Rosie's dilemma

I remember my father once telling me that big business is small business with 00000's. Of course when he shared this sage piece of business advice with me I shrugged my shoulders in a teenage "wot-eva Dad" kinda way - as any son would. I am, however, increasingly seeing his point of view, and dare I say it, he was right!

Yesterday I was out in Brixton and popped in for some lunch with my friend Rosie - who runs a small Deli just off Cold Harbour Lane. Whilst tucking into a handsomely sized cheese and salami ciabatta Rosie told me about her business dilemma: a bigger shop had become available round the corner, and she was considering moving because this meant she could open later and seat more people. The question she was trying to answer was whether the increase in space and better position would result in greater revenues to off-set the increase in rent, help her grow the business and make her happy (most important of all).

The first thing I suggested she did was look at her existing business, and work out how to make the most of what she had already. Often it's very easy to ignore the now, and look to the future for answers. Interestingly, when we started looking at her existing business one of the key issues she identified was the impact she (personally) had on business. She explained how people generally came to Rosie's Deli for the "Rosie Deli experience" and at the centre of that experience was Rosie. When Rosie wasn't working, she lost custom and revenue - as punters weren't getting the full Rosie's experience.

This close alignment with Rosie, the cafe and revenues would obviously be a massive issue if she took on a bigger Deli - meaning she would need to open later so as to generate greater revenues, and ultimately meaning longer working hours (and less fun).

For me this was a really interesting insight into brands working at the coal-face. Everything Rosie was telling me was massively relevant to everything we've been discussing in this blog. When we dug deeper into what made Rosie's Deli a success as a brand, a number of small be significant elements of brand participation came to light. For example Rosie has a row of hooks behind the Deli counter where regulars can hang their mugs (with a name tag). People love this little touch apparently, and more and more people have been asking if they can have their mug (and name tag) behind the counter. Why do they like it? Because they feel like they are part of Rosie's - because they are, in a small way, participating in the brand.

Following all these wonderful insightful nuggets it became clear what Rosie needs to do: maximise brand participation activities, whilst at the same time extricating herself (personally) from the brand. She needs to create ways in which people can participate in the Rosie brand, and create surrogate brand devices that replace (in part) Rosie herself. By doing this, Rosie's Deli could remain the same Rosie's Deli with or without the lady herself . . .

Really excitingly Rosie's already (hours after our chat) taking her first small steps to increase her brand participation activities by making "Rosie's badges" for her regulars to personalise!

So next time you're in the Brixton area, I suggest you pop into Rosie's Deli order a ciabatta and make your very own Rosie's badge . . .