Strategic Planning for Restaurants

This week I came across an article from Black Box Intelligence that indicated that restaurants have moved from “survival mode” to “strategic planning mode.” In my meetings with restaurant owners this past week, I found that many know they need to plan, but they are not there yet. Financial issues, employee concerns and government policies are still driving their day-to-day actions. The challenge is the same; independent restaurants grapple with the daily issues and do not put the effort into longer-term thinking. So things remain the same.

When I speak with the owners about what they should be looking at for the future, they agree on what needs to be done, but they just cannot get to it. So what must happen to help them get to where they need to be? Many need to see and understand where the financial win is for them. One of the tools we use is our Menu Marketing Calculator which helps illustrate the value of digital marketing of their menu. The pandemic has changed the way restaurants need to market in the future, and the calculator helps them see what the financial reward could be for their business.

Finding help along the way is the next critical issue. Money is tight and resources are low, but restaurant owners need help now. Finding a trusted source to help get plan and implement a program to increase your profits is critical.. At CORE, we like to lay out a phased in approach that helps a restaurant with getting into the programs at a lower cost; =as they see the results, they gain faith in the strategies. The results speak for themselves and encourage program continuation. We also offer “Pay for Performance” programs in which the cost of the programs is based on results. Everyone has a common goal of successful programs to help the restaurant.

Many of our clients are trending well above the industry average during the pandemic because of a common goals approach. We each have “skin in the game” for success and the results speak for themselves.