Pinpoint Your Company’s Money-making Business Model
The world’s longest candy counter is located at Chutters in Littleton, New Hampshire. When I was a kid, the counter was a lot shorter – and Chutters was the local candy store, not a tourist destination. I spent more money on penny candy and $5-per-pound jelly bellies than any kid should.
Over 20 years later, Chutters has changed. Its candy counter is 112 feet long, it has three locations, and jelly-bellies cost $13.99 per pound.
But its brand is the same. Candy is still the unique selling point that drives all other purchases. Chutters makes very little money on what initially brings customers into the door – and a lot of money on everything else.
This successful business model can also be yours. What is your unique product or service which sets you apart, gets clients in the door, and establishes credibility to make real money from the relationship?
What’s your candy?
Sweatshirts are everywhere. Candy is at Chutter’s
Like many other stores, Chutters sells sweatshirts, mugs, and maple syrup. You won’t find any of this on their website because without candy, they’re just like everyone else – fighting for a small share of the sweatshirt-selling pie.
With candy, they are literally unique. This brand is reflected throughout the store, their website, and their Facebook page. It is what landed them in the Guinness Book of World Records and – earlier this year – in Forbes.
The same is true for the Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys. If you live on or near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, you’ve probably heard their award-winning radio ads. They “clean gutters so you don’t have to.”
Gutter cleaning is their brand. But according to my business partner, who co-founded the Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys, their profits come from gutter installations, chimney repairs, roof repairs, power washing, and all of the other business which derives from the cleanings.
Gutter cleaning is the Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys’ candy, but it is the residual work that has made them a multi-million-dollar company.
How can your candy drive profit elsewhere in your business?
Your candy may not be profitable, but it’ll bring in the profits
Chutters probably loses money on every single piece of candy they sell. I know I was a profit-loss for them as a kid. Their business model, however, is the same one which makes movie theaters so successful. Theaters are lucky if they make any money on movie tickets, but without the tickets nobody would pay for overpriced popcorn, soda, and sweets. A 2009 TIME article quotes an equity analyst saying that food and concessions have an 85 percent profit margin – and in 2016, AMC’s profits increased thanks to food and concessions even as ticket sales fell.
“Life’s Tough” founder Dustin Plantholt’s candy is his podcast. Launched in March, the show has already had former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield and billionaire investor Michael Loeb as guests. Dustin told me he has thousands of dollars in sponsorships.
But the real money in Dustin’s brand will come from sales of his book this summer, and branding thereof. The podcast just introduces people to his brand in a fun and interesting fashion.
As you consider your business – how can your candy make you money, even if it’s not profitable?
Do your candy every day
More than 20 years after they launched the candy brand, the first thing visitors to the Chutters website see is the candy counter. Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys is five years old, but gutter cleaning is still most of their every-day business.
Your candy may not bring in revenue seven days a week, but it’s still necessary for you to do it. A violinist friend sometimes loses money playing gigs, but playing keeps her skills sharp – and it puts her in front of a lot of potential clients.
Attorney Jack White told me that his first 14 months as a Partner at FH&H PLLC was spent on lawyering, not business development. “I do a lot of business development now,” he told me for this piece. “But I did everything from legal research to drafting and arguing motions to writing white papers to making copies and putting together binders. Establishing within the community that I was a fully capable lawyer was the most important thing for me to do before I began going full-tilt into business development.”
The same is true for any company. Writing for Home Business Magazine and getting placed in The Washington Post doesn’t make Proven Media Solutions any money, but it pays dividends in other ways. A photographer who spends a morning taking beautiful photos of the sunset to put on the business website and LinkedIn is wise. So is the martial arts instructor who spends an hour a day practicing and showcases his or skills on a Facebook Live video each week.
Even if your candy doesn’t make you money today, it can still be setting your company up for long-term success. You just have to keep doing it until you get great at it, then let everyone in your target market know about it.
Your candy needs to get the right people – not all of them
The penny candy business model doesn’t catch every single person. The Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys only service two percent of the buildings on the Cape with gutters. Most of Chutters’ candy is sold to tourists traveling to the North Country of New Hampshire. Movie theaters don’t care if ticket sales fall as long as people in the theaters buy lots of food and concessions.
Once you’ve identified your candy, find the people who want it. Then market them in a creative and dynamic way.
For Chutters, the Guinness Book of World Records is a major part of their marketing plan. For the Cape Cod Gutter Monkeys, it’s radio ad campaigns. Theaters show the newest and hottest movies.
The aforementioned violinist friend is using her alumni network to reach students at her college’s new campus. The uniqueness of her candy – how many violin instructors do you know? – and the tight-knit collegiate network will serve her well.
You only need candy that will get the customers you want. Let everyone else fight over the rest.
