SURFACES | StonExpo Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Trends’

Following trends is one of the most important things you can do for your business.  Certainly trends are an integral part of your headlights to which I referred in an earlier blog.  The changes and trends are dramatic.  The floor covering industry will look substantially different in 20 years.       

One of the hottest business trends in South Florida is the growth of hamburger restaurants and gourmet hamburgers; perhaps your community is experiencing the same.  There are few things better than a really good cheeseburger when you’re trying to bulk-up.  And, the burger industry is a bit smarter about the new products; they do not open new stores or chains without clear differentiation. 

My home overlooks a restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel that offers a Kobe beef cheeseburger for $27; fries come with it too.  The meat, fresh bread, fresh tomatoes, fresh onions and pickles, view, service, silverware and china, location, attention to detail, table cloth, etc. are all spectacular.  On the other end of the spectrum, and several miles down the street, McDonald’s plugs burgers at a price near $1.00.  Who do you think makes more money?  Frankly, they probably both do fine.  But, on a unit basis the answer becomes clear; in fact the tip at 20% (thanks to lessons from Krista Eliason) is equivalent to about five McDonald’s hamburgers. 

So who do you want to be?  Or perhaps more precisely, who would you prefer to sell to, the Mandarin Oriental customer or the McDonald’s customer?  Fortunately there is room for both.  Unfortunately, in the floor covering industry there seems to be a race for the McDonald’s customer.  Even Wendy’s, Burger King, Krystal and McDonald’s have solid differentiation between them, albeit they all serve fast food that tastes mediocre.  But, success for most burger restaurants, as well as most floor covering stores, will be stepping-up the quality and finding differentiation between what you offer and what the low-end gang offers.  Each manifests into a stronger customer base and loyalty.           

Success will go to those who differentiate themselves from the competition.  Differentiation is the reason Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Burger and Beer Joint, Shake Shack, One Burger, 8 oz. Burger Bar and a myriad of other burger places can open and thrive in the same community.  It is also why you can buy a beer at Burger King and a local Denny’s restaurant is attached to a Denny’s Lounge.  Even franchise owners understand the need to differentiate and elevate themselves.  I add the latter example because it seems to me, and perhaps to you, that a Denny’s Lounge is absurd and would never be successful.  Is there anything sexy about a Denny’s Lounge?  But, they are busy and I assume successful.  To me, success and money are sexy.     

So, who are you going to be?  Which trends will you follow and which customers will you serve?  Perhaps you should find the absurd and then leverage it too.  There is plenty of room for innovation in the flooring industry and, frankly, there is no reason to exist if you don’t differentiate from your competition.    

I will be presenting more on this topic at SURFACES │ StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas and I hope that you will attend my session, 7 Trends that are Going to Change Your Life and the Floor Covering Industry on Tuesday, January 24, 2012.