Empowerment of Women
INTRODUCTION:“Nature gave women too much power. The law gives them too little”. - William HenryIntroduction:India is a democratic and political country with a well streamlined administrative structure, and an already existing mixed economy, with a rich experience of private sector operations. Also available in India is a vast stock of skilled manpower and entrepreneurial cl

Retail Marketing And Working With Center Management - Friend or Foe
Big Risks As a retailer we take on big risks when we enter into the domain of large national shopping center conglomerates, or even a smaller independent mall, and establish our businesses within the confines of their domain.Whether we are an independent, a franchise, or part of a chain, every shop requires an enormous injection of capital, risk, apprehension and anxiety.These last few weeks, I was so interested with a small stall near my residence in Jakarta, Indonesia. That small stall (kios, we say in Indonesian) is always crowded with so many people, starting from 3 o’clock on -- all the way to almost midnight!

What are they selling? Fried bananas!

Yup “only” fried bananas.

After finally tasting the famous fried bananas and reviewing the taste, my husband and I were discussing about reasons why that small stall named “Pontia” shop can be so successful. And from those conclusions we made, I wrote the following article, on Making Your Ordinary Business, Extraordinary!

Here goes ;-)

- Find the uniqueness and peculiarity of every goods or products you’re selling.

Fried banana is an ordinary product, right? (Actually it is in Indonesia). But by attaching simple words like: “Pontianak original fried banana” or “the only 7 laths fried banana in town” will add zest to it! May not make them try the first time, but hopefully will think about it more and more.

-- Find some tricky ways to make people curious.

Invite your own friends to try your product for free, but ask them to stand in queue when taking the product you’re selling. Hopefully, people who pass your shop may think like this “What is that shop selling, making everyone willing to stand in that oh-so-long-queue?” At least this tricky way works for my father, who loves going to restaurants with “fully loaded parking area” or “with long queue customers.”

-- Be very friendly to your customer ;-)

I was surprised when the owner of a very famous burger stall greeted me with a smile and a nodded head; “Mam...” he said when I was trapped on a very long queue waiting for my burger.

That gesture works and made me feel “acquainted” and come back for more ;-) My husband also experienced that kind of moment when he was in a hip-hop shop. The owner of the shop came to my husband and greet him, “Hi bro, what’s up? What about … ”

The situation led them to chit chat and finally exchanged their name card to each other, whereas they do not know each other previously. So, this friendly way could be an effective one to make the customers feel close to you and your product.

-- Pack it differently.

Usually, fried banana is packed into ordinary plastic bag, right? Do something different, instead of the bag, pack it into a simple but uniquely designed box!

-- Provide gifts/surprises for your customers.

This simple idea comes from Quickly – this bubble drink producer was not using any gimmick or promotion on their first establishment because they were a big hit. After competitors starts to show up, they have to do something. Quickly published a small card to be stamped each time customers buy a drink. When all the stamps are full, the customer will get one free drink!

You can make a gift for your customer, for example

Making Your Ordinary Business, Extraordinary!

Here goes ;-)

- Find the uniqueness and peculiarity of every goods or products you’re selling.

Fried banana is an ordinary product, right? (Actually it is in Indonesia). But by attaching simple words like: “Pontianak original fried banana” or “the only 7 laths fried banana in town” will add zest to it! May not make them try the first time, but hopefully will think about it more and more.

-- Find some tricky ways to make people curious.

Invite your own friends to try your product for free, but ask them to stand in queue when taking the product you’re selling. Hopefully, people who pass your shop may think like this “What is that shop selling, making everyone willing to stand in that oh-so-long-queue?” At least this tricky way works for my father, who loves going to restaurants with “fully loaded parking area” or “with long queue customers.”

-- Be very friendly to your customer ;-)

I was surprised when the owner of a very famous burger stall greeted me with a smile and a nodded head; “Mam...” he said when I was trapped on a very long queue waiting for my burger.

That gesture works and made me feel “acquainted” and come back for more ;-) My husband also experienced that kind of moment when he was in a hip-hop shop. The owner of the shop came to my husband and greet him, “Hi bro, what’s up? What about … ”

The situation led them to chit chat and finally exchanged their name card to each other, whereas they do not know each other previously. So, this friendly way could be an effective one to make the customers feel close to you and your product.

-- Pack it differently.

Usually, fried banana is packed into ordinary plastic bag, right? Do something different, instead of the bag, pack it into a simple but uniquely designed box!

-- Provide gifts/surprises for your customers.

This simple idea comes from Quickly – this bubble drink producer was not using any gimmick or promotion on their first establishment because they were a big hit. After competitors starts to show up, they have to do something. Quickly published a small card to be stamped each time customers buy a drink. When all the stamps are full, the customer will get one free drink!

You can make a gift for your customer, for exampl

k them to stand in queue when taking the product you’re selling. Hopefully, people who pass your shop may think like this “What is that shop selling, making everyone willing to stand in that oh-so-long-queue?” At least this tricky way works for my father, who loves going to restaurants with “fully loaded parking area” or “with long queue customers.”

-- Be very friendly to your customer ;-)

I was surprised when the owner of a very famous burger stall greeted me with a smile and a nodded head; “Mam...” he said when I was trapped on a very long queue waiting for my burger.

That gesture works and made me feel “acquainted” and come back for more ;-) My husband also experienced that kind of moment when he was in a hip-hop shop. The owner of the shop came to my husband and greet him, “Hi bro, what’s up? What about … ”

The situation led them to chit chat and finally exchanged their name card to each other, whereas they do not know each other previously. So, this friendly way could be an effective one to make the customers feel close to you and your product.

-- Pack it differently.

Usually, fried banana is packed into ordinary plastic bag, right? Do something different, instead of the bag, pack it into a simple but uniquely designed box!

-- Provide gifts/surprises for your customers.

This simple idea comes from Quickly – this bubble drink producer was not using any gimmick or promotion on their first establishment because they were a big hit. After competitors starts to show up, they have to do something. Quickly published a small card to be stamped each time customers buy a drink. When all the stamps are full, the customer will get one free drink!

You can make a gift for your customer, for exampl

.

That gesture works and made me feel “acquainted” and come back for more ;-) My husband also experienced that kind of moment when he was in a hip-hop shop. The owner of the shop came to my husband and greet him, “Hi bro, what’s up? What about … ”

The situation led them to chit chat and finally exchanged their name card to each other, whereas they do not know each other previously. So, this friendly way could be an effective one to make the customers feel close to you and your product.

-- Pack it differently.

Usually, fried banana is packed into ordinary plastic bag, right? Do something different, instead of the bag, pack it into a simple but uniquely designed box!

-- Provide gifts/surprises for your customers.

This simple idea comes from Quickly – this bubble drink producer was not using any gimmick or promotion on their first establishment because they were a big hit. After competitors starts to show up, they have to do something. Quickly published a small card to be stamped each time customers buy a drink. When all the stamps are full, the customer will get one free drink!

You can make a gift for your customer, for exampl

bag, right? Do something different, instead of the bag, pack it into a simple but uniquely designed box!

-- Provide gifts/surprises for your customers.

This simple idea comes from Quickly – this bubble drink producer was not using any gimmick or promotion on their first establishment because they were a big hit. After competitors starts to show up, they have to do something. Quickly published a small card to be stamped each time customers buy a drink. When all the stamps are full, the customer will get one free drink!

You can make a gift for your customer, for example: the 100th customer standing in queue gets five fried bananas for free ;-) The main idea here is you have to prepare a special promotion budget, doesn’t have to be in a form of a high cost TV commercial right?