To help you with your financing options, take a look at 12 ways to get financing to start a new restaurant. Today, he's also dabbling in the world of casual dining, as owner of Italian chain Buca di Beppo and sandwich chain Earl of Sandwich. While they may drive some traffic, you may not recoup what you invest in advertisement expenses. The shots are “all-natural” and made with “premium” ingredients – other buzzwords that make investors pay attention. New Year’s Eve is a great night to offer a special prix fixe menu and early reservations for customers. Identify that and then reach out to local news outlets. Yelp, for example, will allow you to upload a menu to the website so that customers can order as soon as they find you online. Many restaurants find that Mondays and Tuesdays are slower than other days of the week. Reaching out to these people individually is a great way to use their social media influence for your benefit. Jumpstart Your Business. Business owners may try many ideas that not only cost money but also prove ineffective at long-term improvement. If you are any more rural area, having free Wi-Fi could actually make you a destination for customers. Many times, people come to physical businesses because they are seeking a sense of community. Write-ups in the local newspaper or special features on television news or radio shows can certainly increase local interest in your restaurant. Sign-up for a free account. Blogging is one of the most underestimated methods of attracting inbound attention, telling your story, progressing potential investors through the thought process of … http://www.evancarmichael.com/support/ - SUPPORT ME :) Like this video? Entrepreneur Insider is your all-access pass to the skills, experts, and network you need to get your business off the ground—or take it to the next level. People will expect to be able to check their email or social media pages while waiting for their food. However, they target a very broad audience. Discover a better way to hire freelancers. One of the fastest and easiest ways to build a customer database is to leave out a sign-up sheet for your newsletter. If you have more of an intimate ambiance, a singles mixer on Valentine’s Day or Sweetest Day would be an ideal way to get people into your restaurant and associating positive memories with your business. 7.27.2018 "It's easy these days to get money, but it's harder and better to get smart money," she says. You may have a point of interest because your business was founded by an immigrant who has been in the country for decades. 8 Min Read A new restaurant doesn't have past performance to review in the way of records or tax returns. Related: The Only 10 Slides Needed When Pitching Your Business (Infographic). Whatever your reasons for opening a new restaurant, finding financing for it can be a stumbling block on your road to success. Copyright © 2020 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Many people are not willing to gamble there evening out or fun money on a restaurant they have never been to at full price. One of the easiest ways to get more people to come in and try your business for the first time is to offer free food. This is when highlighting trends becomes a key business move. Jonathon Henderson is the owner of Better Bistro Media, a Georgia SEO Agency, that helps businesses increase their presence on the digital landscape to drive leads and sales. Tuesday could be a day where you offer Happy Hour pricing for the entire afternoon. He has worked with expanding the digital marketing presence of numerous restaurants whether that be in SEO, Web Design or Reputation Management. Earl served as a potential investor while Esteller pitched her product, Ludlows Jelly Shots. Since then, the pair have turned the concept into a frozen treat empire, selling at markets across the U.S. and publishing a Coolhaus cookbook. Trying to draw new business is difficult. 8 Min Read 7.27.2018 By Jonathon Henderson. Many modern customers simply find it more convenient to make choices at their own convenience instead of dealing with a frazzled employee over the phone. Just because you are a brick-and-mortar business doesn’t mean you can’t use online marketing to drive sales. Other times, people receive a discount on event tickets if they show proof that they ate at your restaurant. Offering buy-one-get-one discounts and similar sales could draw in people, but it may not really bring the right demographic. If you have televisions in your space, consider hosting special event nights related to sporting events, like the Super Bowl. If you hope to attract more customers to your restaurant, you also likely want to minimize the cost involved. If you find that people are coming in and not buying anything while using your Internet, you may want to employ the strategy of offering your current Wi-Fi password for customers when they buy a food item or beverage. Anita du Toit, Franchising Plus: “There is no formal network of angel investors in South Africa. Perhaps you have a gorgeous painting created by a local artist featured on one of your walls. "We had to pick a niche we could dominate.". You may think that online ordering is a tiny segment of the population, but that is not accurate. However, many of the common ways people think of to grow their business are too involved or expensive to be practical. Outside investors are rarely your ticket out of your cubicle. You should also include sign up links on your website and any relevant social media pages, from Snapchat to Facebook. When Estreller started shopping the Jelly Shots to distributors, most turned up their noses at the idea of ready-to-drink beverages. Whether you just opened a new restaurant or want to boost your existing business, you’re probably hoping to learn restaurant strategies to attract customers. If you don’t go that upscale, consider throwing a Halloween