There are going to be a lot of vans parked on that corner before long.
If I'm these guys, I realize that my moat is weak and do these things:
1. Do not interview with NPR. It isn't like you are driving business. You are only attracting competitors.
2. Park 6 vans outside, each with a different dba so that the market looks saturated.
3. Make a retail space, see if it does better than the vans.
4. Look nation wide for similar geographic anomalies that would create this same pain point. Park a van at one of them and send one of the owners to sit in it. See if money can be made. Repeat.
There are many unemployed people in America right now, it sounds like several dozen can go rent a van and fix the glitch. :-)
It's a common assumption in microecnomics that competition always drives down prices. It doesn't always - every other business knows that starting a price war is suicide, as everyone will lose. The competitors will try to steal business with a similar price, and try to compete on branding and service.
Actually, his best bet is to get a retail space, then get a friend to make a few calls to the cops about suspicious vans around the Chinese embassy, and ask if they are allowed to be there. The legal system is geared against "unofficial" (i.e. poor) business people - itinerant vendors and bugger all rights.
There may be competitors but the initial "branding" will still hold. Guys/gals in blue shirts and red hats and great customer service will differentiate from any would be competitors. Emphasizing the customer service will make sure competition stays away.
How it has come to the point where I'm rebutting the reasonable opinion of a stranger on the internet regarding a business I didn't start, haven't run and don't really know about I'm not sure, but here we go...
One time I went tubing with a friend. We borrowed his brother's vehicle. His brother is a SWAT team member. My friend left the FOB in his pocket and it fell out, given up to the river gods. His brother had the vehicle rigged against hot wired jump starts. Clever fellow.
It was at that moment, and not an instant before, that we started paying attention to "Lock Smith For Hire" and "Jump Start Service" signs. The first guy to pick his phone up was hired.
The guy who came to jump us took an hour to show up, was an ass and didn't really quote us a price or listen to our description of the problem - but heck if he didn't have that car running 5 minutes later.
Point is, when you are down to the felt unexpectedly, you'll take the first option you can get and will judge the service in binary - it did or didn't solve your problem. If I was going to have to go the half mile to BK, but now I don't, that's good customer service.
Ever used a bail bond company to get someone out of jail? Someone had peed on the only unoccupied seat. There were still 4 customers in line ahead of me. I doubt the guys across the street offered much better. They didn't really need to.
You can't advertise in the paper "need help filling out your visa?" and expect a good return. You can't give out free drinks with your return and expect to drive repeats. Your whole business is being a printer at the right place at the right time.
Yes, if one guy wants 3 visas over his life time (they expire, he travels often, etc) then perhaps you can make 'em loyal and garner repeat business. That seems a small-ish portion due to the type of business.
Yes, if there are 10 vans out there and yours offers a free drink with the service, you will get more business until all your competitors copy your offer - then you'll all be giving away that margin, and probably paying a guy to make sure your new offers are more attractive than the other van's offers besides.
You won't drive repeat business by being super nice or wearing matching getups due to the type of business, in my humble opinion. If you are in many other types of businesses this make a lot of sense and should be focused on, but saying "customer service wins every time" seems like an over reach.
To me, a better investment would be great signage/advertising dominance/figuring out who owns that land and buying it/paying who ever owns that land to disallow other vans from parking there/etc.
> You can't advertise in the paper "need help filling out your visa?" and expect a good return.
You probably can at least get a decent return that way - it's how I got my Chinese visa when I went a few years back.
In a lot of major cities near Chinese consulates there are companies that specialize in filling out the forms and waiting in line with you, and many which will offer to have your passport picked up and couriered back to you.
Visas are only good for a year. So there is potential for repeat customers. Just not that large. I'm surprised travel agencies don't do this. I work for a large firm with a captive travel bureau that handles all the paperwork needed for international travel.
Until the competitors realize that people are loyal to the branding of blue shirts and red hats, and start wearing their own indistinguishable blue shirts and red hats to draw in users (how many 'Famous Original Ray's Pizza' joints are there in NYC?). For a company created solely on the premise of convenience, it's going to be difficult to convince new customers to spend the time to figure out that you're somehow the 'real deal' instead of the identical-looking dude standing next to you.
If I'm these guys, I realize that my moat is weak and do these things:
1. Do not interview with NPR. It isn't like you are driving business. You are only attracting competitors.
2. Park 6 vans outside, each with a different dba so that the market looks saturated.
3. Make a retail space, see if it does better than the vans.
4. Look nation wide for similar geographic anomalies that would create this same pain point. Park a van at one of them and send one of the owners to sit in it. See if money can be made. Repeat.
There are many unemployed people in America right now, it sounds like several dozen can go rent a van and fix the glitch. :-)