Planning to fail?

I was driving around the other day and drove past a building that has housed several restaurants in the past few years.  There were construction trucks outside -- obviously another restaurant is going in.

I started wondering about how the people who were in the location before might have mapped out their business plan.  Did they spend all their time (and money) on the decor inside the restaurant and no time at all on a marketing strategy?  Sometimes I wonder if people actually sit down and plan to have non-distinct food that you can get anywhere and then plan to NOT tell anyone about it.  Many restaurants that I see come and go spend lots of money redesigning the inside of the building.  Then, they open up with an un-interesting menu.  Finally, to top it all off, they spend next to nothing in marketing and advertising their non-descript, uninteresting restaurant.  That they sit and scratch their heads wondering what went wrong when they go out of business is really laughable.

My feeling is that when you open a business - any business -- you need two things. 1) A niche, a unique idea and 2) A marketing plan.  So many people open up a business with nothing distinct about it.  Then, they will complain about how expensive it was to open the business and say that they can't afford to advertise.  Believe me, you can't afford NOT to advertise.

If you're opening a restaurant, you either need to have really, really great food and the seed money to wait it out until your word of mouth brings in customers for you, or you need to invite people to come in.

What sets you apart in your business?  How are you different?  What makes you distinct?  How are you letting people know about you?  Are you staying in constant contact with your customers and potential customers?  Are you doing everything you can to recognize your regular customers?  Are you giving your regular customers any incentive to bring in their friends and spread the word about you?

When you're putting your business plan together, make sure that marketing and advertising is a big part of that.

Remember, that failing to plan is planning to fail.