Competitive Edge
Every time I’m shopping downtown in Vancouver, I love walking by the foodie hot spots with long lineups. A place that keeps grabbing my attention is a hotdog stand on the corner of Burrard Street and Smithe right outside the Sutton Place Hotel.
Unlike other hotdog stands in the downtown core, this one always has long lineups of customers congregating around a red hotdog cart. Japadog was started by a world hotdog-eating champion, Takeru Kabayashi. Unlike any other hotdog stands in the city, the mix of condiments hotdog enthusiasts can choose from at Japadog are quite the novelty.
For example, the Misomayo hotdog comes with a turkey sausage, radish sprouts, sesame miso and Japanese mayo. The Oroshi is a bratwurst with green onions, grated daikon, teriyaki sauce and nori.
Takeru Kabayashi’s radical ideal has become a profitable and growing business endeavour. Most of you who are reading this tip already have an established business. Whether your ideas are radical or not, it is important to find ways to differentiate your business from your competition.
Once you determine what core aspects of your business are unique from others, you can develop clear and dynamic messaging that will attract the customers you love.