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

While testing and tweaking the menu for the new restaurant we built, several interesting concepts have been explored. Three issues were considered for the long term success of a particular dish. What makes it sell for an extended period of time?

Some would argue that in this economy, for a casual restaurant, the key is the price. That is certainly partially true - only to the extent there is also value. You can offer a 99 cent hamburger and sell it, but will the guest order it again? Only if the other two components are present - eye appeal and taste. There are many chains out there dragging customers in with very cheap specials. Will the customer return and buy the product again? In most cases the answer is no if it is not perceived as a value.

While testing, we stumbled on one dish that featured a low cost, extremely good eye appeal and great taste since it was a smaller combination of items already on the menu. The combo’s sales built for the week long promotion. Customers came back several times during the week. Sales grew daily of that item. When that happens, you have the “perfect storm” of menu item creation.

The best part was that we were able to produce the item within our food cost parameters (25%). Let the creative juices flow and keep your inventory and food costs close at hand.

Opening a new restaurant is never easy. If you are fortunate, as we have been, sales start strong as you settle into a an operations pattern. Your assumptions about the demographics, consumer habits and menu choices for your area of influence are either confirmed or confused.

The economy adds additional question marks about the long term mission of the operation. Being a new restaurant operation in a “normal” economy means some stable factors can be used to adjust your marketing efforts, menu, pricing and consumer demands. In a recession, you just learn as you go and keep a close watch on historical data from previous experiences, if you have any.

The new restaurant has seen a pleasant steady increase of sales from week to week, even though there is a plateau forming in certain day parts (10 AM to 1 PM). Here are issues we are watching as, perhaps, early warning signs of either incorrect assumptions about consumers in our demographic or ineffective planning to reach certain segments of the market:

• If there is any disappointment, it is in our take out sales. The numbers are flat and well below our projections.
• On the other hand, lunch sales have been exceptional.
• Early morning sales are less than expected which leads to these questions:
  • Have we over projected the early morning crowd?
  • Are we over priced in this segment?
  • Is our location traffic pattern hindering ease of ingress and egress?
  • Have we missed the mark for what the early riser wants?
• Why do sales patterns differ from our other location less than 5 miles away?

After just six weeks, is it too early to even worry about these questions? Some may say yes, but if not now, when do you start looking at trends that begin to develop? After it is too late to easily correct any mis-cues in your restaurant marketing plan? My response is an easy one - React now! It can’t hurt your business and can only help. Waiting is the inexperienced restaurant owner’s nemesis.

For those following our path, sales this week for our 70 seat breakfast and lunch operation will be about $16,000. Fortunate, pleasing, rewarding and pleasantly surprised are all terms that come to mind - satisfied doesn’t come to mind!

The actions and plan to address the issues raised above will be discussed in the next post.

When you open a new restaurant with a relatively soft opening, you hope sales grow through word of mouth. This is the strongest form of marketing you can do. If your product and value is acceptable to the customer, plus you meet service expectations, increasing sales will be the reward.

As I indicated in the previous post, the weekend would tell the story if our message was spreading throghout the community. On Saturday we reached a new plateau with $2000 in sales, despite the season’s coldest weather and no seating outside. Happy we are, but the work isn’t done.

As sales increase, both good and problematic things occur. The good outweighs the bad in our case. Here is a list of things we will continue to work on:

• At several points during the day, we were on a wait. We have to subtlely find ways to turn tables a little quicker. Things like pre-bussing, slower coffee refills after guest has finished eating and quicker table setup will help.
• Notably the new servers are having a few problems ringing correct descriptions of the food they want. Better menu knowledge and consistent input into the kitchen will help ticket times.
• Any restaurant strives for consistency. Servers need more direction on the items they prepare at their station. Salads, topping waffles and plate garnish was inconsistent.

The good part of the day was the kitchen’s ability to meet reasonable ticket times, even at the peak of business. While we have potentially another 25 seats outside during pleasant weather, it appears we have the capacity in the kitchen. Another busy day will confirm that.

Another positive was relatively few problems with any returned food, customer complaints or server errors. That means training and diligence in policing each ticket is paying dividends.

As business increases, so does the need for inventory. We have been trying to keep our Inventory Form up to date as product came in the door. The link above shows an Excel spreadsheet that is color coded based on various items we want to note. One color may be for a particular supplier. Price highlighting means a date when last price confirmation was made. Your form can be modified according to your needs.

Your ability to maintain inventory levels is important because:

• Your restaurant cannot  be out of menu items on a regular basis to avoid customer disappointment.
• Over ordering can lead to waste and spoilage.
• Ordering the proper quantities negotiated with suppliers will keep costs in check. Make sure your supplier has a copy of your inventory sheet for their records when placing an order. It will simplify the process and reduce order mistakes.

Overall, the first eight days of operations have been very gratifying and helps to alleviate some of the reservations we have had about opening a restaurant in this economy. We still have a lot of work to do, but we feel we are on the right track.