This weekend I got the chance to check out the wonders of the naturally formed ice caves on Crystal Beach. This cold winter allowed Lake Erie to freeze over completely, creating amazing ice caves in the process.
Although Crystal Beach is a bustling summer destination, this tends to be their off-season. It was evident from the drive in that the city was not used to this level of activity.
The final stretch to the beach took 45 minutes, when it usually takes 15 or less because of all of the traffic. I was curious to see how many seasonal businesses would be capitalizing on all of the new potential customers.
By the time we reached our destination, I desperately needed to ‘use the facilities’. I found a restaurant and we vowed to return after we utilized sunlight hours. (It was empty at the time…)
The ice caves were definitely cool, but there were too many people to get many good pictures.
On the way out, we noticed a gathering of firemen and police. A snowmobile had also caught fire on the ice, so we figured that’s why they were there. It turned out, shortly after we left they evacuated everyone because the ice had become unstable.
When we returned to the restaurant it was PACKED and the staff was completely overwhelmed. We waited 10 minutes for them to notice us to bring us menus and clean our table. We were then notified they had already sold out of many menu items. (Apparently their wing special sold out in 26 minutes.)
The prior patrons who sat at our table left a 50¢ tip on a $50+ bill. It was clear that although I understood the staff were simply inundated with sudden tourists, others didn’t feel the same empathy.
The experience really got me thinking about being prepared in business. The best-laid plans in business can always be thrown off by too much business. Some would say that’s not a bad problem to have, but it can backfire.
Although Crystal Beach is prepared for high-activity in the summer season, nature’s brilliance and the subsequent media coverage made the city completely lost when a huge influx of off-season opportunity arrived.
In business, it’s essential to have your future vision mapped out, as well as the systems and processes in place to allow you to scale. We all want our businesses to flourish, but growing too quickly can lead to customer service issues or worse.
If your business became an ‘instant success’ (after 10 years), would you be prepared for all of the activity?
Update: They have decided to destroy the caves, thus ending the impromptu ‘second season’ for Crystal Beach.
© Tamara Smith, DemGen Inc. 2014
Image courtesy of theweathernetwork.com
