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How Restaurant News Can Help Build Your Restaurant Marketing Plan

How often do you check out the latest restaurant news online? Don’t worry if the answer is ‘never’ – if you’re like most people you are probably focusing on your own business all the time instead of looking at what other people are doing.

But here’s the thing – following online restaurant news can actually help you in your own restaurant business as well. When it comes to generating ideas for marketing efforts, it can be difficult to come up with something worthwhile. But by looking at what other people are doing you can create some great ideas to really push your own business forward.

Why do I need a marketing plan in the first place?

A marketing plan helps you to push your business forward. If you don’t market your business to other people, a lot of them won’t even know you’re there. That’s not the best way to conduct your business, I’m sure you’ll agree.

So you have to think about how to pull in more guests. How can you tell more people about your restaurant and what it offers? How can you entice them in to try out your service? A marketing plan will help you with these questions and it will help you build a strong business for the future. This is where restaurant news about other establishments will help.

Okay, so how can I build my own plan through looking at what other people are doing?

The trick is to see what’s going on elsewhere. You can do this easily by looking at the news releases for restaurants online. For example, I read a report recently about a fish restaurant that had introduced brand new dishes that were focused on being healthy and good for the heart. It was tied into a notable date on the calendar, but the dishes were also going to be available all year round.

Another good example came from a famous ice cream brand. They were introducing a new yogurt section to some of their stores. As you can see this is another positive piece of information – remember that positive news should always be your number one aim.

The idea is to use some of these actual events to help formulate your own marketing plans. Think about the kind of restaurant you have and how you might create new dishes, new promotions and various other things you can promote as part of your marketing plan. What would enhance your own offering to the people who might come to try out your restaurant?

So I should keep looking at what other people are doing?

Definitely – not only will it give you ideas about how to create a marketing plan, it will also inspire you to come up with your own promotions and thoughts on how to promote your restaurant business.

You might look for topical angles too by searching for Restaurant News, and that will also make it easier for you to build a successful business that keeps on pulling in new customers.

Business Plan – A Key That Decides The Future Of Your Business Startups

A business plan is a written document describing the nature of the business and the market strategies planned to achieve some goals. A strategic plan is like a road map towards the success where you have to drive safely as one wrong turn can ruin everything. To avoid the future bumps, you need a support of an investor who can be at your back for keeping you up-to-date with the distinctive strategies. Spend enough time on planning well the accurate investment proportions. Always remember that your plan contains all the general guidelines regarding the form and the content.

When a business planner decide to write-up, he comes along with many thoughts and imaginations to hold the project accountable for the projections and proposals it contains. It is not only about impressing an investor for the investment purposes, but it is about making a revolutionary change in the society to provide many with the reason to accept it. It should have a life of its own so to make you out from the common prudence. The right amount of capital and creativity decides the growth of your career with the plan. Have some patience, determination, and ability to go accordingly.

Crucial Things To Consider While Plotting A Business Plan:-

Determine Your Objectives – Imagining profit is not the only thing that bounds you to plot a good plan. It takes a lot of other goals and objectives to cast a shadow of better future. Sustainability of the plans is also important thing to consider, so let your mind explore different avenues than the profit only. Try writing some descriptive essays about your business goals to define them better to the world.
How To Go With The Implementations – After you plot the complete plan, the real struggle starts with the implementation that is tricky enough to shake up your roots. Have patience and plan the course of implementations well so you will get the sure shot success in all the financial, management, and marketing aspects. Be focused on the sustainability instead of only flow of money. Intend to use your plan for attracting the talented employees.
Backup Plans – Not everything goes exactly as planned. You need to be prepared for facing the consequences and time checks in between. Plan the backups for the pitfalls and be ready to face what you can do to take corrective measures as to figure out things well. Access your potentials and decide what strategies will work up for your business and future better. Planning is a coherent process, which doesn’t end until you get the desired results and maximum rate of return for what you have put in.

5 Tips To Writing A Good Business Plan

Starting up a business is an exciting time, but writing a business plan can seem daunting initially. However, being able to write a good business plan is an essential skill to have for any entrepreneur or new business looking to increase their chance of survival.

1) Identify your audience. A good business plan should be written from the prospective of the audience. First, you need to decide on the purpose the plan. Are you trying to persuade an investor to take on your project or communicate the future plans for the company? The purpose of the business plan will affect the style and content so make sure you are clear on this before beginning. A good business plan needs to be tailored to the specific requirements of the target audience in order to be engaging.

