Business First Impressions
Week Fifteen
Lubbock catering Liz and Lubbock lawn care Josh were both a bit late to our prayer meeting and so I shamed them and told them I even considered shunning them. They didn’t seem to worry about my silliness. When we did get down to prayer topics, Liz thanked us for praying for last week’s employee firing. She said that the now ex-employee took it well – no rambunctious temper tantrums or death threats. This person just said that they appreciated the opportunity to learn from the job and admitted that they probably needed to be fired. A bonus was that this person still vowed friendship with Liz. God is good. This week, Josh was the one with a specific prayer request – He said that he was really starting to feel burned out from his job (the topic last week hit him in the gut). He asked that we pray for him as he was thinking about hiring someone to take some of his work off of him – someone to work on the bigger maintenance issues. He has the budget for someone but it would make him have to tighten the belt some. So, we lifted this up in prayer as well as some other general prayers for our families and our businesses. It was good and I think productive.
The main speaker for the week was a local coffee shop owner who was battling the forces of national chains. He told us a little about how to build a loyal fan base by offering cheaper options and setting up the shop in such a way to make people experience a more intimate and comfortable shop to hang out in – lighting, psychologically pleasing colors, super clean bathrooms, a lot of plugs for those who work away from a traditional office, etc. This part of the talk reminded me some of the Feng Shui speaker, but it differed enough to make it an interesting subject. He said that he didn’t really buy into this stuff at the beginning, but after taking polls and asking customers to offer advice, he realized that these were vital pieces to add-on. He also talked about the power of an entrepreneurial spirit and how being an owner in a competitive environment can drive you to be more creative than otherwise. He told us to see competitors as catalysts for being more creative. As far as results, he said that they now have a very solid fan base that wouldn’t go anywhere else but his coffee shop. I had never been to his place, but I decided right then and there to become a frequent visitor. I wondered what it would be like if our group met there at his coffee house rather than where me meet now. I guess I’ll have to see the space for myself before making that suggestion.
How about you? What do you think about using local businesses instead of going to chain businesses? I’m interested and want to know what you think local stores can do to grab your attention and your loyalty. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
