Take away what you can, from any situation...

Yesterday, I walked into the local 4 plex theater (hilltop 4 theaters) in Kearney, Nebraska . My wife and I were going to go see Borne Ultimatum, the latest in the Borne series. We get to the theater at 1:30PM and pay our $11.00 for our admission (it is a matinée, so it is a little cheaper than normal). We stroll over to the concessions line preparing ourselves for the $7 feast of a medium popcorn, and a large soda. While we are waiting for our refreshments to come, I look around at this "fine" establishment trying to notice the things they have in the lobby that might be the reason they can charge $20 for 2 people to see a movie (with refreshments of course). ...what, I don't see a video arcade area, I don't see nice comfy and clean waiting benches, I don't see clean flooring that looks like they just cleaned it for me... How can they do this? How can this establishment be worth $20 a couple (during matinée pricing)?

We go and take our seats, and prepare our selves for a sweet action packed movie. It starts, and it is everything I hoped for (besides being able to hear the theater next to ours through the paper thin walls)... ...uhhh, wait a minute... I realize that while I was trying to get some of my money back, by chugging the large soda in hopes of getting as many FREE refills as I can during the movie, that I have to relieve my bladder. This is a good thing, I think to myself, now I will see that the bathroom will be everything I want it to be for the price of admission.

No, it can't be... a total of 3 urinals, 1 of which is broken, dirty floors, and dirty walls. Now, I can understand that because this is a little theater there doesn't need to be 20 toilets in the bathroom, but for the few you do have, please have them working. Take 4 couples admission $ and use it to have a plummer come to your theater and fix your toilet as soon as it breaks. Make people believe that this theater is a well oiled machine and always working.

Probably the most frustrating part about this dirty theater is that they let it be that way. They decided that they are not going to manage their employees to clean "anything" when they don't have a task to do ( They decided to be less than average). The sad part is that most of the people that go in there to watch a movie, wont complain because they don't expect much more in Kearney, Nebraska.

Why Does it have to be like this? Why can't businesses realize that if they were to put a little more effort in (not just to survive, but to be remarkable) that they could possible own the market in that area and surrounding areas? It frustrates me to see the stereotype of small town, mid-west businesses to be true over and over again. Don't get me wrong, this type of "survival only mentality" is everywhere in the US. But in the places where people expect businesses to be that way (small town, small time, and low quality) why don't they push through the extra steps and make the stereotype change? Do they know that they need to change? or that they can change?

I can honestly say that I learn more daily,(the right things to do for my businesses and the wrong things to do) from other businesses examples. Any business that wants to start a change should start with reading the book Purple Cowby Seth Godin.
`chais