Searching for Business Growth in a Speedo
October 6th, 2008
Are you a small business owner? The teeny weenie mankini could possibly provide you with a business growth solution.
A couple of months ago while walking on the beach we spotted a gentleman strutting towards us wearing the ever popular, masculine enhancing, Speedo bathing suit.
As we continued to stroll along the water’s edge, and upon closer inspection when our paths finally crossed, the gentleman (surprisingly) turned out to be one of our guests…
Three thoughts immediately came to my mind:
- Dude – I would never be caught dead in that!
- This conversation could be difficult and I am glad that I’m wearing sunglasses.
- What would possess someone who is male to go out in public in a couple of cubic inches of 50/50 blend fabric sitting taught around their midsection?
That Was Then and this is Now
While I was out swimming today, please don’t ask me why, but I began to contemplate the Speedo from a completely different angle, from a business perspective. Perhaps, I was missing something? How can we attract new customers beyond providing great customer service and value while not relying wholly on social media?
I know what you are thinking, what on earth could the mankini possibly have in common with [er, um] growth? Well, you can chalk it up to branding or stereotypes, but I had a couple of new thoughts (a Speedo epiphany?) regarding this bathing suit:
- Europeans
- Athletes
It struck me that Europeans (I am not stereotyping…I am saying SOME not all) and athletes typically wear Speedos.
With respect to our guesthouse, and from a small business marketing perspective during the current economic crunch, we really need to improve our reach into the European tourism market. Heck, the Euro is still fairly strong against the dollar and Iberia Airlines even has direct flights from Madrid to San Juan.
Also, in terms of business growth, triathletes and serious swimmers tend to workout and race in Speedos because the suit helps reduce drag. Until now we’ve not even attempted to target athletes and have strictly focused on casual, active vacationers who are into hiking and bird watching. With winter right around the corner, let’s not forget that training in the cold sucks and we have perennial summer here on Culebra.
Additionally, because of my Train for Humanity efforts and the triathlon training I have a plethora of running routes, short and long training rides for biking, and many swim routes. Including open ocean one mile swims to buoyed off protected areas perfect for speed work.
For me, thanks to a new outlook and business potential, I am over my Speedo phobia and I am now embracing (well, not really) the suit.
How about you? Have you been overlooking any potential marketing or business expansion avenues because of preconceived notions or a lack of unconventional thinking? Are you searching for customers where you would least expect them?
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October 6th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Yup. You never know who will buy your products or services, if you don’t open the door to them. I was not expecting to see people buying my stuff from the other side of earth.
It turns out that my customers are not who I think they were. I was paying too much attention on finding customers by who, what, where, when, why, and how facts.
Now I am looking at negative side of the facts. For example, Who will not buy from me? I now got more potential buyers on my list.
October 7th, 2008 at 3:58 am
This really has me thinking Mark. Like you, I’ve got the automatic “eww” when it comes to the mankini. But what else is provoking an “eww” or no way? I’ll be pondering this question today to see if I’ve been unintentionally creating barriers that need to be taken down.
October 7th, 2008 at 10:39 am
It’s like myself while I was doing retail way younger, and I saw this guy totally in casual and flip flops entering the shop and then bought in bulk which got me out from a sales slump.
Can’t exactly (and shouldn’t!) judge a potential business partner or expansion avenues just because we aren’t able to see in other ways than our first conventional view.
Yet again, I won’t dare be the person to wear mankinis and walk down the street to approach anyone at all. Haha.
October 7th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Hi Mark - Am still laughing at the pic. Seriously - most folk from Europe don’t wear speedos. But I can understand why swimmers do.
It’s funny how it got you thinking about marketing to Europeans. That could be a good idea - the Euro is strong against the dollar. Plus - I’m not certain but I think there’s direct flights from Spain to Puerto Rico.
It may be worth targeting the UK too. Mexico is popular from the UK - so folks will travel the distance. And a lot of people from here like to escape the cold in the winter months.