Entrepreneur Friday

Entrepreneur Fridays: City Shuffle and The Diner’s Deck

Posted by Jean

WHO: Mark Boyett and Jeff Winner

WHAT: The Diner’s Deck, a deck of cards—one for each of the 52 Manhattan restaurants chosen by the deck’s creators—with each card doubling as a $10 gift certificate at the place it describes. Forking over the $29.95 for the deck can really add up to some serious savings. To break even use three cards. Use the whole deck and you’ve saved yourself around $490. Boyett and Winner’s brand, “City Shuffle,” has also recently added two new decks: The Diner’s Deck for Brooklyn and Downtown and The Bar and Lounge Deck.

WHEN: 2003

WHERE: New York, NY

HOW: “The original inspiration for The Diner’s Deck came to Jeff when he was getting ready to go on a date” says Boyett. Wanting to shake things up a bit and discover a new place to dine, Winner wrote the names of some restaurants on slips of paper, shuffled them and asked his date to pick one. Two nights later, Boyett and Winner went out to grab a bite to eat, planning to use a gift certificate to pay for the meal. Over a couple burgers, Boyett listened to Winner’s date night tale, and then it hit him. “It occurred to me that each card could have value, each card could be a gift certificate,” describes Boyett. From that stroke of genius came “The Diner’s Deck,” a product that’s sold at retailers such as Barnes and Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond and to corporate clients both big and small.

After their dinner, the pair hit the ground running and started the development process. “We started with a lot of shoe-leather market research,” explains Boyett. An actor waiting tables on the side, Boyett went right to the source: the customers in his restaurant. “I talked with and listened at length to my customers about what they’d want such a product to do. How often do they eat out? How often do they try a new place? What kind of restaurants would they like to discover?” Boyett also talked with restaurant owners about what would make them want to take part in their product.

Taking the advice of customers and restaurant owners, they began to design the deck. To start, the duo set a release date ten months in advance. Although the deadline added pressure to the process, it helped too, says Boyett. “The setting of a launch date pulled a kind of road map into focus, helping us to set due-dates for various aspects of the development process and helping us to shift into a more serious gear.” With the help of a professional designer, Boyett and Winner were able to make a few prototype decks. To pay costs such as this, they funded the start-up on their personal credit cards, keeping costs low by using cards with low APR’s and working from their home office.

Once the decks were complete, the pair shopped them around, taking them to gift shops and bookstores to gauge owner’s interest in carrying the item. “Getting positive responses, it all started to seem that much more real and I began working weekend double-shifts at my restaurant so I could work full-time pitching restaurant owners on participating” says Boyett. Ten months later, Boyett and Winner met their goal and launched the first edition of The Diner’s Deck.

In 2007 The Diner’s Deck began to turn a profit. Today, the product provides a steady source of income for both Boyett and Winner, giving them time to still do the things they love. “I’m still able to take acting jobs. Jeff has been able to continue editing and making films,” says Boyett. What’s next for The Diner’s Deck? Any day now, The Diner’s Deck will go mobile with the launch of “Relish,” an iPhone app which follows the same concept of the original deck.

THEIR ADVICE: “One of the most important decisions you can make is who you decide to go into business with.” According to Boyett, when choosing a business partner, it’s of utmost importance to only work with people you trust and respect. Loving your idea is important too, says Boyett. “It’s a ton of work and in the early days especially…it’s the love for the idea that keeps you going,” he says.

Want to broaden your restaurant horizons? Click here and type “Diner’s Deck,” into the message box for a chance to win one of each of the City Shuffle Products.