6 Smart Tips To Grow Your Restaurant During A Pandemic

Running a successful restaurant comes with a lot of guts. According to a CNBC article,  around 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. And nearly 80 percent shutter before their fifth anniversary. These statistics are damning and should be a source of concern. 

A study on why restaurants fail, showed restaurants experience failure from three areas; economics, managerial, and marketing. In this article, we would focus on smart tips using these three focus areas, to grow your restaurant business even during a pandemic. 

Marketing

• Explore digital channels: Digital channels have come to stay. Social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter have helped so many entrepreneurs launch their restaurant business with only a smartphone and some aggressive marketing push. 
• Reposition your brand: Maybe it’s time to reposition your brand for growth. Have you been selling to the general public, however, data shows your restaurants are frequently visited by older people. You may need to reposition for the offer to focus on this audience to spur growth. This could prove to be a very smart tip to grow your restaurant. 

Economics

• Reduce pricing where necessary: One way to stimulate demand for your food items in your restaurant is to reduce your prices. Many restaurant owners are wary of doing this due to their increasing cost. One thing you should know is that it is better to stay afloat in business with a lower margin than continue to operate with a high margin and experience poor sales. 
• Close down slow-moving items: There is absolutely no point producing food items that are not in hot demand. Many restaurant owners want to cater to customer’s eclectic tastes. This leads to a wide variety of food items that only increases your cost. 

Managerial

• Get a custom relationship management platform: Having customer relationship management (CRM) software is a great way of keeping your restaurant business organized. A CRM software helps to organize your customer data, sales and provides you with analytics on the performance of your business. 
• Invest in training and retraining your employees: Research has shown that investing in employee training can increase profitability. Training increases revenue which comes in the form of increased sales growth and higher productivity from employees. Doing this one tip can be the solution to tsking your restaurant business from A to B.

Operating a restaurant business can generate sufficient profit if you have a good marketing strategy. However, these days having a good marketing strategy is not enough to guarantee profit. You also need to know the smart tips to grow your restaurant. A good marketing strategy coupled with good business foresight would help your restaurant business strive in an uncertain business environment.