Well then. This will be my first attempt at veering away from the completely self-serving "adverblizing" format that all of the books I'm reading tell me I need to be writing,
By the way, if there are any moms who happen by this page, I hope you had a fantastic Mother's Day.
Let's talk frozen desserts. If that's not going to keep you reading, nothing will. If you're like me, an entrepreneur trying your darndest to make a good idea take flight, then you're a little extra exhausted every night when you go to bed, having used up lots of excess energy burning with jealousy over Josh. I'm talking, of couse, about Josh Juarez, owner of Josh's sno-shack. When I was a tyke, my grandpa would, once or twice a week during the summer, drive me over to the little barn next to the Horner's in Pryor for one of the icy sweet treats. It was certainly a good time, but nothing to write home about. Who would have thought, nearly a century after the inception of these things, that there would come a sno cone establishment that would warrant the camping out of over a hundred people in Tulsa for the first day of the sno cone season.
Hadn't heard that? Then check this out: http://www.newson6.com/story/14498598/dozens-camp-out-for-start-of-tulsa-sno-cone-season
Now you know why I'm jealous of the snow cone guy. Really, to be fair, he's the shaved-ice guy. But whatever you call it, the man has to be doing something right. He opened his first sno shack in 2004, and by 2009, had grown to three locations and thirteen employees. And by the time he came in for his first day at work in the summer of 2011, he was stepping around the tents and folding chairs of dozens of his most loyal customers.
As entrepreneurs and business owners, it's our job to find our "tent-factor"- the aspect of our business that keeps our customers not just willing, but EAGER to buy from us. Josh's tent factor? Probably a combination of things. He's got a quality product, good shaved ice with more flavor combinations than I've ever seen at a sno cone place before. He's nailed the customer service part of the business. Almost every time I've visited the shack, Josh himself makes my sno cone, and makes a point to have a very friendly chat with me throughout the 60 seconds or so that it takes to fill a styrofoam cup with shaved ice and pour some syrup over it. Not to mention his cool points, with super-stylish v-neck tees, hip bumper stickers, and a quirky, well-designed website.
There are shelves lined with books about this type of thing. Let's not squander too much time reading about this stuff. After all, those books were written for the chief purpose of selling copies, whether or not they actually help us. Instead, let's seek out our tent factors, focus on them, and get people camping.
And, since I would be remissed if I didn't include at least one semi-shameless plug, please visit my website at http://www.mycommercialmedia.com/ to see how my business can help yours.
Thanks, and have a great week!
