photo credit

Across from St. Louis, in the small river town of Alton, IL resides a legendary bar called Fast Eddies Bon Air.  Some gather for the drinks, most come for the food.  The scene resembles “The Double Deuce” from the movie Roadhouse, hosting everything from bikers to attorneys.  The only difference is Patrick Swayze isn’t ripping out throats, and Fast Eddies clientele is MUCH friendlier.

The dark interior of Fast Eddies is lit up with neon beer signs, old memorabilia, and glowing flat screens covering the days sporting events.  At first glance, it’s not a place to take your mother.  Only to find out, your mom loves Fast Eddies!

So why does Fast Eddies draw such a crowd?  I’ve seen Sundays where they ring 500+ food orders by 2pm.  That’s just warm up!  What is their secret?  How do they do it?  Here are the 5 reasons why Fast Eddie’s Bon Air sells:

1.  Keep the Menu Simple, Stupid…

What does Fast Eddies Menu consist of?

-Peel n’ Eat Shrimp…29 cents

-Fat Eddie ½lb Burger…99 cents

-Basket of Fries…99 cents

-Bratwurst…99 cents

-Red Hots…99 cents

-Pork Kabob…$1.99

-Hot Chick on a Stick…$2.99

-Big Elwood (steak kabob)…$2.99

What you see is what you get.  We are huge advocates of keeping things simple.  Ever open a Cheesecake Factory Menu?  Keep it simple, and make it awesome!  (perfect what you do best)

2.  Cheap Eats = Tons of Drinks

Look at The Fast Eddie’s Menu, its cheap…dirt cheap.  It’s the main reason people keep coming back.  How much profit do you think Eddie clears on food?  My guess is slim to none…

In a sense, Eddie is like the blogger of the restaurant industry.  He offers free content (food), and sells drinks.  Just like a blogger who writes about saving on insurance and sells insurance polices.  Teach a man to fish, and he will buy the fishing poles from you.

Cracker Barrel is great example of this!  They make 23% of profit from retail sales.  What about gas stations?  They sell gas just to get you in the store.  Most of their profit comes from retail sales, not fuel.

Give incentive to your customers.  Offer something at a great price, and then focus on up-selling.

3.  Cash Only = Unbelievable Service

Yes, you heard correct, Fast Eddie’s is CASH ONLY.  While most of us move forward into new payment systems with our iPhone like Square, they keep it old school.  Waitresses never wait to run tabs.  Splitting tabs is out of the question.  They enter drinks, pay the bartender cash, and on to the next customer.  It almost seems like waitresses roam without sections, although I am sure that’s not the case.

Now I am not suggesting you switch to cash only.  It works for Fast Eddies because they focus on volume.  I am pointing out how much smoother the wait staff operates.  They are fast and efficient.  Are there ways to simplify how you accept payments?  Make things faster?  Streamline?  These are all questions to help both your customers and FOH.

4.  Patios Sell Themselves

One of the greatest features is Fast Eddie’s Patio.  It’s GINORMOUS!  To give you an idea, they bought the street next door to expand it, put a retractable roof over it, added space heaters, and made it open year round.  Most call it awesome, I call it genius!

People love to be outside, especially in the summertime.  If your restaurant has the room, make a patio.  Sidewalk patios work also if you can get the license.  It is worth giving customers the option to sit outside, patios keep customers drinking all summer!

5.  “This Place Rocks My Face Off”

Atmosphere is everything.  Fast Eddies is a unique experience.  When you first walk into Fast Eddies, you feel the vibe.  This place is different.  This place rocks my face off!  Focus on making your restaurant/bar unique for every experience.  Man vs Food is an example of how to make your restaurant unique.  Entertain people with live music, let the food smells permeate, and be friendly.  That’s how you keep people coming back.

Disclaimer:  In no way is UrbanBacon affiliated with Fast Eddies, I just happen to love that place!

Won’t you be, my neighbor?  This was the theme song to a long airing PBS show called Mister Rodgers Neighborhood.  The lovable character, Mister Rodgers, asked this of American children for close to 33 years.  He believed in community and crossing the fence to meet your neighbors.  You know what?  Fred Rodgers would have made an excellent restaurateur!

Running a restaurant involves an engine of working parts.  If the engine starts locking up, marketing gets quickly pushed aside.  In reality, marketing is the oil that keeps the engine running.  Starting locally within your community is a powerful marketing tactic…Mister Rodgers understood this principle.

I was recently reading the three part series at Jaw Dropping Marketing titled Restaurant Marketing:  Be a Good Neighbor…and the wheels started cranking.  The article talks about being involved in your community as a form of marketing.  Car washes, charity events, and church picnics are all ways to get involved.  These people are the customer base of your restaurant.  Don’t sit back waiting…offer to help with community events, and they will thank you by becoming a patron.

