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Restaurant Industry News
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Wednesday January 7th, 2009 |
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Food & Beverage - 8 Recession Opportunities: Turn Lemons into Lemonade - By Ken Burgin
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Downturns can reveal surprising opportunities... As your competitors reduce expenses, they often cut muscle, not fat - their marketing is weaker, suppliers are unhappy and customers disappointed. It's a great chance to be the best! |
1. Move closer to customers. Chances are, your competitors have cut their marketing. But you can be one of the few that sends a regular email or text-message, or updates a chatty online news page. You probably have hundreds of contact emails already - now's the time to put them to work. Your 4-Hour Marketing Person now makes even more sense. This is NOT the time for hard-sell - keep it personal, friendly and regular. Why not post out half a dozen cheap-but-modern postcards tomorrow?
2. Suppliers are desperate. They're more keen than ever to set up longer-term relationships and lock in deliveries. If you've traditionally swapped around as you hunt for the best deal, now's the time to create a whole new relationship and lock in a rock bottom price. Commodity prices have paused, and vendors want certainty with their customers. Your biggest negotiation strength is the reliability of your payment - don't mess that up.
3. More good people are looking for work. The job market is gradually tilting in favour of employers. But don't keep using the same old recruitment methods. These good staff will be checking you online - what will they see? Time to create a positive, impressive Employment Page on your Website. Award-winning Silo Lounge has used their website to turn the whole recruitment process around in their favour.
4. Say goodbye to unproductive staff. In many legal systems, you need to prove that dismissal is fair and justified - the weekly sales figures may be proof enough. Have you checked the average sales per head of your waiters and bar staff lately? There are noticeable differences between those who work hard and those who hold back. But also raise the quality of communication with staff - they have friends losing jobs, and know that sales are down.
5. Not all fixed costs are fixed. Cutting expenses like rent, insurance and interest rates is not impossible. Ask for another quote on your insurance, and recheck loan rates now that interest rates are falling - why haven't some finance companies reduced theirs? In most areas, there are landlords with empty shops chasing tenants - is a rent pause or temporary discount possible, or could the landlord start paying for some of the occupation costs? Use a real estate professional to help with the negotiation - they know where the pressure points are (and they need the work).
6. Businesses that close create opportunities. There may be a great chance for expansion if a location become available. Or a crazy discounter falls over and you no longer need to match their prices. Suddenly you can buy expensive equipment for 10c in the dollar if you've got cash available - this can be buyer's heaven.
7. Save costs by going green AND boost your reputation at the same time. The point of most environmental initiatives in the hospitality industry is to reduce energy use, waste and the need for expensive resources. Use our free Green Guide for Restaurants, Hotels & Clubs and make sure you tell the world about it - these are stories that always create good PR.
8. Your positive attitude makes you a hero. The business of restaurants and bars automatically gives owners and managers a high profile. Now is the time to build your reputation as an entrepreneur - we all want to hear the 'success in spite of the downturn' stories, not more hard-luck and blaming. What message are you projecting?
Profitable Hospitality offers management and cost-control systems (Manuals & CD-ROMs) for restaurants, cafes, hotels, bars and clubs. The systems are based on the extensive consulting and operating experience of CEO Ken Burgin, and enable busy owners and managers to set up complete operating and cost-control systems in minutes, not months. Profitable Hospitality also runs regular management training workshops in the areas of kitchen profit & efficiency, restaurant marketing and functions management. A free monthly e-newsletter keeps you up to date on the latest industry management issues. www.profitablehospitality.com.
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