Differentiation

It’s a constant dilemma, how do you stand out from the crowd. While listening to Marketplace this morning on my way to work, I heard a compelling example of originality. The story is about a restaurant in Montreal called Robin des Bois (Robin Hood).

The owners of the restaurant “take from the rich and give to the poor” through having famous, celebrity-type people volunteer to be the waiters/waitresses in the restaurant. All wages saved from not employing full-time waiters is then given to local charities, along with profits.

What is also interesting is that the banks gave them money to start up this venture. As any small business owner will tell you, especially those in the restaurant business, getting money from a bank is not that easy. Thanks to all their work at differentiating their restaurant, they have a waiting list for celebrity wait-staff, a waiting list to dine, and a profit to donate...all done within four months of opening.

Creativity is what led to this shining example of differentiation. Taking a known model of business and making it into something worth talking about. Taking the time to allow your creative mind to play, will yield surprising, and often profitable, results.