Quick Service Restaurant is the present and would be the future. I have combined all the points to show how you can take your business to the next level. Before writing this article, I have interviewed 20 successful fast food owners from the USA, Switzerland, India, Australia, and Iceland. I have outlined only the most common 10 points provided by them. Big thanks to all the people who helped me with their valuable feedback. Please remember to read every point and see if you can apply these in your current or future fast food restaurant business. I have written this article with the assumption that you have some restaurant business knowledge.
Restaurant’s Trademark, Restaurant’s Copyright, Trade Secrets and Patent
Even if you are a small business, these things matter a lot. They cost some money but are vital and indispensable for your restaurant business.
Trademark | Copyright | Trade Secret | Patent |
Recipes | Very hard to get it. | ||
Marketing materials | Customer and vendor lists | ||
Name of menu items in some cases. | Restaurants’ website | Something special you do in a kitchen. |
If you double-click the items above you can learn more about them.
2. Fast Food Restaurant means FAST and AFFORDABLE.
People are looking for healthy and fast food. Always remember that people don’t like to wait for a long time. If you are delaying any order by minutes, it can lead to a further delay for the waiting guests. You are also reducing your income, in short.
Also, try to make sure you try to finish every order fast to get more business. Make sure you don’t have items that can take more than 10 minutes to cook, as you can have a big minus in the income column.
3. Double-sided coin: Personalisation VS Customisation
You must understand TAM (Total Available Market) VS SAM (Service Available Market). Example: You have decided to open a bar. You are living in an area whose total population is 50,000 people, and 35,000 are kids and teenagers. This means your target is only 15,000.
Personalization: Creating every order by the guest according to their demand. Example: Subway.
Customization: Fixed items made for the largest target audience. Example: McDonald’s.
How can you find a solution to this problem? Can you find a middle way somehow for your restaurant? It can assist your business. Example: For curries, you can ask the guest if they would like to have it spicy.
4. Add on value on Average Ticket Size
QSR’s average ticket size is small. How you can make the guest buy one extra item can make a difference of 20% sales revenue at the end of the month. Have you ever visited McDonald’s and seen them saying ‘would you like to have Fries and Coke’? These items have a low cost but a high impact on profit margins. Please remember that the QSR has the lowest margins amongst all the restaurants. Try to find sidekick heroes for your main course stars.
5. Entry Barrier in the Fast food business
If you can create one, it can give your company a significant advantage over the current and future competitors. Maybe an excellent customer service like Dominos in 30 minutes pizza. A lot of restaurants have tried but have failed miserably while trying it. Perhaps the best example is Apple. Most of the Apple products won’t work perfectly, or at all, with other products. An entry barrier is a hard one to create but can pay your company a big dividend.
6. Following your company
The hardest thing in the 21st century is marketing. How you make them follow your company is a considerable challenge. If they are following you, less marketing money is needed. Try to do something here that leads to them following your brand. Create some urgency for them to follow you back by a Weekly Special (you can create a special menu once per week), or the restaurant can make a once per month free lunch for followers.
7. QUALITY game for fast food restaurant
It’s crucial to maintain food taste consistency as that is the only thing that will manage to build brand loyalty among your customers. Always remember here that people are ruthless in this industry, and one day lousy service can cost your company a lot in terms of reputation. People have the ability to move to a different brand without notification. Don’t forget to say “THANK YOU” to the guest if they are your regular guest. The magic word is also their name if you can remember it. We love listening to our name when someone says it.
8. Food Cost and Menu Engineering
The food sector is sustained by passion, but you need numbers to back it up. Please remember that food is a low percentage profit business. Food cost breaks a lot of companies. Make sure there’s no food wastage, and the most critical part is food expiry. Think about putting every ingredient in the dish, and see if that particular item can be used to make another item. Items must be rotated fast.
Food Cost: https://therestaurant.academy/food-cost-and-pricing-method
Menu engineering would help you to decide the menu items that should be on the menu card and what should be taken off the list.
Menu engineering: https://therestaurant.academy/menu-engineering
9. Sidekick for your QSR business
Your business must have more than one way to create money. Restaurant incomes are low, especially in a QSR. Can you sell something on the side? Selling merchandise in a Hard Rock Cafe is an intelligent way of making money. You can even sell spices if you own an Indian restaurant. Can you open a YouTube channel for your restaurant business to be fruitful? Renting a restaurant for an event can also be a great idea.
10. Employees experience to customer experience (EX2CX)
EX means employee experience, and CX means customer experience. Good employees can increase sales by 30% to 50% more. Always remember you have to teach them how to create this experience. It doesn’t happen on its own. You have to outline the company’s value, vision, and mission. Don’t forget they have a choice to work for you or someone else. Make sure you should have achievable goals with them for their career path and also see if they are interested in it.
Bonus Point: Thanks a lot for reading the article this far. Here is the bonus point:
KISS Approach (Keep It, Super Simple)
Your head will be full of 1000s of ideas of what you can do to make money if your business is not producing enough revenue. Don’t try to make the company complicated, or it could go bust early. Try to have monthly and yearly goals. Franchising should be your goal if your business is well settled. Think before you start the business – what are you looking for? Are you going to generate revenue through economies of scale (food sold in large quantities).
Thanks a lot for reading the article above. If you have any questions, please send it to my e-mail: info@therestaurant.academy.
