The business of Sichuan restaurants is bleak, and the restaurant owners are facing difficulties.
In the F&B industry, there has been a surprising phenomenon this year, with even F&B owners in first-tier city districts complaining about the lack of customers in their stores. If even these well-located restaurants are struggling to attract customers, then the business of those with a slightly worse location or less brand awareness can be imagined. Today, I had the pleasure of visiting a veteran restaurant who has been in the catering industry for more than 10 years, he owns several branches, and today we are going to visit his Jiachuan restaurant, which just opened this year.
When we arrived, it was the peak dinner season, and this Sichuan restaurant was quite large, covering an area of about 200 square meters, but surprisingly, there were only table customers. Including us, there are only tables in total. For such a large Sichuan restaurant, dinner is usually the peak period, but the business of this restaurant is so bleak.
The owner has been known for many years, and in addition to this Sichuan restaurant, he also runs two Hunan restaurants, and it is thanks to the success of these two Hunan restaurants that he has been able to make a fortune. may be because these two Hunan restaurants opened relatively early and the taste remains good, so the business of these two restaurants of his has always been quite good. Curious, I asked him why he didn't continue to run Hunan cuisine and chose to open a Sichuan restaurant. He said that there were too many Hunan cuisines this year, and several of his fellow Hunan cuisine villagers had lost money, so he decided not to continue to open Hunan restaurants, and wanted to try whether there was a market for Sichuan cuisine. He said he had a friend who had a very successful Sichuan food business in Beijing. He didn't expect that Sichuan cuisine would be so difficult to make here in Guangzhou.
He said that it was not bad to do some ** activities in the early days of the store, because his store is located near the community, so his ** was not set too high, hoping to retain the old customers in the community through the taste and cost performance of the dishes. He didn't expect the business to be so bad later on. He said that the worst thing now is the usual working day, sometimes the income of the whole day is only a few hundred yuan, and even the labor cost cannot be supported. Moreover, this store has been losing money for several months, and if the business does not improve by the end of the year, he is ready to sell it and go back to concentrate on running his Hunan restaurant. He doesn't know what to do now, what advice do you have?
In the face of this restaurant owner's dilemma, I think I can give some advice from the following aspects.
1.Retargeting: Consider repositioning your store's features and target customer segments. Through market research, we can understand the demand and preference for Sichuan cuisine in the Guangzhou market, and then adjust the dishes and services according to the market demand. At the same time, you can consider positioning the store as a high-end Sichuan restaurant or a specialty Sichuan restaurant to attract more consumers.
2.Improving the quality and innovation of the dishesThe quality and innovation of the dishes of Sichuan restaurants is the key to attracting customers. A team of professional Sichuan chefs can be invited to develop and improve the dishes to ensure that the taste and quality of the dishes can meet the needs of customers. At the same time, we can combine local characteristics and seasonal ingredients to introduce some new and unique dishes to increase the interest and attractiveness of customers.
3.Strengthen marketing and publicityMarketing and publicityCarry out marketing and publicity through various channels to improve the visibility and popularity of the store. You can use social platforms, online takeaway platforms and local** channels to promote and attract more consumers' attention and patronage. At the same time, you can cooperate with the surrounding communities, enterprises or institutions to hold some activities or launch discounts** to increase the popularity and attractiveness of the store.
4.Improving service qualityProviding quality service is an important factor in attracting and retaining customers. Employees can be trained to improve service awareness and skills to ensure that employees can provide warm, thoughtful and professional services. At the same time, a customer feedback mechanism can be established to listen to customers' opinions and suggestions in a timely manner, and actively improve service deficiencies.
In the face of the dilemma of restaurant owners, the key to solving the problem is to reposition, improve the quality and innovation of dishes, strengthen marketing and publicity, and improve service quality. Hopefully, these suggestions will help him get through the current predicament and revive the business of the Sichuan restaurant.
Food & Beverage