Recently I was sad to see a unique local restaurant close.  They were not the typical burger joint or diner.  The owners were amazing people and they put out great food.  It would be easy to blame the economy or inflation, the lack of customer support since people have less discretionary income currently.  I patronized the business when possible but my eating out budget is curtailed like many others just to pay the utility bills, gas prices, etc.   Like many other businesses they failed to leverage their Google Reviews and optimize their Google Business Profile.   Mine was the most recent review and they had 9 reviews stretching back about a year.     I recently read that the average successful business has 123 reviews.  They were open for about 2 years.  They also did not have their own website.

You Need an Optimized Google Business Profile

I think like most businesses located in this marketplace they believed that appealing products, well displayed, excellent quality food and customer service would allow them to prosper and that they would have an adequate amount of foot traffic to have enough sales.  Unfortunately, many foods related businesses have come and gone which were not run as well than this one was.  I recall one business that opened who did not even have a menu posted that lasted about two months.

Some businesses totally rely on a Facebook Page or an Instagram Page.  Although these are great, you need to have an optimized Google Business Profile to have a fighting chance.  Facebook and Instagram won’t put you on a map.

Like it or not, Google must be contended with, and you may need professional help in optimizing and maintaining your Google Business Profile.

To their credit this business had claimed their profile which is a good start but to get the full benefit the profile needed to be maintained.  In this business the GBP Profile got the business listed on Google Maps in an ethnic restaurant food category so people could find them.  Too few, about 10 photos were posted.  They responded to positive reviews, but I noted they did not respond to a negative review which is always a mistake.

It is not my purpose to disparage the owners.  Like I said they were friendly and enthusiastic about their food and their food was delicious.  I am sure though that they were operating on a thin profit margin due to rent, utilities, food, and ingredient costs, etc., They also worked long hours running their business and did not have the time or energy to market their business on their own.  In fact, I feel guilty that I did not realize how close they were to closing their business and maybe I could have helped them.

You see like them, I have the same problem, most small businesses have.  I  wait to get help and am not good at tooting my own horn and in gathering reviews and testimonials.

  But to survive in our current business environment We must have recent positive reviews for our business, and we must get our customers to provide 5-star reviews routinely and make it easy for them to do so.

How Reprenu may Have Helped?

Here are a few ways how Reprenu , my business may have been able to help.

1) Build a simple mobile friendly website for the business where a menu, business information such as address and phone number and daily hours were posted, Specials, Coupons, etc. could be found. Build an about page that gave an engaging story about the origins of the business and about the people running it.  Possibly setting up a blog as part of the website.  Post the most current reviews and customer testimonials.  Link to Facebook, Instagram, Yelp, etc.  Have photos of their business, business location and food items on their menu for sale.  Possibly allow for food orders to take place from the website.   

2)  Claimed or optimized a Google Business Profile and made sure opening hours and days and dates closed were displayed and all relevant info was present to include minority and women owned business were highlighted.  Assist the business in making the seven accepted Google posts were made regularly and that photos of their food offerings were posted.

1. Reviews- customer reviews
2. Photos- Photos of business, owner, branding, business location, Map
3. Offers- Special offers.
4. Events- opening, new employee. New food being offered, contests etc.
5. FAQS- answers to repeated questions posed to the business.
6. Services – catering, door dash, etc.
7. Menu- An always up to date menu

3)  Install a widget on their website to collect emails and phone numbers of customers in return for food discounts or a monthly recipe, etc. so there would be a way to regularly communicate with regular customers. 

4) Assist the business with making attractive coupons and ads. 

 5) Install a widget on their site that displayed their most recent highest ratings. 

6)  Install a widget allowing customers who were happy with their purchases to easily do a Google review for the business and if there was a problem get the problem addressed.

7) Manage and respond to Google reviews by customers for the owners. Do the uncomfortable task for them in seeking out additional current positive reviews.

8) Leverage Google reviews obtained on social media to drive new customers to the business and use incentives to re-engage past customers to come back to the business.

Not knowing all the facts as to why the business closed, I can’t be sure the above would have saved the business, but my experience tells me it would have helped. I hope they have an opportunity to reflect on their business and take pride in the many things they did perfectly and try again.

If my plan above, makes sense to you and you would like me to assist you in implementing such a plan for your restaurant business and you want to learn more reach out to me and I would be glad to discuss your situation and how l might help.