Money making secrets of a fat duck

publication date: Nov 25, 2007
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Hi

Picture the scene  . . .

You're in restaurant and the waiter brings over
a conch shell and places it in front of you. He
reaches inside the shell and produces a pair of
headphones connected to a mini ipod secreted
deep within.

He asks you to put them on . . .

You hear the sounds of the seashore, the
gentle sound of the waves and call of seagulls
overhead.

Then the waiter brings you a mini glass topped
table with what can only be described as a mini
beach scene - only this one is edible -
including the foam of the waves, sand,
seaweed and oysters!

The combination of sound, visuals and taste
takes the whole idea of eating to a completely
different level!

And that was just one of 15 (yes, fifteen!)
courses we ate at The Fat Duck in Bray on
Tuesday lunchtime - Heston Blumenthal's 3
Michelin starred restaurant.

Other weird and wonderful highlights included
snail porridge, nitro-scrambled egg and bacon
ice cream and whisky wine gums. The latter
were presented on a mirrored picture frame -
whiskey wine gums in the shape of whiskey
bottles were placed on a map of Scotland. Each
gum was infused with each particular whiskey.

Now this isn't a restaurant review (although if
you have the money and are broadminded in
your cuisine, it definitely deserves it's reputation
as one of the world's best restaurants). No what
I wan to draw out of this are some interesting
business ideas (both positive and negative),
that we might learn from.

First off, Heston has got his Competitive
Advantage (or unique sales proposition)
absolutely figured out. Where else in the world
can you go to a restaurant that specialises in
'molecular gastronomy'? But the important point
here is that by creating a unique experience,
they are able to charge top whack prices.

I am too embarrassed to say how much our
meal for 3 cost as it would feed an average
family for 4 months!

But ever-interested in how much a business
made, we worked out that the restaurant must
be bringing in at least £7 million a year - and
they only have around 20 tables and 2 sittings a
day! Even deducting the high cost of staff, they
must be clearing at least £3 million a year!

Now I'm not suggesting for a moment that you
go to the extremes of The Fat Duck, but
whatever business you are in, it is worth seeing
how you can create a unique experience for
your customers - it doesn't matter if you never
meet them, but what can you do to make the
experience truly memorable - one that will stick
in the minds of your customers and make them
more likely to return to you?

Could you give away a surprise free gift with all
orders? I know this sounds weird, but a very
successful German business I know places a
packet of sweets in every order!

Could you offer a courtesy follow up call, visit or
email?

It doesn't matter if you are running a domestic
cleaning service, publishing ebooks, or manage
a construction firm. We are all in a competitive
market and much of our efforts are trying to
make sure that customers come to us rather
than our rivals.

But don't get too tricksy! When our waitress
came over to serve our egg and bacon ice
cream, she announced:

'Good morning, time for your breakfast!"

OK, this might be funny, but it's starting to stray
into the realms of Disney theme parks!

It was also great top see Heston using the
public domain

Before our 12th course (a tiny Victorian ice
cream cone) we were given a little booklet
about Agnes B. Marshall - 'The Victorian Queen
of Ice Cream'.

Agnes was something of a genius in the field of
ice-cream making, she developed the idea of
supercooling ice-cream using compressed gas.
One of her Victorian machines made a litre of
ice cream in 3 minutes; apparently this cannot
be matched by any modern machine on the
market!

Her books on ice cream were bought by
publishers Ward Lock who also owned the
rights to Mrs Beeton's books. Alas they never
republished Agnes and she fell into obscurity.

Now, as far as I can tell, her recipes are freely
available in the public domain  . . . free to
reformat and publish by anyone!

It makes you realise what a hidden treasure
trove of ideas and products are waiting to be
discovered in the public domain. And just
because they are over 100 years old doesn't
mean they are not relevant to today. In fact,
their vintage can actually add authority and a
unique sales twist.

I know I bang on about public domain a lot, but
for anyone who wants to get into online
publishing (but doesn't want the expense of
getting resale rights), this is perfect solution.

If you want to know how to create your own
public domain business, I recommend you
check this out. Click here

A packed weekend of children's birthdays,
school charity events and an Amy Winehouse
concert!

Not sure which one will be the most traumatic!
;-)


Regards

Nick
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