The Torch Club, now a restaurant-dance floor-bar combination, is located about one mile from the edge of Eastern Provincial University and two miles from the downtown district of a city of about 150,000 people.  The club is large and could seat over 500 people comfortably.  The business has been losing money for 4 years.  In this period various things have been tried.

First, the major emphasis was on indoor golfing, with some food.  After about 6 months, the emphasis was changed to a night club with a DJ and dancing while at the same time retaining some of the golfing facilities.  After several months of this, the emphasis was changed to a family-style restaurant, featuring roasted chicken.  Six months later, the business tried to become more attractive by featuring country and western music, and sometimes rock'n'roll.  About six months later a number of billiard tables were installed in an effort to become a fancy billiard parlor.  At no time during its operation has the Club been profitable.

Clearly state the nature of the problem.
What are the relevant external environment factors?
Explain why the problem might require some marketing research and what does the business need to know.