Today, Tuesday February 26th, we recognize National Personal Chef’s Day. How does this day relate to your small business? Well even though you cannot cook gourmet meals for every customer that comes into your store, you could always offer a small snack, coffee and/or water. Once customers find out you have a delicious muffin selection or crave-worthy coffee, you will see them more than you usually do in your small business!
I remember when I was a child, I would always be so excited to go to the orthodontist. This might seem strange for a child to be excited to get their braces tightened, however, it was because they had the best snack table. I remember it would be filled with cookies, brownies, ice cream, coffee (for the parents), and more. The cookies were for right before you got your braces tightened and the ice cream was for right after! Of course, as a kid I thought the whole purpose of the cookies and ice-cream was to make me happy. However, the orthodontist said it made their jobs a lot easier when they were working on kids because the kids had a treat incentive at the end of the appointment!
Even though you might not be an orthodontist, you would be amazed how much a small pack of cookies sitting in the front of your storefront would help your business and how much the customers actually appreciate it. I can think of three situations on the top of my head that a customer could be encountering while in your store. One is they might be trying to pick up a quick gift from your store between work and picking up the kids from school, and that one little snack will help them out a lot! Secondly, if your customers bring kids in your business and want to take their time, cookies and candy will keep the kids satisfied! Thirdly, I know just from the small businesses around my town, if I see chocolate chip cookies on their Instragram, it gives me more of an incentive to go and shop!
Here are a few ideas as snacks to offer your customers:
- Chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies (avoid peanuts because of allergies)
- Donuts or muffins for a morning snack
- Coffee (Provide sugar packets and milk)
- Candy
Sydney Garofolo
WEC Intern
The University of Scranton
Small Business Development Center
#sbdc #scranton #nepa #nationalpersonalchefday #personalchef
