The Deliverable in Action
We met Padraic and Sandy back in May 2014. They had a start up company.
With experience in hospitality and a heart for serving others, they had launched Catering on Time.
They were open for business and ready to serve.
Getting Started in Business
Let’s face it: getting started in business is tough.
I read a quote where Bloomberg reported that 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months.
When starting out in business, it’s often helpful to start small. And whether by default or design, that is a great place to start.
Who is Your Target Customer?
As with any business, it is important to identify your target customer. As a catering company, who is your target customer?
- People planning weddings
- Large companies that throw Christmas parties and the like
- Any other person looking to spend four figures on fun and fare
Traditionally, the prospect of catering seems like a higher ticket item. And, it can be. But, it doesn’t have to be – or does it?
The Challenge
When we met Padraic and Sandy, they were busy. But they weren’t too busy. So, the challenge was to Innovate™ (e.g., The Blue Elevator™ Innovate program). And, so we went to work. Now, all of our work is custom. And all of our work is collaborative. So, we went to work together, as it were.
The tag line for Catering on Time is “Your Party Your Way.” They had done a great job building their brand and their tag line fit them perfectly.
So, who is the target customer? Anyone having a party. And, as their tag line suggested, the person having a party could have it his or her way!
Really? A huge spread of delicious-looking and tasting food. And, all for one low price! Kinda.
The Deliverable in Action
At Blue Elevator™, we walk all of our clients through the process of defining their own unique Deliverable. It is fairly involved. And, we won’t give away the formula to our own secret sauce.
But we will tell you that Padraic and Sandy’s willingness to collaborate would, thank God, open up the world to them.
And so, to augment their “large” catering gigs, Padraic and Sandy put on their walking shoes and went to work delivering cookies. We can’t take credit for this, but they can. They had a penchant for making some pretty awesome chocolate chip cookies. So, these cookies would become their calling card, so to speak.
With a cute little package of cookies and a business card, they began putting out the word that they were open for business.
One More Step
The FREE cookies were great, but there was a gap. There was a gap between FREE and the large catering gigs that everyone was clamoring for.
And, as we have said before, “For every challenge, there is an opportunity.” – Ken Moll
As far as catering companies were concerned, the majority out there seemed to be focused on landing the big weddings and corporate parties. Fortunately, this left about 95% of the rest of the world unserved, or at least under-served (but not undeserved).
Fortunate For Us
So, while every other catering company climbed over each other and clamored for the 5% of the traditional target customer base, Padraic and Sandy went to work on the remaining 95%.
As we like to say, “Figure out what the customers want and give it to them.” And, providentially speaking, the answer, thank God, was already in Catering on Time’s tagline: “Your Party Your Way.”
So, Padraic and Sandy started approaching the 95% of people and businesses that were under-served. Namely, the folks that most catering companies avoided because they couldn’t afford the typical catering company’s “one size fits all” large gig price and approach.
Quite simply, …
- They would ask their potential customers what they wanted. “How can we serve you?”
- The customers would describe what they wanted. “Your Party Your Way.”
- And then, Catering on Time would give it to them. “Figure out what the customer wants and give it to them.”
Simple as That!
However, as simple as that is, simple isn’t necessarily easy.
To use bad English, you could have something for nothing: a few FREE cookies. But, you can’t have everything for nothing (e.g., remember the 8 of 10 businesses that fail?).
The challenge and the corresponding opportunity was finding levels of service to fit mostly any budget. The challenge and the opportunity was also making sure that each service level made a corresponding contribution to the bottom line.
And, so Padraic and Sandy did just that. They developed a nice smattering of mid-priced (even low-priced) options to serve the 95% of the people who had been overlooked. But, note this: mid-priced and low-priced doesn’t necessarily mean mid-profit and low-profit.
Do You Have a Deliverable?
As the clients of Blue Elevator™ will tell you, working on defining your Deliverable is an involved process. And, it necessarily involves making sure that each level of service has a great profit margin.
Are you too busy? Are you making money? A good Deliverable will help you bridge the gap between not busy enough and too busy. And, it will help you avoid the trap of “buying business” for the sake of just staying busy.
If this sounds good to you, we’d invite you to Contact us. Like Padraic and Sandy, we’d love to help you develop your own unique custom and collaborative Deliverable.
DEC
About the Author:
Ken Moll is the Principal and Founder of Blue Elevator®. With professional experience spanning four decades, Ken has a breadth of foundational business knowledge rarely found – making him part of an elite class of professionals. Ken's passion is helping clients of Blue Elevator® get their “business to the next level™.”