Small Business Labs

FEBRUARY 21, 2019

It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the food delivery industry.    The furor over tipping overshadowed a lot of news showing that the food delivery industry continues to boom.   The furor over tipping overshadowed a lot of news showing that the food delivery industry continues to boom.

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Small Business Labs

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Industry clusters are place where there is a concentration of companies and services related to a particular industry.    The best know example is the tech industry cluster in Silicon Valley.      The chart below shows PWC's 2040 forecast of the largest clusters by industry.

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Small Business Labs

APRIL 5, 2018

We think the key quote from the report is: “You can create your restaurant on wheels for $50,000 to $60,000. We've long covered the food truck industry and in 2012 released what is still our favorite study,  Food Trucks Motor into the Mainstream, in partnership with Intuit. .  See the report for the complete list.

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Small Business Labs

APRIL 24, 2017

  The Quartz article An Uber model for manufacturing is ready to upend the industry  covers the distributed manufacturing company MakeTime. Xometry (tagline: Manufacturing on Demand) has an online platform connecting small to medium sized manufacturers with customers in a wide range of industries.

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Small Business Labs

AUGUST 4, 2020

This will likely result in leaner staffing in retail stores, restaurants, factories, and other places where companies have invested in labor-saving automation systems.

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Small Business Labs

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

.  But my favorite example comes from Samsung's article Using Samsung Gear VR to Revolutionize the Restaurant Experience  and illustrated in their picture below. I know I can't wait to wear a VR headset at my favorite restaurant.  Also expect it to be increasingly used in vertical industrial applications.

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Small Business Labs

APRIL 4, 2017

As we pointed out in the 2008 Intuit report The New Artisan Economy : … by the beginning of the 21 st century, ownership of large-scale infrastructures no longer determined business success in a growing number of industries. Because of this, a recent article by the CEO of the coworking chain Industrious grabbed our attention.

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Small Business Labs

JULY 23, 2014

. The "lolly" end of the lollipop denotes the average mix part-time due to economic reasons versus part-time due to non-economic reasons by industry in 2013.  The size of the "lolly" represents the size of the industry and the bottom of the stem shows the mix in 2007. 

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Small Business Labs

JULY 31, 2012

.   And the response from brick and mortar restaurants is a classic example of how incumbent industry participants tend to respond - by using their political power to try and fend off the innovative new firms.   Business model innovation refers to taking a new approach to an existing business or industry.

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Small Business Labs

MARCH 27, 2013

.  Key quote from the owner of DC food truck Curbside Cupcakes:  "These regulations will kill the food truck industry in the city as we know it." Industry incumbents often respond to innovative newcomers by using their political power to influence the regulatory process to constrain new entrants.

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Small Business Labs

OCTOBER 17, 2013

Industry incumbents and government agencies often respond to innovative newcomers by using regulatory processes to constrain the new entrants.   What I find surprising is how long it took for industry incumbents - and especially the hotel industry - to do this. In other industries incumbents have moved much more quickly.

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Small Business Labs

AUGUST 5, 2013

But due to heavy pressure from existing restaurants, the city is putting strict limitations on food truck numbers and operations.  Brick and mortar restaurants don't like the competition and are using their political power to try and fend off food trucks. .   Food Trucks/Mobile Commerce'

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Small Business Labs

FEBRUARY 25, 2013

As we state in our food truck research report , we think the food truck industry will continue to substantially expand for at least the next 3-5 years. These areas provide new business opportunities for the industry.   And given the size of the fast food industry - over 200,000 U.S. Our reasons are: 1.  

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Small Business Labs

JULY 16, 2012

  For those outside of the tech industry, the lean startup movement is based on quickly and inexpensively creating a product that can be tested with customers.  Food trucks are much cheaper to start and can get to market much faster than brick and mortar restaurants. We were a bit skeptical, but he quickly convinced us.

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Small Business Labs

MARCH 18, 2013

As readers of our report on the food truck industry already know, one of the major appeals of food trucks is they are a lot cheaper to start and operate than brick and mortar restaurants. According to site, their goal is to enable a broader set of people to become small business owners.

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Small Business Labs

AUGUST 10, 2012

This trend is part of the maturation of the food truck industry.  I think it's safe to say if the Pineapple Express is successful, Choy will create a brick and mortar restaurant in LA. .  I think it's safe to say if the Pineapple Express is successful, Choy will create a brick and mortar restaurant in LA.

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Small Business Labs

NOVEMBER 11, 2013

.  As another New York Times article - Where the Private Sector's Gain Are - points out: service industries have driven job growth in the recovery, adding 2.1 million jobs over the past year — 177,000 last month alone.

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Small Business Labs

MARCH 21, 2013

It also nicely covers the key reasons people like to start food trucks instead of a traditional brick and mortar restaurant: Setting up a food truck is quicker, cheaper, and less risky, making it an easier business for chefs to break into.

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Small Business Labs

JULY 20, 2012

 According to the NPD Group  there are about 600,000 restaurants in the U.S.  This would mean there are 5 food trucks for every brick and mortar restaurant. It's almost always hard to find good numbers on new industries or new markets. This seems unlikely to me.    The U.S. Census concurs.

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Small Business Labs

JANUARY 21, 2014

These groups are the organizers behind many of the current labor battles going on in the food service and retail industries.   One of the best known, and most controversial, Alt-Labor groups is the Restaurant Opportunities Center. They're also drivers of the push for higher minimum wages.

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Small Business Labs

OCTOBER 16, 2012

.   HIs work shows that for every new high wage job created in an area’s exporting industries, five additional new jobs are created in that metro area - three of which are for workers who have not attended college.

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Small Business Labs

NOVEMBER 22, 2011

  It's a 9 story building with over 80,000 square feet housing multiple coworking spaces, a restaurant, events spaces, traditional office space and even hotel rooms.    It's hard to see how the industry and movement could scale and serve a large segment of the potential market with just small spaces. 

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Small Business Labs

JUNE 22, 2010

  A good idea for any business, Hartman uses the example of Skillet (see their Airstream mobile restaurant on the right), who got the idea for their popular "bacon jam" from a customer.   They listen to their customers.  Bacon jam sounds disgusting to me.  "  3. 

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Small Business Labs

JUNE 30, 2010

Bartz: They want to see more local content – things within a five to 10 mile radius that people want to know what's going on, like coupons and restaurants. .  From the WSJ article: WSJ: What kinds of content do Yahoo users want to see more of? That is part of how we operate now online. Web/Tech women work/life balance

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Small Business Labs

MAY 28, 2010

  Restaurants and others use it to source local food; local farmers use it sell product.  The fees are quite reasonable - full service packages start at $695 per season. While on the topic of urban farming, I want to mention Local Dirt.    It is an eBay-like website where you can find, buy and sell local food. 

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Small Business Labs

JANUARY 8, 2014

The Wall Street Journal's Waiting Tables at Top-Tier Restaurants is New Career Path for Foodies  covers how waiting tables, at least at the growing number of expensive restaurants, has become an attractive career option. High end restaurants are a good example of this trend.

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