GAINING YOUR UNFAIR SHARE

It is widely accepted that capturing a more dominant share of a market leads to enjoying higher profits over those you compete with. Both economic theory and empirical evidence confirm that, as sales volumes increase, so do profits as economies of scale come into play. Gains can be made across purchasing, production, warehousing, staffing, logistics, marketing and more.

This is all accelerated by a business now able to invest in better equipment and automation that lowers unit costs. One that is increasingly attractive to larger, more lucrative customer accounts wanting fuller services and more competitive pricing. Those customers are supported by highly skilled and professional individuals wishing to work for a more market-dominant company that is able to offer highly attractive salaries and a better working environment.

However, high market share can also bring a few headaches as those now dominant companies are even more tempting targets for actual and potential competitors that may have previously ignored you until you stuck your head above the parapet. This forces many dominant companies to make decisions and manage their operations with much more care and be more mindful of risks that were not present before.

So, when it comes to market share, many believe that the goal should not be to gain your unfair share but rather to gain optimum market share. A point at which there is a balance between market share, profitability and risk. The point where, if you venture beyond it, there is insufficient additional profit and quantifiable benefits to compensate for the added risks you would expose your business to. Gaining your unfair share is not always the best venture.

The majority of companies that analyse their market position generally conclude that they are operating below optimum share. They are not fully exploiting what they already have and the potential economies of scale that currently exist, reflecting an opportunity for many reading this article.

A few identify that they have, in fact, overextended themselves and now understand, maybe for the first time, why profit has been so elusive and the need to actually reduce market share. Often, by simply eliminating marginal customers to bring things back into balance, the business may find a better way forward.

Another aspect of this is developing share of customer. Whilst they do buy from you, few customers give you all their business. So, alongside attracting new profitable customers to grow market share, the focus should also be on ensuring each buys from you to the exclusion of your competitors. It’s a guaranteed way to rapidly increase your profitability with increased customer loyalty, recommendations, and referrals as a bonus.

So don’t simply chase market share; being the biggest is not always the best. Focus on your optimum share, the level at which your business can profit, reduce risk, serve your customers well, and profit from their loyalty and support.

Words: James Rayner

A Swiss Caf In Edwardian Ryde

In the year 1900, Lilian Kate Garrett closed her bakery at Number 1, Union Street, Ryde, folding up her apron, putting out the lights, and locking the door for the very last time. She was moving her business to 184 High Street, where she’d continue to bake her malt, Coburg, and Vienna bread, make cakes on request, and open a tea room, too. Meanwhile, Number 1, Union Street would stay empty and unused until a new tenant came forward in 1901, intending to turn the tall, curving building at the bottom of the hill into a stylish Swiss Café. His name was Bartolomeo Albertolli.

Born in southern Switzerland in 1871, he came from the rural and mainly Italian-speaking region of Ticino, an area characterised by mountainous Alpine landscapes, abundant vineyards, and a cuisine closely linked to that of Italy. At the age of 14, Bartolomeo moved to London, working long hours as a waiter at well-known city restaurants including Monico, Gatti’s and the Café Royal in Regent Street. By 1893, he’d saved up enough money to start his own venture, so, together with his older brother Baptiste, Bartolomeo moved to Portsmouth and the pair set up their first Swiss Café at 111 Commercial Road.

Serving continental-inspired food, with first-class service, in an opulently decorated interior, the Albertolli brothers’ business was an instant success, with up to 150 customers a day and the restaurant’s kitchen producing 12,000 meals a year. However, not everything in Portsmouth was plain sailing.

Bartolomeo and Baptiste applied year after year for a wine and beer licence for their Swiss Café, but their application was repeatedly refused. With no option of selling alcohol on the premises, one waiter, from January to September 1897, “had to go out to purchase liquor no less than 4,540 times for 9,689 customers”. Bartolomeo also presented the board with a petition in favour of the licence, signed by seven town councillors and 160 local tradesmen, but again their application was refused, and it wasn’t until 1899 that the Albertolli brothers finally got their licence.

After eight years of building a successful enterprise in Portsmouth with Baptiste, Bartolomeo sensed an opportunity to branch out on his own. His attention turned to the Isle of Wight, specifically Ryde, where Garrett’s former bakery at the bottom of Union Street had just become available. By April 1901, the shop had been transformed into “a first class restaurant in the West End style” with skilled chefs and efficient waiters, all “with London experience”. It opened to the public as Albertolli’s Swiss Café, with Bartolomeo’s surname proudly painted across the building’s facade, supposedly the best restaurant in town for “breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, teas and suppers”.

The kitchen was led by Swiss-born chef Carlo Manghera, who cooked the soup, fish, joints, and poultry that were a regular feature on the Albertolli menu. Bartolomeo supervised front-of-house proceedings, whilst 19-year-old Italian barman Elton Tomasim assisted with the high-brow selection of wines, and Roncelli Romeo acted as waiter. Quickly gaining a reputation for its “excellent cuisine”, Bartolomeo’s new venture proved so popular with the locals that the business would expand into Number 2, Union Street within months of opening.

Outside the restaurant, Bartolomeo catered for a number of events and celebrations, including a “luncheon” for members of the Isle of Wight Gun Club, followed by an afternoon tea in their grounds, where a “great number of ladies” put in an appearance. He also donated to the Royal Isle of Wight

County Hospital on the outskirts of Ryde and for a number of years gave money towards the Town Cup — a trophy to be sailed for at the Royal Victoria Yacht Club’s annual regatta.

However, following five successful years in Ryde, 1906 would see Albertolli’s Swiss Café suddenly close its doors. Bartolomeo’s newborn daughter Nellie passed away before reaching her first birthday, and on top of that his own health was deteriorating too. It was decided he should leave the country for a change of climate, and so the Union Street premises were transferred to two brothers from Wandsworth, although it never prospered as it had before.

Following a break of two years (and presumably in better health), Bartolomeo did return to business once again, this time back in Portsmouth, opening a Continental Café at 63 Commercial Road in 1908. Following the same formula as before, it was another successful enterprise, and despite being shaken by bombs in the Second World War, it stayed in operation until 1971, when the building was demolished as part of the city centre’s redevelopment. When Bartolomeo passed away at the age of 80, the Portsmouth papers remembered him as a well-known and well-respected figure, responsible for bringing “continental cuisine to Portsmouth” and as someone who was usually seen with a red carnation in his buttonhole and a cigarette in his hand.