Stock Market Sandwich Shop

Category: Business

Published: 04/23/2009 08:16 a.m.

Here is a free business idea. If I knew anything about running a franchise like Jason's Deli, I would run one of these instead. Below is the basic premise.

The Stock Market Sandwich Shop prices its sandwiches based on how well they are selling that day/week (maybe month). There would be a big board that would have prices fluctuation 5 to 10 cents every hour. There would be a ticker with symbols like CLUB and TURK that would show their current price and change over the last day. There would be price floors and ceilings built in so the program running the pricing wouldn't go crazy. There could be an online component using google charts to show historical pricing. The menu's would just have product descriptions without any pricing. And, there could be an override to have specials or promotions if necessary. But, the overall idea is to have

The novelty should attract many people. The .25-.50 weekly fluctuations shouldn't be very taxing to the business or the consumer, and larger fluctuations will actually be a result of free market economics, so if something is really cheap, it is because no one is buying it. And if something is a top seller, people will pay a premium. Overall prices can be increased over time. I imagine having a base price for everything ($2), then a large markup ($6) that can fluctuate +- $1 over larger periods of time. But, the base can be increased to $3, so the overall is now $9 +-$1 instead of $8 +-$1.

The computer program behind it should be fairly basic. You could even do member cards that could track what a person has purchased and for how much. Add an online component, and some people will be motivated to come back to add to their stats.

Aside from the novelty, it is very very important to make good sandwiches, or the whole idea will fail. Don't get cheaper food to increase the profits. Just let the consumers take care of it. If people love it, then prices will rise on their own. If not, then get better ingredients and better food.

This whole idea could be taken even further, but I feel I have explained the basics. What do you think? Would you eat at the Stock Market Sandwich Shop?