When your entire business is based on a more expensive ‘nice to have’ product rather than a ‘must have’, you need to differentiate yourself, figure out exactly who your market is, and what they are willing to pay for. Enter brothers Ricky and Kevin Frankental, who have created a niche company that they say is a solutions business that supplies the interior design and architecture industries with printing products and services.
Having come from the large format printing industry, both brothers were interested in creating high quality print products and making them accessible by offering design, installation and project management services. “The printing industry is very price-competitive,” explains Ricky. “To provide innovative, quality-based products we need to charge more, which means we had to find ways of adding more value in what is essentially a commoditised industry.”
“To achieve this, we took a long hard look at the industry,” says Kevin. “Interior designers are generally dealing with 50 suppliers or more, and they have no time to manage the detail involved in successfully designing and implementing customised artwork. They need a turnkey service to make their projects run more smoothly and they are willing to pay the premium for service and reliability. They also want to work with new ideas, so they expect us to bring innovation and new options to every project.”
Lemon Décor has based its business offering on understanding and catering for that market. “We design, print and install full wall prints, installations and any other solutions that suit the designer’s vision. We take care of all the details. Our focus is on service and providing innovative solutions. If our clients ask us for something that suits our overall framework, we will make a plan for them.”
For a company that differentiates not on price, but on innovation and service, Lemon Décor has grown at a steady rate, proving that as long as you pay attention to what your customers are really looking for (and willing to pay for), price does not have to be an obstacle. In fact, the company’s greatest challenges are staying ahead of the curve, and getting new innovations to market as quickly as possible.
