One of the great things about writing blogs is that your writing remains accessible for years. I wrote a book just a few years back, and (I’m going to toot my own horn here for a moment) it won an award as the #3 personal finance book of the year that year, but just a few years later it’s pretty tough to find one.
On the other hand, a blog post from many years ago is easy to find. This is a boon for readers, too, as great ideas are never lost. Case in point: I was surfing around looking for good ideas for restaurant entrepreneurs, and I found this wonderful post about how to make a restaurant in a small town succeed.
I’ll hit some of the highlights here, buy I really recommend you take a look at the post itself, which has a number of good ideas, both in the main post and in the comment section.
1. Local Advertising May Be a Waste of Money
I write a lot about restaurant advertising here, so clearly I think it can work. Still, in some situations, advertising may not be profitable. If your restaurant operates in a good location in a small town, all your potential customers may know about you. You can reinvest the money you would have spent on advertising in more profitable promotions.
2. Post Promotions and Specials in a Prominent Space in Your Restaurant
Here’s a good way to reinvest the money saved on advertising: buy an attractive Specials Board and offer drink specials, happy hours, combo meals, etc. Whatever makes sense for your restaurant. These promotions will not only generate extra revenue from your customers but will also generate word-of-mouth in your small town, bringing in people more often than they’d otherwise visit you.
3. Use Yelp Wisely
When tourists come through your town, they will often use Yelp to decide where to eat. Encourage your loyal customers to post reviews on Yelp, and you will likely see your share of tourist business increase.
4. Host Events in Your Restaurant
Encourage people to use your restaurant for things they might otherwise do in their homes, such as a wine tasting or a poker night. Using the restaurant might be a nice change for them and brings in additional revenue for you.
