16 .Wake up and smell the profit
If you’re going to produce something simple like a ham sandwich
ensure it’s as good a ham sandwich as you can possibly make.
Make sure you’d feel comfortable serving it to your family for a big
occasion. Make it so you’d serve it to a potential future spouse after
a first date.
Make your muffins, scones or biscuits or whatever you are serving,
as good or great as you possibly can. Slave over the recipes and sit
up late at night in your own kitchen experimenting. If you don’t
cook yourself then drum into your kitchen staff or suppliers that you
simply can’t and won’t accept anything other than wonderful food.
There are dozens of café options for your customers to choose
from and it’s up to you to create some part of your offer that really
appeals to them and keeps them coming back. You need to have a
hook or variety of hooks on your menu that will keep them coming
back day after day.
In the past we, or our clients, have created a variety of excellent
products that are appreciably different from competitors’ products
and can be justifiably loudly and proudly promoted. Apple and
cinnamon scones, the world’s best Croque Monsieur, cherry
brownies, huge apple pies, superfood flapjacks. The list is endless
butyour shop needs a few “stars”that can appeal at every time
of the day. You need a product that jumps out of the menu, is
delicious and (relatively) unique, and can be eaten morning, lunch
and afternoon helping to keep all parts of the day as busy as
possible.