How to build successful restaurant,bar, members club business

Monday, 3 August 2015

13 Tips to Open a Successful Coffee Shop

Are you the type who loves their morning coffee? A lot of people combine their love of coffee with their entrepreneurial spirit and open a coffee shop.

In fact, in the U.S. there are more than 50,000 coffee shops—52,684 to be exact. According to Statista, that number will jump by about 5,000 within two years.

And with 183 million coffee drinkers all buzzing for their next caffeine fix, it’s no wonder the industry is booming.

Ambition Bistro

If you’re thinking about starting your own coffee shop, we’ve compiled a list of must-know tips from current owners, so you can be armed with the information you need to succeed.

Jack Wilson, owner of Radio Coffee and Beer in Austin, Texas, and Marc Renson, owner of Ambition Bistro in Schenectady, New York, stepped away from brewing and serving to offer these tips to prospective owners.

Planning

1. Create a solid business plan

One of the first serious steps you’ll take toward opening your coffee shop is to create a business plan. This document spells out exactly what your business is, how it will be profitable, defines your customer base, explores competitors, plans for growth, and provides troubleshooting strategies should you need help achieving your goals.

Many entrepreneurs turn to our business plan templates for guidance. Whether you’re starting a little coffee and internet café or a coffee house bistro, there’s a business plan template to suit your coffee shop needs.

2. Take the time to find the right building

To be successful, you need a good location for your coffee shop. You want something centrally located, a place where people already gather, and a space that’s conducive to your vision. Finding this dream spot won’t happen overnight, Renson warns.

His team scoured city after city, scouting each location, even counting pedestrian traffic. He was in the market for a former restaurant, so he didn’t have to remodel everything from scratch. Finally, one day when he dropped his keys he noticed a tiny “for sale” sign in a former tavern window. After months of searching, he’d found his spot.

3. Create a floor plan

A solid floor plan is vital for a coffee shop. You want customers to have space to form a line, employees to have the materials they need within reach to quickly make coffee, and a seating area that’s comfortable. It will take some time to produce a good floor plan, Wilson says.

“Walk yourself through every scenario you can think of,” he says. “If you’re making coffee, what needs to be near you? If you’re a customer, what do you want in a seating area? Visualize everything you can and start putting those ideas down on paper.”

4. Hire an accountant

One of the best pieces of advice Wilson says he can offer a new coffee shop owner is to turn your books over to an accountant. Aside from taking valuable time away from the business, having a numbers expert works in your favor.

“You won’t be as hard on yourself as you sometimes might need to be,” Wilson says. “Plus, you will make assumptions that an accountant wouldn’t make.”

Funding

5. Get local help for funding

Finding the startup funds for a coffee shop can be difficult. Renson suggests talking with friends and family about investing in your coffee shop first. Present a solid business plan to them and ask them to invest in your business. If family isn’t an option, or if you need more cash than your family can provide, Renson suggests looking into local loan options. In some cases, local cities offer business assistance programs to offset costs. A local bank is also an option.

6. Save money for your own expenses

Aside from startup costs, don’t forget that all of your time and energy will be devoted to your new business, a business that probably won’t be profitable for around six months.

So, plan ahead. Renson suggests making sure you set aside enough money to cover your personal expenses for at least six months.

7. Shop around for everything

Most of your time will be spent in the planning and funding stages. While you work out finances, keep a list or spreadsheet of all the things you’ll need and compare prices. Try to get at least two prices for every item you buy to ensure you’re getting a deal. Use the internet to your advantage and look for the best prices on everything from comfy chairs to espresso machines.

Marketing

8. Network your heart out

Having a hot location and brewing superior coffee will only get you so far. You need to network to maintain a connection to the area and to attract more customers, Renson says. Join the local chamber of commerce, a business association, or a local charity.

9. Start marketing before you open

If you start marketing the day you open, you’re already behind. On opening day, you want people excited to come in. To do that, you need to start marketing several months before you open. Affordable marketing options include:

Drop off free coffee to local businesses with a flyer that promotes opening day.
Set up and utilize several social media channels. It’s free advertising.
Give away coffee samples at a few local events before opening.
Try a small direct mail campaign that sends coupons to local residents.
Call everyone, including the media, to tell them about your plans to open the shop.

10. Don’t just focus on the interior of the building

Of course, you’ll stress over every little detail of your shop, from what paintings to hang on the wall to the POS system you’ll use, but Wilson says you shouldn’t neglect the outside of your shop.

