VANCOUVER -- In just under three years, Michael Coderre has built his Vancouver restaurant chain, Soup etc!, into an enterprise with nine outlets and a manufacturing plant in the city's downtown core.
From the outset, his plan was to do for gourmet soup what Starbucks Co. had done for coffee, taking an every day consumable and getting customers to look at it in a different way.
"Comparisons to Starbucks are a bit of a stretch, but that is what we hoped to do," said the 43-year-old entrepreneur, who was involved in several business ventures prior to launching Soup etc! in May, 2001.
In many respects, Mr. Coderre is a prime example of how someone can take an idea for a small venture and expand it to a wider market.
But he strongly advises anyone thinking of trying something similar to do a lot of research and planning before starting to execute any plan.
It is also a good idea, he says, to establish a set of guiding principles.
In Soup etc!'s case, the company set out to provide its customers with value, quality, choice, and health.
To be successful, it is vital to know what you are good at and where your weaknesses lie, he said.
"Try to bring in people that can fill in the holes in terms of what you might lack in terms of practical experience," he said.
Mr. Coderre had no previous experience in the restaurant business when he started working on a business plan for Soup etc! in 2000.
But he recognized that Starbucks had built a global coffee enterprise by developing a new market for a product that already exists.
Thinking he could do the same for soup, he and his partners began by targeting a customer base that they imagined would be comprised of health-conscious women between the ages of 28 to 35.
Soup etc! hoped to capture that market by offering speedy service, and a depth of choice that might not be available elsewhere in the downtown area at a price that customers might consider to be good value.
The company has developed a roster of 45 soups, including chilis and chowders, which are free of preservatives and are served with a choice of salad or a sandwich.
As part of the image upgrade, the soups have been given funky names like "Tomatoes with a Tan," and "Uh . . .What's up doc?" and "Some Like it Hot."
It has also made the ingredients and calorie counts available for anyone who wants to inspect them.
So far, the plan appears to be working.
At about midday recently, a Soup etc! outlet in an atrium below Vancouver's Bentall towers was doing brisk business.
But based on his experience so far, Mr. Coderre said he may have underestimated the size of the potential market for what his outlets are offering.
"There is a lot more interest out there in what people are eating than we had recognized," he said.
He said he didn't realize, for example, that vegetarians would be attracted to his restaurants because they offer a wide selection of non-meat items.
"We are getting an awful lot more younger people then we expected," he said.
In the next 15 months, he hopes to increase the number of gourmet soups on his menu to 70, and increase the number of outlets in Vancouver to 26.
In addition to adding stores and moving beyond British Columbia, he hopes to add new products such as "grab-and-go" salads, gourmet sandwiches and cook books.
"If you don't change your product mix, you start to bore people," Mr. Coderre said.
Ultimately, his aim is to increase the value of every transaction at each of the restaurants.
Achieving that goal, he says, will depend on the ability of new franchise operators to get their customers thinking about soup outside the lunch hour.
He hopes to do that by offering related products like wide-mouth flip cups.
These would be similar to coffee cups, but would permit customers to take their soup back to work or have it while they are travelling.
Meanwhile, as he looks ahead to what Soup etc! can become, Mr. Coderre sees an increasing need to seek out experienced partners and to bounce ideas off outside consultants.
"Anyone who is contemplating something similar should not be afraid to get together with people who are prepared to throw out ideas that may sound crazy," he said.
"They may turn out to be the next big thing," he said.
The company has tried to make it as easy as possible for entrepreneurs with little or no related experience to come in and run one of the Soup etc! franchises.
But new operators will be warned about the challenges they are likely to face.
"People should be mindful of the fact that soup is still soup," he said.
"If people aren't in a soup mood, it doesn't matter."
© The Globe and Mail
Only GlobeinvestorGOLD combines the strength of powerful investing tools with the insight of The Globe and Mail.
Discover a wealth of investment information and and exclusive features.