Who are your neighbors in a three mile radius?  ESPECIALLY the office buildings, they can help double your lunch crowd.  You need to get out within this community and make friends.  Go door to door and introduce yourself.  Offer a coupon or just shake hands.  Tell them about your restaurant.  These are the people who are most likely to become repeat business, just because they live next door.  You need to meet your neighbors, it worked for Mister Rodgers, and it will work for you!

An easier way to scale these relationships are online.  Scour Facebook and Twitter looking for people who live in your community.   Friend or follow them up and introduce yourself.  Tell them about your restaurant and invite them in.  Don’t push specials on them, that would be spamming.  Take the time and get to know them.  If they are part of church group on Facebook, ask if you can cater a picnic.  Get creative, the business is in your backyard.

We both know that Mister Rodgers wasn’t a restaurateur, but he would have been awesome.  Getting involved within your community is a way to give back, and run a successful business.  The people within your community are the people who pay your bills.  Take the time to meet, show you care, and they will support you.  It is the ultimate “THANK YOU.”  Now step over the fence and start meeting your neighbors!

Location is EVERYTHING, right?  Of course it is!  Will you always be slammed?  Not necessarily.  The Field of Dreams idea “if you build it they will come” doesn’t really pertain to real life.  Mondays, cold rain, lack of exposure, and poor marketing are all factors that can kill a business.  Therefore “location is everything” doesn’t always hold true.

Let’s say you’re in a relatively high traffic area and you normally do well.  Today just happens to be one of those days, and you’re abnormally slow.  How can you increase street business?  Google Favorite Places may be one way, but I am a bit skeptical.  Let’s ditch advanced technology for a second, and get back to our roots.  Below are 5 tips for hustling street traffic:

1.  Send out the Canadian Mounted Police

My Grandfather used to have a saying:  “If you get lost, I’ll send out the Canadian Mounted Police.”  He was neither Canadian or ever lived in Canada.  It was originally just a hilarious joke that my Grandfather loved to keep going.  In reality he meant:  “If you get lost, we will hit the streets and find you.”  Some times you gotta hit the streets…

Is the restaurant dead?  See a server standing around?  Send them to the streets!  Servers are naturally friendly, or can at least fake it.  Have them stand if front and invite people inside.  Better than standing around arguing who is getting cut first.  Tell them to engage, make friends, invite people inside.  In the end, it benefits their tips to pull in customers.

2.  Video Billboards

Remember back in the 50’s when television was first introduced?  Stores would line 50 different televisions facing the street all programmed on the same channel.  It was mesmerizing to watch the pictures dance around through the windows.  A small boy staring through the window with white eyes lit up usually outlined the Hallmark Moment of this period.  We say take the same approach!

Invest in 3-4 small LCD Flat-screen Panels and strategically hang from your storefront.  An alternative is wireless picture frames, which also work well in bathrooms.  Face them onto the streets to attract your customer’s eye.  Set up a slide show and rotate all your specials from the house computer.  This will be sure to catch the attention of people passing by.  Take a hint from Vegas and start drawing them in like flies!

3.  Old School Chalk Boards

I know what you’re thinking…a freaking tech site for restaurants and I’m talking about chalk boards?  Yes I am, before blogs there where chalkboards.  Chalkboards are cheap and mandatory.  They are simple to update daily and place in front of your restaurant.  Buy the double sided board to attract customers walking in both directions.  I know its old school, but very cost effective.  Update your specials daily and set it on the street, think of it as your daily blog post!  Best of all, servers can do it easily.

4.  Hand Out Free Drink Tickets

It’s no secret, people love free drinks.  Have some coupons on hand and hit the streets.  Invite people in for a free drink on the house.

1 Drink = 2 Drinks = Full out Dinner

Tell your servers to say “Stop in right now and get 1 free drink.”  This way you bank on the spontaneous factor, and who would pass up a free drink anyways?  Your customers are swimming by, now go fishing and land them in the boat.

5.  Take the Chinese Approach – Free Samples

You know what I am talking about, Mall Chinese Food.  The bourbon chicken sample kills it!  How many customers do they pluck daily with one free sample?  Your restaurant should take notes.

The Chinese know one thing, people can be swayed with free food.  You may have been craving a hot Sbarro’s Calzone until that spicy bourbon chicken came along.  Five minutes later you’re elbows deep in fried rice and crushing Crab Rangoon.  The free sample prevails once again.

Cut up some of your best sammies/apps.  Hit the streets and offer small sample sizes.  Once the customer is baited, hook them with a special inside.  Guarantee you will begin to pull customers off the streets like the Chinese do in malls.

