“Pop-Up business”, The term itself sounds so unusual. But what does this mean? what type of a business is this? After researching, i understood that pop-up businesses are basically temporary businesses capitalizing on a current trend, or “testing the waters”. If It is uncertain to many if their value proposition will be sustainable in the long-term, resulting in a pop-up is a low-cost method of trying out the business.
“Being a pop-up is a way to know this is a business you want to be in, and to find out if people will keep coming back.”
To understand and analyse this form of business, i decided to apply the case study method. The link above refers to an Ethiopian business which adopted this model. It is a pop-up bar. In a country where there is uncertainty in this particular market and ho consumers would respond to the bar, i feel the owners made the right decision to start as a pop-up. However, I decided to use a SWOT to further analyse this.
| STRENGTHS: -Can test the market -Low investment risk -Flexibility -Easy to exit the market -room for negotiation and possible avoidance of red tape -Easy to start (less legal formalities) |
WEAKNESSES: -Hard to establish a brand name as it seems temporary -Competition from bigger businesses in the same industry |
| OPPORTUNITY: -Can start it any markets due to low risk -Being a pop-up can be the initial Point of difference and allow the business to earn a loyal customer base. |
THREATS: -Government regulations -Changing fashions and tastes |
This would lead me to support my initial thinking, a Pop-up seems like a good way to start a business especially in markets where there is great uncertainty.
