thrifty-friendly-local-love-blog

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Share Your Secrets

Did you read the article detailing that Chipotle gave out their recipe for guacamole?  You can read it here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemcneal/chipotle-guac-recipe#.ck4mZ5ybq

Hmm.  Why would a restaurant, a for-profit business, give out a secret like that?

Well, could be for a number of things.  Perhaps they don’t want their customers to not have guacamole at home when they aren’t eating burrito bowls from their restaurant.  Maybe they heard rumors that their recipe for guacamole was leaked and wanted to act like it was not a big deal and just disclose their actual, and surprisingly not as complex as one might have thought, recipe themselves.  

For whatever reason, it probably gives the business the upper hand in the ‘Respect’ column.  With companies hiding their secret sauce recipes (and for good reasons) you would have thought they might not place their guac’ ingredients right there on their website.  But when you do as well as Chipotle (if you aren’t sure how well they do, try getting a burrito at lunchtime), making a power move such as this may prove to do the opposite of what we think.  

In a sense (whatever the motivation they had might have been) it is more of a generous thing to do.  Rather than try and their customers to pay for their $2 extra charge of guacamole, they are offering an alternative.  ‘Look, you can buy our guacamole here, or you can just make it at home if you don’t feel like paying the extra charge.’  It’s more of a serving attitude, and I feel like this kind of generous attitude goes a long way with loyal customers.  

I don’t believe Chipotle will be put out of business just for revealing this tiny secret (which is not much different than any other guac’ recipe), but the amount of respect earned by the customers, in actuality, may likely benefit the company even more.  

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Local Buzz

This will be a shorter post this week but just as ‘business as usual’. When it comes to local entertainment and fun for the family, Lowe Mill has got it covered. From a selection of food trucks (snow cones included - yeah) and a dedicated hula hoop and sidewalk chalk area for the kids (and kids at heart) to live music in the spring and summer  on their back dock, you're sure to relax and have a great time with friends and the ones you may soon find there. 

One way Lowe Mill has cultivated this atmosphere of community and fun is by joining forces with other locals in business. In their main building, for instance, artists showcase a myriad of products they've crafted. Meanwhile, downstairs, you can find a little sandwich shop offering delightful wraps. 

There are many other local shops that are ready to explore, but the point is this: hoarding up by ourselves can be harmful in every aspect of our lives, including business. Instead, collaborate with other entrepreneurs or people who may be like-minded as you. Competition does not have to squeeze out competitors but strengthen them, offering better services and products to consumers. 

Don't be afraid to ‘make friends’ with other businesses, because you may end up collaborating to open an entire local hub to house entertainment and fun for the families here in Huntsville. 

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Cable or On-Demand?

Throughout the past few years Netflix has seen a lot of growth among the television watchers.  Netflix is a subscription-based movie- and show-streaming service that allows consumers to watch any of their movies and shows(just about too many to ever watch) on demand for a low fee per month.  What a great, novel invention!  Shows and movies (first-rate ones at that) at your fingertips without the hassle of waiting until they are featured at a specific time WITH commercials on broadcast television.

So what’s so bad with this service?  It presents a direct threat to cable providers.  By allowing consumers to have access to thousands of shows and movies per month, the subscription competition has begun!  Some people have opted to do away with cable and choose a lower bill, while others may have only cable or both.  Both services have their pluses. For instance, cable offers network channels such as The Food Network, The Disney Channel, and a bazillion others, with all of the movie specials and shows that accommodate the viewer.  Downside is most have commercials to sludge through.  With Netflix and other on-demand services there are no commercials and viewings are literally at your fingertips, however you may not get all of the shows that every network has to offer. Many cable providers have decided to combat and meet competition with market demands by offering on-demand services within the cable service.

“…adaptation is often necessary for survival.”

This brings us to the market moral of this story, which is obviously that adaptation is often necessary for survival.  What would happen if cable providers did not meet the market demands, an -instead- sit back in their easy chairs and coast along thinking everything would just pan out? They would fold eventually.  If competition yields better services to customers and we seek to serve our customers diligently, then we must adjust our strategy or product offering appropriately.  Don’t be afraid of what you can’t see.  Take the measures you need to so that customers stay your customers, you are loving people well, and you are sharing in the progression of advancements in your field.

What market challenge/challenges are you afraid of which may be holding your business back from serving your customers?

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Beyond the Limits

This morning as I sat down for a quick minute I was starting to think about how to be a successful servant in the business world.  At times, productivity and daily routines can look stale and heartless with the wrong motivation.  

Perhaps you’ve heard this quote by Arthur C. Clarke:

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” I read that quote and asked myself a few questions in light of truly serving in the business world.  

How are we as individuals in our company going to really love people today while we take their weekly order,  have them sign in at the desk, or deliver a product?   How can we show them we don’t merely want their money but desire to relate to them on a human level as we do our ‘routine’ things? What is my motivation at work? How can I be genuine as a person while presenting professionalism? I don’t plan on answering these questions fully, because situations are different and answers may vary depending on a number of factors.  However, I’ll take a stab at a general answer that works.  I think that the key question in this list I made for myself is this: What is my motivation?  

Whether we are answering a help desk line, calling on a new customer, or crunching numbers somewhere our motivation will likely show itself in the process.  I can think of a plenty of times I worked just to get through the day, and although some days are much more difficult than others and you just have to lean into it and push through, I did not feel my motivation was altogether right.  There was an element of grace I did not really add to my equation -  grace for myself, grace for others.  If I understood that I am not in this by myself, I might work differently. It may even look like I’m working less hard.

As a follower of Jesus, I’m motivated by an example of grace given to me.  This empowers me to push past these so-called limits in the business world -  these professional relationship masks we wear in order to present ourselves as something other than who we are, sometimes even to puff our pride up with our position.  In my world - at my job - it still looks imperfect. But, if I can push these limits to go “beyond them into the impossible”, then I think grace will show up more and real business can take place.  Not superficial stuff. Real people, real world, stuff. To me, that’s real business.

What’s your motivation?