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Ok, let's unravel this out a bit. - From what I gather you are 3 guys (who cook ethnic food) who get hired through a catering agency. - For Zeus knows why, yo

Ok, let's unravel this out a bit. - From what I gather you are 3 guys (who cook ethnic food) who get hired through a catering agency. - For Zeus knows why, your biggest client (the catering agency) dropped you. - You mention not marketing properly and now seem to not have a good customer list to cater to (pun intended). In your situation the best option would be: Print out some flyers and cook some samples. Go door to door to every fucking office park in a 5 mile radius and take some sales. Do this before lunch! Now, about those samples. You have to prepare plenty of samples. Put out your best stuff. The way you display them is very, very important. Make sure that everything looks and is clean and tidy. Wear some nice clothes that don't smell like you came out of a kitchen. Smile. Do this for 3 times a week for 3 months, then once a week forever. You will not have to worry about this happening again. Remember: Every person that tries and likes your food is a customer. Take an order right there. Close the sale while they are enjoying the sample. Don't hesitate. Also, raise your prices by one dollar in the entire menu, and give a $1 discount to those who order right there. People can't turn down tasty discounted food. Disclaimer: My sister in law has a business like yours and I grew it to a very nice size with that same tactic.

Sataysfied 14y ago
Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am definitely going to hit the streets hard and will look into doing some of the things you suggested. I appreciate it greatly.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  Get busy and report back to my email (click on my username). Some office buildings wont let you in to some floors. Bribe the security guards with samples. A good way to do this is to just hand out a sample before even talking. Hand it out, and tell them about what you do. Don't forget that these guys are also customers.
  - larrys 14y ago
    You ideas (your parent comment) are excellent I've made the same recommendations over the years to people in similar situations. Put feet (and free product) on the street. Most recently with a local cupcake bakery. "Go out and give your cupcakes to all the offices in the area". (Free sweets? What's the chance that the office workers won't stop by for more if they are good?) One thing though that I've found is when you give good ideas to people you'd be surprised at the amount of excuses they have for not following up on suggestions. The lack of "oomph". What I'm saying is this. It's easy for someone to write a plea (as was done here) for help on HN (or anywhere). That takes almost no effort at all (like a magic "diet pill" when you want to lose weight). Let's see if the entrepreneur actually follows through on the advice that you gave. (If you do a follow up post or anything on what happens here please email me in case I miss it because I'd like to know the outcome positive or negative to the outbound sales effort).
    - Sataysfied 14y ago
      I totally agree Larry. I am definitely taking the intiative. My plan of attack right now, unsure if this is the right idea, is to take a large sample to upcoming meetups for people to try my food, hit up companies via email, twitter, etc... past clients that are willing to go direct, and lastly hitting up nearby startups for sure. I am totally committed to doing whatever I can right now. My whole business is at stake. Going to spend all night tonight to strategize and make a list of companies to reach out actually. Appreciate the comments. This is incredibly hard for me to admit public. I will hustle.
      - orangethirty 14y ago
        The publicity will help. In fact, go and open up a free blog and write about it. People tend to eat this off and it will be you sales. Realize that people love underdogs and want to be part of happy endings. By sharing the process with them they will become emotionally invested and then be obliged to root for you (which means more sales). All startups go through scramble mode. It's normal.
      - thaumaturgy 14y ago
        Have you seen any of the Kitchen Nightmares UK episodes? They're all on YouTube. (Not the U.S. version, it's terrible.) A lot of the episodes have at least one part where Ramsay gets out and puts samples in front of people ... I'm not even in the food business and I find these things helpful to watch from time to time for learning customer engagement.
chatmasta 14y ago
I disagree. Stop focusing on building your brand and start focusing on distributing your product. You need to accept the fact that for whatever reason, people choose to label you as a foreigner because you cook ethnic food, so you lose branding credibility. Therefore, you need to outsource your branding. You can leverage your distribution channels to increase distribution and build your brand simultaneously. Your distribution channels are a) your restaurant, and b) a catering business. Why not sell your food to other catering companies? There is no reason for it to be exclusive to your own. When more catering companies sell your food, you control more distribution channels and move more product. Your product is your food, and that is what differentiates you. Reduce the cost of preparing your food [1] and outsource distribution. Allow catering businesses to serve your food. Tell them you will give them a discount if they call it "<Your Last Name> Food." [2] From the sounds of it, customers love your food (demand is high) and few people know how to cook it (supply is low). So price can be high. Just show catering companies how much they can charge for your food, and they will jump at the opportunity to buy your food at seems like a large discount. Not only will they distribute your food, but they will build your brand because a positive brand for your food increases their sales. [1] Start by reducing cost of labor (chefs, sous chefs, dishwashers, waitstaff) and inventory (make more efficient shopping trips). [2] The name of your food is your only branding decision. Choose a good one.
- huhtenberg 14y ago
  > people choose to label you as a foreigner because you cook ethnic food, so you lose branding credibility. This part makes no sense.
  - DiabloD3 14y ago
    It does in general. Racism is still alive and well in the US, although if most white racists knew how many non-whites handled their food on a day to day basis, they'd starve to death. That said, there is a lot less racism going on in the Bay Area. This shouldn't really be an issue as long as you speak clearly and enunciate your words (the hallmark of any good salesman, really). Disclosure: I'm white.
Felix21 14y ago
orangethirty always gives great advice This is exactly how i marketed my first ONLINE STORE when i was 16 (that's 6 years ago now). I Made about 2000 Pounds doing that alone that summer.
- Sataysfied 14y ago
  Wow, at 16 you were hustling way more than me at your age. Nice. I agree that orangethirty sales tactic is very good and that it has worked for you. So it's all about executing on it on my end. Which is definitely not an easy task for me, but clearly it needs to get done to get this business afloat and survive.
- orangethirty 14y ago
  Shoot me an email.
sixQuarks 14y ago
I like this idea, but aren't there laws against distributing food like this?
QuantumGood 14y ago
This. Especially "Take an order right there." Also, have nice cards to hand out that mention your website, and ASK EVERYONE FOR REFERRALS of SEVERAL kinds. Role-play asking for referrals. Ask for more than one. Ask for business, restaurant, catering company, friend, co-worker referrals. Get together and review how asking for referrals has been working. Brainstorm. Get better and better at it. A few people will give you DOZENS of leads to follow up. Most will give you at least one. Get phone numbers AND email addresses AND business names where you can. Be prepared. Also, begin connecting to everyone you think could give you a referral or new business on LinkedIn and export contact to get their email when the accept your connection request. Send an email to thank them for accepting (this is not spam, this is a transactional "thanks" if you write shortly after they accept your connection), and give them a short, compelling pitch that you plan and modify and improve.
esalman 14y ago
That is a fascinating response. I was wondering how you would reply if someone asked the same question about selling a software.

