Some office buildings wont let you in to some floors. Bribe the security guards with samples. A good way to do this is to just hand out a sample before even talking. Hand it out, and tell them about what you do. Don't forget that these guys are also customers.
One thing though that I've found is when you give good ideas to people you'd be surprised at the amount of excuses they have for not following up on suggestions. The lack of "oomph".
What I'm saying is this. It's easy for someone to write a plea (as was done here) for help on HN (or anywhere). That takes almost no effort at all (like a magic "diet pill" when you want to lose weight). Let's see if the entrepreneur actually follows through on the advice that you gave.
(If you do a follow up post or anything on what happens here please email me in case I miss it because I'd like to know the outcome positive or negative to the outbound sales effort).
Hitting meetups - well it might be a good excuse to wait. You know, that meetup tonight is not so big, I will do Thursdays. Plus Thursdays, well the venue does its own catering and won't let me in till ....
Get outside the nearest two pre made sandwich places - and success is selling twenty lunch packs to people who otherwise would have bought a sandwich - this lunchtime.
Get out if the office and get out now.
Good luck :-).
Stop focusing on building your brand and start focusing on distributing your product. You need to accept the fact that for whatever reason, people choose to label you as a foreigner because you cook ethnic food, so you lose branding credibility. Therefore, you need to outsource your branding. You can leverage your distribution channels to increase distribution and build your brand simultaneously. Your distribution channels are a) your restaurant, and b) a catering business. Why not sell your food to other catering companies? There is no reason for it to be exclusive to your own. When more catering companies sell your food, you control more distribution channels and move more product. Your product is your food, and that is what differentiates you.
Reduce the cost of preparing your food [1] and outsource distribution. Allow catering businesses to serve your food. Tell them you will give them a discount if they call it "<Your Last Name> Food." [2] From the sounds of it, customers love your food (demand is high) and few people know how to cook it (supply is low). So price can be high. Just show catering companies how much they can charge for your food, and they will jump at the opportunity to buy your food at seems like a large discount. Not only will they distribute your food, but they will build your brand because a positive brand for your food increases their sales.
[1] Start by reducing cost of labor (chefs, sous chefs, dishwashers, waitstaff) and inventory (make more efficient shopping trips).
[2] The name of your food is your only branding decision. Choose a good one.
Plus racism is going to help the business in this case. This is ethnic food. If some white dude went around selling his stuff people wouldn't buy it because it would not be authentic.
This part makes no sense.
That said, there is a lot less racism going on in the Bay Area. This shouldn't really be an issue as long as you speak clearly and enunciate your words (the hallmark of any good salesman, really).
Disclosure: I'm white.
I don't agree with that. I think it's just more hidden or wrapped up sarcastic "hipster" jokes. Something similar to http://jezebel.com/5905291/a-complete-guide-to-hipster-racis...
Disclosure: I'm black.
Um, the word thug is actually of Indian origin. It's borrowed into English. So based on this logic the original thugs who were Indian are now racist.
I never thought of "thug" as conveying an implication of the subject being black. "Thug" to me is more of a attitude / mindset / way of life, not something that corresponds to race. IOW, it's as easy to be a white "thug" as a black "thug". In fact, now that I think about it, the context in which I usually think of the word "thug" is the phrase "jack booted thug" which has connotations of Nazis, who were - as far as I know - mostly white. The other thing the word "thug" brings to mind for me, is the stereotyped image of a big white (Italian, probably) guy in an expensive suit, working as an "enforcer" for some mafioso type or something.
Maybe it varies by region, age or other factors, but I would not think of myself as being racist towards blacks by using the word "thug".
The comment lost its value with that one statement. Was there even info stated by the OP that this was the case? I know a few very high priced restaurants in NY that serve high priced "ethnic" food and the owners are both foreign but NOT from the region the food is from. They're branding is pretty strong.
Role-play asking for referrals. Ask for more than one. Ask for business, restaurant, catering company, friend, co-worker referrals. Get together and review how asking for referrals has been working. Brainstorm. Get better and better at it.
A few people will give you DOZENS of leads to follow up. Most will give you at least one. Get phone numbers AND email addresses AND business names where you can. Be prepared.
Also, begin connecting to everyone you think could give you a referral or new business on LinkedIn and export contact to get their email when the accept your connection request. Send an email to thank them for accepting (this is not spam, this is a transactional "thanks" if you write shortly after they accept your connection), and give them a short, compelling pitch that you plan and modify and improve.
This is exactly how i marketed my first ONLINE STORE when i was 16 (that's 6 years ago now). I Made about 2000 Pounds doing that alone that summer.
- From what I gather you are 3 guys (who cook ethnic food) who get hired through a catering agency.
- For Zeus knows why, your biggest client (the catering agency) dropped you.
- You mention not marketing properly and now seem to not have a good customer list to cater to (pun intended).
In your situation the best option would be:
Print out some flyers and cook some samples. Go door to door to every fucking office park in a 5 mile radius and take some sales. Do this before lunch! Now, about those samples. You have to prepare plenty of samples. Put out your best stuff. The way you display them is very, very important. Make sure that everything looks and is clean and tidy. Wear some nice clothes that don't smell like you came out of a kitchen. Smile.
Do this for 3 times a week for 3 months, then once a week forever. You will not have to worry about this happening again.
Remember: Every person that tries and likes your food is a customer. Take an order right there. Close the sale while they are enjoying the sample. Don't hesitate.
Also, raise your prices by one dollar in the entire menu, and give a $1 discount to those who order right there. People can't turn down tasty discounted food.
Disclaimer: My sister in law has a business like yours and I grew it to a very nice size with that same tactic.