Keeping the dealmaker mentality on

Every Sunday morning 45 tired parents (myself included) sit in front of paneled glass for 30 minutes while our little kids learn how to swim.

Not going to lie, as much as I love her, I can only take so many pictures of daughter splashing around with her instructor before my mind starts to wander.

Wasn’t as sharp today as I woke up late and completely neglected my obligatory caffeine intake.

After a few minutes I looked up from yet another splashing photo and saw 44 parents looking like they were feeling the same kind of way I was on this chilly Sunday morning, like we definitely didn’t have enough coffee.

Then I got an idea, and little mental Travis popped onto my shoulder, “hey Drew, do you think any of these other parents who are willing to overpay for this survival lesson might want a hot cup of coffee to pass the time?”

Well shit, son. Idle buyers, I figured they might.

This particular swim school had exactly one inaccessible cooler of cold drinks, not exactly flying off the shelves during our 31° morning.

Rather than wait on having any idea what or how I might be able to deliver the solution to this problem, after I got my daughter out of the pool, I walked right over to the front counter.

There were four business cards on the desk and one said “Justin G, (General Manager)”

I looked at the only guy behind the counter I had seen there a few times before.

“Hey, are you Justin, this your spot?”

I was smiling but since I had my daughter in my arms and he was the GM, I could see he was immediately worried I was going to lodge a complaint about something like I’m sure he has heard a million times. . So I just jumped in.

“Hey man so we’ve been coming here for a while, love it and my daughter is having a blast. Had a quick question for ya.

“I represent some local businesses (I don’t…yet), and I was wondering if you had ever considered bringing in a coffee cart in here in the mornings?

“I don’t know for sure, but I think these parents would love it and it would obviously bring some additional revenue your way. Are you open to something like that?”

His face just lit up, “oh man we don’t have anything like that that would be awesome! Whatever you think we can definitely do something like that…here’s my card shoot me an email let’s talk Monday”

Didn’t have time between classes to have a full conversation about all the possibilities. Just an open door.

On the drive home my wife and I called 6 of our favorite coffee shops in the area and asked if they do events. 2 had carts gathering dust they’d love to get out there.

Is it a 6 figure deal? No. Does this franchise owner know the owner of all 50+ franchises? Yes.

Does that owner have a database of repeat buyers who might just be open to a deal? Definitely.

But honestly it felt good to go from opportunity spotting, to cold open, to being very clearly seen as a value add in one sentence that was just perfect.

Plus if I can have my favorite coffee during swim class and can now get paid to go there, well that just makes my Sunday mornings just a little easier.

14 comments