Business Forecasting 9th Edition by John Hanke, Dean Wichern

Exercise 2

GOLDEN GARDENS RESTAURANT
Sue and Bill Golden have decided to open a restaurant in a city in the Midwest. They have spent over a year researching the area and visiting medium- to high-price restaurants. They definitely believe that there is room for another restaurant and have found a good site that is available at a good price.
In addition, they have contacts with a number of first-class chefs and believe that they can attract one of them to their new restaurant. Their inquiries with local bankers have convinced them that financing will be readily available, given their own financial resources and their expertise in the restaurant business.
The only thing still troubling the Goldens is the atmosphere or motif for their restaurant. They have already conducted a series of three focus groups with area residents who eat out regularly, and no consensus on this matter emerged. They have talked about the matter considerably between themselves but now believe some other opinions would be valuable.
After reading about some of the techniques used in judgmental forecasting, they believe some of them might help them decide on the atmosphere for their new restaurant. They have identified a number of their friends and associates in other cities who would be willing to help them but are not certain how to utilize their talents.
Are there any other methods they have overlooked in trying to research this matter?