Demand Vs Supply
The movie Field of Dreams made the expression, “If you build it, they will come.” become world-famous. However, it later became a bit of a joke to describe many new products and companies. This article will expand on Demand vs. Supply.
The implication seemed to be that if you built the thing you dreamed about, others would want it too. It is easy to understand this thinking. After all, The Law of Supply and Demand seems to imply that supply comes first. Created in the 1890s by Alfred Marshall, the Law of Supply and Demand explains pricing in a free market. If supply exceeds demand, then prices will drop. If demand exceeds supply, then prices rise.
Shifting Perspectives on Demand vs. Supply
The Law of Supply and Demand worked very well to describe the price of commodities. The kinds of products that are widely available, like fruits and vegetables, or raw materials like lumber and iron ore. However, the law does not always explain the price of everything. As many business owners painfully discovered, if you build it, no one may come. A good friend of mine and successful entrepreneur put it better. “The Law of Supply and demand is wrong. It’s not supply and demand. It’s demand, then supply. Demand is more important than supply.” Specifically, he was saying that understanding demand is more important than supply is critical for a business owner.
The Power of Prioritizing Customer Demand
Why? Because of the word order. In his book, The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek noticed that people expose their true priorities when they speak. We do this unconsciously. Even CEOs with their meticulously curated conference calls and press releases do this. Sinek noticed that if a CEO talked about (1) profits, (2) shareholders, (3) staff, and (4) customers, in that order – her later behavior would put profits ahead of everything else. And guess who was the lowest priority? That’s right, the customers. Sinek shares multiple examples to make his case. CEO actions align with their spoken word order priorities. Regardless of what they print in pamphlets or marketing material, people talk as they think. When a business leader prioritizes supply over demand, they can shift the company’s attention away from the customer and onto the product and how it is delivered. One consequence of this shift in focus is that operations can become more important than sales or marketing. This makes the attention of the organization inward-focused instead of outward-focused.
As an entrepreneur, I want to own a profitable business. Focusing on the operations of my business ahead of the demand can become a dangerous attention trap. How so? With supply, you control most of the variables. When people focus on what they control it is easy to become lazy and complacent. Prioritizing demand, however, makes you think about how you can influence others to act. Convincing someone who doesn’t work for you (as a customer) to take action is a much harder problem to solve than telling your people what to do. Inspiring customer action, therefore, is where more value is created. My goal in my company is to make sure customer desire drives our business, not our own supply. I have watched this play out over the last 16 years in the mobile video game industry. Most independent mobile video game operators focus on the trailer. Video game trailers are cool! Imagine a living room on wheels filled with flat panel displays and loaded with every kind of video game console.
Delivering Celebrations, Not Just Renting Trailers
If you haven’t seen one you can go to gametruck.com to check them out. The concept is simple. It is easy to imagine towing a trailer to someone’s house for kids to play video games inside. And many owners focus on doing exactly that. Towing a trailer to someone’s house to host a party. As if that is what customers want; a trailer parked in front of their house. I contend that people do not want trailers. Customers want a celebration. In addition, they want a party that is easy, low stress, and most of all fun for their child. Parents are trying to create feelings of belonging, joy, and recognition for their children. The box on wheels is almost immaterial. I noticed that when we started to offer laser tag.
For a few years, we did not offer laser tag, yet people would call up and ask for it. When our sales team told them, “We do not offer laser tag.” The customers would go ahead and book a GameTruck Party with a mobile video game theater. Two thoughts crossed my mind. One, why were we not selling people things they wanted to buy from us? Second, what were they actually buying from us? I mean, we just told them we didn’t have what they were looking for, yet they continued to reserve a trailer with us. It was a clear sign the equipment was not as important as the experience they wanted their child to have.
The Impact of Understanding Customer Demand
From that time, we focused on delivering celebrations (instead of renting trailers). As a result, GameTruck owners have vastly outpaced their competitors in terms of consumer interest. The GameTruck system generates more than 10,000 inbound leads a month. These are calls and form fills from people looking to book a party for their child. Creating demand like this is not easy but has allowed us to become the price leader in every market where we operate. More revenue ensures we can hire the best staff, maintain our equipment, and follow through on our promises. Our dependability may be more valuable than any piece of equipment we use to deliver a party.
By focusing on parent demand, we can align our work to meet it. We created communication systems to increase parental confidence in the GameTruck brand. We train our Game Coaches to understand the parents’ expectations so they can manage them. Finally making sure the party guests have fun, benefits the coaches because of the higher tips they receive.
Scaling Vision and Creating Opportunities
Understanding demand first, made every aspect of our supply better. I am convinced if GameTruck had only been about renting video game equipment, we would not deliver 30,000 parties a year. Understanding our client’s demands has allowed our owners to scale their vision. More than half of GameTruck owners operate multiple units. GameTruck owners lead the industry in full-time managers, a sign of the size teams they employ. Focusing on customer demand not only made our business better but also created more opportunities for the people who run the franchises. It has become clear to me that a thorough understanding of demand is vastly more important than an understanding of supply.
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Summer Family Activities (10 that won’t break the bank)
Summer is for new, fun-filled adventures! Need help coming up with family time ideas that’ll entertain the whole family without spending a lot of money? Are you struggling to come up with activities that would appeal to your kids? Try one (or all) of these awesome ideas!
1. Create & Perform a Summer Play
Tailor this idea to fit your child’s interests. Writing the script, creating the set, acting, and directing all can be explored in this event. Let your child explore their creative side with the dramatic arts in a fun, laid-back way that the whole family and extended family can enjoy.
