I’ve been thinking lately about the idea of “what business a business is in”. What I mean is, all appearances point to PGB being in the cupcake business but in fact, the cupcake business is part of a much bigger business that I will call “the events-and-special-days” business. For sure some of my customers are strolling by to enjoy a cupcake, and our customers’ enjoyment of our products is why we can even participate in the events-and-special-days business – but most of our sales are because of celebrations such as weddings, Administrative Professionals Week (on right now!), and – oh- Canada Day, Hallowe’en and John’s retirement from the technology group.
Many tweets from our followers on Twitter mention that today is X, so we are celebrating with Prairie Girl!
Last week’s photo shoot was likely our most exciting one yet – Christina took some amazing photos of what Trixie the edible printer can do: there was the Goth black & white wedding, the trendy floral Marsala wedding, the retirement of John from Fido Puppy Spa and the opening day cupcakes for the little known charity, Lemon Tree House*. You can see why the idea of PGB being in the events business is on my mind.
Last week’s highlight for Andrew at Harvard was the Q & A with the 3rd generation owner of the acclaimed Indian Oberoi hotel chain. The case they’d read in advance was about a guest who was unhappy with the sound of the train at night, a mile away. Long story short, the guest’s entire bill (14 nights and meals!) was refunded. Hmm. I’m going out on a limb here and saying that the Oberoi chain is in the catering-to-every-luxurious-whim business, not the hotel business. From that perspective, then, the refund of a huge guest invoice makes sense. They must be doing something right because their customer satisfaction surveys are off the charts, they’ve been around for years and they’re planning expansion beyond India at a time when the world economy is unsettled.
*There is no Fido Puppy Spa or Lemon Tree House, in Toronto, or elsewhere. But the pix look great!