“Pay attention to the landscaping, signage, and exterior appearance because that’s the first thing people see,” Wilson says. Some people decide whether or not to come in based on their first impression of the building, so make it count.

Plus, by spiffing up the building you’ll start to create a buzz in the community. People will start to wonder, who is setting up shop in there? Every little thing you can do to attract attention to your coffee shop can serve as a marketing tool.

Managing

11. Have a positive attitude

Like every business, you’ll face challenges to get your shop off the ground. Renson says keeping a positive attitude when things aren’t going your way is a must. Fake it if you have to. If you get in the habit of keeping an optimistic attitude, even if it’s less than genuine to start, you’ll eventually teach yourself to stay upbeat.

12. Hire slowly

You need help manning the register, waiting on customers, and making drinks, but don’t hire too many people too fast. Renson suggests hiring a few friends, or neighbors who will volunteer to help you out for the first few weeks. Slowly, bring on staff.

Hiring trusted staff can be tough. No matter how well someone does in an interview, you don’t know how well he or she fits until they’re on the floor. Keep a close eye on the register, Renson suggests, and don’t be afraid to let people who are hurting the business go.

13. Be demanding

It’s okay to set high standards for your employees, workflow, and workspace. That’s not to say that you should micromanage your employees, Wilson says, but you should “have a level of OCD when it comes to how your shop runs and looks.”

Starting a coffee shop is hard work, but for owners like Renson, owning a coffee shop is the equivalent of a living a dream. If your passion led you to open your own shop, please feel free to add to this list of tips to help others succeed in the industry.

Source:http://articles.bplans.com/13-tips-open-successful-coffee-shop/

What Are Examples of Good Service in the Restaurant Industry?

by Miranda Morley, Demand Media

Neat appearance, flawless presentation and friendly demeanor are all part of customer service.

No matter how tasty your menu, customers won't come back if they have bad experiences with your customer service. For this reason, training employees to offer good customer service can help you drive sales. According to the National Restaurant Association, the first step to opening a restaurant that offers great customer service is hiring people who love to serve. After that, you train them how to serve by showing them examples of great customer service and explaining how they can mimic those examples.

Being Prompt

Being prompt doesn't mean rushing or hovering, but it does mean taking care of customers' needs in an appropriate time frame. Having to wait 10 or even five minutes for drink refills, butter, sauce or the check can quickly make a good dining experience turn sour. Customers can feel awkward when wondering if they should remind their servers about the request. They may even eat food without the proper condiments or a beverage -- something no restaurant owner wants. Restaurant owners can encourage their employees to offer prompt service by asking them to keep lists of customer needs or to care for one customer before moving on to the next.

Being Friendly

Good service in the restaurant industry means friendly, welcoming service. A restaurant owner should not strive to avoid bad service, but she should strive to encourage the exceptional service that occurs when service workers take a genuine interest in their customers. For example, waiters and hosts might ask customers about their day, help them make food choices and give customers compliments. Restaurant owners can encourage this kind of good service by honoring employees who are exceptionally gifted in this area and having them train others.

Related Reading: Organized Labor in the Restaurant Industry

Being Available

Sometimes, good customer service simply means being available. Customers who can see managers, hosts and waitstaff are more likely to give employees the opportunity to provide good customer service by making requests. Many diners are hesitant to actually walk into the bar or to the counter to ask for something, and a customer should never have to shout into the kitchen. Just by being visible, you make customers feel they are having a better experience because they know if they need something, you're right there, available to help.

Being Exceptional

Customers can get good food and decent customer service almost anywhere. What will set your restaurant apart is the degree to which you are willing to go above and beyond to be exceptional. Restaurant employees can practice this kind of customer service by being willing to make special creations for guests, offering them drinks to go, bringing mints after dinner and engaging in other little practices that show they are going above and beyond the competition.

References (3)

About the Author

Miranda Morley is an educator, business consultant and owner of a copywriting/social-media management company. Her work has been featured in the "Boston Literary Magazine," "Subversify Magazine" and "American Builder's Quarterly." Morley has a B.A. in English, political science and international relations. She is completing her M.A. in rhetoric and composition from Purdue University Calumet.

Source:http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-good-service-restaurant-industry-38058.html

Friday, 31 July 2015

5 Ways To Make Your Restaurant Customers Happier

Your customers expect quality in every part of your restaurant.

Walt Disney had a great outlook on his customers. He said, “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends.”

