OPINION: Being average is not the future

“There is no future in being average because average is missed and forgotten. Average is going nowhere. People don’t talk about average businesses with passion.”

I recently was in Caboolture, Queensland, on business and I stopped in at Revolution Espresso Lounge for a coffee. I was guided there by the excellent Beanhunter app, the place in social media where coffee lovers rate and write about coffee shops. With a rating of 9.2 I knew the coffee would be good as Beanhunter members are serious about their coffee.

On entering the store I was immediately taken to another place. This was not your usual coffee shop. It was retro in style completely and done well. This told me a lot about the business and what it stood for.

Inside there are many indicators of deliberate management and marketing decisions – the décor, the floor layout, the music, the lighting, notices on the board and the service style.

This business is anchored, true to its pitch, and true to its unique selling proposition. The coffee itself was serious, full of flavour, with an excellent body; perfect. This, too, was true to the mission of the business.

This is my combined marketing and management tip today – be true to your mission, true to what you stand for, true to what makes your business unique.

What they are doing at Revolution Espresso Lounge in Caboolture is different, worth the drive and worth talking about to friends – and isn’t that what we want from our businesses? To have created something customers want to talk about in a good way to their friends.

Let’s take a look inside the business. In the door and sitting down, in a comfy retro lounge chair, opposite the counter, this is what you see. See what I mean about anchoring the business in what they stand for? Look at the notices on the board, the cool retro trolley on the side of the counter.

At the counter, in front of the espresso magazine is a table setup with a Scrabble game. This is another clue as to what the business stands for, another way to remember the business and another way to engage with the business. These are all important factors in making this coffee shop different to the many other coffee shops around. And it has to be different, as it stands alone away from the main shops of Caboolture. You have to seek it out.

Here is the Beanhunter page for the business that led me there. The reviews accessible from this page are excellent. Of course, as a Beanhunter fan and looking out for my fellow caffeine friends I have added my review and a photo.

There is no future in being average because average is missed and forgotten. Average is going nowhere. People don’t talk about average businesses with passion. If you are planning a trip to Australia make sure that the Revolution Espresso Lounge in Caboolture is one of the places you visit, check it out for yourself and I think you will see what I mean.