A while back I found a story on businessweek.com, which spoke of Brian Alger, a Toronto-area entrepreneur who bought the Pop Shoppe – a chain of soda stores, which operated most successfully in the 1970s. At its peak, the Pop Shoppe was selling 1 million bottles a day at over 1000 locations across Canada. Its product was a discount soda, which could be purchased in cases of 24 bottles where the consumers could mix and match the different flavors to their liking. The Pop Shoppe closed in 1983.
When Alger decided to bring back the Pop Shoppe, he considered the different options. As a manager, he had to examine the many alternatives and make decisions regarding the potential success of the business. He scrutinized the idea of re-opening the Pop Shoppe stores, but decided against it because today’s consumers prefer the convenience of buying their soft drinks at the same store where they get the rest of their groceries. Alger realized that placing the product on the same shelves with the multitude of other sodas would result in failure since the big companies can sell their products for less.
He decided to sell his product using the nostalgia card. Available at various stores, his soda would be a treat, which could bring back the childhood memories for the many who enjoyed it years ago. The retro appeal would attract today’s youth. Since it would be seen as more of a special treat, the higher price would be acceptable to consumers. Alger also decided to keep the original recipe formula to ensure that favorite flavors would taste just as good as they did so long ago. Additionally, he decided to keep the label on the bottle simple and understated. This would make it stand out from today’s busy soda labels. This is another way to play the nostalgia and retro cards.
I’ve chosen to share this story with you because it demonstrates the various responsibilities a manager faces while making business decisions. It also underlines the necessity to have some sort of vision of a direction for the business – clearly a task for a leader. Finally, although the story doesn’t get into any details about Alger working with a team of people, it stands to reason that his journey included placing himself in a leadership role.
Reflect on your own journey as a manager and examine how much of your daily efforts include being a leader. Once you have a better understanding of that ratio, you can tweak and adjust it to better fit it to specific situations.
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/dec2005/id20051216_985463.htm?chan=sb
