The Competition

There's been a new vendor at the market and I view it with mixed emotions, mainly because he is direct competition with our product. There has been a shortage of food vendors so the manager needs to bring in someone to fill the void. The new guy is fairly established and sells ethnic food with a variety of offerings. He has a fairly big operation and he is the consummate salesman, constantly pitching his product, unlike us, who are more low-key. Either way, for whatever reason, he has been placed directly next to us, and there are pluses and minuses to this.

Of course the problem arises when people are drawn to him rather than us. Also, as I mentioned, he's constantly pulling people in, which is a bit of a drag. However, there are other things to consider. First off, having a healthy market helps all of us, and if a vendor draws people to the market, then theoretically we should all benefit. Secondly, drawing people to him also means exposure for us, because some people will initially come to see his stuff and my decide they want a falafel, as well. Finally, he's a pretty nice guy and gives us free food, though for the record, he's a total salesman, and sometimes you have to sift through the charm to get to what is sincere. No matter, we're not here to share weekends in the Cape, and as I said, he seems like a nice decent guy.

For now it doesn't seem like it's been too painful in terms of sales, and again, though there is overlap on our products, we do offer a somewhat different experiences. Plus, we have some loyal customers who want a falafel, and in the end, you have to deal with reality. You can't fret over someone cutting into your territory because that's a fact of life. You just have to keep plugging along and do what you do best, rather than hope that life will always throw you an ideal scenario... or something like that.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Sarah East for the pic.