So what has the Village Butcher got to do with business development for revenue businesses you ask, when was the last time you saw TechCrunch or GigaOM blogging about village shops? Let me explain.
I live in a small village in East Sussex. The village has a mainline railway station, good schools, 4 pubs (3 of which do very well) and a village club and a smattering of shops including The Village Butcher shop. I say butcher, but they also sell fruit veg, proper fresh bread (which I can help myself to at 7 a.m.) a few groceries and the best selection of wine in the village. I really enjoy having local shops and try to support them whenever possible. I rarely venture to the nearby supermarkets.
Whilst the The Village Butcher provides a good product at a reasonable prices (competitive if you buy in bulk) he is under pressure. Pressure not just from the Credit Crunch and supermarkets but from a newly opened second butcher shop on the edge of the village. The new shop is difficult to find and actually part of a farm. It only sells home produced Beef, Pork and Lamb and fantastic sausages. It is very smartly presented and only opens on 3 days a week (The Village Butchers opens 6 1/2 days per week) and promoting itself through inserts in the local freebie paper and door drops. But this is not all. A butcher from a nearby village has won the considerable trade from the village gastro pub.
My Village Butcher is perfectly sited for maximum traffic but their promotion is poor, relying on tatty blackboard and dayglo orange and green stars on windows and A-boards to promote special offers. I call them headache boards.
So what can he do to build his business? The same principles apply to any business trying to develop revenues whether in technology or retail.
Here are a list of things that my local butcher could try to develop more revenue that may also well apply to your business:
- Really know your target customer and target market. Some buy value but others want premium products. Offer a range of products at price-points to match
- Really understand your competitors messaging and pricing
- Get your promotional messages right - I don't want to buy 5 Kg of chicken breast but might purchase 1 Kg of higher value locally produced produce.
- Look for new low-cost places to place promotional messages e.g the station, schools, A-boards at major junctions and door drops. Include a redeemable promotional voucher
- Ride the hype and leverage your competitors promotions e.g offer meal deal with recipe cards to compete with the supermarkets
- Up sell and cross-sell e.g. get a bottle of wine for only £5 when you purchase any Sunday roast
- Prevent churn, reward loyalty eg. money off your next purchase voucher
- Leverage partners. Win back the gastro pub's business and ensure you get plugged as the local supplier
Happy to hear comments from carnivores and vegetarians alike :-)
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