Know your demographics.

The second restaurant that I owned was in low income area; however, there was still an untapped market that lived miles behind me that lived in 10,000 square foot homes on these huge plantations. The question was how was going to let them know?
I was lucky in that, I had a mix of both kinds of customers so I had to rearrange my menu to satisfy the likes of both groups.

My menu ranged from an 8″ sub for $4.99 to a 14 oz Strip Sirloin for $18.99. I had something to satisfy every one’s taste and wallet.

These 10 steps may not work for everyone; however, if you own a small mom and pop pizzeria, café, deli, etc, these are great ideas to bring in the bodies and boost sales.

  1. Make your menu affordable to everyone. Don’t leave anybody out

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    Lunch time is usually a time for customers to get in and out. You’ll always want specials on the board that are quick and easy; and cheap. You need to produce efficiently to get the customers in and out as quickly as possible.
    Dinner time is a more relaxed experience for customers. They will take their time when choosing menu options and they will look at a wider range of choices. It is always a great idea to offer options that range anywhere from $7.99 for a Spaghetti &Meatballs to a Heavy NY Strip for $18.99. You are, therefore, opening the menu to different customers and wallet sizes.

  2. Advertisement on a Local Radio Station

    If you can find a local radio station, usually it ends up being an AM station to advertise for you, it will significantly boost your sales. I did this with an AM station every Monday morning. The disc jockey would ask me questions about specials, my background, location, menu items, do we serve alcohol, etc. I was allotted a time slot for every week. I would often mention specials for the listeners and as soon as I hung up the phone, my phone lines would blow up before I was even open for business. The cost to me was around $170.00 a month. That’s a fraction of funds compared to advertisements in local newspapers or magazines. I had drones of people coming in to meet me that heard me on the radio.

  3. Lucky Rock Bags

    This was about the most powerful forms of advertisement for me. Take a box of sandwich bags, put a river rock in the bag to weigh it down, and include your menu, a coupon, upcoming specials, and locations. You throw these out on people driveways. The typical reaction when people call is that they received a bag in their driveway and this was the first time they were trying the restaurant or heard of you. Unfortunately, you will have a choice few that will be upset that the bag that actually landed in their driveway was purposively thrown in a bush or on their perfectly manicured lawn. I usually shrug these people off since they have never worked a day in their life in a restaurant. After all, we have free speech and this is a way for you to get your name out. That’s all I tell them.

  4. Participate in Food Competitions to increase customer base

    I have participated in these for a couple of years now and the feedback you get is incredible. There are hundreds of people that are walking around trying local fare. You can meet and greet the locals, tell them about yourself, and hand out menus. It’s also a great way for potential customers to sample your items before they visit your location.

  5. Write a blog to gain customers

    There are so many resources available on the web for you to write about your restaurant. Most of the time these websites are free and they will get the word out about specials you’re running, location, menu items, and other pertinent information about your particular restaurant. Some of the best websites for blogging on restaurants is chowhound, cooks, and pizza.com.

  6. Have a Newspaper write an Article

    I had one of the most popular newspapers from the area do an article about the restaurant in January 2007. They interviewed some of my best customers from my base and asked them to put their two cents in. They took a picture of me cooking in my chef jacket. The article was a lovely rendition of my life as a chef, my background, and my favorite items to cook. Trust me, it worked. I was still busy 6 months after the article came out. This was due to the fact that I retained a new customer base and customers were traveling for 2 hours to get to my restaurant.

  7. Make a club and Email List

    I formed a pizza of the month club. I would provide the customers with an XLarge specialty pizza, 6 garlic rolls, 2 desserts, 2 salads, and one appetizer for $39.95 twice a month. It’s your club, so you can do what you want to. Be creative. You can create an email list within this club to let your customer base know the monthly specialty pizza or upcoming events.

  8. Wine Tastings

    Depending on your clientele, this is an extremely lucrative way to have other streams of income coming in. This is, of course, is dependent on if you have a Beer and Wine License. You can combine your food with the type of wine the wine guy has brought for tasting. This does take some more extensive planning but, on many occasions, I have taken in $75.00 a head for a night of food and spirits.

  9. Cooking Classes

    Provide classes to your customers each week about a particular aspect of cooking, a technique, a type of cuisine, etc. This can be worked around your restaurant hours. This is a great way to develop relationships with your customers.

  10. Catering

    This is a lot work and often times you need a lot of employees to help. You need a form of transportation that will safely transport the food without diminishing the quality. This requires planning and knowledge. Knowing the portions sizes for a certain amount of people; remembering every item to take with you for service. I have worked with one of the top Catering Executive in the Country. I have extensive experience in this field of expertise.