This statement applies to the restaurant industry as well. You want to make your customers so happy with your food, your ambiance and your staff that they return over and over again bringing new friends with them each time.

Sounds easy, right? For many restaurants, making customers consistently happy is a difficult proposition. In this article, we’re going to discuss five ways to make your restaurant customers happier.

Way #1: Increase the Friendliness of Your Staff

If you aren’t concentrating on customer service and providing ongoing training to your entire staff, it’s time to make this a priority. We drive this point home with the results fromone study that says 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company after experiencing poor customer service.

The same study also found this statement true: 86% of consumers will pay up to 25% more for a better customer experience.

Those are pretty serious statistics – ones worth paying great attention to. It’s even been said that customer service is more important than the quality of your restaurant’s food.

Does great customer service begin and end with your wait staff? No. It begins the minute customers walk into your door through the minute they exit that same door.

You’ll make your customers happier when your staff is extra-friendly and willing to go the extra mile. Friendly staff is happy staff. They are employees who are satisfied with their jobs and content in their work environment. Happy, well-trained staff translates to happy customers. (tweet this)

Additionally, train your staff in customer service techniques. Here are a few suggestions:

Teach your staff to speak with respect and courtesy using respectful titles – think sir andma ‘m or miss.
Staff should smile and be friendly.
Encourage your staff to keep their own personal conversations to the back room areas.
Help them with their conversation and listening skills. A good listener is a skillful waiter.
Let them know it’s ok to go the extra mile.
Even in quick service restaurants, your customers appreciate etiquette and respect. Teach your staff how to properly set and clear dishes. Teach them to speak to all diners with the same kind tone.
Encourage your wait staff to be patient with diners. Guests should never be rushed off because the waiter wants to turn the table.

Your staff can make or break your restaurant. Conduct regular staff training and encourage the highest level of service. Your staff’s customer service skills reflect your bottom line.

Way #2: Reward Your Customers

Earn loyal customers with a customer loyalty program. You’ll make your customers happier when you give them something back. A loyalty program is a great way to encourage repeat business and word of mouth referrals.

For example, frozen-yogurt restaurant, Pinkberry, offers loyal customers a Pink Card. With this card, customers get a free yogurt after every tenth purchase and on their birthday.

Another example comes from California Pizza Kitchen. Their program, aptly named Pizza Dough, gives loyal diners $5 in pizza dough for every $100 they spend. This can be used to offset their next bill. They also provide a gift upon membership, a free birthday pizza and other rewards throughout the year.

Yet another idea hails from Panera Bread Company. They dispense with traditional rewards and offer instead a surprise. On occasion, diners find a surprise waiting for them on their rewards card in the form of on-the-house drinks, pastries, and bowls of soup or salads.

Not ready to offer a loyalty program? There are other ways to reward your customers and help them leave happier:

Surprise frequent diners with a free appetizer or dessert. If you’re the owner or chef, bring this free gift out yourself and visit for a few minutes.
Hand out promo items such as pens, paper and mugs/cups.

The name of the game here is the surprise. Diners are always happier when pleasantly surprised.

Way #3: Turn a Bad Experience Around

Customer disputes are bad for business when they aren’t handled quickly and efficiently. When your diners have problems, they’ll leave happier if you solved their problem with an acceptable solution.

Make sure your staff is trained how to handle customer disputes. If someone at one of their tables has a problem such as slow-to-arrive food, undercooked meat or a cold steak, wait staff should handle the problem quickly and efficiently.

Respect goes a long way in issues with customers. Put in the effort, and you might find they leave happier.

When problems with food or service arise, not only fix the problem, but offer something free. This can be in the form of an immediately free meal or a gift certificate to come back.

When you give them a free round of drinks or a dessert, you’ll initially incur the cost, but you’ll find it’s repaid when they return the next time and the time after that.

Happy customers increase your revenue and your restaurant’s profitability.

Way #4: Surprise Them with Something New

Shake it up a little bit. Once a month, surprise diners by picking a random customer or table to receive free dessert, free drinks or a free dinner.

This not only surprises customers but encourages them to return on the off-chance you’ll decide tonight is surprise night.

Using technology such as iBeacon, recognize your customers by name when they enter the restaurant. In today’s busy, digital world, your customers are often craving personal relationships.

Bring in some entertainment. Pick a local band or ethnic dancers to perform. Do this once a month or once a quarter. Diners won’t know, but they’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Way #5: Make a Connection

When you or one of your employees makes a connection with diners, they are happier.(tweet this) Greet your frequent diners by name. Don’t know their name? Encourage employees to introduce themselves and learn customers’ names. Then, they can personally great them the next time they return.

