Now expatriate Texans in places like Portland, Ore., have begun to build customer bases at restaurants like Happy Sparrow Cafe, which serves Nutella-and-banana kolaches.
Some local exchange carriers used the leasing option to enter a market, build a customer base, then build their own facilities.
As in almost any sector, you are bound to be faced with competition so you need to carve out a niche for yourself to establish a reputation and gradually build a customer base.
Many internet firms build a customer base by giving things away, be they search results or social-networking tools.
In the end, hotels need to build their customer base on more than just price, Professor Adler said.
"We build our customer base one by one," Ms. Florio said in an interview, explaining the importance of what happens at the sales counter.
Many prominent e-retailers have offered far more dramatic discounts in recent months -- in some cases, virtually giving their merchandise away -- hoping to build a customer base.
And dinner at Byron costs just £15 ($23).Many of the posh burger outfits started as pop-ups, allowing restaurateurs to test their products and build a customer base before renting an expensive property.
The airline, which had service to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington-Dulles and New York-La Guardia at the time it suspended operations, was starting to build a customer base of business travelers who saw it as a way to fly -- assuming they were traveling on Legend's limited routes -- at coach fares with the equivalent of a perpetual first-class upgrade.
