**AVAILABLE NOW: COVID-19 E-Book: 7 Tips and 21-Point Checklist to Prepare For Reopening. Download Your Free Copy.**
———————————————————————————————————————–
1. Shift From Fear To Planning
It’s natural to be feeling doomy and gloomy right now. But Bo says that the truly intelligent operators are those who have hope that things will get better and are preparing for it. He brought up this quote from the legendary Wayne Gretzky: “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” Just like a hockey player passes ahead of his teammate, restaurant owners need to meet the customers where they’re going to be after this crisis: sensitive to come inside restaurants, and accustomed to delivery, take-out and pickup.
2. Diversify Your Revenue Streams
“Diversity is probably the most critical element to being able to manage any kind of critical blow to one part of your revenue vertical.”, explained Bo. Let’s be honest, the restaurant industry isn’t typically known for being the most groundbreaking/innovative area of the economy. But Bo suggested that it’s going to be now out of necessity, and that owners need to use their entrepreneurial spirit that got them where they are to stretch their limits even further. Tip #3 is an example of an ingenious idea that has sprung forth out of the COVID-19 pandemic:
3. Make A Shadow Brand
There are some high-end restaurants that don’t use to delivery because their food doesn’t travel, scale well, or for other reasons. But, they’re still paying rent for a large kitchen. What can be done? Bo suggests creating shadow brand: a full fledged “restaurant” with an online presence that people order from online, but you use your kitchen and resources to create items that are better suited for delivery. Genius, right?
4. Delivery — It’s A People Problem, Not A Math Problem
Most restaurants probably don’t need a shadow brand, so simply implementing delivery with their current identity is how they can pass the puck to where the customers are. Bo wouldn’t suggest using 3rd party delivery platforms if possible. They cut so much out of already thin margins and take control out of the restaurants hands. Instead, run the numbers and see if you could make in-house delivery work. Bo once got a 988 sq. foot chicken wing joint to turn over 1.1 Million (that’s not a typo, million with six 0’s) using their own delivery platform. It especially might be worth it for you considering that consumer habits are never going to be the same, and delivery is here to stay.
———————————————————————————————————————–
Thanks for reading! Make sure to check out the whole podcast, as well as other interviews with restaurant/business gurus by checking out “Give an Ovation” on YouTube, podcast.ovationup.com, or your favorite place to listen to podcasts.
Also be sure to visit bobryant.com or search “Bo Bryant” on YouTube for more great content from Bo.