These are some non-tech ways to get more customers.  Can you guys think of other clever marketing ideas?  How about restaurant owners, any of these techniques work for you?  Share your comments below!

Remember the movie “Field of Dreams?”  It’s about a middle-aged guy named Ray Kinsella living with his family among the vast cornfields of Iowa.  While farming the yellow fields one day…Ray hears a voice.  The voice softly whispers “If you build it, he will come.”  Taken by surprise, he continues laboring and tending his precious crops to feed his family.  As time passes, the voice starts booming louder and louder – “If you build it, he will come” – “If you build it, he will come.”  This sparks relentless ambition into Ray as he realizes what the voice is telling him:  Build a baseball diamond.  Thus starting the worst movie ever made…

Ok, it’s not a bad movie…I will admit that.  It’s touching to watch his drive and dedication in building something he knows nothing about. When was the last time you listened this deep?

Just Because You Build It, Doesn’t Mean Customers Will Come

So he built it, and they came.  This is why I feel it’s the worst movie ever.  “If you build it, he (they) will come” is the biggest line of crap ever rattled off, at least from an entrepreneurial standpoint.  Yet tons of entrepreneurs think with this mentality.  Setup shop, sit back, and watch the cash roll in.  Even worse, spend thousands of dollars in advertising and wait for customers to show up.  What happens when nobody shows up?

Building a business takes hustle, patience, and perseverance.  Just setting up shop doesn’t guarantee customers.  This is true in any business, not just the food and service industry.  Your customers are there, you have to actively seek them out.  Hit the streets, make phone calls, network, and scrap for every last customer you can find.  Get relentless and don’t settle…because the second you stop hustling, is the second your restaurant loses.

Social Media Makes Life Easy

Back in the day, people had to hustle much harder than us.  Even Ray in The Field of Dreams had to drop all his chores and work to build a baseball diamond.  That takes physical work.  Can you imagine being an entrepreneur before computers?  We have life easy.  Our work is scalable.  We have instant access to thousands of potential customers’ right through this screen.  All it takes is hustle.  If you own a restaurant, your time is now.  Learn what it takes to succeed with social media and hustle everyday.  Because just building physical walls doesn’t guarantee success.

What do you think?  Are we too conditioned for instant gratification?  Can meeting people through social media gain restaurant patrons?  Comment below friends:)

I see restaurants join Twitter everyday, and that’s incredible news.  Then it happens…that new restaurant begins tweeting nothing but specials.  Their entire feed becomes a rotating spam bomb of happy hours and ½ off appetizers.  No engagement.  No personality. Just spam.

Tons of people have expressed this problem to me.  They hate when restaurants only tweet specials, they even unfollow them.  I agree.  People join Twitter to talk and meet people, not to be bombarded with advertising.  Is your restaurant making this deadly mistake?

A handful of restaurants fail at Twitter. They fail to see what Twitter is:

Customer Service

Your customers are on Twitter, and they are talking.  By responding to complaints and praise you create customer service.  People want to feel noticed, and Twitter scales those relationships.  Stop treating it like an advertising platform, and start listening to your followers.

UrbanBacon is Your Advertising

For most of my life, I have worked in the restaurant industry. As a small boy my mother owned a small café/diner.  I remember how hard she hustled getting that small lunch counter off the ground.  It’s not an easy business, I understand that.  My experience taught me respect for both sides, as an owner and customer.

At UrbanBacon we strive to create a “win-win” for both owners and customers.  Owners run daily specials to get more customers.  Customers love specials because they save money.  UrbanBacon brings those two together.

We Grew Sick of Reading Countless User Reviews…

By creating UrbanBacon, we also solved a personal problem.  According to the 37 Signals book “Getting Real:”   (an AMAZING book for all entrepreneurs)

“A great way to build software is to start out by solving your own

problems…The key here is understanding that you’re not alone.  If you’re

having this problem, it’s likely hundreds of thousands of others

are in the same boat.”

People talk…people talk a lot, and they are not 100% right.  And who’s to say you won’t love a restaurant I hate?  If I express that hate online, than that may sway your opinion.  And if I sway your opinion, than that’s not fair to you or the restaurant.  People have different tastes, and should try things on their own.  Like I said, we grew sick of reading countless user reviews…

What’s Going On?

On top of that, we constantly found ourselves asking each other:

“What do you want to do tonight?”

Followed by:

“I don’t know, what’s going on?”

Ever find yourself in this situation?  If only one website allowed all the restaurants/bars to post their specials/events/venues.  That website needs to be fun, easy, and search-able.  By giving the power to the restaurants, we eliminated all the guesswork.  It’s the answer to the age old question “What do you want to do tonight?”

What Happens Now?

