Restauranteurs are used to focusing on the practical aspects of building and growing their business – offering great quality food, giving their customers a memorable experience, efficiency in the kitchen, and so on.
These are all important ingredients to a successful operation. But in today’s tech-driven world, it would be a mistake not to examine modern methods, tools, and solutions that could set you apart and put you in front of the pack.
Here are several tips for overrunning your competition.
Technology can make your restaurant more efficient. You can put tasks on autopilot, streamline processes, eliminate bottlenecks, and more.
From a broader perspective, there are essentially two types of tech – back-of-house tech, and front-of-house tech.
Per Restaurant Technologies, an example of back-of-house tech might include an oil management system. This system can put fryer oil duties on autopilot, eliminating the need for your employees to be directly involved in the handling, delivery, storage, and disposal of oil.
Front-of-house technology usually revolves around easy ordering and bill paying. This is often accomplished with the use of tablets or tablet kiosks the customers can use themselves. This type of technology can reduce the amount of time a customer spends in your restaurant, giving you the ability to serve more people in less time and drive more profit as result.
Though technology is always an investment, if outmaneuvering your competition is a priority, you’ll want to jump on opportunities.
The latest stats show that more and more people are using smartphones to discover restaurants and order online. This would suggest that your website needs to be mobile-friendly. If people have trouble using your website on their smartphone, there’s a good chance they’re going to turn to one of your competitors to satisfy their craving.
Mobile ordering is another common bottleneck. Many websites are still built around a desktop user in mind. They have a full keyboard, a mouse, and a larger screen to work with. A mobile user does not.
Reduce the amount of data the user needs to enter to order on your website. This can help optimize the ordering process. Additionally, help them get to where they want to go in as few taps (or clicks) as possible. Today’s users will not put up with inefficient interfaces for long.
Is your website mobile responsive? If not, it may be time to talk to your web developer, or whoever handles the website internally to ensure it’s optimized for modern customer behavior.
Get your marketing on track by determining which 20% is producing 80% of the results. This 80-20 split shows up in virtually every facet of business and is one worth paying attention to.
If you know which 20% is working, you can scale it up and invest more resources into it. By eliminating the 80% that’s less effective, you can gain energy and capital back to put into the 20%.
If you aren’t tracking and measuring your marketing results, now is a good a time to start as any. Give yourself time to build a decent sample (i.e. six to 12 months), and then apply the Pareto principle as you seek to optimize and improve it.
If you want to overrun your competition, you must stay on top of the latest trends, technology, and best practices. Remain a student of the industry as you look for ways to improve the efficiency of your business.
The restaurant industry is highly competitive, and it can be easy to lose your identity amid so many options. Look for ways to differentiate yourself in the market.