Starting, Owning and Marketing A Restaurant Blog|Starting and Owning a Restaurant - Construction, Planning, Marketing, Opening and Managing a New Restaurant

If you have followed the last nine months of the journal on how to construct, open and operate a restaurant, you know that, at a general rule, we don’t like or use general coupons that serve no purpose other than giving a discount off your menu. In fact, it is very possible that you can condition your guests to only visit you when a coupon is available. You might as well just lower all your prices and advertise the low pricing policy you created. Not very wise in this uncertain market with the chains below cost mentality.

On the other hand, coupons can be a successful marketing tool if used for a specific goal and tracked for their success accurately. Here are a few types we are considering as our summer business seems to have reached a plateau;

• Bounce Back Coupon - The best place to start developing more business is with your existing customers. Offering an incentive for a return visit or a reward for some activity on your behalf can be used occasionally. For instance, if you are trying to build business on a certain day, for a certain menu item or time slot during the day. You can also offer a “Reward” coupon. If a guest usually comes in alone, offer a discount if they bring a friend. If a couple comes in frequently, offer the couple a discount if the bring another couple.
• Charity Coupon - If there is a group, cause or event you support within the community, offering a coupon that can be used for that charitable purpose may serve the purpose. An example could be offering ten percent of a guest’s check amount to a specific church if they bring their church bulletin on Sundays. Flat rate donations such as a coupon given to a charity for an event. If they bring the coupon in you will donate “X” dollars to the cause.
• Menu Highlight Coupons - Introducing new menu items can be a challenge. Restaurant guests seem to order their favorite menu items and don’t venture too far. You can offer a limited coupon as an incentive to try single or multiple new menu offerings.

These are just three uses of coupons that serve a purpose. They have a specific audience and/or purpose. It is critical that the response be tracked for future use or relevance to your restaurant’s goals.

Nothing has challenged the restaurant industry like the past 18 months. Rising prices, lower discretionary spending by consumers and chains offering junk food at or near cost. The battlefront starts with getting return visits from guests who want value. Rich or poor, everyone is looking for the value in every dollar they spend.

One conerstone of the total value experience is what’s on the plate. Is the coverage good and is it exceptional for the dollars spent? In the breakfast and lunch business we have had to make sure the diner perceives every menu item as a good way to spend a few dollars as compared to the competition. Creative garnishes and fillers keep meeting the guests expectations in terms of quantity.

To find that creative inspiration look to your inventory list. What are the items have a low cost and high margin, but offer good plate coverage? Here are a few we use:

• Eggs - last year this time we were paying double what we pay now for eggs. An egg costs under ten cents each. Gives good color and coverage in a variety of ways.
• Grits - low cost and easy to hold, prepare and cook. They also can be used in a number of ways from polenta to baked cheese grits. The same applies to oats, barley and other grains.
• Flour - wheat has almost doubled in price, but the overall value of this ingredient is limitless. Used for flatbreads, easy cakes, pastries and dough can produce some inexpensive plate fillers that can offer something extra that enhances the customers experience. Pancakes, of course, lead the way in the breakfast business. Adding a couple of savory silver dollar pancakes or Johnnie cakes to a lunch item will get the guest’s attention.
• Vegetables - prices across the board are much higher for fruits and vegetables. However, there are still some relative bargains like potatoes, various other roots like yucca and carrots. One of the biggest fruit bargains continues to be bananas which can be made into various components like filler for cakes, sauteed like bananas foster and filler for pancakes and crepes.

Start your creative thinking with an inventory list and a few Google searches. Ideas may be a click away.