its uniqueness, special sauce, and because it is
locally owned. There customers are loyal because of the great service
they receive and likely talk about it with others.

THREATS
J-Dawgs has a few threats that can keep them from doing a bit
better. One threat is that in the area they are located there are 52 places to
eat within a 2 mile radius, giving consumers a very big variety of restaurants,
compares to Provo which has 10 restaurants within a 2 mile radius. 2. JDawgs building isnt large as well they have a maximum capacity of 32
people and no opportunity to put tables outside, which isnt much at all
considering the much larger and better known restaurants, this could make
customers leave because of the lack of space or not enough room to sit and
eat. 3. Along with the lack of space inside the lack of space outside is about
just as bad, the parking lot for the building is quite small and the parking lot
is shared with other businesses so during busy hour they might not have
enough parking spots for people, thus making people go somewhere else to
eat. 4. Another threat is the look and location of the building, the building
looks old and not as attractive as the other restaurants in the newer better
looking plaza. It makes people look in the direction of the newer looking
plaza then the old building. The location is also getting right off the freeway
making it hard to maneuver into. 5. Weather is also a threat. Since were in
Utah, winter exists and winter makes it harder to get to J-Dawgs and less
likely to become busier than if it was summer. It can seriously affect
production. 6. Another threat is that they depend on other businesses for
their buns and hot dogs. If something were to go wrong with one of their
businesses, it would directly affect us and decrease the sales.

Recommendations
J-Dawgs is an overall successful business. They have many loyal
customers in the
current locations, but we have a couple of
recommendations to keep them successful as
they open new stores
and begin franchising.
The first reccomendation that we have is to eventually open up a
production building or produce what they need in each individual store.
Currently they have to ship their buns and their sauce to each store which
creates risks. Since they own these recipes, we suggest that they open a
warehouse where they are in control and are able to produce cheaper.
Another option would be to make the sauce and the buns in the individual
stores so they wouldnt have delivery costs.
Another reccomendation that we have is to sell out of a food truck.
This creates the opportunity for them to reach out to people further away
which may increase sells in stores. People love the convenience and idea
of food that comes to them.
After you order your hotdog, you go to a separate line to wait for it to
cook and then put condiments on it. This can get confusing for workers
and customers to remember whose dog is whose and which customer was
first, especially when it gets busy. Our recommendation to fix this is to
have some kind of numbered ticket so that they can
keep track and
even keep the line moving faster.
The last recommendation we have for J-dawgs is to lower the price.
On most reviews, customers complained about J Dawgs expensive price of
seven dollars for a combo meal. Customers also dont like that the hotdog
alone is four dollars. A way that J Dawgs can reduce the price of the
hotdog, but still maintain the price of the combo meal is to add another
cup size and raise the price of the chips. J Dawgs only has one cup size to
keep it simple, but if they added a larger size cup. They can charge the
regular cup for a dollar and seventy-five cents and the larger size for two
dollars and twenty-five cents, and charge the chips for two dollars and
twenty-five cents without making them more complex. That helps the
combo meal make fifty cents more if they purchase the combo with the
larger cup size. If the customer wants the regular price of seven dollars
they can purchase the smaller cup, but some customers want more to

drink with their meal. Also, we suggest to have more popular brands of
chips to sell instead of the kettle cooked chips, if they want to sell the
chips for twenty-five cents more. If J Dawgs can do this, they can lower
the price of the dog to three dollars which will be more reasonable for
customers and usually J Dawgs sells a drink with a purchase of a hotdog
when the customer doesnt buy the combo.

Survey Results

1-5 Scores
18
16
14
12
10
8

Number of People

6
4
2
0

1
2
3
4
5

Sex

Male

Female

Age

17-25

26-40

40-older

How Freqently do they Visit

Once a Week
Less than 2 times a
month
Two times per week

SWOT
MANAGER QUESTION
1. Do you have a mission statement? If so, what is it?
No, they are working on it. Thats a weakness
2. What do you emphasize to your employees?
To be happy and courteous to customers.
3. In what ways do you reach out to your community and how do you involve customers?
Go to high school games and hand out coupons, if customers take pictures they can
#JDAWGS on Instagram
4. Will J-Dawgs have more products to sell in the future.
They will probably add a dessert or more choices of toppings
5. What are the skills must an interviewee have to work at J-Dawgs?
Not worried about skills, they want them to be out-going and have a great personality
Weaknesses
6. How long does it take to get average order out?
4-5 minutes because they cook food to the order
7. How do you receive input from customers?
They can go on their website and post a review
8. Do you guys offer some type of membership program?
They are working on having the punch hole system. So the 10th time someone buys
food the next one is free.
9. What kind of complaints do you get, and how do you handle them?
Someone didnt get pickles so they gave them a new one the next day. They try and fix it
as fast as possible in a kindly matter.
10. How much labor does J Dawgs have working? Would it be better to have more workers?
They have only 3 working. Some workers wont have anything to do.
Opportunities
11. How does your location help or create problems for the business?
Its next to the plaza and most people cant find J Dawgs
12. What are your slowest hours?
3-5 pm
13. What kind of promotions or advertisements is ________ involved in.
No promotions or ads
14. Is delivery big for J Dawgs?
Catering is popular to them. No take-out system. They only cater.
15. What kind of competition do you have?
52 competitors in front of them
16. Does social media play a big part in attracting customers?
Not that much. Because most of management employees are old.
17. Does J Dawgs send out coupons to its customers?
They go to sporting events and handout coupons
18. What days are the slowest and busiest for J Dawgs? And does the season affect the
amount of customers that come in?The morning is always the busiest. They get less
customers in the winter than in the summer. Its not a dramatic loss of people just slower
days.

J Dawgs
J Dawgs Customer Satisfaction Survey
3.How satisfied are you with customer service?
Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Satisfied''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

1.How likely are you to recommend this service to someone else?

Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Likely''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

2.How likely are you to return?

Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Likely''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

4.How satisfied are you with the menu and food prices?
Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Satisfied''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

5.How satisfied are you with the location?

Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Satisfied''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

6.Overall, How satisfied were you with J Dawgs?

Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Satisfied''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4

7.Were you greeted promptly?

Mark only one oval.
o

Yes

No

8.Did employees make eye-contact with you?

Mark only one oval.

Yes

No

9.Is there a opportunity to leave feedback?

Mark only one oval.
o

Yes

No

10.Were you helped in a timely manner?

Mark only one oval.
o

Yes

No

11.Were employees welcoming ?

Mark only one oval.
o

Yes

No

12.Cleanliness
Reply with a number between 1&5 where 5 is ''Extremely Clean ''
Mark only one oval.
1
2
3
4
13.Age
Mark only one oval.
o

17-25

26-40

40-60

60+

14.Gender
Mark only one oval.
o

Male

Female

15.How frequently do you come to J Dawgs

Mark only one oval.
o

Less than 2 times a month

Once a week

More than 2 times a week

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Works Cited
Google. (n.d.). Retrieved October 17, 2014, from Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/#my-drive
J-Dawgs. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.jdawgs.com/#gotointroduction
Machias. (2014, October 17). J-Dawgs Manager.