Setting the Difference

I normally bring with me lunch to work but there was no leftovers from the night before so I was pressured in locating something worth eating in a town whose supply on meals is limited to bagels or high-priced Italian food, so I settled for the middled ground. I went with Chinese take-out but I stayed in.

Here I am sitting at the table waiting to be called up for my order when this random thought came to mind. Why do all Chinese take-out restaurants look the same? Regardless of your geographic location, the likelihood of you having visited one is very likely because they’ve become as ubiquitous as Starbucks. They’re practically in every other corner so I’m sure you can relate to the view I had.

As far as I know, each chain is independently owned so in essence, the owner has free range in deciding how they wish to adorn their business but I’m wondering if there’s an unwritten rule in sticking to dull colors, washed-out floors and uncomfortable seating to represent a place that serves delicious food. The mood just doesn’t compliment the food.

Where’s the Surprise

I’ve yet to come across one Chinese take-out that’s retracted from such decor. There really is no shock value in what you get when you visit any of the locations other than distinguishing to your friends that an order of fried chicken wings is cheaper here than there. Granted it is take-out so perhaps attention to furnishing seems inconsequential but I would think any subtle changes to an institutionalized eating establishment as this would trigger the customer to separate one experience from the other. 

I could count the times I’ve actually stayed and eaten at a one of these and the reason has more to do with the place not being very inviting to begin with. My whole take on this sudden thinking is that if every one in an industry fails to address a problem, as a business owner, why wouldn’t I want to grab it from the horns in solving it and using the competition as the point of difference. Why follow in line with the rest?  Add to the list of changes menu presentation and food delivery approach and people will notice.

Being Above the Rest

What’s so fantastic about being different you ask? Well, because not everyone is doing it. With good credit and determination, anyone can open up a chain store but what makes you distinctive is applying that extra effort and inventiveness to set a niche and being the best at it.

Yes my lunch was delicious but I could have walked 2 more blocks and the rating on my meal would have been the same. What could have been different was the setting in which it was served and this would have forever been the place that completely erased my perception of a typical Chinese take-out restaurant.

Perhaps I was too hungry and simply over thought this opinion but Seth Godin doesn’t fall to far from everything I considered: 

Differentiation means thinking very hard about the market and your competitors and somehow making yourself different. Any rational person spending a fair amount of time with perfect information will have no trouble figuring out why you’re different. You don’t create a purple cow by being different. You do it by creating something worth talking about!

2 years ago  /  0 notes

Tidbits of Advice Still Practiced

In college, one of my first design positions was with a small design firm that I had the pleasure of working with that catered predominantly to the Jewish community. The opening was entry-level but the experience deep-rooted on what the workforce would be like later.

I was in charge of developing newspaper ads for local businesses, for community events, conceptualizing logos and occasionally assisting with restless working hours of QuarkXpress to layout a newspaper that my art director ran along with a partner. Suffice to say that the practical knowledge I gained was not just effectual in my work but in how up until now, I still apply some tidbits of advice that my employer would constantly reiterate and still resonate in my mind after having left more than 4 years ago.

“In design, like your women, tight is always better” – As expected, before anything was even considered completed, he would evaluate my work and at the beginning, one of his biggest callouts was the need for me to tighten the kerning and to ensure that every single piece of text was properly aligned so as to present a piece that is “nice and tight”, hence his analogy of woman.

“Never take your break where you work” – My lunch, which I would bring with me was generally always eaten at my desk; something he criticized and advice that I don’t do because I spent 7 hours in that same spot to begin with and confining myself to the same place did nothing but hinder my creativity. He would literally make sure I left the building to clear my mind and now, I kick myself out of the workplace when on break.

“Don’t just come with me with problems, come to me with solutions to those problems” – At this point I had developed a minor dislike towards him but I never made it known. I respected his work and opinion because in the end, he knew his sh*t in all things design along with the sharp-witted business persona he had in acquiring prospective clients. His initial lack of assistance to force me to meticulously weight my options at approaching a problem helped me tremendously, while still knowing that there’s no problem in asking for help.

Agha Hasan Abedi once said that “the conventional definition of management is getting work done through people, but real management is developing people through work,” and that’s what my former employer did for me despite occasional moments of distress.

2 years ago  /  Notes