Lessons Learned

We've been open for a month now.  Here are a few lessons we've learned:

* Don't assume too much.  For instance, we may think that a sign that says -- New Extended Hours: 9am-12am -- makes it clear that we're open from 9am thru midnight, but some really think that it means that we're open for 3 hours per day.  We've learned the importance of communicating as clearly as possible to customers.  It's our responsibility to communicate who we are and our operating hours to our customers. 

* Image matters.  For a small business, image and concept is primary, product is secondary.  We're more confident than ever that we have the best product (in terms of nutrition and taste) on the market.  But just because people like the samples we provide them doesn't mean they'll buy our products.  Most purchase our products primarily because of who we are and the idea we represent. 

* Samples work.  Samples drive in business and gives us an opportunity to entice customers about our idea.  People don't just want a drink.  They want to live an idea. 

* Taste matters.  People purchase an idea but care more about taste.  Most know what's good for them but they're unwilling to change their palates and habits.  We're expected to cater to their taste and nutritional demands.  That's why we changed our recipes daily over the first 2 weeks.  Only now do we change our menu weekly (based on feedback). 

* The customer isn't always right.  We'll discuss more about this point in another post. 

* Marketing research is garbage.  For instance, focus group interviews or anthropological fieldwork don't reveal much because they're conducted in artificial environments.  Small business owners told us that marketing research is useless for small businesses and the only way to know what sells is to sell the product.  They're right.  Our marketing research has negatively impacted our business.  Just because people say they want something doesn't mean that they really want it and if they do, they may buy it for reasons we're not attuned to.

We're beginning to leave day-to-day operations to employees so we should have more time to update the blog.  Sorry about the sporadic blog posts.