Page 49 - How not to cheat

Section A

Q1: Critically assess William Chase's business idea

and show any flaws it might have.

Answer: William Chase’s business idea can be critically evaluated in

the light of the circumstances he had to face that led to the creation
of Tyrrells Chips. In early 2000, he was forced to abandon his potato

business when his chipping crop was rejected by McCain. There were
other issues like continuing pressure from large supermarkets, led by
Tesco, who had begun sourcing produce from overseas to push down

their costs. We will try to analyse the business idea in detail by using
the PESTLE framework. This framework analyses the business by
focussing on various areas that impact business which includes

Political (P), Economic (E), Social (S), Technological (T), Legal (L) and

Environmental (E).

1. Political factors:
§ Trading policies: The case study mentions about red-tape

culture prevalent during early 2000. This was one of the reasons
which forced Chase to change his domain of main business.

§ Foreign pressures: The pressure from the foreign companies
was always there. The multinational companies engaged in the
production of fried chips had deep pockets and they were always

ready to go to any extent to weed out the competition. Chase had
the advantage of owning a potato farm which he used to start the

chips business. This was an apt decision by Chase.
2. Economic factors:
§ Disposable income: The disposable income of target consumers

is one of the main factors to consider because Chase wanted to sell
Tyrrells Chips at a premium price. The shelf life of the chips was

only 3 weeks and they were fried without using any robotic
machines that are used by other major companies around the