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George Torok
 Why did the downtown restaurant close?
The downtown restaurant opened about a year earlier. I wasn't surprised that it closed. I was
surprised that it stayed open so long. It was around the corner from my office. I walked past it
every time I visited the restaurant next door - about once a week.
Have you ever watched a restaurant open and then watch it slowly starve to death? Have you ever
wondered why they failed? Or did you know what they were doing wrong? Maybe you even offered
constructive feedback to the staff and owners only to get a nasty look in return. We can see the
self-destruction - while the owners seem to be oblivious.
Why is that? Because we see it from the perspective of a customer. The owners are engulfed in their
emotional world of “It's mine - it must be beautiful”. And maybe they keep telling themselves,
“Hey, I spent a lot of money fixing up this place - people just have to see it my way -
eventually”.
What business are you in?
One of the biggest mistakes that restaurant owners make is to believe that they are in the food
business. Big mistake! Grocery stores are in the food business. Restaurants are in the experience
business. The experience at McDonald's is very different from that at Boston Pizza from TGI Fridays
from Ruth's Chris Steak House. Yet they are all in the same business - just different segments of
it.
Why do restaurants fail? It's usually not the food. Here are three more restaurant failures that I
witnessed recently in our neighborhood.
There was the Middle Eastern restaurant that offered Shwarma in a setting that looked more like a
Burger King than a Middle Eastern décor. A big disconnect. And even though I lived only three
blocks away I never received a flyer from them. They seemed reluctant to advertise.
Joe's Dinner seemed like a welcome change. They advertised in the paper, on lamp posts and sign
boards. Lots of promotion. However, after three breakfast visits I swore never to return because
the service was very slow and the servers unfriendly. The young girls were clearly untrained and
they seemed more interested in chatting with their friends than serving customers. Often three of
the staff chatted openly at the bar.
I looked forward to the opening of the new English pub. The décor was impressive. The owners
clearly invested a lot of money. Lots of wood, a dance floor and it was small enough to be cozy.
After one breakfast visit, one lunch and two dinner explorations they were written off my list. The
service made the glaciers look fast. The food was mediocre and the serving staff either failed to
recognize the inconvenience or made excuses when we pointed out the short comings.
So why did the downtown restaurant fail? I suspect that the restaurant owners followed a marketing
strategy of hope. Hope is an admirable personal quality. It is a lousy marketing strategy.
I never visited this restaurant because it did not look inviting. I walked past at lunch time on a
snowy day and the sidewalk wasn't cleaned. It looked uninviting.
It had floor-to-ceiling sized windows across the front - but it always looked dark inside - as if
the lights weren't on. I was never sure about the cuisine although it hinted at Italian - which is
my favorite. It never looked busy, and oftentimes looked closed. It lacked music that might have
suggested excitement to invite folks in. I saw nothing that looked like a grand opening. I saw
nothing special going on. Although my office was just around the corner, I never saw an
announcement or invitation. I never saw anyone standing outside to welcome passers-by from the main
street of town.
Imagine if they had done something just a little different to create excitement. Imagine if they
had put balloons outside, hired dancers, held free draws, sponsored a charity event, knocked on
doors, offered coupons, distributed menus, invited service clubs to meet… something.
Well, too bad that it closed; I was thinking that I might check it out one time. The food might
have been superb. But restaurants are not in the food business. They are in the experience
business. They failed to invite me in, which is the first part of the experience.
This downtown restaurant failed in early 2006 - long before the current turbulent times. You can
imagine that the business owners probably blamed the market, the location or luck instead of their
own lack of marketing. Those business lessons are even more important today. Many businesses will
fail over the next few years and the owners will blame the “market” instead of being responsible
for their own success or failure.
They had a good location and the economy was good yet they still failed. Location is not the
panacea. Luck comes if you do enough of the right things. Business will fail in good and bad
economies. Only the excuses will change.
Learn from the lessons of these failed restaurants. I recently spent over $100 on dinner for two at
a fine dinning restaurant. The service was fabulous. We would go again. Be very clear on the
experience you must deliver. If you run a restaurant you are not in the food
business.
About the Author:
©BM George Torok is co-author of the national bestseller, "Secrets of Power Marketing". To receive
a free copy of "50 Power Marketing Ideas" and your free subscription to Power Marketing Tips visit
http://www.PowerMarketing.ca George Torok is a
motivational business speaker who speaks to entrepreneurs, corporations and associations.
http://www.business-speaker.biz/
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