The

Entrepreneurial

Code

Lessons from an

Ivy League Entrepreneur

Chapter Twelve

“If only we’d stop trying to be happy, we’d have a pretty good time.” – Edith Wharton

 

Even after the Bullfrog Card was up and running, Jonny remained frustrated by its progress.  Somehow, it continued to feel like a class project, rather than a “real” business.  In Johnny’s mind, operating a small business on the school’s campus didn’t seem substantial enough to qualify them as “real entrepreneurs.”  For Johnny, the Bullfrog Card had to be a stepping-stone to something bigger.  Unfortunately, he didn’t exactly know what that “something” would be.

As full-time students, Johnny and his partners juggled their course loads with their new responsibilities as business owners.  For example, they arranged their class schedules, so someone would always be available to sit in the office in case customers came by.  Abe, who was the most responsible among them, also did a lot of the operational chores like paying bills and depositing checks.  Johnny continued to recruit new merchants who didn’t yet accept the card. 

Maverock and Johnny also spent a lot of time coming up with new marketing strategies.  They learned how to use graphic design programs, so they could design their own advertising campaigns.  Abe, who had taken a photography class, began orchestrating photo shoots for their marketing materials.  Suddenly, Johnny and his partners began to view themselves as not just as an alternative meal plan, but also as a college marketing company.

Their marketing approach was aggressive, and freshmen were easy targets for their ad campaigns.  They ran full-page ads in the school newspaper with the slogan, “The Cafeteria Wasn’t Even Cool in High School.” Underneath the title was a picture of Johnny eating alone in the main freshmen cafeteria surrounded by empty tables and chairs.  Underneath the picture, it read, “Don’t eat alone.  Get the Bullfrog Card.” 

Their marketing seemed to work.  There was even an article in the school newspaper that directly attributed lost business at the cafeteria to the Bullfrog Card program.  No wonder Business Services grew to dislike Johnny and his partners so much.  They were terrorizing the cafeteria business.

It was reported in the school newspaper that “[The school’s] dining services took a blow” as “students altered or cancelled their extended contracts as soon as they could.”  The article went on to comment: “But some students have apparently been asking if Dining could automatically transfer the refund to a Bullfrog Card account – a logistical impossibility that would also mean Dining was literally giving money to a competitor.”

The Bullfrog Card was also impacting the University’s plans for its new U-Card program.  Another article reported in the school newspaper was titled “Will U-Card battle Bullfrog Card?” It discussed the results of an informal survey done by the reporter with local Bullfrog Card merchants.  The report follows:

“An informal survey revealed that out of a dozen businesses that were surveyed already accepting the Bullfrog Card, only three said that they would like to take the U-Card, while four said they wouldn’t and five said they weren’t sure.” 

The article then went on to quote Thomas Lee, manager of the Beijing Café who said he “would consider” buying the U-Card equipment, but stressed that he won’t drop the Bullfrog Card because it has “increased business and already attracted some steady customers.”

Johnny and his partners believed they were on their way to becoming an essential service to the community, and with their success came more sophisticated promotions.  For the school’s homecoming football game, the partners bought promotional insurance for a new BMW convertible, which they offered to give away if randomly selected students could kick field goals at half time.  Of course, the stipulation was that the students had to be registered Bullfrog Card members. 

With every new promotion, more restaurants began joining the Bullfrog Card system.  Not doing so was starting to negatively impact their businesses.  Restaurant owners hated it when customers placed an order and then said, “Oh, you don’t take Bullfrog Card?” and then walked away.  Before long, merchants, who had been smug, began pleading with Johnny to join the program.  The power had shifted.  “You want to start a restaurant in this town, first you got to stop by our offices and sign up here first!” Maverock would proclaim around the office. 

Maverock and Johnny were constantly coming up with new promotions, circulating flyers, and announcing new stores that accepted the Bullfrog Card.  They even expanded their services, so the Bullfrog Card could be used to pay for taxis with Yellow Cab Taxi Company.  They reasoned that parents wouldn’t mind the small deviation from the meal plan in the name of student safety. 

During that first year of the Bullfrog Card, approximately 40% of the freshmen class were members.  Before long, Johnny had 80% of the restaurants in the area on the program.  The partners had over $200,000 in sales and over $2 million in deposits from cardholders.  Things were going pretty well – and Johnny and his partners were gaining confidence that they knew how to run a successful business.

Copyright  2005 by Chris Cononico
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