Tina established an inner city café 18 months ago. The tiny café seats 14 and is situated in a busy trading strip for shopping enthusiasts.

Tina knows the strip well, having worked there in various retail boutiques over the past 7 years. It attracts a large volume of visitors and offers ample public car parking due to nearby supermarkets, a gymnasium and a university.

Tina now has a loyal clientele group and revenue is increasing. But it has not been all plain sailing.

'Although this is a busy strip, we are nestled amongst a dozen other cafés who all basically offer the same thing' acknowledges Tina. 'We offered gourmet sandwiches, latte and éclairs – but so did everyone else.'

'At first we were servicing all types of customers but they seemed to be mainly one off purchasers. So I started to look at focusing on two particular customer groups – obviously the main types of customers that would spend more at my café'.

Tina decided to target busy young local workers and university students in their twenties. These customers were 'on the go' and largely health conscious, so Tina needed to target her products accordingly. In addition to coffee and gourmet sandwiches, she started to offer herbal teas, freshly squeezed fruit juices and vegetarian meals.

The change worked. Stressed out university students were sipping on peppermint teas during lecture breaks and office workers were drinking juices with their vegan meals and soy inspired dishes. Tina had created her competitive edge.