- …changed our structure to make the business more profitable >
We sold meal kits online through our website and that’s how the business ran for the first six months. The problem was that we had about thirteen items on our menu but our customers tended to be impulsive about when they wanted it. It was often the case that they would order at 2pm and want it by 5pm, and we constantly had to meet that demand.
We had to make enough products but because we use fresh ingredients they have a short shelf life. The wastage was quite high if the demand wasn’t a much as we anticipated. It was quite a horrible situation to be in really. We wanted to give our customers enough choice that they’ll order, but to prevent wastage we needed to limit it.
We didn’t completely change our focus after that; we just decided to become customer- led. We had a group of customers whom were constantly asking us to do things we didn’t have the resources for, like catering for big occasions. People kept asking us, why don’t you do this or why don’t you do that? When we tried it, we actually discovered that we were quite good at the catering thing, and buying stuff to order meant that wastage was virtually zero. Listening to our customers meant that we had a much more profitable business after that.
Pete HuntFresh Element Ltd.
