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Jim’ll fix it. Will you?

Posted by James King at 1:00 25/09/09

If you have a solution, we will get excited. Really excited.

As we have tried to make clear in previous articles, we like to hear that your business idea came from seeing a problem and trying to solve it.

You don’t necessarily need to have invented anything brand new, you may simply have seen a way to use something/ implement something in a new way. That sounds a bit convoluted, so I will illustrate it with food...

Sandwich shops are not new ideas, but they are big business. Pret A Manger is not a small company and they highlight the point I'm trying to make in their description of themselves;

“College friends, Sinclair and Julian, made proper sandwiches using natural, preservative-free ingredients. The two of them had woefully little experience in the world of business. They created the sort of food they craved but couldn’t find anywhere else.”

They saw a problem (a lack of availability of proper sandwiches made from natural, preservative-free ingredients) and solved it.

The idea wasn’t radical, but it was good. The managements’ policies and clinical execution made the business a success.

If a young guy or girl approached us and said they wanted to open a sandwich shop on Rickmansworth High Street (where our office is) I would want to know why they wanted to do that.

If their response was;

“I really want to own a shop and it is nice round here”

And after we point out that there are already 7 sandwich shops on the small high street and we ask “Why would the small population (of 14,571) and/ or variety of SMEs decide to eat anywhere new?”

And they followed up with; “Because people like a change and my shop would look really cool/pretty.”

I am afraid, I wouldn’t have high hopes for their success.

(N.B I like eating at the Sandwich Bar, Tina (the FIG sandwich lady) is great… I’d need some serious convincing to change where I eat!)

If however, they said something like;

“I want to open a sandwich shop that caters for people with allergies, selling wheat free bread, nut free fillings and soya yoghurts etc. To supply the ever-increasing number of people who struggle to purchase fresh food for lunch that fits their dietary requirements.”

I would be impressed.

If they followed it up with “In fact in the US there is something like 55% of the population suffering from one or two allergies and according to reports in papers, like The Mail and more recently the Telegraph, the English population is heading that way. So, I want to create a menu that is available to them and tasty, so their friends can eat out with them. It may also attract the organic and health food enthusiasts. Oh, and there is nothing in Rickmansworth that has a menu like that.”

I would high-five them. Fact.

I would then put them in touch with our accountants, the FIGureheads who own restaurants and sandwich shops and who have run international food outlets and ask them to fill out our online business plan…. I would be very confident that the young entrepreneur would find finance by making use of FIG’s services.

Catering for people with allergies is not a radical idea, but it is a good idea to do it where it is not already being done.

Subtle tweaks on proven ideas work too.

For example, my brother recently returned home from university in Newcastle and he told me about a restaurant that has opened up near where he lives called Starters & Puds.

Starters & Puds passes the Ronseal Test, it does exactly what is says on the tin. It serves starter courses and puddings, and all of Andrew’s (my brother’s) friends take their girlfriends there. It fits like the ideal date concept, impressive venue, not a massive meal and quick enough to go to a bar afterwards. Sounds great.

Fingers cross it will be a success and they’ll be opening one further south somewhere near us soon!

In summary, if you see a problem / a reason for your business we would love to hear from you!

In the next article I post, and I’m sure others in the future, I will highlight a few problems* that need solving.

*In the form of broken business models.

Thinking outside of the box, Dogbert finds an interesting way to dodge a foreseeable Tax problem….

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