One of the interviews I conducted was that of a local food truck owner whom I have some familiarity with. Besides having great Greek/ Mediterranean style foods and a successful customer base from what it seems, they are conveniently located between a high school and a community college. I was able to conduct an in-person interview with Mr. Stratos, a hardworking individual who has operated his Souvlaki truck since 2005. For the sake of his time, I had promised to keep it under 10 minutes, and was able to get about 4 questions in along with some insight.
Q & A:
“How has the location of your business affected the success of your business since the start?” I wanted to use a question like this to start the interview in a way of almost congratulating or giving kudos to him for having a successful business for so many years and mentioning that as so. He responded that the location was an important decision in his career, because it was between this location and a different one. He went as far to say that it determined success over failure for him, because he depends on the business that the schools and neighborhood are able to provide for him.
“Do you feel you have any secondary effects on the daily lives of the students that buy food from you?” While I did take quite a leap on this question, we had gotten into talking about his clientele from the last question, so I felt I was able to get his perspective on how he sees the value of what he does. He says that he feels that he cares for them in a certain way that many other food options might not. Like he is very conscious of the prices of his food to fit within the budget of a typical student. He also finds ways to prepare each meal quicker and more efficiently, to make sure everyone is able to get food, even in the busiest times. I mentioned to him that he does a good job of noting everything that students go through.
“What are some effective ways that you look to satisfy your consumers wants and needs?” Again, another question about his customers that I thought was appropriate with the conversation we were having. He gave an interesting answer that I didn’t expect. He told me that variety is very important when it comes to his truck, since his business would be considered on the smaller side when it comes to size . He believes that having various menu items for various type of customers is a good way to make up for this aspect. Something he likes about this is that you could come to his truck for 5 days out of the week and have something different every time, which I thought was an interesting metric to use.
“What has helped you stand out from your competitors? With this question, I wanted to see if he was comfortable perhaps mentioning which some of his competitors are. Interestingly enough, he tells me that he doesn’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about what they are doing. He noted that there are some restaurants in the strip a block away, but he feels they have become less and less of a threat to him over the years. Since he wanted to answer the question, he said that he tries to prepare very fresh food every time, since a lot of the competitors food is mostly frozen.
I really did like the way that this interview went overall. I would say that there was a lot more confirmation than contradiction from the questions and expectations that I had. Since he’s been there for so long, I expected this to play a big aspect in his understanding of his own consumers. When observing all the different items and combinations his menu has, one could tell that it took a good amount of time to get it right. I started to think that this could be that one thing that my start-up could miss initially. Especially since face to face business seems to help him a lot for understanding his customers, I am going to have to come up with a way to attain this type of consumer understanding.
The second interview that I conducted, was with a GNC district manager that overlooks some of the busiest stores in Queens, including one Jackson Heights which is her busiest. GNC is known for their health supplements and attentive staff. I believe they would pose a threat to m start-up because they are very well known, and whole most supplements take preparation, they do have a ready to drink refrigerator with various protein drinks already made. This was an interview conducted over the phone, where I was able to ask Glenny 3 questions about her stores.
Q & A:
“What do you think contributes to the success of your GNC’s, as appose to maybe other ones or other supplement shops?” Again, I wanted to start out by giving some kudos to her job well done, especially since I’m familiar with her reputation within the GNC managers. She responded in saying that her staff is what she tries to emphasize on, to have them performing at their best the whole time. She explained that she sees them as extension of herself when she not there and moving around from store to store.
“What do you think are common pain points that drive people to GNC in search for supplements?” I wanted to ask this to get an understanding of her customer base, as well as how they cater to each customer’s individual needs. She said very plain and simply, that people simply wanting to be healthier she thinks is the most common theme. She noted that even if she notes that a customer lacks some motivation and doesn’t want to get healthier, they still know that they need to, especially when a loved one or a physician is pushing them to do so.
“In what ways have your customers changed since you first started? Have any parts of the business gotten harder?” The reason that I went to this question, it’s because the conversation took a turn toward things being different in more recent times than when she started. I wanted to understood a little of what she meant by this observation, considering she’s been there for about 20 years. She said that their pro membership service, which works through monthly subscription, used to be way more sought after and profitable, but now it’s hard to even get a couple people a week to sign up. She also said that the need for variety only seems to increase, which actually puts a strain on her inventory rather than a gain, because more products and variations takes a lot more time for their specific processes.
This interview also went well, although something I didn’t want to do was drag it out since I felt she really didn’t have a whole lot more that she wanted to say. The last question I felt was the most helpful because it gives me an idea of all the different diets and needs that people have. With the fitness industry always growing, there are more and more variations and ways of doing things that are meant to suit all sorts of people. The key take away for this interview is the need for variety.
These interviews certainly provided a good pathway for me and my start-up, and also put some things into perspective that maybe wasn’t thinking about before. Since these to interviews went so well, I will most likely try to meet with another expert, and try to touch upon some certain questions that were maybe left out here. These two experts taught me that there is a great customer base in their industries, and the same would apply for what I want to do. I think the real challenge here is trying to make that my strength, in providing for each and every one of my customers, in the most suitable and fitting way possible.
