{"id":11290,"date":"2022-06-30T01:01:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T06:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=11290"},"modified":"2024-07-03T20:57:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T01:57:17","slug":"how-to-take-your-restaurant-business-to-the-next-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/how-to-take-your-restaurant-business-to-the-next-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Take Your Restaurant Business to the Next Level"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-11291\" src=\"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-photo-1267320-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-photo-1267320-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-photo-1267320-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-photo-1267320-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/pexels-photo-1267320.jpeg 1124w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>The hospitality industry has taken a very nasty beating over the past couple of years. If inflation and rising prices isn\u2019t forcing restaurants to rise their menu prices and customers to just make homemade again tonight, then a pandemic is closing their doors entirely.<\/p>\n<p>The good news there is that we learned that restaurants are very susceptible to evolving. The industry was met with a huge problem, and adapted to deal with it, in a variety of surprising ways.<\/p>\n<p>And you can take those lessons, plus more that are out there in the world, and boost your own restaurant with it. If you have found that you are stagnating a little bit, or you are simply looking to be more ambitious, you might be interested in our pointers. In this guide we show you how you can push your restaurant to the next level: get more feet through the door, get more positive feedback, and gain more reach from your premises. Read on for all the details.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Takeout\/Collection<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The biggest lesson that was learned from the pandemic was to not underestimate the influence of the almighty takeaway. Sure, apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bighospitality.co.uk\/Article\/2021\/02\/17\/The-unstoppable-growth-of-delivery-in-the-restaurant-sector-Deliveroo-Just-Eat-Uber-Eats\">JustEat<\/a> and UberEats had kept the concept chugging along, trying to convince the rest of us that you didn\u2019t just have to stick to getting a kebab delivered to your door. Food of all ranges could be delivered. The more high brow of establishments weren\u2019t having it.<\/p>\n<p>And then the pandemic hit, and the takeout businesses were the only ones permitted to stay open. Suddenly a takeout service was a necessity, and premises around the world found out that there was a lot of customers who wanted good food but simply didn\u2019t want to get all dressed up or leave the house. And the idea stuck.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, this trend of staying in and getting a decent takeout has stuck, which means restaurants that aren\u2019t getting on board are missing out. People either can\u2019t afford or simply don\u2019t want to go outside, so alongside a streaming service giving you the latest movies, the best food delivered to your door is an acceptable date option.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Take It on the Road<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Another idea that gained some traction was the concept of the food truck. Street food is a big hit, especially with the younger generation. There is just something about it that says, \u201cThis is quality food, something you\u2019ve never tried before, for an affordable price.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Plus, the benefits are there for you too. The brilliance of a food truck is that it\u2019s portable. You can park where the crowds are thickest, in the city streets, beside the park, at music festivals, etc. and sell to the masses.<\/p>\n<p>This idea has led to many variations, like the concept of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lightspeedhq.co.uk\/blog\/how-to-start-a-ghost-kitchen\/\">ghost kitchens<\/a> and pop-up kitchens, where catering is taken to a new extreme when they have a canopy set up to cover a set of kitchen equipment that appears out of nowhere (or out of a van).<\/p>\n<p>And then there are people who simply create food out of their own home kitchen and forgo the idea of renting or buying a premise at all. With the help of delivery services like Deliveroo and JustEat, people can order everything from an app or website which you can then cook up and send off straight from your home set up.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Boost Your Website<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Speaking of apps and websites, you might want to look into improving your online presence. Users are finding just about everything they want to do, from shopping to eating out, and researching it online. The best place to direct these people to is your own business website.<\/p>\n<p>The good news here is that it\u2019s a lot simpler than it used to be to be able to create a professional looking website. You can use a website builder with a template to make everything look fancy and like you\u2019ve been coding all your life.<\/p>\n<p>But another perk is that these website builders also come with a lot of good features that will make your customer\u2019s lives easier \u2013 which should be your main goal. <a href=\"https:\/\/restaurants.yelp.com\/articles\/restaurant-technology-trends\/\">Restaurant technology trends<\/a> only start on the website. Booking forms, calendars, menus, and more will allow your customers to see availability, set reservations, and even decide what they want in advance, making life a lot easier for everyone. No more spending half your shift on the phone.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Make It Social<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Social media marketing is a given for restaurants. It\u2019s the most accessible, most affordable, and most effective means of putting yourself out there. But take the term \u201csocial\u201d to a new level when you\u2019re looking for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.restaurant-promotions.net\/restaurant-marketing-tools\">restaurant marketing tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This generation of users are very aware of the world\u2019s problems and are trying not to add to them, so make sure to promote the fact that you\u2019re not looking to either.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean? This means show off your vegan options. Show off your sustainable business practices, how you cut down waste, if you\u2019re donating to the local food bank, etc. Show off your inclusive team of employees, any events that help the community, and anything else you think would encourage customers to say, \u201cI like what they\u2019re doing for more than just me\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Get Redecorating<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>However, the internet isn\u2019t all doom and gloom. The Instagram affect on restaurants and bars is palpable. Have you noticed doorways decorated with roses that couldn\u2019t possibly survive in the climate,\u00a0 outdoor dining structures and backyard <a href=\"https:\/\/americantent.com\/collections\/pole-tents\">pole canopy<\/a> setups, barbers that look more like speakeasies, and cafes that are decorated entirely in pastel?<\/p>\n<p>People are catching on that users are taking pictures when they get their food. Either to show off who they are with or where they are dining, so give them something to show off. Sure, you\u2019ve got the food, but that won\u2019t do if the girl\u2019s are getting together for a selfie.<\/p>\n<p>No one\u2019s saying you need to stick to the pale pinks and blues of the Instagram color palette, but remember when you started how an entrepreneur told you that you needed to pick a niche? Take that niche and redecorate with it. Scour the interior design magazines and add any bit of style or color you can to the space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The hospitality industry has taken a very nasty beating over the past couple of years. If inflation and rising prices isn\u2019t forcing restaurants to rise their menu prices and customers to just make homemade again tonight, then a pandemic is closing their doors entirely. The good news there is that we learned that restaurants are&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/how-to-take-your-restaurant-business-to-the-next-level\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How to Take Your Restaurant Business to the Next Level<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":11291,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11290"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11290\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14082,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11290\/revisions\/14082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}