Restaurant Brokers on the Reality of Restaurant Trends

Posted by Robin Gagnon on Jan 30, 2014 6:52:00 AM
Restaurant brokers Eric and Robin Gagnon recently interviewed expert guests on 2014 trends. In their final show segment (airing on Talk 920in Atlanta Georgia), these specialists tackle the trends for their restaurant reality segment.  What's the reality?  Well the trends may come and go but the basics of operating a restaurant are tried and true. 

In the words of these restaurant brokers, "maintaining profitability and continuing to grow is a lot of hard work."  That being said, there are plenty of resources for owners to read that provide research.  It's not just generalized information since restaurant broker Eric Gagnon shares that the amount of information available by segment, such as casual dining and fine dining is unlimited.  n order to learn, Eric stresses that you need to be reading the material that is available and out there from someone else who has already tried what you want to do. You can see what works, what didn’t work, and what you can do to grow your own business.

 

Adaptation is the name of the game when nailing the trends.  You have to be able to look into the future and predict and plan for all kinds of changes.  Food costs are a challenge  - you have to reinvent a menu that lowers costs and delivers a great value.   Is the neighborhood  changing?  You have to predict that change and figure out how to attract new customers to the area.  It's up to the operator to determine whether a concept change, pricing change,  or specials model with happy hour offerings will work to drive the traffic and figure out what will bring people in to your restaurant.


Robin points out that most restaurant operators have a POS system in place that can help them determine what in their restaurant is working for them. As a business owner in this industry, you need to be an expert and be able to predict all kinds of situations about our industry. Restaurant owners need to use the POS systems to see how people are reacting to their recipes, pricing, specials and more. When you are in tune with your business, you can make the changes that you need to in order to keep your business moving forward, viable, healthy and increasing your sales. The reality is if you do not keep in touch with your business, you will not be able to thrive and succeed.

They give an example of one restaurant that used Monday night, one of the slowest nights for any restaurant, and offered an all-you-can-eat Monday night menu, which packed them out on that day of the week. This is one owner who figured out that they needed to bring more people in on Mondays, and came up with a valid solution. This owner is using their resources to grow their business, while others on the other hand, think they are doing great, when all along they are barely able to pay themselves minimum wage in the end.

The restaurant brokers deliver the reality of the restaurant world every week on the nation's only restaurant radio show designed to Satisfy an Appetite for Acquistion, Feed the Need for Restaurant Reality and Serve up a Recipe for Business Success.  Catch there show live on Talk 920 in Atlanta Georgia or visit their restaurant for sale website for all the latest information.

Want to listen after the fact?  Click this link to get a free iTunes podcast of their shows.

Restaurant brokers on itunes

 

 

We Sell Restaurants is the nation's largest restaurant brokerage firm based on the number of listings, volume and transaction count.  They are currently operating in Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee and Colorado while actively seeking new restaurant broker franchisees in Miami, Texas and North Carolina. 

Topics: Restaurant Brokers

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