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

For those reading the blog for the first time, this has been an eight month process of opening a new restaurant. I have shared the pains, pleasures, trials and tribulations that all restaurateurs go through after deciding to become restaurant owners. My only advantage is that this is the fourth time I have done it.

This post installment is after about seven weeks of operating history and in response to the previous post below with respect to trends that can be discerned from the results so far. The reliability of making assumptions this early is questionable. However, nothing can be lost by addressing those potential trends now. Waiting is the new restaurateur’s way of doing nothing. It would be the easiest thing to do, particularly when, overall, we have met our expectations in the early stages. The goal is to put butts in seats all day every day!

Below is the trend we are addressing and the marketing plan adjustment;

• Lower Than Expected Early Breakfast Sales - We will create an “Early Riser” short group of specials for people dining between 6:30 AM to 8:30 AM. These items will be palced on the tables in a POS format each day and removed at 8:30 AM.
• Less Take Out Sales Than Expected - We will concentrate our personal visits to local offices that are more likely to order take out food than others. Examples include doctors’ offices, retail shops, banks and other medical facilities who have a difficult time getting away from their offices due to the demands of their customers. Each of these groups will be given take out menu’s and full laminated copy of both the breakfast and lunch menu’s in addition to the small take out reprints.
• Early Morning and Take Out Sales Program - We will develop a flyer (handout) or promotional device that promotes “call ahead” program for people on their way to work. Features will include no lines, no drive thru’s and value ideas for there morning coffee, juice or food. The promotional flyer and/or tool will be given to the huge weekend crowd and lunch guests.
• Targeted Sales Effort for All Market Segments - Not necessarily connected to any specific trend, we will target beauty shops, barbers, cleaners, hardware stores and similar non-competing entities that deal with the local general population that have high traffic. We will offer the owner/manager of the establishment a free breakfast or lunch if they allow us to put our takeout menu’s in their retail facility.
• General Media Advertising -We will find a different source for broad distribution of our message other than the two local publications we used in the first thirty days. Possibilities include direct mail, small postal bulk mail booklets or fliers. The content of the media ad will feature some of the programs developed above.

Marketing is not a knee jerk response to low sales used as an occasional tool. It is an ongoing part of operating a successful and growing restaurant. As usual, staff will be involved with the process by asking for their input and educating them on the plan.

All of these tools are spelled out and come from the book called The Restaurant Ebook, A Guide to Keeping Your Restaurant Off the Chopping Block.