According to Guardian, most people have been confusing purveyors and sandwich shops for deli. In fact, most of the owners actually refer to their shops as delis despite the fact that their products are totally different. So, what should a truly great deli look like? Here are some golden tips on how to open and run a great deli.

A deli in NY – Source

A Sandwich Shop is not a Deli.

First, Delis should never shrink wrap or precut their cheese. This is a sign that the owners are not focused enough or are just lazy. It’s also important to note that sandwich shops are totally different from delicatessens despite the fact that most of them have a theme and personality that is similar to the latter. Using chutney based boxes, cheese boards, biscuits, cookery book is not enough to convert a sandwich shop into a deli, so if you spread premade tuna mayonnaise on white sliced bread don’t call yourself a deli.

Have Excellent Communication Skills

To run a great deli, you need to have excellent communication skills. This will significantly help you to disseminate information to customers in the right manner, when it comes to little known food products, just label everything so the customers know what they are getting. Otherwise, wrong or little information  will just chase customers away. You are better of hiring personnel who understand the various terminologies and have ability to confidently describe them correctly. You should train your staff and your workers should have an excellent knowledge of the cheeses and wines that you stock.

Label Products! And Design Products Label!

All the products should be well labeled to avoid confusion. This is very easy as all you have to do is stick a label beside or on the product. That way, your customers will be able to identify the products much faster without necessarily consulting personnel at the shop. More importantly, the labels should be well designed to grasp the attention of potential customers.

Serve Fresh Products Always.

One of the supreme differences between a professionally run deli and its counterparts is that the best always serves fresh products that are meticulously prepared by experts from scratch. This will go a long way in ensuring that customers get value for their money at all times. Also, serving freshly prepared products will help you compete effectively with other players in this niche and establish your business as an authority.

Maintain High Levels of Transparency and Diligence

Transparency and diligence are some of the core attributes that clients look out for when categorizing and choosing delis. Based on this fact, ensure that your products are fairly priced to avoid losing customers. For example, never double the price of vegetables just because your staff had to clean and trim them. The products also need to be unique and capable of meeting the specific needs of the clients. Otherwise, copying products from other similar enterprises is counterproductive and ineffective in helping you achieve long term goals.

Specialize in Several high quality well Researched Products

Well, it is a good idea to sell a wide variety of products to meet diverse clients’ needs. However, a great deli entrepreneur understands the need to not only specialize in particular product but also provide additional items such rice, pasta, tinned tomatoes and garlic. Remember, the best deli should be able to provide practical alternative to what supermarkets offer but with a twist.

It is extremely important that you research and find your own products and do not stock what everyone else is stocking. Just being lazy and selling what most distributors have in their catalogue might not work. As small shop owner you have to focus on a niche and don’t try to compete solely on prices.

Establishing and growing deli to its full potential indeed requires some skills and expertise. Use these golden tips to establish your own today to achieve financial freedom and stability.