What you can learn from the rise of London's #1 (fake) restaurant
When you have approximately 18 minutes, give the video below a watch. It’s worth it.
Spoiler alert: the ‘very naughty thing’ that Oobah Butler did was figure out a way to game the system and get his fake restaurant as TripAdvisor’s #1 restaurant in London through a series of various presentational tactics (fake photos, fake reviews) and positioning (‘we’re fully booked’ for every call that came in) - making it only that much more exclusive and elite. By no means am I recommending any form of fraudulent activity. But there are lessons to be learned from this situation.
You may be thinking that the lesson is ‘don’t believe the hype’ with all these places. But the real lesson - particularly for small business owners - is that people do believe the hype.
Presentation does matter.
Butler’s goal was to get a fake restaurant rated as the top real restaurant. The way he approached it was to act like a real restaurant. Take the right photos, talk about his “restaurant” the right way. In the end the quality mattered way less than the fake influence he had created through this hype. As a small business owner, is your imposter syndrome holding you back from acting like a “real” business? What can you do right now to overhaul how you are presenting your business? Talking about your business? Butler just proved that the hype he created around his “restaurant” completely and solely contributed to his “success” and #1 spot.
