Written on January 1, 2019
by Joe Welsh
January 1, 2019, the holiday season has come to a close. I hope it was a great one for you and your restaurant business. Time to take a breath and think of the year ahead. Many will watch football games over the day and weeks ahead. Your business is like a football game today; is […]
Written on December 10, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Is Email Marketing Dead? During the holiday season, I get so many emails from everybody. Friends, retailers, charities and so much more are using email marketing to get me to visit their restaurant or website. They are all competing for the same dollars that a restaurant does. Unfortunately, I don’t get many emails from restaurants. […]
Written on December 1, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Growing your sales with effective restaurant marketing strategies As we enter the busiest season of the restaurant year, it is important to refresh your teams on the importance of these months and the impact it can have on your business for the following year. Spend some time on these topics and have a great holiday […]
Written on October 23, 2017
by Joe Welsh
With the holidays fast approaching, it is important to assess your restaurant marketing plans for success this season. Your plans may include new menu items, community involvement programs, increasing catering sales, advertising and many more. One area of importance that is often neglected is the role your servers play in the guest experience. No matter […]
Written on July 27, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Are Your Employees Hurting Your Profits? We all agree there are many moving parts that impact the profitability of a restaurant, one of the key ingredients that is often overlooked are your employees. If you think about it, they are more than just servers and cooks. Every action they take has an impact on your […]
Written on May 20, 2017
by Joe Welsh
Day in a day out you work at your passion of building your restaurant business. You have a vision and a dream of what success is like etched in your mind. You work hard every day to make it happen. Then you wake up and look around you. Reality sets in, you are running from […]
Written on October 10, 2016
by Joe Welsh
Football season is in full swing with High School, College and NFL Football every weekend. Does this help or hurt your restaurant? Yesterday, I went to a college football game that had over 100,000 people at the game. The tailgate lot was full, the concession stands were busy, and people were having fun. It was […]
Written on June 7, 2016
by Joe Welsh
No, this is not a blog about the Dr. Seuss book, but it is a story about places you might wind up at. Learn about how digital maps can impact your restaurant’s reputation. As a Restaurant Coach, I often use Google Maps when I travel. In many areas, I am not familiar with the towns and […]
Written on February 9, 2015
by Joe Welsh
Over the past few years, many restaurant owners I have met with have been very skeptical of review sites such as Yelp or TripAdvisor. They contended that the reviews are false, misleading or competitors just writing bad reviews about them. In some cases they claim that Yelp was misleading in its representation of reviews. Recently […]
Written on November 5, 2014
by Joe Welsh
November is upon us and the holiday planning is set in place for most restaurants. Gift card promotions in place and holiday parties are booked. Fortunately gasoline prices are dropping which will free up discretionary spending. The challenge is to drive traffic into your restaurant and away from the big box stores. Promotions on social […]
Written on October 14, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Over the past few weeks I have visited with many restaurant owners to discuss what their restaurant marketing programs are and the results they are getting. Some are doing great while others need help in building the business with effective marketing programs. Throughout my conversations, it became apparent that many restaurants are overspending on programs. […]
Written on August 25, 2014
by Joe Welsh
When was the last time your restaurant’s website made you money? The majority of restaurant websites that I take a look at are not really helping restaurant owners increase revenue. Yes, a website is designed to create awareness and promote a professional image, but it can also drive new traffic and create new revenue streams for […]
Written on June 4, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Where has the customer traffic gone? In recent meetings with clients, the focus has really shifted on how do we build customer traffic counts. The NRA data confirms that customer traffic counts have been declining steadily for several years. Restaurant sales have shown minor increases largely due to price increases. The question still remains the […]
Written on May 26, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Restaurant’s Changing Lives! That’s a powerful statement. Recently I was in Philadelphia and had lunch at a Maggiano’s Restaurant. When the waiter put down the menu, there was an additional menu in which a percentage of the proceeds were donated to the Make a Wish Foundation. A great program to help those in need. Taking […]
Written on May 12, 2014
by Joe Welsh
Every week I speak with restaurant owners in many parts of the country. In each conversation, they tell me of their concerns in running their restaurant business. In each of these conversations they all expressed many of the same concerns and they revolve around these five issues: Growing sales and reducing cost. Rising food cost […]