Ans1 (a) Four Stages of Growth are :-

1) Startup

2) Rampup

3) Expansion

4) Maturity

I Can't Believe It's Yogurt (ICBIY), who was the original inventor of the
Fat-Free and Non-Fat Sugar-Free frozen yogurt line, is viewed as a pioneer
and leader in the frozen yogurt retail category throughout the U.S. ICBIY
was the first frozen yogurt product served on a major airline, overcoming
significant technological and logistical barriers.

So, In First stage, The 'principal product served by I Can't Believe It's
Yogurt stores is frozen yogurt which is available in a variety of flavours and
comes in soft-serve in various formats. The soft-serve frozen yogurt is
served in different versions, including low fat, non-fat and non-fat with no
added sugar. They are served with a choice of toppings, both fresh and dry.

In the Second Stage of Planning, It focused on creating a small chain of

dozen stores. Franchising was not yet consideration, but costing were. The
cost of buying was too high to provide good profit margins, through careful
analysis then they decided to build their own factory to produce the mix.

In the third stage, They had made the transition and had opened franchises in
nearly 20 states.This expansion also created distribution problem.

In the last stage, They have a franchise network of nearly 200 stores and
ranked among the top ten 30 entrepreneurs in the United States. They were
determined to be the best in their field.

(b) Challenges faced by the Brices during startup stage :-

1. They had to convert icecream to Yogurt as their friends were pre

occupied with low calorie food so Yogurt fit the bill at that time.
 2. They were having pricing crises as cost of buying yogurt mix for a chain
was too high so they decided to build their own factory to produce the mix.

Ans 3:- ICBIY's is positioned in the marketplace as a healthy and nutritional

product, capturing a broad segment of today's health conscious consumer.

Marketing
 New product roll-out posters
 Promotional banners and table tent cards
 "Grand Opening" advertising in your area
Assistance
 Floor plan and layout consultation with ICBIY's staff
 Initial start-up training support
 Manuals for unit operator
Cost Saving Products
 National chain purchasing power
 Simplified distribution network
Capital Cost
 Lower capital cost through national purchasing
 Leasing financing program available

Ans 2:- As central planning issue is the business concept.The business concept
for ICBIY is-
They wanted every customer in every store to be 100% satisfied and they instill
this philosophy in their franchisers.Both were active in community affair and
sponsor a nationalwide scholarship contest for new business plans through the
association of collegiate entrepreneurs.
They attribute their success partly to excellent business planning and planning
was paramount to building the company beyonf their first 2 shops near SMU.