There are some social media success stories that just make so much sense that you have to ask yourself, why didn’t I think of that? I read recently on a blog by Mr. Tweet about a Houston based cafe that nearly doubled it’s business using Twitter. And the best part about it was that the owner stumbled upon the idea from the best place possible, an unmet need from one of his customers.

Here is an excerpt from that blog post:

On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Twitter used in Cafe's Business

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

Twitter used in Houston Cafe's Business

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. Seeing an opportunity, Cohen started taking to-go orders via direct message from any of his Twitter Clientele.

CoffeeGroundz offers free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets, and they serve beer and wine – making it a cross between a Coffee House and a Lounge. Today, customers can order beverages and tasty bites from the comfort of their seat using Direct Messages to @coffeegroundz.

These are the stories that are cropping up more and more. And the opportunities to use social media as a business marketing and sales tool have just begun.