Unlike your typical baked goods, cupcakes are constantly rising in popularity – just check this Google Trends for cupcakes to see that even on the web, everything cupcakes are doing pretty well.
Serving cupcakes enthusiasts in the automated way takes the whole cupcake game to a new level. As reported by Huffington Post, less than a week after Sprinkles Beverly Hills announced its very first cupcake automat in Los Angeles, US, it is running so well today.
To see how things work with the cupcake dispenser, check out this Huffington Post video:
Interesting, indeed! And a great business concept, too. Sprinkles knows that, too – the company has announced that they will establish new cupcake ATMs in midtown, downtown and the Upper West Side, LA. They also aim for New York as the next location for the 24-hour cupcake dispenser.
Gotta try those cupcakes myself! (Hmm… or should I license those and open the cupcake ATM here in where I live?)
Lessons learned from Sprinkles
1. Go niche
In both online and brick-and-mortar business, go general is obsolete; there’s no other way for entrepreneurs to turn lucrative small business ideas into realities than those that operates in niche, under-served markets.
2. Ride on trends
Cupcakes? Trendy and lucrative. Period. Ask Google (or ask Siri?).
3. Answer problems
When your business give answers to “problems”, you are halfway to success. Sprinkles see this well and as people are busier than ever, getting into a cupcake shop would not be that convenient, especially if you need to stand in a line. Cupcakes automat? Now that’s convenient, fast food – baked food, that is.
4. Business automation
Cupcake ATM is, obviously, automated. As a big fan of vending machine business and passive income generation, I definitely fave on Sprinkles’ business concept.
So, there you go – here’s the ultimate lesson learned: When you suddenly have this “eureka!” moment, don’t dismiss it; write it down, and try exploring deeper into it, see whether it is indeed a great small business ideas – and go for it. That’s all about entrepreneurship, I suppose…
Ivan Widjaya
A new fan of cupcake ATM
P.S. Thanks to Brenda Curtis for the share on the Sprinkles cupcake ATM story on Google+!