Right now in the game, we are highly local to St. Louis and Chicago.  But our dream is to offer this service to the entire country.  We need you to get the word out.  If you want to see every restaurant in St. Louis and Chicago posting their deals than tell your friends, link us up, and tweet about us.  Every bit helps.  I will personally buy you a beer if you’re in the STL area, it’s the least I can do!

We appreciate all of our fan support, and please let us know if we can do things better.  Thank you St. Louis!  Thank you Chicago!

Phil Novara

phil@urbanbacon.com

573.424.8440

@UrbanBacon

Imagine walking up to a store, scanning a bar code, and getting instant online reviews.  Imagine getting special offers right before you walk into a restaurant, just by scanning a barcode.  Imagine scanning that same barcode and telling the world about your experience at that business.  As a business owner, did your heart just skip a beat?  Are you a Google Favorite Place?

Let’s get one thing straight, I am a Google Whore.  I love the company, and would possibly drop everything at a shot to work for them.  I also LOVE technology, the internet, and people.  Google has a very innovative way of connecting those three concepts, and I love them.  But Favorite Places on Google is something that scares me, well kinda…

Google has sent over 100,000 stickers to local businesses and listing them as a Google Favorite Place.  You can watch the trailer here.  These stickers contain a QR Barcode that looks like this.  Your smartphone scans the barcode and immediately takes you to the mobile business page of that establishment (another reason to get rid of your rotary phone).  The page contains reviews, contact info, and special promotions regarding that establishment.  While this technology seems awesome in face value, could it be bad for restaurants?

Spontaneity is Dead

Online sites like Yelp kill spontaneity.  Not that it’s totally a bad thing, but the days of “there is a new restaurant up the street, let’s go check it out” are over.  Now it’s “lets check it out ONLINE first.”  Consumers have the ability to be savvier this way, and it raises restaurant standards among consumers.  Which in the end, I believe betters us all, but the idea of being 100% spontaneous is dead.

Google Favorite Places takes this to a whole new extreme.  What if a consumer decides to try your restaurant on a whim, only to read a bad review right before walking in the door?  Does that stop a consumer in their tracks?  Probably not, but it will etch a pre-conceived notion in their minds.

Offer them SPECIALS!

I love specials, and I’m a sucker for a great happy hour.  It’s one of the main reasons we built UrbanBacon!  But am I really going to drive all the way to restaurant/bar to figure out a special?  No, but than again I live in St. Louis, MO…we are forced to drive almost everywhere.

In a bigger city, I could see this being beneficial.  You walk by a Google Favorite Place, scan the barcode, and instantly get special offers.  This may increase spontaneity and entice new customers to stop.  On the flip side of the coin, you could be offering discounts to customers who were going to pay full price anyways.  They are already at your front door about to walk in.  They had full intentions of paying full price, and now you just lost on profits.  Do you assume that risk?

Do You Track Your Marketing Efforts?

One of the greatest tools Google has ever invented is Analytics.  While there is not a separate analytics page for Favorite Places yet, it’s coming.  This could be a HUGE benefit.  You can track who scans your barcode, which links they click, and watch your marketing efforts.  If Google combines Analytics with actual sales, this will be EXTREMELY beneficial for restaurant owners.  Imagine tracking your ROI in real time…now that’s innovative!

Google Favorite Places is still an infant.  Quite frankly, they are still only testing the product.  Most QR scanners for smartphones are having problems scanning barcodes.  What do you guys think, innovative or too much Big Brother?

I randomly met Paul Tran on Twitter one night.  We got to talking, and he blew me away.  This guy is sharp and very in-tune with the restaurant community.  While no longer running his own restaurant, he now focuses on franchising and equity.  Trust me, this interview is a must read for owners!

1. Paul, after reading through your Linked-In profile, I am impressed.  You are a former successful restaurant owner now focused on franchising and equity.  What’s the story behind where you are today?

“After I sold my restaurant to a private equity investor, I wanted to go back to where I came from initially – the financial services industry – because many people know how to make money, but not many know how to grow, protect, and enjoy it at full capacity.  But I still love the restaurant business, and had many folks who wanted me to help consult on operations, growth, real estate, legal, and marketing matters, so I have an extra stream of income advising restaurateurs on their business.  Call me a crazy workaholic and I’d probably respond =)”

2. You have owned restaurants and spoken with many owners.  What do you think is the most difficult part of owning a restaurant?

