No more lunsj for Oslo

This Wednesday Rainmaking decided to end the test of our lunch concept in Oslo. I was one of the three dedicated people on this test, and it is with great regret to us all that we stop the trial phase.

Everything looked so good in the early summer and until the beginning of August: We soon got our first three customers, and as many of the visited companies showed great interest in our products and responded positively, we started to believe that we were on to something.

Unfortunately, there the picture changed. There is no doubt that the financial crisis has had an impact, but it is definitely not the full explanation for the lack of results. The crisis emphasised some differences between the lunch cultures in Copenhagen and Oslo, which not even we could cater for with our unique lunch concept. In Oslo people do not have the same expectations to their lunch as the Copenhageners. It is a small meal with no major importance to the Norwegians.

We tried all sorts of approaches:

1. Delivering free test lunches to potential customers

2. Maximum flexibility when changing between the kitchens

3. Various strategies for booking meetings and execution of sales meetings

4. A selection of both gourmet and mores simplistic lunches

But none of this helped. After two and a half month we had only four customers and a target of fifteen and therefore decided to end the test. Despite the result we are actually quite proud of the test period. We have carried out a highly professional and systematic examination of the market potential and have responded creatively and flexibly to the changes in market signals. Throughout the test period we kept working within the boundaries of the resource- and task limits that were set for the phase. Anyone who has worked with entrepreneurship will recognise this as being quite an achievement in itself.

So what did we/I learn? 

1. Set clear goals for the test of concepts/projects

2. Keep a constant focus on the wildly important

3. Postpone costs which are not linked to the wildly important activities

4. Remain flexible and be willing to change your product portfolio

5. Keep an emotional distance to your product (kill your darlings, if necessary)