Neglecting Customer Research: A Lean Start-up Mistake – A Story of How Thorough Research Helped a Struggling Restaurant Succeed

As a consultant, I was approached by an entrepreneur named Anupam, who had recently opened a restaurant. He needed help to attract customers and wanted my users to understand why. He believed he had followed the lean start-up methodology but needed help understanding why his restaurant was not taking off.

Upon analyzing Anupam’s business, I realized he needed thorough customer research. While he had read articles about what customers were looking for in a restaurant, he had yet to talk directly to his target customers to understand their needs and preferences.

To address this, I recommended that Anupam conduct customer surveys and focus groups to gain insights into what his customers wanted from a restaurant. Through this research, we discovered that many of his customers were looking for healthy, vegan, and gluten-free options, which were unavailable on his menu.

With this information, we were able to make changes to Anupam’s menu and marketing strategy to meet the needs of his target customers better. For example, we added more healthy and vegan options to the menu and promoted these changes on social media and through targeted advertising.

Over time, these changes had a positive impact on Anupam’s business. His restaurant began attracting more customers, and his revenue increased significantly. By fully embracing the lean start-up methodology and conducting thorough customer research, Anupam created a successful restaurant that met the needs of his target customers.