Consider Cliff and Norm from Cheers – “where everybody knows your name.” Many of your customers are happier dining in a place where everyone knows their name and looks forward to seeing them when they come in to eat.

How about thanking them when they leave with sincerity. As they leave ask if there was anything you could have done to make their evening more enjoyable. Listen and respond with respect.

As millennials take center stage, they demand this sort of connection. They want to feel appreciated and acknowledged. Taking care to provide that connection not only makes your customers happier, but it boosts your sales.

The Take-Away

When you make your restaurant customers happier, you’ll increase your revenue and your restaurant’s profitability.

According to a study by Harvard Business School on Starbucks the satisfaction of a customer has a massive impact on revenue. How?

It’s always easier and less expensive to make a customer happy than to spend money recruiting new diners. When your staff goes the extra mile, greets customers personally and treats them with respect, you’ve earned a customer for life.

You’ve not only earned a loyal customer, but you’ve earned one that will do you marketingfor you – for free! Think word of mouth referrals, social media shout-outs and online reviews.

How have you gone the extra mile to make your customers happier? We’d love to hear your tips below!

Images: US Army Africa and Derek K. Miller

Source:http://restaurantengine.com/make-your-restaurant-customers-happier/

How Choosing The Right Background Music Can Launch Restaurant Sales

Apr 11, 2014 on Published, No Comments

Drive up your restaurant sales by choosing the right background music

Choosing the appropriate music for your restaurant is as vital to successful dining as a quality soundtrack is to a winning motion picture. Music also plays a unique role in influencing customer turnover rate, and individual buying decisions at each table. According to research, up tempo music increases customer turnaround in restaurants, and slow music increases individual customer spending. Conversely, customers drink slower when listening to down tempo music, and even take fewer bites per minute which may actually tempt them to order dessert, coffee, or an after dinner cocktail.

Restaurant music should accentuate the cuisine it serves, and enhance the restaurant’s chosen theme, menu, décor and stylized personality. Careful attention should be paid in tailoring music selections to breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as to the day of the week. Depending on the restaurant, its food, and interior motif, Fridays may be good days to slightly increase music tempo for a faster turnover, with even faster music selected after dinner to increase late-night traffic. Sunday Brunches could feature slow, silky jazz to encourage mingling, conversation, and relaxation.

Choosing Restaurant Music is Complex and Involved

As you can see, choosing restaurant music is a complex and involved process, because not only does the right kind of music create and enhance a specific type of desired atmosphere, music can be used to manage table turnover rates, to influence menu selections, and even help regulate customer age as part of an effort to reach your target audience. If college kids are a restaurant’s prime demographic, faster music may drive older patrons away, but other restaurants may cater to older patrons who are generally from a higher income bracket.

Source:http://socialdraft.com/how-background-music-helps-restaurant-sales/

Thursday, 30 July 2015

Restaurant promotion ideas – how to attract new customers

Restaurant owner always searching for new and fresh restaurant promotion ideas that will attract new customers.

There is no justification for a reduced number of customers and lack of initiative in the segment of marketing.

Get started

Planing of your restaurant promotion ideas may take some time, but believe me the work will certainly pay off. There are plenty of online and offline methods of restaurant marketing. In this blog I will write about some tried and, what is more important, effective ways how you can promote your restaurant business and increase profit. Most of them are affordable and easy to implement.

Visit companies in your neighborhood

Many owners forget about the companies that surrounding their restaurant and are very important potential customers, especially during lunch hour.
For a start, select some target companies and groups from your neighborhood and plan a time to visit them. Personal contact with potential customers is very important. Introduce your restaurant to managers and directors and make a stimulating offer for them when they visit your restaurant or order food for delivery. Talk to them and leave them leaflet about your restaurant’s offer.

Leaflet about restaurant’s offer must be small

Make sure that your offer lasts at least for 30 days and make the conversation with you potential customers friendly and open. Treat them as partners, not as strangers.
Leaflet with your stimulating offer must be professionally designed and small enough to fit in wallet.
Don’t make big flyers and just leave them somewhere.
Also, don’t stick flyers under windshield wipers. The point is to present yourself and your restaurant in person, instead of being an anonymous.

restaurant-promotion-ideas-lunch-special

20% Off Is Enough To Attract Customers

In order to stimulate your potential customers, you must provide a discount of 20%. This percentage is enough to attract the targeted group of customers and make you a profit.
You can also offer, for example two pasta meals for the price of one, which is very useful way for attracting new customers.