“I think the most difficult part of owning a restaurant is operating without a system.  I worked 80 hours a week in my restaurant for an entire year before I realized I needed to create a process for EVERYTHING – customer dialogue, inventory/employee/operations management, etc…because lack of processes and procedure can take your time away from increasing opportunities, enjoying a balance of life, and focusing on what’s most important. A consistently superior experience is what keeps a customer coming back and keeps them raving about your business, and you can’t do that without systems. That’s what I learned first-hand, as well as seeing why a franchise is SO attractive – a business model with systems in place so that you can focus on more “Business Owner Tasks” like marketing, opening new locations, enjoying the fruits of your labor, etc.  You can’t run a business at its peak without a clear vision and a business plan; operating at max profit, at max capacity, at max customer satisfaction is no different.  SYSTEMS are HIGHLY recommended, folks read the book “e-myth” to get what I’m saying…”

3. I see owners who spend a majority of their time in daily operations.  Which I believe can cause them to lose sight of their business vision.  In your opinion, what should be their main focus?  Should owners act like a CEO or an employee?

“I think that CEO’s should act like CEO’s and help lead the entire company, not lead the sandwich table or the back kitchen operations.  Those skills can be easily hired and trained if you know what kind of culture and expectations you have.  You are the owner, and you are meant for more strategic things, like I mentioned – opening new locations, finding new marketing initiatives, etc.  But that doesn’t mean you don’t know whats going on in the trenches; touch on your general/kitchen/district managers often, be aware of how your front linesman are doing, because they interact and are the face of the customer.  Be in the stores sometimes just to let them know that you, their fearless leader, haven’t left them for dead.  But remember that you are a BUSINESS OWNER and not an EMPLOYEE-OWNER.  Communicate that your role is to ensure that you are taking care of things like ensuring your employees are happy, providing the resources to do their job, and they are ensured as much job security as possible.  You can’t do that in the kitchen making pizzas.”

4. You are heavily involved with franchising these days.  Franchises like McDonald’s, Papa Murphy’s, and Subway were widely successful in 2009.  What lessons can local independent “mom n’ pop” restaurants learn from such franchises?

“As communicated above (sorry for being redundant, I feel so strongly about these things!), having a system is important, consistency is key as well, communication with customers keeps them loyal (social media makes reaching out to clients a no-brainer), continually training your staff and holding them accountable (with reports, measures, etc), be know for something positive (branding), and treat your company -big or small or in between – like a world class organization.”

5. More and more restaurants join social media platforms daily.  How should restaurants use platforms like Twitter or Facebook to build their business?

“I think that they should use Twitter/Facebook with the knowledge that this is a customer service, branding and marketing platform, and requires a FULL-TIME effort.  It requires that organizations respond to customers immediately, find new ways to connect with customers and bring them back to your restaurant, be personable, reward your raving fans of express loyalty and referring, and not to be salesy – be a personable brand that people can and feel proud to relate to.  Try not to outsource, because it’s hard to outsource your internal brand personality.”

6. You sit down to a nice dinner:  Fish or Steak?

BEFORE I HAD GOUT, STEAK =P

I was privileged to sit down with Wes Aiken from @Schedulefly.  The people at Schedulefly are doing amazing things for the restaurant industry.  I cannot thank Wes enough for taking time from his busy schedule.

This is a must read for restaurant owners! Enough of me yapping, lets get to the interview:

1.  I know what it has taken to develop UrbanBacon, and we still have light years to accomplish.  Can you tell me the story behind Schedulefly and what are you guys looking to accomplish?

You bet! Since 1998 I had been developing software applications for clients at 3 consulting companies in Raleigh NC.  I learned a lot about systems analysis and design and delivering software to customers – but something was missing and I was burning out.  I was tired of starting over each time from scratch.  I was tired of the daily meetings and slow release cycles.  I was thinking about ideas for my own product – a web application I could create and sell to people over the Internet – something useful.  I was watching others do this – and I was fully capable of building something people could use.  I just needed an idea.

I had a few ideas – the one I kept coming back to was a tool for restaurants to use to schedule their staff.  This idea was interesting because I had been a waiter for more than 5 years while in college (The Bridgetender in Wrightsville Beach NC).  I created the schedule for 40 servers (all college students).  It was on paper – so were the time off requests – and it was miserable.  The memory of getting calls all week from guys telling me when they could or could not work drove me crazy.  The calls after it was posted were worse.  All of them had terrible handwriting – so the paper requests required follow up phone calls.  As a non scheduling waiter – I would drive to the restaurant on Sunday night to see when I worked for the upcoming week – or mid week to swap a shift and get manager approval.  Really?  We did that?  It was so clear that I could help the industry with a really simple system.  I knew how to write software and I had a concrete example of a real business problem that needed solving.  So in 2005 I quit my consulting job and I wrote the first line of code.  3 months later I put on some real clothes (got out of my pajamas) and set out to show it to some friends who owned restaurants.

