A case of the decline of the famous roti prata!

i live a stone throw away from what one might be considered to be The roti prata shop in singapore. as i drove back home tonight, i cannot help but realised that the number of vehicles outside the "famous" roti prata is noticeably few. the tables were largely empty and servers were hanging around idling. this is a far cry from the bustling activities during the era (just some 3-5 years ago) when the shop was famous. however, further up the road, there is a new kid on the block in the same business of roti prata. their business was roaring with people, the new carpark next to them was packed, so was the road directly opposite. the ideal scene where the uninitiated and the hungry stomachs will readily stop by to refill, as this must be the "famous roti prata shop". if not famous, why so many people?!

i tried roti prata from both shops before. in fact, i think i started eating the famous roti prata before it became famous because my primary school was there. why did i switch? why is it that i no longer frequent the famous roti prata anymore and readily settle for the new kid? are others also switching for the same reasons? why would people from all over singapore converge at the kampong and not eat the "famous roti prata", in which case they could have eaten any roti prata right?

first, pride of being the "famous roti prata". i feel pride got into their heads, they must have started to think that my roti prata is so good, customer will suit us regardless. they started "unroti-prata" practices. they stopped waiting on the tables. they make customers queue up to place order for their roti prata, introduced minimum order (...sorry, minimum 2 kosong prata...), pay before you can eat your prata. if you think this is nothing, afterall you queue at the banks too, think again. imagine, you have started on your prata using your hands and you crave for 2 more prata; by now, you hands are stained with curry and oil. previously all you have to do is to put up your hand and call out " 2 kosong" - the kosong prata will come and you continue with the makan heaven and then make payment at the end for the full meal. with the process change, you have to stop - breaking the momentum, clean your hands and join the queue to order and pay for the 2 extra roti prata, return to your seat and wait for the prata to be processed in sequential order. by the time they arrived, you would have arrived too - this time in your patience. while all this is happening, the new kid comes up with excellent service which is so simple, sit, order, eat and then pay... how nice!

second, sticking to the past and not innovating for the future. this "famous roti prata" serves the same items for the last many many years. consider the new kid, they have roti prata with ice cream, milo earthquake and has added lots of other dishes as well to suit the taste buds of the evolving generations. don't get me wrong, i think it is important to stick to the basic (rota prata) too, but if it no longer is the differentiator (new kids' roti prata is very good too), then other factors will become important.

third, deliver value. some of you, like me would have realised it too - the roti prata at the "famous roti prata" keeps getting smaller and smaller and the prices keep going up. a few prata, a drink and curry can easily set one back by more than $10. think about it, no aircon, no service, no variety, same old taste... more than $10?!

so it is possible to go from "famous" to "not famous"... no need to read "in Search of Excellence" by tom peters to get example, this roti prata example is already quite illuminating.

is there a lesson for organisations and hospitals? i think so...