Food retail can be a challenge in the current market: here are some ways to get around it.

Selling food can be through various outlets from cafes to large restaurants. Certain thumb rules apply and most businesses succeed or fail because of some of these not being there. To give an example:

1. Rental or lease ratio to area and traffic. Rentals are high, do you have necessary floor space and quality to break into a profit. There is a desired ratio between floor space and profitability.
2. Are you a destination restaurant or just one in many? How to become a destination restaurant?
3. Are you in the business or out of it to get a helicopter view of the business? Most chef run businesses end up being a job for the chef and they are satisfied with what they earn.
4. How do you build equity and capital in the business? Branding and scaling of business.

In a set of random thoughts in popularising your outlet, a website plays a crucial part in communicating with the target market. Along with this comes social media. Halt! Nothing can substitute you quality of service, food and ambience. So a website has a role to play till you reach a critical mass of customers, then the ball rolls on its own.

A website is not a great expense, but maintaining it and running it to engage with customers can be a chore many restaurateurs are not willing to do themselves. It could be just a project for a year where you have someone who can attend to it for a fee.

If you are not able to measure your performance, you will not know where you are going. Trust me I have studied several restaurants and most are struggling. The mom and pop ones survive with a great hit to health and lifestyle. Staff wages, Cost of Goods and lease take up all the time and resources and very little is left for growing the business.

Here are some points I have noticed in my visits to restaurants mainly concerning development of the business, which you can do yourself with some training.

Website and Search Engine Optimisation

1. Most websites need some additional menus. These should include:
   1. An integral online ordering linking to the fax machine, independent of Menulog.
   2. The online ordering system needs to populate a database with all the fields, which extracted to analyse sales and preferences.
   3. A blog, either on the site or linked to a content management system such as WordPress.
   4. A repository for your recipes.
   5. A page for cookery classes or at least a youtube of you cooking.
   6. Links as appropriate to your target market.
   7. Website has to be mobile friendly. In today’s world the PC has already been replaced by the iPhone and Android. Therefore the web site has to be a made mobile friendly.
   8. An app for ordering may be considered, but not sure if people will have an app for a restaurant. It is best through aggregated sites.
2. Search Engine Optimisation
   1. Image data needs to be tagged with key words, tags and meta tags.
   2. Blog.
   3. Google analytics account. Source of google key words.
   4. Google key word investment.
   5. Account on statcounter.
3. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, social networking, FB fan page
   1. Your page or the Business?
   2. Your calendar with specials on various occasions.
4. Market analysis
   1. Capture names, emails, area codes, and how they came to know about the restaurant. Would they like to receive deals and newsletters?
   2. Review/comment email after the goods have been supplied.

Some of the above need be done for a while till the momentum picks up. Then frequent ads on Facebook and Google Ads should keep you in circulation.

What are we expecting out of our website?

In the current IT climate potential customers search for the place where they want to eat based on reviews in aggregating web services such as Urban spoon, Eatabilty, Google, Menulog etc. Therefore it is a must to have the incoming links to our website on these sites. The other place is in the White and Yellow pages.

It is interesting to note that some of the popular restaurants’ website such as that of Tetsua and Nilgiris don’t have a great page ranking in ranking sites such as Alexa. They are popular for other reasons of differentiation. Jai Ho a popular suburban restaurant actually has no website. Online ordering is from other services. Who visits MacDonald’s or KFC‘s website?

Given that the websites are not the primary source of getting the restaurant to be popular. It could serve several other purposes once integrated into a system.

It is a major part of our passive marketing measures.

Leaflets and targeted marketing

1. A leaflet drop with a discount voucher will bring in the local population.
2. Loyalty cards do help in the cafe business, but could be given to regular customers. Give it to customers on their second visit.
3. How many times do we need to drop leaflets to get a customer? The discount voucher is a good way of knowing that it is working.
4. Sponsoring/sponsorship of local school events. Choose one school only.
5. Linking up with a charity. Can we have a percent of sales going to a charity?
6. Concessions to senior citizens, RSL members and referrals.
7. Display of local artists paintings.
8. Business card draws.
9. Top five invitations to CEOs of just 5 firms, local corporate and one law firm. Best to visit and present the offer. Collaterals, a letter and a brochure.

Memberships

1. Rotary club or any local club.
2. Australia country Business Council.
3. Local toastmasters, community groups etc.

Advertisements

1. Local newspapers.
2. Reviews through SMH.
3. http://www.altmedia.net.au/about
4. Language papers and magazines.

Marketing analysis

1. Takeaway orders must need to record the email address of the customer and need to capture how they came to know about the business.
2. Staff who receive orders for takeaways need to ask this question after receiving the order and payment:

    

   “As part of our survey would you be happy to tell us how you came to know about our restaurant?”

    

3. Food reviews on the table simple fold card:

   SCALE OF 1 TO 5 5 BEING VERY GOOD

   FOOD

   SERVICE

   OVERALL EXPERIENCE

    

   Wait staff to collect the card the card which is folded and put into a ballot box at the counter.

Promotions

1. 21 Birthday.            Throughout the year.
2. Valentine’s day specials.    Printing 10 weeks in advance Commence drop 4 weeks in advance.
3. Easter specials
4. School holidays special        Drop leaflets just before school and other holidays.
5. Weddings

Sustained simple leaflet programme is better than an expensive leaflet. Periodicity and regularity is very important as it creates an expectation.

Cultural evenings. Get local performers and later ethnic ones. Charge an additional cover charge.

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