10% Off On Delivery

For your restaurant promotion ideas we should not forget about a special 30 day, 10% discount on delivery. This is quite sufficient for a target company or group to get interested.
There are always new ways to attract new customers and increase your profit. The trick is to keep coming up with ideas and improvements and put them into practice.

Build Your Customers Database

Try to get e-mails of your potential customers that you can send daily offers and specials. Send the offers in the morning and certainly before noon when lunch hour has already begun. Don’t forget to put some tasty pictures and water mouth descriptions of offered food and drinks. When you build customers database you get a best tool for direct marketing strategies for your restaurant promotion.

Happy Hour In Your Restaurant

This promotion is intended to boost business during a slow hours in a day.Happy hour is usually in a late afternoon Monday through Thursday, and often taking place at some period between 4 PM and 8 PM. In most cases the “happy hour” lasts longer than a one hour.Let your customers enjoy happy hour food and drinks prices after a long working day ! Make a happy hour menu with half-price wine lists, cheap cocktails and side dishes and you guests would happily pay and eat much more.

Use Sport Season For Restaurant Promotion Ideas

Use various sporting seasons as a good way to get customers into your restaurant. Make a menu with special offer during season or free delivery. Make a dinner discounts or organize different parties like super bowl party in your restaurant or bar. This is perfect idea for pizzerias. Also you can give sports names to some of your dishes or drinks from menu list, even funny once. Lure people to eat in your restaurant instead staying in the house.

Tips: Provide a large screen to your guests and enjoy in watching sports matches. Buy team t shirts for your staff and combine them in a new wait staff dress code.

Wine Tasting In Your Restaurant

You will need some time to plan and organize wine testing, but a successful event can bring in continued business long afterwards. You can organize wine testing night any time during the year. Be sure that you choose lighter wines in the summer and heavier varieties of wine in winter time.

Tip: Contact the wine producers or their distributors and co-organize this event. This can also improve your relationship in the future.

Best days for organization of this kind of event are Friday and Saturday when people can relax and not have to worry about going to work tomorrow morning. Think about your guests drinking habits. Good time is just after lunch or dinner time. People certainly can drink more after a good meal.
Print formal invitations and give it to your guests with menu and/or create an online invitation and send it to restaurant’s fans on social networks or web sites that deals with restaurant and wine business.
Keep in mind that the tasting area will be too crowded so make it practical. Avoid flowers for table decoration. Fragrance of flowers should not be mixed with the smell of wine. Candles should be also avoided. Nice arrangement of glasses and plate with grapes would be just enough for wine tasting table decoration.

Theme Dinner Party In Your Restaurant

Theme dinner or even lunch party can help you to get new restaurant promotion ideas. Choose theme for your guests such as Italian dinner party. Make a full Italian experience for your guests. Set the table cloths in the colors of the Italian flag green, white and red. Or if you don’t have it buy only napkins in these colors.

For music, choose Italian canzone which will in one moment change the atmosphere in your restaurant, and become very romantic. And of course make a menu with special offer of Italian food and wine which is an indispensable element of Italian specialties. I m sure that your guest will have a lovely time and come to visit your restaurant again.

Make The „Food Event“

If you want to attract young people in your restaurant you need to give them more then great food.
Many restaurant owners still agree with the fact that the best promotion is by Word of Mouth. But for Millennials these Word of Mouth is more like Written words – shared thoughts and comments about your restaurant on social media channels or portals like yelp or open table.

To get their reaction you need to work hard to give them customers experience which they will remember in positive way and share it with their friends. This means Great food, Great service, Good prices, Nice atmosphere, Good music, Clean toilette etc. Satisfy guests will usually become your regular guest.

Lately, becomes increasingly difficult to meet guest’s demands. New generation want a „Food event“ not just nice food and good service. They need more. If you want to get them in your restaurant you need to give them what they want.
Furniture in your restaurant should be more stylish and fancy, include flat screens and “sick art ” from famous local artists . All these things make a lounge-like ambiance and provide plenty of interesting things for Millennials to capture it on their mobile phones and share it with their friends.

As I wrote at the beginning of this article there are so many ways to promote your restaurant.

Make a plan for promotion carefully, be brave with new restaurant promotion ideas and do your best.
Good luck!

