Quast

If you want to know what so many Americans are overweight, all you need to do is take a look at all the all you can eat establishments that are popping up all over. The craze is beyond out of control. It's become an absolute epidemic with each place trying to outdo the other in price and selection. If you've never experienced this phenomenon, sit back and take a deep breath. If you love food, you're going to love this review.

All you can eat restaurants are just that. You walk on, pay one price and you can stay as long as you like and eat as much as you like. I guess they figure that most normal people can only eat so much and won't consume more than what they're charging, which is still reasonable in most cases. However, with the stiff competition these days, many of the restaurants are practically giving the food away. It isn't unheard of to walk into one and get an all you can eat buffet for under $10.

So what exactly DO you find at an all you can eat restaurant? Well, that's not an easy question to answer. Unlike other types of restaurants they usually specialize in certain types of foods or at least have a limited selection, all you can eat restaurants have just about anything. And unless you specifically know what a particular restaurant has before you walk in, there is just no way of knowing if they're going to have something that you'll even like eating. Some places will have some kind of a features list posted outside on a sign so you'll at least have some idea. Others will have the kind of food they serve included in the name of the restaurant itself. For example, one place in the states is called "Country Buffet". So you at least have a clue what you're going to find.

The way these places operate are simple. You walk in, pay your fee, which is anywhere from $9 to $20 per person and then find yourself a table. They'll give you a marker for your table that you have to keep there for your entire stay so they know you're still actively eating. After that, you simply walk around the place and pick out the foods you want. Yes, it's self serve. However, they have quite a full staff at these places. You've got the people who have to clean the tables, the people who restock the food trays and the folks who serve you special items that they keep behind counters. These vary from counter to counter. Most of the workers are simply there to restock.

The quality of the food varies from place to place. Some are good, others are just okay. It's hard to find a place where the food is what you would call excellent because they have to cook these things quickly so there's no time to make anything really fancy. So if you're expecting top quality food, you're going to be disappointed. But if you're looking for something that tastes good and is relatively cheap, especially if you're a big eater, then an all you can eat place may be just the thing you need.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Restaurants

I recently returned from representing a client at the annual Cosmoprof Fair, in Bologna, Italy. Cosmoprof is the largest cosmetic show in the world, and the beauty business is all about image. As such, the companies present at this mammoth exposition offer stunning product and technology displays. Many of the stands feel like upscale department stores and boutiques.

My client was a startup business with no sales history, a single item product and limited working capital. This was to be the actual unveiling, the market launch for the product. We rented the smallest booth the management had available. Our location was not ideal as this client was a first time participant.

Nevertheless, despite our inherent limitations we were a rousing success. The booth was constantly crowded. The product was instantly recognized as a significant advance in its category. We were exhausted at the end of each day from demonstrating the products performance features and benefits and discussing business opportunities through translators. We have been consumed with follow up interest and are currently negotiating exclusive country distribution deals with over 40 companies.

While the show was in progress we took particular note of activity in the displays around us. The Cosmoprof set an attendance record this year. Everybody displaying should have been as busy, or busier than my client, especially considering our limitations. However, we spoke to numerous company representatives from all over the world and there seemed to be a prevalent mood of mild disappointment.

Several elements account for the disparate response our single product, shown for the very first time, and with restricted resources, received from this international, very critical clientele, and the disappointment so many fully funded and resource rich businesses experienced. In a word, we made our product look much, much grander than it actually was.

Using stock, off the shelf display pieces we dressed them cleverly with creative graphics. Banners were similarly produced at a fraction of our competitions cost. The branding we created for the product cut instantly through the chaotic clutter of the show environment and resonated with buyers. The product was constantly being demonstrated and the performance benefits we claimed, we proved, at point and time of application. Buyers were amazed that the immediate benefit we guaranteed could be instantly experienced.

My company attends and displays for clients at numerous trade-shows every year in a wide range of consumer product categories. When we work with inventors, entrepreneurs and smaller businesses we stress the importance of appearing to be stronger than you are. At Cosmoprof, if we had simply relied on the great product we knew we had, we would have been much less satisfied with our result. We appeared technologically advanced because we offered a full slate of performance and demonstration benefits that we alone were utilizing.

In todays very hectic consumer product marketplace it is essential that new products offer unique features and benefits. My counsel to entrepreneurs is that there are many ways to stretch limited resources and appear to be a more robust enterprise. Being small offers the unique benefit of being much more nimble and flexible than larger enterprises. Leverage this advantage.

Geoff Ficke has been a serial entrepreneur for almost 50 years. As a small boy, earning his spending money doing odd jobs in the neighborhood, he learned the value of selling himself, offering service and value for money.

After putting himself through the University of Kentucky (B.A. Broadcast Journalism, 1969) and serving in the United States Marine Corp, Mr. Ficke commenced a career in the cosmetic industry. After rising to National Sales Manager for Vidal Sassoon Hair Care at age 28, he then launched a number of ventures, including Rubigo Cosmetics, Parfums Pierre Wulff Paris, Le Bain Couture and Fashion Fragrance.

Geoff Ficke and his consulting firm, Duquesa Marketing, Inc. (http://www.duquesamarketing.com) has assisted businesses large and small, domestic and international, entrepreneurs, inventors and students in new product development, capital formation, licensing, marketing, sales and business plans and successful implementation of his customized strategies. He is a Senior Fellow at the Page Center for Entrep