Sataysfied 14y ago

Thank you so much for all your suggestions, I am definitely going to hit the streets hard and will look into doing some of the things you suggested. I appreciate it greatly.

orangethirty 14y ago
Get busy and report back to my email (click on my username). Some office buildings wont let you in to some floors. Bribe the security guards with samples. A good way to do this is to just hand out a sample before even talking. Hand it out, and tell them about what you do. Don't forget that these guys are also customers.
- larrys 14y ago
  You ideas (your parent comment) are excellent I've made the same recommendations over the years to people in similar situations. Put feet (and free product) on the street. Most recently with a local cupcake bakery. "Go out and give your cupcakes to all the offices in the area". (Free sweets? What's the chance that the office workers won't stop by for more if they are good?) One thing though that I've found is when you give good ideas to people you'd be surprised at the amount of excuses they have for not following up on suggestions. The lack of "oomph". What I'm saying is this. It's easy for someone to write a plea (as was done here) for help on HN (or anywhere). That takes almost no effort at all (like a magic "diet pill" when you want to lose weight). Let's see if the entrepreneur actually follows through on the advice that you gave. (If you do a follow up post or anything on what happens here please email me in case I miss it because I'd like to know the outcome positive or negative to the outbound sales effort).
  - Sataysfied 14y ago
    I totally agree Larry. I am definitely taking the intiative. My plan of attack right now, unsure if this is the right idea, is to take a large sample to upcoming meetups for people to try my food, hit up companies via email, twitter, etc... past clients that are willing to go direct, and lastly hitting up nearby startups for sure. I am totally committed to doing whatever I can right now. My whole business is at stake. Going to spend all night tonight to strategize and make a list of companies to reach out actually. Appreciate the comments. This is incredibly hard for me to admit public. I will hustle.
    - orangethirty 14y ago
      The publicity will help. In fact, go and open up a free blog and write about it. People tend to eat this off and it will be you sales. Realize that people love underdogs and want to be part of happy endings. By sharing the process with them they will become emotionally invested and then be obliged to root for you (which means more sales). All startups go through scramble mode. It's normal.
    - thaumaturgy 14y ago
      Have you seen any of the Kitchen Nightmares UK episodes? They're all on YouTube. (Not the U.S. version, it's terrible.) A lot of the episodes have at least one part where Ramsay gets out and puts samples in front of people ... I'm not even in the food business and I find these things helpful to watch from time to time for learning customer engagement.