Over the next 2 years a couple of restaurants and a retail shop used Schedulelfly while it ran in my closet.  I had gone back to consulting to help my wife keep the lights on and ended up spending most of my time with a client name First Research.  First Research eventually hired me as head of technology.  While at First Research – I would occasionally get a call about Schedulefly being down – from my 3 non-paying “customers”.  Usually it was because power had gone out at our house during a snow – or the cleaning service had accidentally unplugged the server while dusting.  It was fine – they didn’t pay me and it wasn’t really a business yet.  An interesting thing was happening though.  They started to rely on it.  They got used to it and their staff absolutely loved it.

In 2007 my boss at First Research, Tyler Rullman, asked me what my plans were for Schedulefly and was I interested in turning it into a business. I had no plan.  I mean – here is a guy with a Harvard degree who helped turn First Research into a multi-million dollar business.  Now he is asking me if he can be an owner of Schedulefly and try to sell it to restaurants.  Are you kidding?  The business was incorporated, we setup a free trial system and Tyler began emailing, calling and visiting restaurants to try and get them to give it a whirl.  They did – and a few started paying us. By the way – Tyler still does this today.

In 2008 – I left First Research and joined Tyler full time and soon after that a principal at First Research, Wil Brawley, joined us as well.  Wil leads our sales and business development efforts.  He is like a college football coach – lots of hand waving and yelling and passion for what we are trying to do.  Its awesome!  The 3 of us own Schedulefly and are now pouring our hearts into this business and are working hard to make customers happy.  During the past 2 years the product has come along way (thanks to great feedback) but the ease of use has not been compromised.  It’s still simple to use.  We know because our users tell us that.  All of our customers tell us they love our software because it’s easy to use.  Our plan is to continue acquiring customers while creating more awareness about our technology in the restaurant industry.

2.  You mentioned that Schedulefly is “the antithesis of corporate guys.”  Can you elaborate a bit on your culture?

We enjoy this business model and we know that keeping everything we do simple will allow us to continue to focus on our customers and making our software better.  We do not have a lot of overhead and fancy offices so we can invest the money we make today back into our product. We work wherever we want to work and wherever we feel inspired.  Inspiration is critically important.  I feel strongly that everyone on our team must be inspired every day to do something great.  We enjoy alone time and we work best in quiet places.  We are not looking to hire dozens of employees.  We do not want to lease a large office with a water cooler.  We would prefer not to have many meetings and certainly do not want to have to hire people that manage other people.  We are not corporate guys.

The 3 of us enjoy what we do immensely.  We are passionate about making life easier for our customers.  We love hearing from them and we love to answer them fast.  We also love to be with our families and we love the freedom that owning a business provides.  We believe strongly in a work/life balance and if had to lean one way – we would lean towards life.  This is exactly why we want to keep our product and our business simple.  We work well together, learn from each other and have the same philosophy on business and life.  Keep it simple and make it fun.

3.  It’s no secret, scheduling for restaurant owners is a daunting task.  How do you make that simple?

Your are right – it is a daunting task and the main reason is because they are scheduling people with their own lives.  Scheduling people is not 100% a computer algorithm.  Sure – availability and seniority are variables – but so are unexpected life events affecting the staff, weather changes, personalities that no longer work well together, nightly reservations, expected business, loyal customer’s favorite staff and on and on.  Creating that ideal schedule that makes the restaurant hum day-in and day-out takes effective communication tools and frequent input from everyone on the schedule.  This where we step in and help.  We have built an easy to adopt and use tool that makes it very simple for staff to communicate and ease the pains that I mentioned earlier.  We believe passionately that scheduling restaurant staff effectively is a team effort and a very social process, and that is why we created Schedulefly.

4.  We both talk to tons of restaurant owners.  What are you finding as their overall major concerns?  What do they want?

Funny – I think most of them want us to leave them alone!  Seriously – I think they want what any business wants – to make customers happy so they can grow.  They are laser focused are making sure every customer has a great experience at their restaurant – so they will spread the word and come back.  So the challenge is many of them don’t have time to do anything new.  Getting restaurant owners to listen and invest time in something new is definitely our challenge.  They know that we are here to help – but since (in their mind) we are not directly tied to bringing in more business – we are not a high priority.  What we are doing is new.  Yes – there here have been companies doing this for years – but only a very tiny percentage of restaurants in the world are using web based software to communicate with employees.  Software as a service over the Internet is not mainstream like POS systems are for restaurants – but in time – I suspect it will be.  It will steadily become more clear that what we do is actually helping drive more business because it is freeing management and staff to focus on customers.  We have so many success stories already on how we are helping restaurants operate more efficiently.  We hope, with the help of our customer’s voices, we will continue to create awareness.

5.  Lets shift gears a bit.  I have said before that hotels and airlines have widely adopted social media and the Internet to market their services.  What do you think restaurants can learn from this?  Should they be adopting social media and embracing technology as well?

