How to Prepare Your Restaurant Business for 2023

First off, exhale. The year was hard for lots of businesses, and the next year can bring whatever you may expect or not. Before the new year hits, you will have time to prepare yourself and your processes. We know that since 2019 restaurants have experienced lots of troubles, and some were not able to survive.

Regardless of what position you had in 2019, now you are still running the business, which is a huge success. The restrictions are almost gone, and the healthcare situation stabilises, but people prefer ordering food online. The digital ear hits all of us and not in a good way sometimes. Yet, you will still be able to benefit from this transformation if you are prepared for the changes that the new year can bring.

So pour yourself a cocktail, break out the calendar, and say cheers to a new year with some of these tips:

Offer Online Ordering

The first and most obvious thing is to digitise your business. Whether you develop an app or just a website for your restaurant, you should allow customers to order food online. There is no place for a restaurant that doesn’t allow online ordering any more. 

Take time and create professional, up-to-date photos of your menu items, allowing customers to explore the menu online and choose what they want. Hire a courier or partner with delivery services. You don’t always need to build your own app, just find the delivery app that can take your business. A restaurant’s online ordering system not only can help you increase sales but also keep you relevant and up-to-date in this digital world. 

Start a Loyalty Program

We know that some people after holidays may want to treat themselves to delicious food and no cooking. And that is where you should offer your services – create a branded loyalty program that will help you connect and reward your loyal guests for their visits or online orders. It could be discounts or one dish as a plus, choose whatever suits you.

Change Your Menu

Even though some customers prefer one dish from a specific restaurant and don’t want to change something in their lives, most like the idea of trying something new from a trusted place. Refresh your menu according to the seasons or client’s feedback, invite a chef to perform branches with unique dishes and so on. We recommend you let clients leave their preferences so you can cover their needs. Whatever changes you decide on, changing your menu over time can bring needed freshness.

Run Promotions for Gift Cards

You can greatly benefit from selling gift cards. Selling gift cards has been shown to be effective for a cash infusion, though when 81% of diners spend beyond the value of their gift card, it will be just as vital to get people back in the door. This can look like offering guests who paid with a gift card an extra item, dessert or discounts for their next visit. It is also best to connect with those who bought gift cards through email or social media.

Create a Marketing Plan

2023 leaves no space for businesses not to cry about their marketing. If you have a website, make sure that it contains all the needed information and a menu and allows people to easily order food without constant calls or payment issues. Invest in SEO for restaurants and hire a team responsible for this task to make you visible in search engines.

Choose how you will promote your services through social media accounts, which one you will choose, who will run them and how. Will you be using email marketing? If yes, why? What goals do you want to achieve through marketing, and how will you measure them? Sit down with a paper and highlight any major ideas you have regarding your brand promotion.

Organise Online Presence

Here we go again – digitalisation. Most consumers will like the idea of mentioning your place in their Instagram stories or posts, so you must organise your online presence. This will bring more guests to you while also improving your visibility in the market. The competition is high so having a strong online presence is a must-have for success. Since 61% of consumers are likely to trust recommendations from influencers on social platforms, consider partnering with influencers to promote your company.

Invest money and resources in social media accounts, hire experienced people in TikTok, film videos, share recipes from chefs and choose any other activity to make your accounts fresh and interesting.

Smart Hiring

We live in a world where work can be customised. Analyse how many people visit your restaurant each day for a few months. If you want to reduce operation and labour costs in 2023, we recommend smart hiring. This means hiring people as freelancers or for part-time jobs. That will allow you to engage specific staff only when you have the highest load and leave full-time employees on regular days when you have a small number of guests. You should also count how many days/weeks you need to train new staff and hire them in a relevant time, so they will have a chance to learn everything properly.

Appreciate Your Staff

Staff appreciation is a key factor for success. Employees know their value now, and they don’t work 24/7 without any perks, especially if the boss is always mad and doesn’t reward them. Create activities for your teams, gift presents for vital events, offer them free dinners after the restaurant is closed and so on. Engage with your staff, provide valuable feedback, smile more and initiate work-life balance alongside relevant salary.