2) Do your research. In order to be able to write a strong, comprehensive business plan you need to possess a sound knowledge of the market you are involved in. You need to actively conduct market research and ensure that your plan makes reference to your findings. It should include factors such as market size, the predicted growth path of said market and how you propose to gain access to it. For example, if you are planning on opening a bar then your business plan should include figures based on the local population, cost of suppliers, predictions about whether the bar industry is likely to grow or decline in the area and a review of the competitive environment.

3) Assess your competition. Understanding your competition is an essential component to understanding any business environment. Whatever the business you are looking to establish, you will always have competition in varying degrees. Perhaps you want to open a restaurant in an area that is already saturated with eateries; you then need to think about what is the unique selling point of your restaurant. Or maybe you have found a niche in the market, why is that? In order to make your business a success you should look to your competitors to see how they are managing their business or areas where they could improve. You also need to assess whether you can compete effectively with the existing businesses and how you plan to do so.

4) Attention to detail. A plan that is concise and clear reads professionally so don’t make yours too wordy. The reader needs enough detail and information to be able to make an informed decision. As with all professional documents, care must be taken to avoid spelling mistakes and use correct grammar and punctuation. A plan that makes absurd or unrealistic assumptions is of no use so stick to the facts and make sure you are making credible projections and accurate content at all times.

5) Cover all bases. Before embarking on your plan it is a good idea to undertake some research in to what a professional business plan should include. You can then use this as a check list to make sure you have covered all the relevant areas. Sections of the business plan should include information on the company, the product/service market, competition in the field, management team, marketing strategy, operations and financials.

Once you have done all this you should have a complete and detailed professional business plan. The most important thing to remember when developing the plan is to see it as a living document and include specifics regarding dates and specific responsibilities. Your plan will need constant reviews and updates and things change so expect it to be a work in process for a good stretch of time. It will all be worth it in the end, a well-written plan will help ensure that the business is fully focused on what is required to achieve the company’s goal.

Business Plan Mistakes To Avoid

Don’t Do The Following

Claim A Lack of Competition

Some entrepreneurs get carried away in their zeal to demonstrate barriers to entry that set their company apart from others. A “Barrier to Entry” is proprietary information or knowledge, or a set management team experience no one else can claim. Factors that make your company stand out are attractive, but the reality is that no business has no competition.

The Industry Analysis section of your Business Plan must show the size of the industry in which you compete. The Market Analysis will show the sub-set of that industry on which you will focus. The Competitive Analysis must show your competitors strengths-and how you will overcome them.

You can have your cake and eat it too, in other words. You must show there is enough competition to convince investors that the market is large enough to cash in big- time, but that your strategy is focused and unique enough to navigate an exclusive path through the waters of that competition.

Use First-Mover Advantage As Your Chief Exit Strategy

Companies who’s sole exit strategy, or investor payout point, is to flood the market with a new product or service, and then sell the company in a year, will not find worthy investors. Things move too quickly in the information age. Investors want a company that can grow quickly but steadily in phases. They look for Business Plans that show a sober, realistic lookout, and fiscally responsible exit strategies.

Target Just One Large Company To Eventually Buy Your Smaller Company

For example, if your company is developing new software, do not place all your eggs in the Google and Microsoft basket. If the exit strategy of your Business Plan depends on a larger company buying yours, provide parallel case studies. Show sufficient evidence that the conditions are the same for your company as they were for the successful sale of the case study companies.

Furthermore, show why a larger company would not want or be able to develop the same product in-house.

Let us be absolutely clear:

Don’t Claim a lack of competition

Don’t Use first-move advantage as your chief exit strategy.

Don’t Target just one large company to eventually buy your smaller company.

Avoid those Business Plan mistakes and your path to funding will be much clearer. Make sure to set your Business Plan aside once completed for a few days and review it again with fresh eyes.

Writing Your Affiliate Home Business Plan

Here’s a typical scenario: You are deciding to start a home business and suddenly everyone you know has his nose in your business, literally. What do you tell them? And how do you answer your own questions? What should you expect from the company in terms of stability, longevity, vitality, trust, income, and so forth? First the bad news: there are no guarantees. Then the good news: there is plenty of information from which to draw your own conclusions. The internet is huge, and any good company will offer free marketing tools and training.

