Marketing
If you’re considering opening a restaurant, a good business plan is one of the most important steps of the process. A well-constructed business plan will serve you from the moment you hatch the idea, through the search for financing and staff, and on to the day-to-day processes of running the restaurant.
If your dream is to open a restaurant, chances are that the dream includes having the money to do so in style. Few people fantasize about starting a business on a shoestring budget or with limited funds; on the other hand, even fewer people are independently wealthy and able to fund a restaurant venture without financial assistance.
Although you may think your food is innovative and delicious, if it’s not presented to your customers in the best possible way– via the most well-constructed menu – you won’t successfully sell your culinary creations. Your menu is the conduit through which your restaurant guests can survey your offerings.
Owning a successful restaurant is all about staying in touch with current trends and staying in tune with your customers. While you have invested in the best website money can buy, and spent time and effort keeping your Facebook page up to date, if you are not actively surveying your customers, you won’t really have your finger on the pulse of what is happening in your restaurant.
Food allergies are becoming more prevalent and severe, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN). More and more it seems that people, young and old, are developing allergies and intolerances to certain foods and ingredients. Some of these allergies can be life-threating, while others are “just” inconvenient, as they cause less dire symptoms that people still want to avoid.
Did you know that there are now 80 million Millennials in the U.S.? This group of individuals born between 1982 and 2000 now outnumbers the Baby Boomers — previously holder of the title, “Largest Generation Ever”– and makes up a full quarter of the nation’s population, according to the United Census Bureau.
Transforming one-time consumers into loyal restaurant customers is a key to success for most businesses. This holds particularly true for restaurants, and yet can be even harder to achieve due to the challenging combination of the increasingly competitive industry and today’s informed, empowered diners.
The United State is the world’s biggest wine market by volume, according to Western Farm Press. In fact, somewhere in the neighborhood of just under four billion bottles are consumed every year in this country!