YOU think Competition is Tough?????

The restaurant industry is getting hacked apart right now.  It seems price is the only game in town and that is if you can still afford your lease.   If  you think you have  competition?  THINK MALL!   For several thousand dollars a month, you can have the privilege of putting your store front next to dozens of others—selling stuff just like yours!

The retail enviroment is built on specialization and uniqueness.   The big secret is to specialize in an area where you are substantially different from you rivals.  Then play up that strength.  Differentiate yourself from the competition.  This is called ‘positioning’ your business.   You can incorporate the same strategies of the big boys, but first you must know: 

What is your Unique Selling Proposition? 

Do you have an answer?  Does your customer?

In search of “YUM”

When someone utters “Yum”, you know exactly what they mean.  On-line Webster defines ‘yum’ as an expression of pleasurable satisfaction. That’s powerful, isn’t it?  Not only satisfied, but in a manner which brings pleasure! A business, product or service that takes me there deserves an audible “YUM”!  Our expectations have changed and we find our standards constantly shifting with the swarm to a new normal.   It came to my attention when I visited a neighborhood locally owned business.  I thank heaven they brought me to my senses.  That experience reminded me that our communities are full of local goodness;  folks who believe they have something special to offer and risk everything they have to bring it to us.  That is where you’ll find the memorable moments.  Unexpected brushes with ‘pleasurable’ satisfaction. Things that make you go, “yum”.  

Enter 2008, and the restaurant game changed.  Everything changed.  The dominance of speed and convenience has kicked quality and customer service to the curb.   How can you possibly compete with the big boys  on price?   In order to reach mass appeal, today’s investments must be cheap, homogenized, easily duplicated and fast, fast, fast.    The process strips away the natural deliciousness……YUM has left the building…..

ATTENTION: RESTAURANT OWNERS

LET ME  REMIND YOU WHY YOU GOT INTO THIS  BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE…………..Please take a moment to view a 2 minute refresher:  (Put together by Siamiak Taghaddos (of Grasshopper)

 http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/entrepreneurs-help-heal-the-economy

If watching that video doesn’t remind you of why you got into the business in the first place, then you might not have what it takes to weather this storm.  Do yourself (and your loved ones) a favor, and get out now.   Shut it down.   You have  sacrficed so much already…..

OR…….Watch it every morning. ……

 Let it   get   to you. 

Then start fighting for your business…….

Where have all the Foodies gone?

Fellow  FOODIES, our restaurant world is growing ever smaller.  We are not only witness to the great 2008  Thinning of the Herd.  We are actively participating and sometimes directing it.   Our collective palates and  wallets will determine who stay’s and who goes.  There will be collateral damage.

Sad to say many of our favorite bars, bistro’s,  restaurants  and pizza joints won’t make the cut….and it’s not because of the food.  It’s because of the owners.  They are a stubborn bunch and they are their own worst enemy:

OPEN LETTER TO MY FAVORITE  LITTLE  SPOT:

You know me.  I love you guy’s.  I am one of your  ”regular’s”.   I am not coming in as much any more because,…..well, you know, the economy.  But I am still going out and so are thousands of others.   I am worried about you.   I know you are worried too.   Truth is, you can tell when you walk through the door.  You can almost smell the fear.  I see you are taking actions to turn things around;  running specials, cutting staff, substituting ingredients.      You seem to be focused on cutting costs rather than INCREASING REVENUE.

Because I want you to stay around, I am going to say somethings that may be uncomfortable for you to hear.  But you need to listen.  I am doing this for the Foodies everywhere;  and because I am hungry for what you have got.

Trying to save independent restaurant owners from themselves.

Open letter to local resturant owners  (and their fans) continues:

Today’s economic meltdown may well prove to be the perfect storm as our neighborhood small businesses close up shop one after another.   Fellow Foodies know that it is essential we support the small business hero that brings  the local flavor and spirit to our communities.   I believe you are trying everything you know how to turn things around.  Here’s the problem:  You are trained in FOOD.  It is what you do.  Maybe all your life.  You may be the very best at what you do…..but you are not trained in sales, merchandising and the art and science of customer behavior & influences.

I am not talking about MARKETING.   I am talking about MERCHANDISING STRATEGIES.   Stay with me here………Marketing costs money.  A  Merchandise Strategy does not.  A Merchandising Strategy  will  give you distinction in  the eyes of the  customer.   (And it will be Uniquely your own…..satisfying that hungry ego of yours.)

If you can’t answer ‘what is unique about your business’, without hesitation…… you have a very common problem and one of the reasons you are not reaching your customers.   ( If you say “our people”, that is a cop-out.)  You need a Merchandising Strategy so people know why your business is different and or better than the competition.