Now you may feel you’ve got a plan of what you need to do to create value. Well, do we know what value is really?

I’d anoint it as creating a connection worthy of Nostalgia.

To remain a viable business in the era of sky-high rentals and rapidly changing trends, we must connect with our users on a singular, very important issue - one that allows them to evangelise our brand. We have to back up our brand’s spokespeople by constantly delivering and innovating on that one promise that we make.

Let’s take the example of Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, which has persistently been unequivocal on its promise to offer Single Estate Arabica from Indian farms. They engage you while serving as well as teaching you how to brew these coffees. They send out regular emails when they launch new blends or introduce new farms. Their social media, among other things, constantly creates a product aspiration and addresses various brewing methods, allowing those who care to form their base of loyal followers. These followers, in turn, become their purveyors of the one strong issue to connect on. Today, as they grow to multiple cities, they don’t waver when it comes to delivering on their one brand promise - freshly roasted single estate Arabica beans, which make for excellent coffee.

When you know what you sell, customers also know what they buy. We must develop such a relationship with our audiences to build truly valuable businesses, regardless of whether it’s a coffee shop, ramen bar, or nightclub. While maintaining a consistent offering, we realise that our customers start noticing the smallest changes in our efforts - menu, ambience, or staff. This is a sign that you are recognized for what matters. They are connected with us, they care if we shut shop. Ask anybody who’s shut down their food business if they could pinpoint why their customers cared for them, or rather, even if they did at all - their answer will not surprise you.