Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

A Business Lesson From a Fast-Food Joint
I probably could go on for weeks with business thoughts that occurred to me while I was attending my daughter's recent wedding, but I'll limit myself to just one more.


On the way down, we stopped at a fast-food restaurant for dinner. Before McDonald's or Burger King, or any of the other fast-food giants were on the public radar, there was A&W.


I grew up with A&W. I remember going there frequently as a kid. And what sticks with me about A&W was that it was built around its "family" of burgers.


There was the Papa Burger, the Mama Burger, the Teen Burger, and the Baby Burger. Each one was a different size and and a different combination of toppings.


You can't order any of them but the Papa Burger anymore. The rest have all been discontinued.


In a way, it's too bad. I always liked the whole "family of burgers for everyone in the family" concept. It was cute. It was clever. It had a feel of completeness to it.

But now that "family of burgers" thing is gone and all that's left of it is Papa.

I could analyze why I think the other three burgers failed, but the key point that struck me is that A&W didn't hang on to the other three once they realized that they simply weren't selling well.

This is huge. I've seen people cripple their business by stubbornly hanging on to products or concepts just because they were so fond of them--even though those products or concepts never produced.

A&W once based its whole identity on the "family of burgers" concept. Yet they dumped it and replaced the slow selling products with better selling ones. This is something you HAVE to be willing to do if you want to build a successful business.

When your customers tell you what they want (or what they don't want) you have to listen to them.

It's why A&W is still in the restaurant business. It can be the difference between you staying in business or folding your tent and staying stuck in your day job.
Jeff

Labels: successful business