Dear Restuarenteur,
Let me beging by saying, that I don’t pretend, nor plan to ever own a restaurant. I don’t know a lot of the inner workings, or financial backings of running/owning a restaurant. However, I do love food, and restaurants, so I have been to quite a few in my life.
I want to talk to you about the Groupon phenomenon, especially as it applies to new up and coming businesses, and especially in the food industry. Recently a new restaurant opened in my town. They took over the location of a former well established business and while keeping most of the tradition, added a little different of a flair. Think diner food. Antique car shows on Saturdays. Small town, greasy spoon. Awesome.
Within a month of opening, having visited the establishment a couple of times, I was the first to reccommend on Facebook that they look into doing a Groupon when they asked what might help grow their fan base, because hey, who doesn’t like cheaper food for the same quality. I want to apologize, because this was a mistake.
The greasy spoon ran 2 groupons. Both were run on this past Friday. One was for 7$ for 15$ worth of breakfast, the other 10$ for 20$ worth of lunch/dinner. My wife and I bought a combined 3 groupons, because we knew we’d be visiting this place often. It’s right down the street, and as I said before, the food is ok. Well worth the 7$. This morning(Sunday) we decided to visit and get some breakfast. What started out as a nice trip for breakfast turned into an ordeal.
Upon arrival we both immediately remarked upon how busy the place looked, just based on the parking situation. The lot was full, and the place was definitely humming. Groupon definitely did a GREAT job of promoting this restaurant. However, the restaurant wasn’t ready! The staff was not fully trained(remember it’s been roughly a month!), nor were they ready for such a rush. We walked in, and it took us nearly 30 minutes to get coffee. Our neighbors who got there 20+ minutes before us had not gotten their food nearly an hour after sitting down. In fact, we got our breakfast delivered before them. Waitresses were disorganized and seemed to take forever to get to customers, for coffee, placemats, silverware. I wasn’t the only one to voice a (private, between my wife and I) complaint. I know others were more vocal with the restaurant employees about their dissatisfaction.
So what is my suggestion to you, oh restauranteur, then and now? Wait. I know that instant payday that Groupon(or its relatives, buywithme, livingsocial, coupme, bloomspot and the like) can provide is wonderful. I know that it instantly promotes your restaurant and gets a lot of people at the door. But wait.
Ask yourself, are you ready for the influx? Are you ready for 1000 new customers, roughly 25% of which will probably try your restaurant in the first weekend? What will they say to their friends? Will they tell them that they had an awesome time, the food was as expected, and they definitely feel like they got their money’s worth? Did they spend more then the basic 15$ at your restaurant? Will they come back? Will they tell/bring friends? Or will they, as many customers I saw today, leave with a bad feeling in their stomachs? Will customers who have visited your establishment prior to Groupon be upset by the lack of service? Don’t forget the rule that 1 word of negative publicity is equal to 1000 words of positive publicity. Especially in the restaurant industry.
So to my local restauranteur, I hope this can be a learning experience. I hope that you stick around. Despite the hiccup today, I/we will be back for more breakfasty greasy goodness. We’ll still tell our neighbors that we like you. We’ll bring friends. Just before you run your next big promo, be a bit better prepared.
