I stumbled upon an interesting article in the New York Times Business section today. It was all about applying the model set by Starbucks when developing a small business, and when expanding that small business. Whatever you may think of Starbucks – the quality of their coffee, the hip clientele, and the overpriced sugary drinks – one will have to admit that their business model has proven to be quite successful.
The article outlines the development of the company MiniLuxe, which is an up and coming chain of nail salons in the Boston Area, but one could conceivably apply the same principles to any business that shows room for improvement. According to the article, this initiative started when the team who eventually started MiniLuxe was challenged “to find a highly fragmented industry that could do what Starbucks did for the coffee shop: use a combination of smart design, systems and company culture to create a following.”
That this was how this company began means that it could have been any industry that they were applying this model to. It just so happened that one of the members of this team, John Hamel, noticed that nail salons were just such a “highly fragmented industry.”
One of the things that is valuable about this article is that it lays out what the problems with the nail salon industry were, and the steps MiniLuxe took to improve them. Again, if you think of this not as how they improved a nail salon but ho they improved a business, you will probably be able to find ideas about how you can improve your operations if you are a small business owner or entrepreneur.
Read the whole article through the link above.