How to Increase Your Restaurant's Takeout Business
Here's a take-home quiz on the takeout biz: "Takeout is, above all else, _______________."
- A cool promotional strategy.
- A nice-to-have service for an additional revenue stream.
- A strategic business unit of your restaurant developed and operated to accommodate the lifestyle of a growing number of your guests.
If you answered C, go to the head of start-up restaurateur class. Sure, a takeout business can promote sit-down service, and a takeout business can generate extra cash; however, above all you need to approach takeout as a business within your business, that is focused on filling a particular lifestyle need. If you approach takeout as an afterthought or a no-brainer, turn-key service requiring little more than the addition of Styrofoam containers to your inventory, you could be sorely disappointed. The operational and logistics issues loom large in this aspect of your business, and they need to be addressed from Day One.
As a case in point, consider the owner of a Midwest family restaurant, whose menu is ideally suited for takeout service -- salads that travel, great pizzas, burgers, and subs. In fact, according to his own customer research, he could be doing a great deal more takeout business than the current 6 percent of gross sales. Unfortunately, when he selected the location, a quaint building in a historic section of town, he did not consider the necessary parking and ease of access factors required to make takeout convenient for guests.
As we'll discuss, in the final analysis, convenience is just as significant as your product, in the race to win patronage in the takeout market. We'll also trace the history of the home meal replacement boom, identify the market, and discuss ways you can serve the growing demand for food on the run strategically.
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