Specs Pop Lucky Break

Who doesn't love a good origin story.

I just read about [behind London's Times paywall] how an optician who for twenty years thought he could better the big brands finally start-up his dream.

As a buyer of such wares myself, I warmed to the USP; same-day glasses.

Here's the first paragraph of a piece entitled, What I learnt… about taking on a high street giant;

Despite the vacancies left by retailers that have gone out of business, it is really hard to get into shopping malls if you’re not a recognised brand. When we were looking for our first site, we found it extremely difficult to talk to the right person. What got us into our first site in the Trafford Centre in Manchester was a bit of luck — I had been given the name of a senior person there by someone I knew, and the day I spoke to him it turned out his son had broken his glasses. Our business model was that we could make a pair of glasses in 20 minutes, but he had been told it would take days to get his son’s specs fixed. Luckily I had the right lens in stock and was able to show we could do it as fast as we said. After that, we signed an initial six-month contract.

And Pop Specs opened for business.

What's your first thought reading that?

Mine was re-crafting of their pitch.

Whatever it may have been, you can bet it didn't feature anything resembling;

when did you last buy a pair of glasses?

Naturally, not everyone wears prescription spectacles.

Asking, 'bought a pair of specs yourself lately?' could lead to the dead-end brick wall shut door of them having 20/20 vision.

I googled it. So who knows of the veracity. But results returned suggest somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of all adults need some form of corrective eyewear. Wow.

As one of those myself, I mulled upon how often a new pair, rather than contact lenses, were typically sought.

This would let you consider the average length of product lifespan and purchase recurrence. On which you could add extra pairs. Whether for back-up spare, readers, screen focus, bifocals, sunshine or simply extended fashion choice.

I know this is eerily, distractingly like those useless oddball 'brainteaser' style interview questions. Yet being conservative in the numbers, consider a broad average that a volume exists equivalent to once a year ¾ of people buy spectacles. That's a lot.

What's the similar measure in your market?

Away from mere 'product', think on the reason behind why it might be considered.

Your problem opening the possibility as experienced by a potential customer like broken glasses. Requiring replacement, upgrade or alternative.

And how often do you think you'd encounter the kind of lucky break the optician here literally caught?

As you may already know; luck is a place where planning meets opportunity. Go find that luck.