Yes they should – and they are!  It is amazing what restaurants are doing on Twitter and Facebook. It is changing the way businesses find new customers and it is free (minus the time it takes to use) .  The concept of getting local “fans” and “followers” to engage with you and help you spread the word is much more powerful than blasting out an expensive email.  One of the most important things I’ve learned about our business is that people listen when other people talk about our  business.  If we blast an email out to a list of prospective customers talking about how great your product is – they don’t really care.  Of course we  think it is great!  Until someone that they trust tells them our product is great – they rarely pay attention.  Social media sites like Twitter are enabling restaurants to engage with existing customers and encourage them to share their experience with their friends and family.  Lastly – the real time feedback is pouring in – and if it is not good – restaurants can address it immediately.  In the past – bad news traveled fast and was difficult to address while good news was difficult to spread.  Today – good news is traveling fast and while bad news is as well – it can be addressed quickly.  It will be fun to see how these social platforms evolve to help all businesses in in the coming years.

6.  I know my opinions, but I am curious to hear yours.  What restaurant trends will we see in 2010? (from a technology aspect, not food)

Hmm who knows! It is moving so fast – it is hard to predict.  I do think that restaurants will use web based technology not only to streamline their operations but to learn more about their customers.  CRM (Customer Relationship Management) in the restaurant industry will be big.  With the help of social media tools, restaurants are really beginning to focus on their local following and learn about them.  What are their names?  What did they order last time and who is their favorite server?  A tool that makes it easy to capture and review this kind of information will be huge.  In this economy – people are not traveling and vacationing as much – so building a local following is key to survival.  Similar to how grocery stores use a VIC card to learn about the buying habits of their customers – restaurants will begin to do this as well.  In fact – I just took a quick break from this interview to jot down some notes on a super simple new idea!

7.  Last, and totally off topic.  Vacation:  Beaches or Mountains?:)

Definitely the beach!  My office is 10 minutes from the saltwater marshes of the Cape Fear Coast – so our vacations are usually “stay-cations”.  When not working I enjoy fishing surfing and boating with my family.  Being near the saltwater inspires me in many ways – but mostly I am inspired to grow a successful business that will allow us to stay here for a long time…

A big thanks goes out to Wes for all your help.  Let us know if we can help in the future.  Also, check out their blog here!

It’s no secret, chain restaurants are ultra successful business models.  They work.  They work extremely well.  Have you ever asked why?

Look, we are not promoting large corporate chains.  We love local restaurants and bars!  Helping every local restaurant in this country is our goal.  That doesn’t mean we can’t analyze chain restaurants and learn from them.

In 1955, Ray Kroc started a little chain hamburger joint called McDonald’s…maybe you heard of them?  McDonald’s was an instant classic.  You can read their story here.

The success of McDonald’s did not happen overnight.  Two brothers wanted to streamline their small hamburger stand for efficiency.  They started drawing out the flow of their kitchen on a tennis court.  Everything was strategically placed to maximize efficiency and consistency.  Then they took it a step farther.  They developed an in-depth how-to manual that someone in high school could follow.  Viola, fast food is born!

Here are 5 strategies independent restaurants can learn from McDonald’s:

You MUST Plan Operations

What is the major success behind McDonald’s?

Operations…

Every chain and fast food restaurant has copied this pattern:  Build an in-depth infrastructure that is highly efficient and consistent.  Independent restaurants rarely take the time to develop a solid manual.  You need to develop charts, manuals, and how-to pictures for the staff.  These should be set as “guidelines” for your staff to follow.  Post these charts directly in the kitchen for quick reference.

I know it sounds like a ton of work, and I am not suggesting you run a Nazi Regime.  In the end, you are still running a business.  Imagine how streamlined your business will run.  Fast food adopted these strategies to pump out a consistent product.  Your independent restaurant can enjoy the same success if you take the time.

Consistency is Key!

Why do millions of people go to McDonald’s everyday?  Two reasons:

• You know what your getting
• The price is right

People visit McDonalds everyday based on expectations.  Do they think the food is amazing?  Not likely…but they expect it to taste the same every time.  This level of expectation keeps people coming back.

Chain restaurants like Ruby Tuesday, Applebees, or Friday’s post in their kitchen how-to photos of entrees directly on the line for cooks.  When your kitchen is slammed, it is much easier to look at a picture and duplicate it.  Chef Gordon Ramsey also uses this method on the show Kitchen Nightmares.  Take the time to develop how-to photos and post them on your line.  The more consistent your product, the more customers will consistently come back.

Show me the Money!

McDonalds offers an extremely affordable dollar menu.  Guess what, you’re not McDonalds.  That doesn’t mean you cannot offer affordable alternatives.