Source:http://possector.com/marketing-promotion/restaurant-promotion-ideas

Little Known Ways to Attract More Customers to Your Restaurant

Setup birthday and event reminders to get more people at your restaurant.

We all know about loyalty programs, direct advertising and discounts, but what are some less conventional ways to build your restaurant’s customer base?

Here are five less-known ways to tap into new markets…

1. Brand your recipes

Your recipes are the pride of your business. Brand them outside of your restaurant to reach a new market.

A recent experience got me thinking about this. I’m signed up for a produce delivery service run by a group of local farmers. Each week they send a surprise selection of whatever fruits and vegetables are in season. They just recently started sending recipes with the delivery, custom-made to fit the ingredients in the box. This would be a fantastic opportunity for a local restaurant. Instead of having the farmers design the recipes themselves, they could ask a local chef to contribute custom ideas. The restaurant’s name would be included in the recipe title. Its unique cases like this that restaurants should look out for.

You can also brand your recipes by contributing to a local cookbook or blog, or starting your own blog with a special ‘recipe release’ each month. You could even make signature meals and sell them readymade at the local grocery or gourmet store.

A great success story in recipe branding is Vikram Vij. He started out as the owner of a small restaurant in Vancouver, and has expanded by branding his recipes with a line calledVij’s at Home. He’s also published a couple of cookbooks. It’s all adding to the buzz around his restaurant locations in Vancouver and Seattle.

2. Offer E-Gifts

E-gift coupons aren’t just for big chain restaurants. (tweet this) As an independently owned restaurant, you can tap into an entirely new market with e-gifts.

Offer the option to buy restaurant ‘credit’ on your website. Try a service like Giftango to send the recipient a special code to redeem at your location. You can offer flat amounts like $20, $50, or $100.

The great thing about this is that you’re reaching out to a market beyond your local area. You’re giving the option for someone in another city to buy a dinner for their parents back home, or send a free lunch to a client as a thank-you gesture.

Not many independent restaurants are doing this. Get in as an early adopter to connect with your more internet-savvy customers.

3. Check-in apps

More consumers today are checking in wherever they go including restaurants.

“Check-in” apps are only getting more popular. 18% of US smartphone owners use “check-in” apps, and 33 million people are using Foursquare alone.

Location-based apps are one of the cheapest, easiest ways to get your restaurant’s name in front of a local audience. They connect people to nearby businesses, and offer a chance to interact with your restaurant.

My favorite check-in app for restaurants is Yelp. The app is designed specifically to help restaurants off special discounts and rewards. Offer a small reward to customers who repeatedly check-in. This gives new customers a great incentive to keep coming back.

Check out an in-depth guide to Yelp for restaurants here.

4. Birthday emails

I get an email from Starbucks every year on my birthday. They remind me to come in and order any drink on the house. It’s a nice way to start the morning!

It’s surprising that more restaurants don’t do this. Sure, they may offer free birthday stuff, but it’s the reminder that really gets people in the door. If anything, at least you’re connecting with customers on a personal level.

Birthday customers are great because they usually travel in groups. If you offer a free drink or dessert, you’ll be getting the extra business of friends and family who are along for the celebration

The more locally-oriented and personal your restaurant, the better a birthday email strategy works. (tweet this)

5. Collaborate on special offers

Ok, so this one may not be totally unknown, but it’s often overlooked.

Tap into a new market by collaborating with another business in your area. It could be anything from clothing stores, to a local art gallery, to a spa or sports arena.

A great example of restaurant co-marketing is Applebees’ Weight-Watchers menu. They’ve reached out to more health-conscious diners using the trusted Weight Watchers’ brand.

Another good example is The Grid magazine’s $5 burger week in Toronto. A bunch of restaurants get together and offer gourmet burgers for $5, using a local newspaper to advertise as a local event. It’s been a huge success for the independent restaurants that participate.

Whether it’s a two-way partnership or a collective effort, working with other businesses really helps.

Some other co-marketing ideas:

“Dinner and a movie” deal with your local theatre
Discounts offered to guests at the nearest hotel
Join forces with a local charity/cause
Start an online rewards group for restaurants and other businesses in your area

Think beyond mainstream marketing to expand your customer base!

The first step to attracting more customers to your restaurant is to have a great restaurant website. Restaurant Engine provides a great website for your restaurant and it’s easy for you to use and update. Take the Restaurant Engine Tour today.

Source:http://restaurantengine.com/attract-more-customers-to-your-restaurant/