Yesterday, I finally got to see my youngest son, Kazys 15, run a cross country race. With my travel schedule the past couple months, I missed a few of the races. This one was the championship for the schools division.
Proud to say, that his small team (6 runners) beat the pants off of the larger teams (20+ runners) and took FIRST PLACE!
Yes, I was a proud papa.
After the race, the team was going to Chick-fil-a for dinner. This particular store was in a mall food court.
The food court was a sad state of affairs. There were at least 7 boarded up food outlets, without an inkling of what had been there in the past. Nary a clue as to the previous tenants.
In addition to Chick-fil-a, I was surprised to see another chicken place literally right next door.
It's name was Krispy Krunchy Chicken. I kid you not. Here is a picture:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cxdisneystyle/
Of course, the line for CFA was a mile long, while KKC was empty. the hapless owner or manager waving a shriveled and dried out chicken nugget on a toothpick behind the counter, trying to entice someone, anyone to try his chicken.
In my mind, this was one of the all time worst business decisions in the history of business decisions.
But I wanted to see what other entrepreneurs had to say about this particular chicken war. So I threw the picture up on my FB group and asked. Here are some of the highlights:
- DSNi Member Richard Bueckert stated "At least they outsell CFA every Sunday (CFA being closed on Sundays)
- DSNi Member Justin Miller had this observation: It is the same reason that Burger King is across the street from McDonalds and Universal is near Disney. Proximity.
- DSNi Inner Circle Cast Member: Allen Eshmoili noted
"they won't even be noticed", which was my point exactly. They need to change their name (Momma's homestyle crispy chicken or some other nostalgic warm fuzzy memory generating name), show how they are different"
While I don't think the owner has the marketing acumen or financial wherewithal to stay in business, he is certainly not suffering from Failure Orientation.
In my flagship book "
Systematic Magic" I talk about RULE #4 "think like an entrepreneur". (I have 7 rules for prosperity in any economy)
Failure Orientation, mostly found in business owners, not entrepreneurs, is when people are controlled by external circumstances.
This happens to many 'mom & pop" shops. They give up the minute Wal-Mart puts up the "Coming Soon" sign on the empty lot in Anytown, USA. They curl up in the fetal position, cry woe is me, and hide behind mommy's apron.
Entrepreneurs are not wired that way. Instead they ask:
- Can I grow vertically?
- Can I grow horizontally?
- How do I increase transaction size?
You can learn about the other 6 rules plus other prosperity secrets by reading the book You can get a free copy here:
Free book (just pay S&H)
I am down to 42 copies of the book in stock (from my over order of 100). If you don't have it, you should. If you do have a copy, this makes a great gift for the other entrepreneurs in your life.