Marketing

We don't plan to spend much funds on marketing. We'll put up signage over the storefront -- as required by the landlady -- and on the plaza-sign post, build a basic website, and create a Facebook page. We won't bother with print ads or coupons.  We don't expect any amount of marketing to make our shop a destination spot.  We're assuming most people won't travel long distances for a smoothie.    

As mentioned before, we envision our smoothie shop is a parasitic business that will primarily draw its customers from 24 Hour Fitness users. Our assumption is that 24 Hour Fitness provides us with a self-selecting customer base that doesn't need to be convinced to purchase nutritious smoothies.  They just need to be served well and provided with smoothies that meet their nutritional and taste expectations.

Of course, we'd like to attract those who aren't gym members and we'll eventually work toward diversifying our customer base. But we're concerned that focusing on satisfying too many types of customers may dilute our brand and negatively impact those interested in health and nutrition. For instance, we could offer bubble tea (not healthy) but we haven't figured out a way to offer such drinks without impacting our reputation as a health food shop.  

Another consideration is our lack of experience with such an operation.  We don't know how to minimize labor costs and to control risk.  We need time to figure out how to cost-efficiently best serve our core customers .  We initially can't handle too many different kinds of customers.  And ultimately, we want to attract more customers not by catering to those who aren't concerned about the nutritional qualities of a smoothie, but by making more people aware of how a smoothie that contains 4 servings of fresh fruit can positively impact the quality of their lives while reducing their cost of living.