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MenuShould we sell our services prior to launching?
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It's hard to tell from your question what you have / don't have. Do you have an MVP? Do you have people using the 'discovery tool' yet?
It will be hard to get any restaurant to pay you anything unless you have a deployed MVP already. You'll need to show them actual data of the value of your tool. To do that you need people to be using it to find restaurants. So put restaurants into your tool without the restaurants necessarily paying anything for the listing. Once you have traffic you can start charging the restaurants for certain features.
That doesn't mean you should wait until your MVP is done before talking to restaurants though. To develop your MVP you should be visiting restaurants and talking to them about whether the features you're currently working on would be something they're actually interested in, and ask them open ended questions that may bring up ideas that you hadn't even thought of.
If you'd like more specific advice on the types of questions to ask, or what the restaurants might want to see in terms of MVP data, or general MVP development help, let me know,
best,
Lee
It appears you're trying to do two things. Make money and grow your customer base. The two are not always directly related.
Sometimes business lose money by growing their customer base. Since you're starting out you may want to consider approaching from a "Pilot Program" point of view.
Let them know about your launch and ask for their input. This way their input is a value for value trade to help improve your business while bringing value to your "Beta testers".
If you are trying to sell a product that doesn't exist yet it is always great to create a demo or sell the idea of the experience. Walk them through the process of your discovery tool, do a presentation to entice them and get them excited about the product. If you product is in beta testing I think you will be able to show them enough of your product for them to get interested. Always be enthusiastic and positive about your product, companies want to invest in the person more than the platform. I hope this was helpful and if you want to further discuss reach out for a phone call!
Related Questions
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Should I offer free or affordable lunch and learns for companies to fill my training retreats, and if so, how should I approach companies?
Hi, Doing lunch and learns is a great way to get the word out about your business. Here's the catch; who are you selling to? Employees may be very interested in what you have to say but do they get to make decisions on how training budgets are spent? It's a real question. In some businesses maybe yes, maybe no. People who are independent sales reps or commission-based may be more amenable to what you're offering. Think of real estate agents, independent sales reps, etc. They have the mindset of running their own business and may be interested in making an investment if you can demonstrate a return on their investment. If you're chasing corporate business, maybe a lunch and learn in a neutral locale is the answer and invite training managers or HR types from many different businesses to attend. Also, you need to question whether people will want a weekend retreat. In my experience, entrepreneurs and the self-employed like weekend events because it doesn't cut into business time. Employees prefer weekday events because they view the weekend time as their personal time. I hope this helps a little. DaveDC
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What are good restaurant related questions that I can ask in a survey for the purpose of exemplifying the market to investors?
I think it is a good start. From my experience, people don't really know what they want -- they only think they do. An example of this is when Steve Jobs announced the iPad. There was collective confusion (more so than any other time Apple has done something). Now, we couldn't imagine our world without it. That said, the participants of your survey will likely answer within their comfort zone or what they are familiar with. This is what they *think* they want. If you base your entire business model on what people think they want, you will end up duplicating what they are already accustom to (your competition). Getting a sense of your market is a good thing, but you most have the "secret sauce" that will woo your potential customers away from their routine. I don't know what type of restaurant you are aiming for, be it fast food, causal sit down, unique and interesting, or 5-star quality. Based on that, price becomes very subjective. There is a very unique, one-off restaurant I enjoy visiting when I am traveling in Southern California. It is priced higher than any other restaurant in the area, but I am not paying for the food or even the service. I am paying for the way it makes me feel and the environment they maintain. The participants of your survey will likely not be considering intangibles like this when they answer. Keep this in mind, but don't build your entire business around it. Questions to validate your business model may include: - How important is the selection of adult beverages? - How important is the selection of healthy choices? - How important is a family-friendly environment? - How important is the quality of food (we don't always go where the food is best) - How important is the speed of service? Based on your question, I am guessing you are going for a family-friendly, speedy, inexpensive alternative to McDonalds, Burger King, or Carl Jr's. These companies have deep pockets to fend off upstarts. Your value proposition will need to be rock solid to defend against the giants of the industry.SN
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What is the best way to validate and monetize this idea?
Validation and monetization - two great questions. See some great tips on how to do validation in this answer: https://clarity.fm/questions/6423/how-do-you-do-market-research (happy to help you plan your specific validation process) Regarding monetization - the most suitable business models in this case would be commission / intermediate fee taken from either the advertisers or the owners of the advertising spaces (spas, coworking spaces) or both of them. Good luck I've successfully helped over 350 entrepreneurs, startups and businesses, and I would be happy to help you. After scheduling a call, please send me some background information so that I can prepare in advance - thus giving you maximum value for your money. Take a look at the great reviews I’ve received: https://clarity.fm/assafben-davidAB
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What are the must-read (or must be on) sites for small/mid-size hotel group executives?
It really depends on what specific topic you're interested in. There are specific websites, distribution lists and blogs for many topics and nice sub-topics. There's even paid reports on 'insider' information. We'd suggest our blog for hotel tutorials (www.hoteliyo.com/tutorials). Also, check out Skift.com. If you'd like to know more, we can offer a short call to assist.MM
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What is the optimum strategy needed to sell $150,000 of restaurant vouchers to a large corporation?
I need more information if possible? What kind of vouchers are you offering?DB
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