The restaurant industry in the UK and all over the world had been the hardest hit by the coronavirus crisis.  This is terrible since it’s home to millions of skilled workers all over the world. Governments have launched relief programs to help restaurant businesses to recover from this crisis. However, it’s wise to explore other options that can help you boost your business. Be calm and careful. Take your time to analyse your situation and try to figure out the best course of action and restaurant business tips. Here are some restaurant business tips to help you keep your business strong during this unprecedented time.

 Update Your Restaurant Website

If your restaurant website still looks the same way, it was 2 years ago; you need to do something.  It’s prime time to update it so you can rely on it for your marketing efforts. Now more than ever, your website is your restaurant home base.  It’s should offer customers a quick overview of the information they need, including who you are and the things you offer. It should entice them to place an order. Do a complete overhaul of your restaurant website using a website builder or hire a website developer to do it for you. Create a space for your customers to act quickly and get the information they need about your business on time. updating menu online

Over Communicate

There are lots of things going on right now, and different aspects are changing quickly. So, it’s crucial to recognize these changes and communicate how you’re planning to address them.  When you respond, your customers will respond as well. Inform them of the safety precautions you’re undertaking. Communicate to them your recent regulation and laws. If you’re open for takeout and delivery, use social media and emails to pass the information to your clients. Share your open location, operating hours, delivery platforms, special offerings, and how every order they place is helping you run your business. Become a source of information to your clients so they see your restaurant as the go-to place to eat. Furthermore, when customers see how informed you’re they will most likely trust that your business is taking the necessary precautions to keep them safe.

Sell Meal and Cocktail Kits

Eating in a restaurant is amazing, but nothing can surpass the joy of buying the experience. Meal and cocktail kits allow your patrons to craft their restaurant-standard meals and drinks right from the comfort of their homes.  It also gets rids of the stress associated with having to think of what to eat every day. This is not meant to replace or replicate the experience derived from dining in a restaurant, but it aims to offer an attractive alternative. You can craft a meal that allows your customers to enjoy their top menu meals handcrafted from your kitchen. By offering meal kits, you’re providing your customers with a news activity to indulge in as well as a meal.   Meal kits are perfect for family bonding session or a great alternative to binge-watching another Netflix show. The best part is that the customers are not the only ones who benefit from this strategy. Your restaurant will make money and at the same time you can cut down on your rent, labour, and food costs. In simple terms, you’re handing off the labour to the customer, so you can focus on other aspects of your workforce such as sanitizing your restaurant and planning a strategic reopening plan. Yes! Not everyone will want to pay to make their dinner but amid this pandemic it worth a try. Keep in mind that people dine in a restaurant for comfort. So by offering them meal kits, you are supplying them with comfort that they can share with their families and friends.  So it’s a win-win situation for both parties.

Offer Online Cooking Classes/Demos

Do you have a signature dish that your customers can’t get enough off?  Then use videos call, Facebook Live, Zoom, or YouTube to offer online cooking classes.  This will make your customers feel more connected and inspired. Offer special discounts and other deals for post sharing on social media to help increase your audience. YouTube is the best platform to spread your culinary knowledge to your audience and help them mimic their best meal at the comfort of their home.  What’s even better is that after a short period your YouTube channel can become your source of passive income.  Online classes also help to protect your brand by continuously offering your customers a connection while they’re at their homes. Lately, we’ve seen famous chefs for UK restaurant inviting the public into their homes via Instagram and Facebook Live, to teach them about different recipes and the procedure of making their signature meals. recording online cooking class

Protect Your Employees

One of the best restaurant business tips for restaurant operations amid this COVID 19 crisis is safety. Safety concerns need to cover both your employees and customers. Inform your staff about the safety measures you’ve taken to keep them safe in the workplace.  Remember to practice what you preach, since employees often look to managers and owners to set the example. Another thing, employees appreciate honesty. So inform them as soon as possible of any layoffs coming, scale down, or the bonuses cut-off.  Also, this is the right time to build long-term loyalty among your employees because there is a shortage of talented workers.

Re-Engineer Your Menu

In this difficult time every dollar counts, monitoring your spending cost is now more important than ever.  Take advantage of recipe management software to get real-time analysis of your most profitable meals and drinks and keep them in your menu to maximize profits.  Remove those items that don’t have a huge demand or profit margin.  You can even try out family meals and new recipes to calculate their cost and profitability. When it comes to delivery, focus on items that are delivery friendly, meaning they take the least time and effort to execute.   Alternatively, you can focus on creating dishes that are not easily available during the lockdown and items that are too difficult to cook at home and most likely missed during this period. Re-engineer your menu in such a way that you’re using low-cost ingredients but not compromising the palate of your meals. This will boost your bottom line.

Reassess Your Suppliers

When you’ve re-engineered your menu to increase your profit margin, it’s time to negotiate with your suppliers while you still have the upper hand to ensure you receive the lowest price before suppliers increase them again. Remember, suppliers and restaurateurs are in the same position. They also need to discount and offer increased services so they can stay in business. So, ensure you take complete advantage of this period by negotiating and attaining a long-term contract. Build a strong relationship with many suppliers so you’re not left hanging should they phase out of business after a few months. Focus more on local suppliers because many famous supply companies keep might keep their prices high since their expenses are still high.

Win Over Your Competitors’ Customers

Regardless of the period, we’re in, you must continue to expand your client base if you want your business to prosper. This means winning over clients from your competition. Try to offer different products or more value than what the neighbouring businesses are offering. Research your competition and see what there are doing to attract more customers. Figure a way to can entice and convert their customers into your customers. Check out what customers are saying on restaurant review sites about your completion. What do they dislike? What do they like?  Use the information to change your business practices for the better.

Becoming a Micro Market

As a restaurant, you have access to bulk supply at lower prices.  Most people fear going to the grocery store since it exposes them to high health risks. You can make this experience easier for them by supplementing your menu with the option of buying groceries and prepared items. With this one of the mid-blowing restaurant business tips you can move that excess stock from your dry store and freezer.

Consider Co-Branded Partnerships

You can also partner with your neighbouring restaurants to incentivize your orders. Co-branded affiliations will allow you to extend your influence by cross-pollinating your content to several channels simultaneously. Also, they build a sense of community across local favourites. businessman shaking hands with co brand representative

You’ve Got This

Some things are out of our control, COVID 19 being one of them. But this doesn’t mean we can't make the best out of this situation and save our businesses. Always keep in mind that you have control over certain aspects of your business such as your marketing strategy which can help you increase your visibility and stabilize your income flow. That said, these restaurant business tips are just a few of the many tips out there that can help you run your restaurant successfully during COVID-19. So make sure you research for more-the internet is full or resources.