Vol 3: Operating Imperfectly
How embracing imperfections in your business can lead to more revenue, more (quality) customers and less stress.
Welcome to Nu Business, where we share features of some of our favorite food and beverage people and resources specifically for food business owners.
TL;DR
You’re about to read how we think embracing imperfections in your business can lead to more revenue, more (quality) customers and less stress. We’ll break it down into 3 parts, all through our lens of a recently opened hero of ours: Sixteen Mill bakery in Brooklyn.
Your customers aren’t perfect and neither are you.
The more you show the “real” side of your business, the more emotionally and financially they’ll be invested in your business.
Being imperfect helps you open and operate quicker, growing with the real people who love your business.
More Money: Just Get Open
Sixteen Mill didn’t wait for the perfect signage before they opened their doors. They opened with a simple, spray-painted number on the doorframe and a piece of paper on the door.
Their espresso machine broke before it even turned on, so they sold matcha instead. This didn’t deter them from getting customers through the door. It helped them to open in a raw and real way that resonates with the community. Sixteen Mill generated far more (important) revenue by opening sooner than sitting and waiting for the perfect opening day.
More Customers: The Community of Imperfection
Do you have a band that you tell all your friends you saw before they “got big?” That is Sixteen Mill’s opening weekend for me. I’ll always be able to tell the world that I got one of the purple-ish sourdoughs on opening weekend, because the wrong psyllium got delivered. It was delicious, see imperfect photo of me eating it out of the bag:
For all the customers who got matcha instead of broken-coffee-machine espresso, the Cappuccino they’re going to get in a few weeks will taste even sweeter. Let’s also say your mixer goes down and you’re only able to produce a limited supply of Walnut Chocolate Chip cookies for the weekend. You just created scarcity, urging the people who love your food to come in ASAP and get the thing they love instead of waiting.
There’s one key to all this working: sharing the news and insights with your community…
More Quality: Let Us In!
You have a lot of your customers’ dream job. It may not feel like it when the walk-in breaks or your landlord calls to tell you the electric bill is going up, but it’s true. Following your culinary dream is what many of us wish we could do. The more you share the imperfections, trials and challenges of your business, the more we want to come in. Looking perfect might get a passerby to come and order a drink, but sharing the imperfection will get your neighbor to order your whole menu for their birthdays, weddings and dog’s adoption anniversary. When you share something real, you’ll get a real connection in return. You might also decrease your stress level by looking to the things that go wrong as opportunities to grow with your customers.
Sixteen Mill’s Social media isn’t a highlight reel; whether it's a late night of dough kneading or an out-of-stock item, their openness brings their community along for the journey. This deepens customer relationships to a point where seemingly everyone in line knows the owners of Sixteen Mill Talia & Miles (and their child below) by name and face.
Let your business be real, be imperfect, and watch as it resonates deeply with the very people you aim to serve.
Reminder: Graham Boswell shares more about sustainably funding your restaurant. Join us Jan. 9 to hear more.
We’re teaming up with Graham for a webinar on “Financing Your Dream.” Restaurants are tough. High operating costs, thin margins, and a lot of heartache. Graham will be covering everything he’s learned as a food entrepreneur, from detailed planning, having a long term vision, and a strong grasp of your fundamentals.
Register for our Jan. 9 webinar here.
Yep, Talia and Miles are real. They work hard and do their best for their customers and the community they serve. Their products are also real tasty. Thanks for highlighting them and showing that their efforts and scrappiness do not go unnoticed, and can be a model for other bootstrapped entrepreneurs.