Listen to the Marketplace and it will tell you what to do →

Entrepreneurship RSS

The marketplace for products and services exists where consumers and product users are. At a Regional Fair, the entrepreneurs are not just presenting but often it is a destination for those who want to listen to the marketplace when things are breaking.

HYPOTHETICAL COMPANY A sells out, and new owners take over. The new owners review processes and procedures to increase efficiency and profit. They find that the starch used in making their ranch dressing product is very costly and seems almost identical to one offered by another company for a lot less money. The formula is so similar only a minimal difference appears on the ingredient statement, and it is not even the first ingredient. They changed to the other product and used it to make their companies well known for ranch dressing.

HYPOTHETICAL COMPANY B has been buying and using the ranch dressing made by company A for years, and since company B is a distributor, they have many customers who buy it from them.

HYPOTHETICAL COMPANY C buys the ranch dressing from company B. They have several local restaurants and a booth at the Regional Fair this year. They have used this same ranch dressing for years, making their Avocado-Ranch Chicken Wraps famous. They also use the sauce in their Slow-Cooker Buffalo Chicken Dip, which is not as renowned as the Ranch Chicken Wraps but is very popular. Both menu items are used in their Fair booth and their local restaurant. One of their signature sandwiches has ranch dressing as a critical ingredient.

On the first day of the Fair some of the customers notice that the taste of the Ranch Chicken Wraps is a little runny and seems to taste a little different. By the second day the few customers have told others and some have experienced the same thing and new complaints about the Buffalo Chicken Dip have been made.

HYPOTHETICAL COMPANY D is a compeitor to company B. Company B and D are both distributors trying to supply the restaurant group and their salesperson is at the resturant while the staff are talking about their special products sales drop off this year and talking about the the sales on the same items they have in the store discussing if something is wrong.

LISTENING TO THE MARKETPLACE SALES PERSON hears what has happened and decides to come back with a solution. He buys a bottle of the ranch dressing used to make these items and after looking at it decides to check several good compeitors of the brand. He tastes them and finds one that is close to the stores brand but a little thicker. He also knows that starch changes can effect thickness. He also has seen changes in some of the other products the ranch dressing manufacture sells since the new owners took over. The next day he takes a sample of his product to the resturant and the fair booth and gets them to buy the new brand. The brand that had the business for many years loses the business, as does the supplier who had been providing the brand.

COMMENT: The supplier who was calling on the company was right on site “in the marketplace listening. A supplier who might have just allowed their customers to phone in orders might not have found this out and the original supplier might have learned about the problem and solved the problem………….. if they had been close enough to the marketplace?