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There are certain taglines or slogans that immediately call to mind a particular company. For example, if someone says, “like a good neighbor,” to you, chances are good that you will either respond with “State Farm is there,” or simply think of the insurance company State Farm. That is the power of a slogan. When well-written and used effectively, it can be something that differentiates you from other companies and keeps you at the front of customers’ minds. Some restaurant…

When you open up your restaurant, you may think that it’s all about the food. While having great food is critical to the success of your restaurant, customer service may be just as important – or even more so. After all, it doesn’t matter if you have the best fried chicken in the state if your servers deliver it to the table soggy, greasy and cold. There are few things that can tank your restaurant’s reputation faster than poor quality…

Most people get into the restaurant industry because they love to cook or because they have a flair for providing a unique dining experience. It is rare for a restaurateur to get into the business because they love doing math. And yet so much of your restaurant’s success is dependent on math.  There are a number of critical metrics that a restaurant owner must calculate in order to ensure that their business is profitable. Before even starting your restaurant, you…

Opening up a restaurant is a costly, time-consuming process. For months – or even years – you have toiled over a menu, branding ideas, a business plan, and legal requirements.  Now the big day is here: you’re opening your restaurant to the public. How can you make sure that it’s a success? There are a lot of things to take into consideration when launching your new restaurant. For example, if you’re located in an area surrounded by office buildings and…

Craft or micro breweries have become incredibly popular in the United States. Fed up with bland, watery beer, consumers are turning to small, local breweries. While the sale of beer has decreased overall in the United States, craft brew sales have actually increased by 6%, and now make up 25% of the $116 billion American beer market. Craft breweries offer an opportunity for beer aficionados to taste a range of unique flavors and to have a different experience than just…

There are currently more than 1 million restaurants operating in the United States. You might dream of opening up a restaurant yourself one day, eager to show off your incredible cooking skills or your flair for business. Yet you may find the concept of starting your own restaurant to be daunting. Without a doubt, opening up a restaurant requires a lot of time, energy — and money. Depending on your concept, location, and other factors, you could spend anywhere from…

Coffee shops, like other types of food and beverage establishments, run on an incredibly tight margin. While the food costs for coffee shops tend to be low, labor expenses are often high. As a result, smaller coffee shops often have a profit margin as low as 2.5%. In the COVID-19 era, these margins have shrunk for many coffee shop owners. Between patrons working from home and shutdown orders, the days of customers hanging out, buying multiple drinks, or getting an…

In the best of times, running a restaurant can be a challenge, with tight margins, high turnover,  and a demanding schedule. During a global pandemic, it has become even more difficult. Restaurants have been particularly hard hit by shutdown orders, along with laws that prohibit indoor dining, or limit capacity to 50% or less. Restaurants across the country are facing dire circumstances due to COVID-19. One way that many restaurant owners can tighten their belts and increase their profits is…

Jump To Your State When you open up a restaurant, you probably spend a lot of time thinking about the big picture: what will my restaurant look like? What will we serve? Yet you will soon find that you spend a lot of time focusing on the small details and the red tape, like getting the right licenses and permits to operate in your state. One prime example is food handlers licenses. While these permits are generally much easier to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant hardship across the United States: millions infected, and record levels of unemployment. While most industries have been affected by this health crisis, the food and beverage sector has been hit particularly hard. Closures of in-person dining, restrictions on operations, and the need to provide personal protective equipment has led to a sharp decrease in profits — while expenses have sharply increased. If you own a restaurant, you are probably considering ways to trim your…