chatmasta 14y ago

I disagree. Stop focusing on building your brand and start focusing on distributing your product. You need to accept the fact that for whatever reason, people choose to label you as a foreigner because you cook ethnic food, so you lose branding credibility. Therefore, you need to outsource your branding. You can leverage your distribution channels to increase distribution and build your brand simultaneously. Your distribution channels are a) your restaurant, and b) a catering business. Why not sell your food to other catering companies? There is no reason for it to be exclusive to your own. When more catering companies sell your food, you control more distribution channels and move more product. Your product is your food, and that is what differentiates you. Reduce the cost of preparing your food [1] and outsource distribution. Allow catering businesses to serve your food. Tell them you will give them a discount if they call it "<Your Last Name> Food." [2] From the sounds of it, customers love your food (demand is high) and few people know how to cook it (supply is low). So price can be high. Just show catering companies how much they can charge for your food, and they will jump at the opportunity to buy your food at seems like a large discount. Not only will they distribute your food, but they will build your brand because a positive brand for your food increases their sales. [1] Start by reducing cost of labor (chefs, sous chefs, dishwashers, waitstaff) and inventory (make more efficient shopping trips). [2] The name of your food is your only branding decision. Choose a good one.

huhtenberg 14y ago
> people choose to label you as a foreigner because you cook ethnic food, so you lose branding credibility. This part makes no sense.
- DiabloD3 14y ago
  It does in general. Racism is still alive and well in the US, although if most white racists knew how many non-whites handled their food on a day to day basis, they'd starve to death. That said, there is a lot less racism going on in the Bay Area. This shouldn't really be an issue as long as you speak clearly and enunciate your words (the hallmark of any good salesman, really). Disclosure: I'm white.

Felix21 14y ago

orangethirty always gives great advice This is exactly how i marketed my first ONLINE STORE when i was 16 (that's 6 years ago now). I Made about 2000 Pounds doing that alone that summer.

Sataysfied 14y ago
Wow, at 16 you were hustling way more than me at your age. Nice. I agree that orangethirty sales tactic is very good and that it has worked for you. So it's all about executing on it on my end. Which is definitely not an easy task for me, but clearly it needs to get done to get this business afloat and survive.
orangethirty 14y ago
Shoot me an email.

sixQuarks 14y ago

I like this idea, but aren't there laws against distributing food like this?

QuantumGood 14y ago

This. Especially "Take an order right there." Also, have nice cards to hand out that mention your website, and ASK EVERYONE FOR REFERRALS of SEVERAL kinds. Role-play asking for referrals. Ask for more than one. Ask for business, restaurant, catering company, friend, co-worker referrals. Get together and review how asking for referrals has been working. Brainstorm. Get better and better at it. A few people will give you DOZENS of leads to follow up. Most will give you at least one. Get phone numbers AND email addresses AND business names where you can. Be prepared. Also, begin connecting to everyone you think could give you a referral or new business on LinkedIn and export contact to get their email when the accept your connection request. Send an email to thank them for accepting (this is not spam, this is a transactional "thanks" if you write shortly after they accept your connection), and give them a short, compelling pitch that you plan and modify and improve.

esalman 14y ago

That is a fascinating response. I was wondering how you would reply if someone asked the same question about selling a software.