Know-How Exchange : Strategy

You will probably have to educate us a little bit about your business and your target audience. Most of us are not immediately familiar with hookha bars or the competitive climate for your business.

You might start by telling us who your target customers are. Where do they live? How often do they go to a hookha bar? How do they decide which one to go to? Etc. Also be sure to let us know where you are located (i.e., what country, what city, what the area is like, etc.).

Without knowing more about your business - I'd tell you to at least tap into your existing customers: Ask them what they like and don't like and what else they'd like you to have/offer/change.

Also leverage them for increasing business: Create a frequent visitor program that gets them discounts, freebies and other forms of recognition to encourage more frequent use.

Create a word-of-mouth program to get them to bring in friends and family (it can be tied into the frequent visitor benefits as well). Develop some social media programs - are you on Facebook, Twitter, etc.? Let your customers become your brand ambassadors by using these tools to grow your awareness and business.

Also partner with other local businesses - especially if they are in the same building as you: i.e., post flyers with special events and promotions. Consider other local marketing efforts to build traffic.

Steve

On a lower ground floor the challenge is always to get people to come in and try you out.

The quickest and cheapest way to do this is to have an attractive and engaging person spruiking on the footpath with vouchers to sample say one free game. Your cost to do this is very low and once someone is inside they will almost always buy something.

One thing you should question is exactly how much Hookah adds to your business - and how much it detracts from it.

Worldwide, intelligent and knowledgeable people are switching off from smoking because of the health impacts. If smokers are your target audience, then that's fine. But you will discourage non-smokers from visiting because passive smoking is considered very unattractive, as well as very unhealthy.

Your place, your call. But I would be looking for a sustainable business model that is smoke-free, rather than one that depends on people slowly killing themselves, in order to make a living.

Hope that helps.

ChrisB