Last week I had the task of joining another South African queue, this time at the Home Affairs office in Wynberg. When I got there, I was issued with a queue number: No 92, and told it would be about 2 hrs until I was attended to. So we stood and waited like many of others around us. Now the number system thing allowed us to not have to stand in the actual queue to claim our position, so many wandered off to get breakfast or to browse the local shops in the centre.

One shop caught my attention and perked my interest: a local coffee chop. They say location is the secret to success in retail, and this coffee shop, although small in size was located right next to the Home Affairs office and had a daily captive audience of over 300 people standing waiting right outside their doors. What an opportunity for any small business. But they have just not seen this as any sort of marketing strategy at all. The 4 hours that we were there in the queue (another story for another time) they only had one customer (in picture) who spent a whopping R15 on a take away cup of coffee.

Take a look for a moment at the photo. See the frustrated people in the queue. No look at the coffee shop, nothing, no customers, no invitation to come in, no pleasant greetings at all. Cafe Ombre needs to open their eyes and see what is right outside their doors. The owner/manager sits behind that small curtain area all day doing who knows what and the floor waitress was often just walking around the centre and not even in the shop.

A few marketing strategies are required, here are my suggestions:

• Understand the needs of those in the queue
• Market directly to them with a take away menu that allows then to eat and drink whist in the queue
• Offer them a small discount if they can show their queue ticket
• Co-brand your products with what is on their minds. Something like ID application coffee or passport cheese toasties
• Invite people in to the coffee shop for easy fast meals that they can eat before their number is called

This is just an example of many other businesses that we come across each week that have failed to engage the opportunities that often sit right outside our doors. A simple SWOT analysis exercise will reveal a whole new world for this coffee shop.