The NRA listed local foods as the hottest trend in 2010.  Organics and healthy choices are also predicted to be big this upcoming year.  Take advantage, offer a reasonable lunch menu and emphasize your local support.  Most people will pay the extra dollar for something local and amazing.  You don’t have to offer a dollar menu, but a limited lunch menu for $6.99 is right on target.

Are you an Owner, or Employee?

When Ray Kroc evolved the McDonald’s Brother’s Operations into a nationwide franchise, he never looked back.  The operations manuals were set in place.  McDonald’s could teach a monkey to sell hamburgers, and people will buy them.

A big problem with owners is they still take on the responsibility of an employee.  They want to oversee the kitchen everyday.  They are constantly monitoring the floor.  Are you an owner, or an employee?

With solid operations and guidelines set in place, your manager can handle daily work.  I understand not all restaurants are big enough or even set goals like this.  But if  your goal is to open multiple restaurants and expand, than you must act like a CEO.

By setting a solid system and letting managers handle the daily work, you are free to focus on expansion.  Things like marketing, financial duties, and business opportunities.  This is the only way your business will grow.  Put the trust into your plan, and focus on expansion.  It was certainly a profitable model for Ray Kroc.

Do you Realize Curbside Potential?

It’s no secret, I used to work at a Ruby Tuesday’s.  They do a curbside to-go service, it’s basically carryout without the McDonald’s drive-thru window.  The customer orders ahead, drives up, and their food is brought to them.  This accounted for probably 25-35% of our business.  Do you realize how much business opportunity is there?

Designate one server as your curbside server.  They will take all phone orders and ring them in.  This also puts them in charge of gathering utensils, napkins, and food.  Have them run it out to cars as they pull up to your restaurant.  Most servers won’t mind doing this because people generally tip for curbside.  Promote your curbside menu across all social media platforms.

McDonald’s has drive-thru and Ruby Tuesday has curbside.  The goal is to move more products.  Learn from these chains and start promoting a curbside service.

What do you guys think?  Can independent restaurants learn from McDonald’s?  Leave your comments below!

Where is the one place every guest visits?  If you think it’s the bar, think again.  We are all human, we all use the bathroom.  Are you utilizing this super secret advertising spot?

Think about it.  Your restaurant is a busy atmosphere.  People are preoccupied with food, friends, and drinks.  They rarely pay attention to advertisements for upcoming events.  Bars are notorious for restroom advertisements.  Beer/Liquor labels usually provide them with free promotions.

So how does a fine dining restaurant adopt this strategy without looking too much like a bar?  Here are 4 simple tips to using bathroom advertising:

1. Packaging is EVERYTHING!

You are a restaurant, not a bar.  The typical Budweiser poster board with your specials in black type is tacky.  You have to class it up.

Hire someone to create simple and classy designs.  Frame them and hang in front of urinals, bathroom stall doors, and on top of the toilet.  These are places people stare while using the restroom.  It sounds simple, but VERY effective.

Wildflower Restaurant in St. Louis, MO uses this approach.  On top of their toilets is a small framed ad promoting their “Country Club Fried Chicken” on Sunday nights.  The owner Phil has adopted this strategy with great success.  He is very innovative at making simple advertising concepts work effectively.  Take notes.

2. The Best Advertising is Free Advertising

It honestly kills me to see restaurants advertising with traditional media.  It’s so expensive!  How do you afford $300-$1000 on a small print ad?  How many people actually pay attention?  Face it, your ROI on traditional advertising sucks.

A major concern of most restaurant owners is getting more customers.  Why not rehash your current customers?  They are already in your restaurant.  If the experience is awesome, they are more likely to come back.  Die hard patrons keep the lights on and your survival depends on them.  It’s free to offer them an incentive to come back.  Placing upcoming events in your bathroom is a sure fire way to keep them coming back.  Best of all, it’s FREE!

3. Make Your Copy Short, Billboard Style

If you have little experience in writing copy, visit Copyblogger.  You’re selling an incentive to come back.  Make it short and to the point.

Think about billboards.  How do they advertise?  A billboard only has a few seconds to get the point across.

Bottom Line:  Say more with less.

4. Secret Ninja Move:  Go Digital, Everyone is Doing it!

Want to know the super secret technique for bathroom advertising?

Go Digital.

Digital picture frames are now wireless, and that’s freaking awesome. Mount them in front of urinals, bathroom stalls, or next to the sink.  Make sure to secure them so nobody steals them.  Cover them with Plexiglas to protect the screens and make the ads change every 10-15 seconds. Have a graphic designer create a handful of advertisements.  Elance is great for outsourcing cheap graphic design.

Now you can stream multiple advertisements directly from your in house computer.  The frames are classy and look nice.  They will attract eyes, and keep customers coming back.

What do you guys think?  Are there other underused advertising opportunities?  Start the discussion below!