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View Full Version : Attracting custom to a new business?


Russell?
5th October 2011, 16:31
Hello, king of the newbies here to ask a quick question of the more experienced amongst you, in comparison to myself that could be any single one of you :redface:

A little explanation. A good friend of mine has taken over a unit and transformed it into a small coffee bar/cafe/takeaway, it opens this week. We are in an area that has become a bit of a deadspot, we are surrounded by empty units but are within reach of the city centre and some large shopping centres, we are looking for a cost effective way to bring in custom and raise awareness. So far we have talked about contacting other local businesses and exchanging flyers etc. We are opening with little promotions, such as buy one get one free for a limited time. It's possibly also worth mentioning the area is likely to see some large developments in the near future, however they could be scrapped, so we need to bare that in mind for now.

As far as the web is concerned, we do not want to get too far ahead of ourselves as we believe most of our custom will come from local residents and workers on lunchbreaks or early evening, however should this be a realistic way of attracting our custom I am more than capable of setting up and running a site and or social media pages at a low cost.

Anyway, please excuse my ignorance, i'm here looking to acquire some good ideas for making a success of this and more importantly to make my life easier, so we're willing to give any and all suggestions a try.

Thank you.

Pocket_Version
12th October 2011, 13:36
So let me get it straight...
1) Created a coffee shop in a dead area;
2) You opened with little promotion;
3) Your idea for promoting is via social media;
4) "the area is likely to see some large developments in the near future, however they could be scrapped".

Did you do any market research, planning or projecting before investing? I would cut your loses now! Do some proper research into the market. Find out what your competition are doing, can you do it better? If you still want to invest in the coffee trade find a busy pitch.

Good luck!

Mike tells it like it is
12th October 2011, 13:47
Are you near any smaller trading estates or ind ests you could target with leaflets and just knocking on the door. sandwich service?

I think your problem may be proximity to large shopping centres which have cafes.

However many employees have to work though lunch so may not have time to go to the shopping centre.

What city are you in, what is your location high street? in est ? what ?

All may not yet be lost.