What is proving to be one of the hardest economic climates to run a small business, the situation is proving to be full of many challenges. Running a café and restaurant now means only takeaway or home delivery options, something many businesses are not set up for. Particularly given the changing government regulations.
This is a time to get creative and to think about your café or restaurant and to keep trading through this time.
Home Delivery – if you have not already done so set up a home delivery channel. You can do this through one (or many) of the delivery services, including Door Dash, Menulog or Uber Eats. Another less thing you have to worry about is the marketing which they take care of, all you need to worry about is cooking the food.
Drive-Through-create an option for your customers to place an order online or via phone, have the goods ready to go and pack it in the car for them. This is a way to keep a safe distance, save on delivery costs and still get your products to your customers.
Make Take Away Easy – many restaurants and cafes use services like Hey You, Skip or My Pre Order to allow customer to order ahead. You don’t need to worry about taking payment, and they can just walk by and pick up their order
Menu Options- look at limiting or reducing your current menu options to ensure that whatever is delivered (or picked up as takeaway) is just as good at home as it would have been at your location.
Keep in mind that you don’t want food that spoils quickly, with no demand for certain dishes your business experiences a loss. If your business is forced to close, you don’t want to have too much stock on hand going to waste.
Home Meal Kits – create some home meal kits for your signature dishes. These kits can provide fresh produce and recipes to recreate a taste of your restaurant in their own homes.
Grocery boxes – use your network of suppliers and producers to create grocery boxes. Facebook groups for local markets will often provide a list of stall holders that regularly attend the markets, so why not reach out and create something new for your customers.
Keep marketing– fortunately with channels like Google Ads, your restaurant or café can still be promoted and out there in the marketplace 24/7. If you do have to reduce costs, focus more on social and join some community groups to network and promote your business within those groups, it is important that you keep your hard-earned brand and reputation alive.
Network- talk to other small business owners in your area and look out for each other. Have a chat via phone, email or social media to brainstorm and possibly create opportunities you never knew that existed to help cross promote each other’s business or help out in some way.
Remember it is always important to ensure your insurance policy is in place, paid-up to date and that you have the right cover to protect your business. Your insurance policy may extend to provide cover if you’ve started to deliver your goods and services.* If you have, it is important to let your insurer know of the change in your business activity
* Subject to the terms and conditions of the policy, which will likely include the exclusion of cover for motor vehicles and motor vehicle related incidents
“The opinions expressed by BizWitty Contributors are their own, not those of BizCover and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Please read our full disclaimer."
