Keeping It Simple
The fastest, simplest ways to grow your business - no jargon, no fluff. Practical strategies that actually work for SME owners in the USA, New Zealand, and worldwide.
Monday, October 05, 2026
There is no single best business coach in the USA. Here are five criteria for choosing one, a fair look at the main formats, and why an outside perspective can change what you see in your own business.
Burger King sold Whoppers for 1 cent. At McDonald's.
In December 2018, Burger King sold Whoppers for one cent. The catch? You had to be standing within 600 feet of a McDonald's to get one. If you want to know how to win customers from competitors without a big budget, this is the cleanest example in modern marketing, and the lesson shrinks to fit any small business.
The burger that sent people to McDonald's
Most businesses advertise where it is cheap. Burger King and its agency, FCB New York, advertised where the decision happens: at the rival's front door.
For nine days in December 2018, the Burger King app unlocked a one-cent Whopper, but only when your phone was within 600 feet of a McDonald's. Order there, and the app sent you to the nearest Burger King to collect it. They geofenced all 14,000 McDonald's in the US and turned every one into a Burger King billboard.
The result was 1.5 million app downloads, the most downloaded app in Apple's App Store for several days running, and the Titanium Grand Prix at Cannes Lions 2019. The best time to sell is not when you are ready to advertise. It is when your customer is about to buy from someone else.
The small-business version, for under $5k
- 1. Find your 600 feet. Where do buyers compare you with someone else? A rival's car park, a trade show, a comparison site, a best-near-me search.
- 2. Make one bold, time-limited offer that only works there. For example: bring us a competitor's quote this week and we will beat it.
- 3. Make it stupidly easy. One code, one link, one step.
- 4. Track that code. A few hundred dollars aimed at the decision moment will teach you more than a year of brand posts.
Why it works for owners, not just giants
Big brands win here because they stop treating marketing as awareness and start treating it as interception. Owner-led businesses can do it faster, because you can change an offer on a Tuesday without a committee. The constraint is rarely budget. It is knowing the exact moment your best customers decide, and being in front of them at that moment.
Josiah Wedgwood did the same thing in the 1760s. He took the risk out of buying with money-back guarantees and free delivery, so a nervous customer had one less reason to say let me think about it.
Quick wins this week
- Write down the moment your best customers actually decide to buy: the search, the site visit, the quote comparison, the rival's shopfront.
- Call your last three lost quotes and ask one question: what made you go with someone else?
- Put a deadline on your next proposal. Price held until Friday gives a buyer a reason to decide now.
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This idea first appeared in The Inside Track, my free newsletter: big-brand growth ideas, before breakfast. Every Tuesday and Thursday.
Kevin D’Ambros-Smith
Kevin is the founder of Simple-Growth and a business growth coach with experience at DDB, Ogilvy, and Saatchi & Saatchi. He has co-founded 9 companies, coached 200+ business owners one-on-one, and holds a 9.5/10 NPS. Every article on this blog reflects real-world experience - no theory, no fluff.
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Monday, October 05, 2026
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