Is it Ok to just add more items or offer more products, when business is not going too well?
“We didn't start this business. We bought it from someone else.Dominic & Joyce*
The original owner is actually from Jamaica.
And he had a very limited menu.
I mean, his whole menu could fit on a small napkin.
And it was very Jamaican influenced.
Even so, business was good. It was doing awesome and with the times.
We had an awesome successful restaurant.
But then, business just started dropping and dropping.
It started with all these new restaurants opening up.
And every time a new restaurant opens up, it just takes away sales and profits from us.
It all started to get scary around 3 years ago. Things were piling up.
So, we had to take a loan.
We took a small loan at first.
And then, things got even more worse and we had to take a bigger loan.
Our bills are now keeps piling up. So, we had to start firing our employees.
We just had to change things up to compete with all the changes.
So, we took the menu and kind of expanded it to a full service.
I mean, we added Ghanaian dishes, continental dishes, a menu full of entre specials, daily specials, sandwich specials, buy one, get one free or buy one and get a drink for free.
We even added a catering service.
But yeah, I'll still say the same. Business keeps going downwards.
It's really bad.
The restaurant is in debts around $350,000.
If things don't change and the numbers keep lower and lower, in 2 or 3 months we're done.
We'll have to shut it down.
But I know that we're a restaurant that cooks really good food.
All I need to do right now, is to brand us and make us known better.
And that's what I'm hoping will save us.”
Co-Owners of a Small Restaurant.
*Names in this article have been changed.
When things are not working, we tend to think that, it’s because we are not doing more.
That’s our natural feeling.
So, we respond by throwing more things at the problem.
We throw more people, time, and money – and most times, more products.
But, that never works, Because that’s not how to solve a problem.
All it ends up doing, is making the problem bigger.
And, it’s not only Dominic and Joyce who are doing this and still failing.
Many failing businesses, tend to be those which offer too many items or try to sell everything under the sun.
We have failing restaurants with menus long and thick as the national voters’ register.
Failing retailers trying to sell everything they know.
And other many failing businesses trying to add more and offer any product they know.
“it only creates more problems“
Adding more only creates inventory and operational headaches.
First off, you’ll need more money to keep buying, storing and keep a proper inventory for all the new products you keep adding.
That will be your first headache.
Then, you’ll have to keep changing how your business operate or how you do things for the new products you keep adding.
That’ll be headache number 2.
And then, you’ll keep needing more people, more space, more equipment and more time to properly offer the new products to your customers.
Your third headache.
But the fact is, you have limited resources – time, money, people and experience.
So, all you’ll end up doing is mess things up even more.
Which will then lead to poor quality in everything your business does and crappy products.
“take Dominic and Joyce for instance…“
Their decision to add a catering service alone, is a whole another level of problems.
That’s simply because, a catering service isn’t just service.
It’s a whole business on its own.
First off, they would need a whole new set of resources to do it – and do it well.
If not, they would’ve to do something that’s very very dangerous.
And that is, share.
Share the restaurant’s very limited resources with the catering business.
Well, sadly, that’s exactly what they doing.
And that’s why they are failing miserably.
But, that’s still not the only major issue.
“it makes your customers more confuse“
Now, offering every product under the sun does not make your business more appealing, as we all like to think.
Instead, it makes your customers more confuse.
You see, the more you add, the more your business changes and becomes something else.
Besides, it doesn’t even allow you to solve your customers’ problems or keep your promises, as your business is supposed to do.
You’re just throwing more products at them, hoping something will stick.
So, it becomes hard for customers to understand and still trust your business to deliver on what it promises.
“throw less at the problem“
Sure, it’s scary when things are not working.
However, you can’t let fear or anxiety drive your decision.
A decision made from fear is always the wrong decision.
So, try to be calm and don’t panic when things are not looking good.
With that said, the next thing you need to do, is find the source of the problem.
But, when you do find it, throw less things at it.
Here’s how to do that.
First off, improve or fix it.
If that is not possible, then remove and replace it with something better.
Yes, it’ll require you to make some tough calls.
But, your business won’t suffer nearly as much as you fear.
Rather, it’ll help you keep those things that truly matters to your customers and your business.
In fact, there’s a good chance your business will end up even better than before.
Small To Sprout 