On the way into the office this morning, Gulliver and I passed a shop near our house. We’ve been in there a couple of times and – bad service notwithstanding – have been underwhelmed.
It’s a store with Industrial furniture. Some of it is fairly new, other pieces are older. I love places like this because I’m obsessed with advertising paraphernalia from all decades, but particularly anything pre-1970.
The business doesn’t appear to be doing so well. Admittedly, that’s from the outside – I may be completely wrong as I’m not privy to their financial information – but I do tend to assume that when
a) I see no one in your store, and
b) You’re having a 25% off everything sale
… possibly things aren’t going as you would like.
Gulliver and I were discussing why this is. After all, I find the stock quite interesting. It’s the sort of stuff I would buy.
I said that, for me, the biggest failure is around CONTEXT.
Gulliver asked what I meant by that.
You see, it’s not unusual for people to open stores – retail, restaurants, online – and just fill them with stuff they like. Even the stuff is grouped around a theme (industrial, cupcakes, alcohol), that only provides minimal context.
I guess I should explain what I mean by Context.
The dictionary definition:
“The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood.”
For me, I describe it as “information cartography” – plotting the information as points on a map so that when you step back, you can see an entire picture.
In a business sense, context is about several things, including (but not limited to) – your niche, your mission, your message to market, even the layout of your store would be considered contextual.
For instance, the store in question – I have no idea who they’re targeting. They’re in the middle of Richmond and open to the public, so I guess it must be every day consumers.
However, many of the pieces – while very cool – are too large for a normal sized house. Especially in Richmond, where houses tend to be either apartments or smaller cottages.
Having looked at the stock, I would think a better niche would be interior designers. Especially those doing commercial work. One of the good points to this is that they’re also likely to spend more money and buy more often than a regular consumer.
So, if we were going to redesign this store with this context in mind, here are a few things I would do:
- I’d consider actually closing the store to the public. Make it a “Designers Only” space. Access is by membership card – and to get a membership card you need to provide your ABN.
- The layout is currently “Lots of stuff in a space” – I’d create zones, around different uses: Kitchen, Bathroom, Office. You could even go upmarket Ikea with it and have local designers come in once a month and create a display out of what stock is available.
- I’d also create a “lounge” area, where people could sit and look at things – put a bunch of design books (specifically, design books featuring Industrial Furniture) there and on the walls, photos of projects other designers have created using the stock.
- I’d run educational events for Designers on at LEAST a monthly basis (preferably more often) – sales, marketing, design, networking. Drinks and nibbles (there are plenty of restaurants in the area to do a JV with).
As entrepreneurs, it’s easy for us to get caught up in the love and understanding of our business and to neglect context. We can’t see the wood for the trees, if you will.
This is why so many people are good at seeing what’s wrong with other people’s businesses, but not their own. It’s the difference between looking at a painting by standing with your nose to it and admiring the brushstrokes, versus standing back and taking in the whole thing.
Each brushstroke is a piece of information cartography which, overall, creates a business context.
And, just like with a painting, if you don’t understand the context before you begin applying paint to canvas, you’ll get lost. Or, at best, create something second rate.
So – what’s the context for YOUR business? And are you communicating that to people?