2. Engage in Squirt Gun Painting for Summer Fun
Unleash the inner artist with this unique approach to painting! You’ll need some paper, an easel, watercolors, and of course, that deadly weapon.
3. Experience Gelly Ball: A Safe and Fun Summer Activity
This safe, fun alternative to airsoft and paintball will entertain your kids for hours. The best part? There’s NO mess! Let us help you create this awesome summer experience with our gear, obstacles, various types of missions, and expert game coaches. Click here to see if your local GameTruck offers Gelly Ball. For more cool information on Gelly Ball, click here.
4. Make a Time Capsule for a Memorable Summer Keepsake
Memories are priceless, and that’s what’s special about this idea. Your kid(s) will love getting to put this together, and will cherish the moment you get to open the capsule as a family in the future.
Bonus Idea: Make a treasure map to where your capsule is buried.
5. Volunteer as a Family in Your Child’s Passionate Summer Cause
Help your child develop their sense of citizenship by volunteering as a family. Let them pick something they are passionate about. From walking dogs at the animal shelter to filling up a blessing box, there are numerous ways that kids can help make the world a better place.
6. Host a Laser Tag Party for Epic Summer Entertainment
Grab some friends and host a Laser Tag Party! Whether it’s for adults, kids, or both, everyone will have a great time! Want help setting up and running the party? Check with your local Game Truck to see if they can help. They offer obstacles to transform your backyard into a thrilling combat arena, taggers, various exciting missions, a game coach to referee, and so much more!
7. Plant an Herb Garden for Summer Learning and Enjoyment
Want to teach your child a valuable life skill for pennies? Grab mason jars or old containers you have around the house, fill with dirt, and select some herbs. Each one presents a different benefit. Allow your child to help you research and pick which ones you’d like to plant. Make sure to store your garden on a windowsill or the patio!
8. Play Flashlight Tag for Nighttime Summer Adventures
Bust out those flashlights for some night-time fun! This game combines tag with hide an seek for a game that kids are sure to love!
9. Craft Your Own Summer Aquarium as a Family Fun Project
This fun craft is a great way to spend the afternoon.
You will need…
- Mason Jars
- Water and Blue Food Coloring
- Decorations: Plastic fish or aquatic life, plastic plants and rocks, and glitter (optional)
Instructions…
- Place rocks, plants, and any other decorations first.
- Fill with water. Add Food Coloring. (If you are using glitter, you may add it now).
- Add your fish.
Gently swirl your craft to watch the aquarium come to life!
10. Break the Summer Heat with Refreshing Water Piñata
Fill up a ballon with water, and get a cool, pleasant surprise when it breaks that doesn’t involve lots of sugar. Your kid(s) will love getting to break this pinata over and over again.
Summer is the perfect time to create new memories everyday as a family! Give your kids a summer they’ll remember for years to come!
For more exciting summer family activities, check out our article on 10 Fun and Affordable Summer Activities for the Whole Family.
5 Free Ideas to Gear Up for Summer
Are you struggling to come up with ideas for what to do this summer? With no school, it can be hard to fill those calendars with exciting things to do. So, don’t get caught empty-handed this summer! Now is the time to start preparing for an awesome summer of memories and entertainment for the whole family. Here are 5 free ways to start preparing for the best summer ever with your kids!
1. Create a STEAM Board
Let’s make learning fun! While we’re all familiar with STEM, a new educational approach is rising in popularity: STEAM or “science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics”. The goal is to make learning fun and exciting while helping kids explore and express their creativity. Through this approach, kids are developing both their left and right brains and having a good time while doing it.
Let your child’s interests guide what activities you pick. For boys like my son who love bugs, an experiment like Rainbow Chromatography Insects would be perfect! (Don’t worry there’s no real bugs:) We get to learn about Chromatography or the separation of a mixture as it passes through another solution, while being artistic with different colors to “paint” our bugs.
STEAM is a popular new educational trend that puts kids and their interests at the center while making learning fun. Plus, we as parents get to look like smarty-pants even if we only learned about it 5 minutes ago!
Check out Pinterest for some great STEAM ideas that your kid would love to try.
2. Ask other Moms
Just like the best recipes can come from grandma, sometimes the best ideas come from fellow moms. Ask your friends for ideas on things that their kids loved. Not only could you discover the next big hit, you may be able to do it with your mom friends and have some time together while the kids play!
3. Follow GameTruck for Summer Fun
Don’t get caught with a boring summer. Let us help you rock this time with a constant flow of exciting ideas to help your kids grow, explore, create, and play. Find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok for a summer that your kids won’t forget!
4. Grab Local Event Calendars for Summer Excitement
Visit some local places like museums, libraries, shops, your community center and others to pick up an event calendar. Many times these places will do free events for the community. Go through and highlight ones that you think your family would be interested in. Use these to fill up your family calendar with free, fun activities to do.
5. Make a Summer Bucket List with Your Kids
Ask your kids what they would like to do this summer. Maybe there’s a new hobby, Game, skill, or place they’d like to visit. By asking for your kids input you are showing that you value their voice and opinion and want to have a great summer with them.
During the summer months, it can be hard to find things to do with the kids that appeal to them. As moms, we want them to be entertained while exploring and growing. The most important element for gearing up for an action-packed summer is being on the look-out for fun and seizing the moment when you find it.
Discover 5 free ways to prepare for an action-packed summer with your kids! From STEAM education to seeking ideas from fellow moms, follow GameTruck for exciting suggestions and explore local events to create a memorable family calendar. Get ready for a summer filled with fun, learning, and cherished memories.
For more tips on creating a memorable summer, check out our article on 10 Fun Summer Activities for Kids.