conducted helped a Toronto based enterprise, LOFT ... social media presence and received and advertised ... additional marketing such as the creation of an.
RESEARCH SNAPSHOT The Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research The Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Research was founded in 2010 to undertake both academic and industry projects that aid business, policy makers and the overall industry with key issues in hospitality and tourism.
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Scaling up of Social Enterprises: LOFT Kitchen What is the issue? Social enterprises create a positive impact on society by increasing employment opportunities for those with barriers to employment, and are gaining momentum in the hospitality industry, however, there is little research on how social enterprises scale up. The research conducted helped a Toronto based enterprise, LOFT Kitchen, to understand how to scale up their business. What did the researcher do? The researchers took a two-phased approach to solve the problem. First they conducted five interviews with business managers of social enterprises to determine key factors that help scale up a business. Then through a web content analysis of 28 social enterprise websites in both the United States and Canada, best practices and themes were analyzed to determine best to scale up social enterprises. This study was conducted from January – April 2016. What were the outcomes? These researchers found that the majority of similar concept operators who were successful in scaling up their businesses focused on skills based and employment training, invested significantly in having a social media presence and received and advertised their funding from private and governmental grants. These findings determined that for LOFT Kitchen to scale up successfully, they would have to invest in additional marketing such as the creation of an emotional appeal video as well as the creation of a specific website exclusively for LOFT Kitchen. After improving their marketing strategy, increased grant
applications should be prioritized to increase the revenue for the organization to develop staff and programs. Why is this research Useful? Businesses can use this research to understand the key factors that contribute to successfully scaling up their business. This research can help business determine the best marketing outlets to use as well as how much money should be spent on them. About the Researcher About the researchers Alexander, Elizabeth, Constance and Justin are final year students in the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management program at Ryerson University. Citation Bider, A., Shabada, L., Shine, C., and Cordeaux, J. (2016) Scaling up social enterprise: LOFT Kitchen, Ryerson University, Toronto. Keywords Social enterprise, marketing, social media, funding, LOFT Kitchen, Toronto
