A remarkable business growing

Every now and then, I visit a particular restaurant which is located at West coast in Denmark in the City of Henne Strand. Henne Strand is small city which booms in the summer time. Tourists from Denmark, Germany, Norway and Holland among others come here during or summer and rent a summer house by the week, to enjoy and kick back. The area located in between forests and on the beach.

The restaurant is owned by a very talented and experienced chef, who runs a remarkable business.

The chef has a simple and rock solid concept. He understands the fundamental aspects of running a restaurant and doing it well:

• Great food
• Great service
• Great value

When you then add the following elements to the concept, you get a very good blend and an excellent experience as a customer:

• Local grade A ingredients
• A simple but yet exciting menu
• Attention to every detail
• Clean restaurant, clean restrooms = clean kitchen

The restaurant is very professional business, which gives their customers a good consistent experience for their money. This is remarkable!

A lovely July night at Henne Strand, Denmark

The business is setup to be a seasonable business, just like the rest of the business' in the area. But this particular restaurant, does things a bit different, in general is the stores of good quality, but no doubt is this the restaurant the leader. It excels in product, service and experience. Nothing average about it!

Behind the concept is a solid business with a good reputation. A good reputation comes, when your business performs. People talk about their experience... At this business even the industry talks, other chefs talks about it...

With the industry talking, the owner saw a great opportunity. He is now arranging theme dinners in the low season.

Utilizing his network within the business, has five chefs from Copenhagen been invited to participate in them night. Some of these chefs is Michelin star winners. The are each preparting a course on a 5 course gourmet dinner. 

This event has only been advertised on a simple poster, and the event sold out in just two days. The effect of word of mouth is incredible, Now guest are asking for the next event. That is remarkable!

Lesson to learn

• The lesson is be on top of all the basics elements of the business and do them well.

• Give people a solid experience, which they talk about, you get the most efficient marketing you can ask. Word of mouth rocks.

• Do your SWOT analysis on a regular basis. Condition and enviroment change with time, you have to keep up.

• Fuel the traffic with additional marketing and you are well off, to elevate your business with special events and themes.

Special event and themes are great because you get customers, which are likely if not already, going to be loyal customers or even customers who advocates your business to others.

Are you on top of all the basic element and have you added your own touch?

Then you probably need to move on some opportunities!

Good luck!

Is your product remarkable?

There is loads of inspirational videos on ted.com. One of my favorites is by Seth Godin, it is about making your product remarkable or simple stand out from the crowd.

Please take the time to watch the video! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBIVlM435Zg

So how do you make your product stand out?

1) Figure out your strenghts

2) Figure out what sets you apart from your competitors

3) Work up a few key points based 1 & 2

4) Test your key points (check with a few customers and folks in your inner circle)

5) Adjust according to comments received

6) Go-live in a test environment (like a particular area)

7) Adjust according to feed-back from market

8) Go-live in bigger scale, but not bigger than you can keep up with

Good luck

The 4P´s

Why use the 4P´s

Marketing your business is no easy job, but if you spend a little time and effort before buying ads and engaging, you will probably achieve better results.

The 4P´s model is great to help you understand the situation of your business needs and in which direction you should move.

The 4Ps are:

• Product (or Service)
• Place
• Price
• Promotion

How to use the 4P´s

Analyzing each of the elements, will help you understand where you should focus your effort and which content you should use.

Below will you find a brief description of each element along with to guiding questions.

Product

When thinking about products you need to consider of your products or new products fits with your strengths and weakness (from your SWOT analysis).

• Do you have the right product to satisfy the needs of your target customer?
• Functionality
• Design
• Quality
• Packing
• Support
• How should you brand your product?
• What should you name your product?

Place

Getting the product to the consumer in best possible way. You should consider where in the value chain your role is, are you a wholesaler, retailer or...

• Where do people shop for your products or similar products?
• How do you access the right distribution channels?
• Can you offer your products in brick and mortar stores or through the web or maybe both?
• What is unique about your distribution platform compared to competition?
• How do you ensure customers get the right knowledge about the product, though salespeople, through youtube clips, or...
• Consider you products exclusivity, higher exclusivity equals exclusive distribution, while low exclusivity equals wide distribution?

Price

Charging the right price, which good for your business and accepted by your customers is tricky. There is a number of pricing strategies to consider.

Cost-plus: Adds a standard percentage of profit above the cost of producing a product.

Value-based: Based on the buyer’s perception of value. The buyer’s perception depends on all aspects of the product, including factors such as quality, brand perception and prestige. This strategy is often used by brand names. Starbucks is a great example of this.

Competitive: Having your prices and the same level as your competitors.

Going-rate: The prices charged by the going rate, means that majority of business can not affect the market rate. Consider renting property and example of this.

Skimming: If there is a product that is hot or hyped in the market, this will allow you charge a high price. Later in the products life cycles will you reduce the prices. Consider consumer electronics to use this strategy.

Discount: When a reduction is advertised.

Loss-leader: Some businesses benefit from having a loss leader to generate traffic. Other products will make up for the loss.

Psychological: Selling your product for an amount which feels like less than it actually is. Example 19,95 over 20,00

You can mix most of the above mentioned pricing strategies, but ensure to match them with your strategy.

Promotion

Promoting your product is about advertising and selling.

• How can you inform people about what you have for sale?

• Explain consumers need your product?
• Know about your business?
• Fill customer needs?

With market research, you will get to know about your customers and potential customers. Such research will help be efficient in the marketing spendings, where it is about being effective, you need:

• A clear message
• Target a specific segment of the market
• Use the right media channel

Next task

Now consolidate all your thoughts and notes into a document, which you hold on to. This document will feed into your marketing plan or media mix and be part of you business plan.

Before you move on the next step, make sure to discuss this with your associates the everybody understand and accept the direction.

When you are due to talk to media about your spendings, you are now equipped with a strong piece of research, which will help them make you effective with your spendings and scoring a nice MROI.