party where everyone who shows up in a costume gets half off a drink or a discounted appetizer. Earl has a long list of investments in the food business. By offering discount codes to customers for signing up, you will drive interest in following your business. You could try the local television news or even morning radio shows. When Robert Earl invests, it's because he believes the concept is something that can become huge. Many times, this is the downtime between the lunch rush and the dinner hour. Need tips for pitching a food concept to investors? Special events are a great way to get people into your business. Estreller also has a history in the food business, having opened the architecturally savvy food truck Coolhaus in 2009 with her co-founder, Natasha Case. * In order to create an offer that is tempting enough to bring new customers in, you generally need to offer a pretty substantial price reduction. architecturally savvy food truck Coolhaus, The Only 10 Slides Needed When Pitching Your Business (Infographic), Telling Your Startup Story: 4 Expert Tips to Create the Perfect Investor Pitch for Your New Business, How to Craft An Elevator Pitch That Gives People Chills in Under 20 Seconds, Crafting a Powerful Pitch With the 3-Minute Rule, Create the Perfect Pitch Deck Without Hiring a Designer, Forerunner Ventures Founder Kirsten Green On What She Looks for In a Pitch. Explore how you could create a community or group that would benefit from your business. This is a low-cost way to drive engagement and interest in your eatery. & More... See first-hand how Restaurant Engine can help your restaurant attract more customers. Even worse, they will only work for a short period of time. This, says Estreller, just helped convinced her there was a gap in the market, waiting to be filled. Modern Restaurant Management would like to store your above information when you create an account. You can offer other apps for takeout orders, as well as a variety of options for delivery services. If you are fine dining, consider working with the local civic theater. The need to engage your investors in your business applies whether you're pitching on a TV show or not. Here's a look at what she learned from her experience on the show and years of pitching food concepts, as well as Earl's take on what he looks for when investing. Even worse, they are quite expensive. Similarly, Happy Hour discounts are often used to draw in customers at times that are usually slow for your business. If people know they can come to you when they need to get online, that can certainly help drive business. If that is the case for your business, consider offering daily specials on Monday and Tuesday. Instead, it was a mix of American Idol, with the audience watching, and Shark Tank, with potential investors asking sharp questions. It can get more people in the doors and may keep them in your business longer. The intention, after all, is that you deliver a powerful pitch, and by the end, their hands are out asking for either your … While local gourmands and foodies used to only talk with your friends and coworkers about their preferences, now they have a much broader audience. Use discounts and specials to get customers in the doors, and they will come back as long as the service and the food meet their expectations. For many businesses, the cost outweighs the benefits. Get heaping discounts to books you love delivered straight to your inbox. For restaurants with the space, offering to host special events for local groups and even families can be quite lucrative. Not only will your business benefit from having your name associated with the giveaway, those gift cards will get people in your restaurant trying your food. Here's some advice from two people who have been on both sides of the table. Prior to turning to Food Fortunes or other investors outside of friends and family, Estreller created a Kickstarter page to build awareness about her product while raising money. Robert Earl and Freya Estreller appeared on a recent episode of Food Network's Food Fortunes. About Terms of Service Privacy Policy Partnerships Contact Us Customer Login © 2020 Restaurant Engine, How to Set Up Google Places for Your Restaurant, Restaurant Owners Describe Their New Reality, Restaurants Rally on Vaccine News, Reopening Plans, Fed Support. Ideas like taking out an ad in the local paper or paying for a spot on the radio may seem great on the surface. Have a well-thought-out business plan on-hand to share, so investors can read more if they’d like to. If you don’t already do so, you should track when you make the most sales. An often overlooked but great solution is to partner with other local businesses for promotions. However, when searching for an investor, you need to demonstrate that there is a growing market for your product. For that, you’re going to have to bite the bullet and dig deep into your own pocket. One issue that many restaurants run into when using specials, discounts, or other promotions to drive sales as the cost. Want more than five articles a month? If the product is good, even investors can't resist nibbling. 6 percent of all restaurant orderscame through online ordering or apps. Maybe you offer a unique food that no one else in the area serves. Developing an area as a banquet space where businesses or other groups can rent the room and obtain food for guests is a great way to make your business a destination while also raking in the profits. Ludlows Jelly Shots is in no way related to the fast casual market, but it was able to latch on to some other key trends in the food world right now. Changing the password regularly will help ensure that freeloaders don’t take up space that could be used by paying customers. Even if you don’t have televisions, you can still offer special events and celebratory parties that will draw the local public to your business.