Finding Our Niche

In an effort to get back to our business plan, I am working on a new marketing strategy for Cafe Evoke Catering. While planning for Cafe Evoke -- the coffee house -- I spent quite a bit of time working on the marketing plan, our target market, and how we were going to reach out to this group. For the catering business, I seem to have gone out without a solid plan. It is important to have these plans in place in order to know where you are going and how you are going to get there. It also helps you measure what tactics are working and which are wasting your time and money. Who is our target market? How will we advertise? What community events should we be involved in? There are many questions like the ones about that need to be answered. We are at the point where a major push needs to be made to spark some attention. We have to make sure that the community events that we are doing for free are helping us with our business. I think this is a great way to market and get your word out there but you cannot afford to do all of your events for free! We are a business and we have to remember that. Dr. Cornwall's post today at The Entrepreneurial Mind about thinking like your customers goes along really well with what we are dealing with at Cafe Evoke Catering. One key aspect of effective marketing for entrepreneurs is to learn how their customers think. By learning how to "think like your customer" you have a better chance of developing accurate revenue forecasts and more effective marketing plans. Every good bootstrapper has mastered the art of getting into their customers' heads and using this knowledge to get the most bang for their precious marketing dollars. He makes a good point in this post. It is really about having a "green" business and the reasons why you have chosen to be green. While I have much to say about this, I will keep this more to the business side today. He finishes his post by reminding us that we have to remember what customers want which is value, convenience, service, quality, special features, and so forth. In summary, who are our customers -- really -- and how do they think? How can Cafe Evoke Catering get in their minds, in their heads, and ultimately in their wallets? How will Cafe Evoke, the coffee house, fit into this picture? This is what we have to work on. ..be bold Tagged: cafe evoke, catering, business plan, marketing plan, marketing, coffee, tea, espresso, bozeman, montana