I used to be strolling my canine within the Boston Frequent right this moment, close to the Embrace. A controversial sculpture is a good place to coach an Australian Shepherd as a result of individuals strategy from all angles within the park with intention. Then individuals decelerate and meander, directionless, making an attempt to know which approach to have a look at the sculpture. Herding canine don’t respect this conduct.

So I work on educating her to depart individuals alone when they aren’t behaving like a correct herd of cattle. I’m a sloppy, inattentive canine coach, so it’s good for me to coach in an space the place the stakes excessive if I don’t concentrate. I make my canine look me within the eye earlier than each deal with, I make her sit when somebody walks near her, I give her small treats despite the fact that my intuition is to provide larger treats as a result of I’d commit a much bigger a part of my mind to a job if somebody had been giving me larger treats.

Two college students got here as much as me with clipboards and mentioned, “Do you have got a second to speak to us?” This isn’t uncommon. If you happen to reside in costly, liberal cities — Park Slope, Santa Monica, Boston — nonprofits rent college students to ask individuals for cash. And the children at all times strategy older girls strolling alone as a result of the children assume everybody else is just too busy to cease. So I make a follow of telling the children to fuck off with a purpose to problem their assumptions about age and gender.

However the college students mentioned, “We’re from Boston College’s enterprise college,” so I couldn’t resist asking what they wished to speak about. They mentioned, “We’re doing market analysis for a brand new restaurant thought in Boston.”

I mentioned, “I can speak with you if you happen to can put up with me educating my canine to not bark at you whereas we speak.” The canine barked at them.

They mentioned, “The restaurant would serve solely soups. Would you be keen on that sort of restaurant?”

I mentioned, “You must do a case research about Souplantation. It was a restaurant in California that catered to individuals with consuming problems and it went bankrupt.”

They mentioned, “Okay. Goodbye.”

What the hell? I wasn’t achieved! To begin with, Boston College’s enterprise college ought to have an entrance examination the place somebody tells the potential pupil that Souplantation went out of enterprise as a result of their shopper base was individuals with consuming problems. And if the potential pupil doesn’t ask, “Why is that?” then the coed is rejected.

However I’ve a lot extra to say a few soup-only restaurant. Individuals who make a meal out of soup are filling up on water: consuming dysfunction (and autistic). And in the event that they drag their associates there, the place has to have bread, and the bread needs to be wonderful and assorted so associates come again, after which core prospects gorge on bread and use soup to throw it up.

However I digress.

Let’s say there’s somebody who doesn’t learn about consuming dysfunction tradition and they’re standing in entrance of a soup-only restaurant. There may be soup on most menus as a result of each tradition has their very own soup. There may be matzah ball soup, turtle soup and gazpacho, and actually, who needs to go to a single restaurant that’s making all of these? It’s like going to Canal road to purchase Luis Vuitton and Chanel and Supreme on the similar $10 sales space. Additionally, as a result of there’s soup on each menu, you are able to do a price-point research and uncover that NO ONE MAKES MONEY ON SOUP.

When my child was little, he as soon as ordered a supersalad. The waitress mentioned, “Huh?” It turned out that he had heard “soup or salad” so usually that he thought it was one factor you bought as a little bit further. And that’s how everybody thinks of soup in a restaurant — as a little bit further freebie. And eating places provide a cup as a result of most individuals don’t desire a bowl as a result of it’s sluggish to eat and Individuals prefer to shovel in meals and Boston is the place you go for American meals. That’s why the number-one factor served in a bowl in Boston is clam chowder: essentially the most doable energy per spoonful.

The easiest way to do market analysis for a soup enterprise is to make a pop-up UberEats enterprise and see if you happen to generate income. There is no such thing as a overhead, you are able to do completely different soups each day, and you may market take a look at quicker through an app the place persons are truly shopping for than strolling round Boston Frequent the place persons are solely guessing what they could purchase. Folks don’t love to do fast correct market analysis as a result of they don’t wish to discover out their thought sucks.

Good market analysis occurs on a regular basis as a result of its life commentary. Whereas I used to be speaking with the scholars, I used to be having a very tough time with my canine. And I made a decision to speak to them as an alternative of take note of my canine. And I reduce my coaching session quick to go house and write this letter to them. If that they had requested me, what I’d have advised them is Boston wants extra canine coaching companies. There are actually none. There aren’t even waitlists. Everybody received pandemic puppies. Not one of the canine are educated by trainers. There’s an enormous backlog and many of the trainers reside exterior of the town as a result of why wouldn’t they?

My dream coach would come to my residence as soon as a day, decide up the canine and possibly as a bonus the coach would have a soup of the day.