But back to the WHY of that business plan. You’re going to be starting small, slow and boy! is there a lot to learn. What’s the point of actually sitting down and writing a business plan? You’re not Bill Gates, this isn’t Microsoft, just you in your home office a few hours a week, slowly building an online business presence, not really understanding what the heck you’ll be doing.

Relax and breathe. Unlike Mt. Rushmore, your plan won’t be designed to withstand the weathering of the ages. You can expect it will change and bend with the flow of your real experiences, which will be totally yours, not identical to anyone else’s.

What writing your plan will do is cause you to pause, think, dream, study and focus. The written document, whether it is one page or twelve, will give your business a framework to work within. The internet is vast and seemingly endless. It is easy to lose focus and drift away on a different whim or idea every day. Understanding where you are today, what tools you have to work with, what your goals are, and how you can best achieve them and measure your success, will help you stay on target and not waste what few hours you may be investing in your business at start-up.

Whenever you feel lost or confused, you can return to what you have written. When you analyze your situation and decide to make a change, rewrite that part of the plan. Understand that it’s a living document, intended to grow with you and your business. Your business plan is your friend.

Getting Started with the Business Plan

First you need to study the company and its management. You need to read and learn about the products, the compensation plan and the network structure. See you next month. Just kidding.

Plan on doing SOME reading each and every work day for the next few months, if not indefinitely. Keep up with the company forum entries every day; read something in the training reports every day. Your education will continue. Plan for it.

When you are ready, open up a Notepad window and answer these questions:

What service/products does your business provide and what needs does it fill?

Who are the potential customers for your product or service and why will they purchase it from you?

How will you reach your potential customers?

Where will you get the financial resources to start your business?

Ok. Maybe your company offers many products and services. What do you want to focus on? I suggest that, at first, you focus on one or two products and/or the affiliate opportunity. In other words, keep is simple. Once you get the hang of what you’re doing, you will KNOW when it’s time to expand. Do only what you are comfortable with, every step of the way. This is YOUR business, it’s your right and privilege to decide on your approach.

Internet marketing hinges on building trust. How will you do this?

Reaching customers means marketing. Your decision, once again. And again, the options should be in your company’s training materials.

So we’re talking developing a reading/study schedule. Here’s a possible list, once you’ve read enough to make your own decisions to answer the above questions, start writing. Your writing can be lists of words and phrases, free-form brainstorming, outlines, mind maps, whatever works for you. Just write it down, and don’t forget to save often. If your home office is inhabited by cats or small children, they have the tendency to press on random keyboard keys. Documents do occasionally just disappear. Saving avoids total disaster.

Study the products.
Read the training materials.
Read about commissions, bonuses, etc.
Study the marketing aids and strategies
Find out what free tools are available.
Visit the forums on a regular basis. Read everything about getting started.
Ask questions.

Your final written business plan will have at least four parts:

Introduction/background: history of the company and its founder, internet marketing trends, why THIS company and why NOW, and so on.

Goals: I suggest you think of what you would like to be earning in two years, but mainly focus on goals for your first year. Realistic goals can be projected based on info on the company website, in newsletters, searches on the forums, and focused questions to other affiliates.

Marketing plan: based on your answers to the first 3 questions above and your study of marketing aids and tools.

Action plans: the specifics of what you will do on a monthly, weekly, and/or daily basis for the next year.

I can’t tell you what your answers should be, because you have to decide how much money you have to invest. Only you can decide how many hours per day, week or month you can invest in your business. What products you feel most comfortable marketing, and who you decide to target as your customer base, are all decisions only you can make. If you get stuck and don’t understand a question, don’t know where to find information, or don’t know how to ASK a question, contact your sponsor or someone in your upline. If they can’t help you, they should be able to send you to someonewho can.

You should NEVER feel alone. Work should be FUN!…

Entrepreneur’s Coaching Center – The Game Plan

I had lunch recently with one of those consummate entrepreneurs, Warren Barhorst. Warren is the author of “Game Plan-The Definitive Playbook for starting or Growing a Business.” He and Rusty Burson teamed up to get down on paper a “road map” for success in any start-up business venture. In the first sentence of the book, he wrote,…..,You’ve got what it takes to succeed.”

Warren, believes what he says and proves it by his success. Warren is the largest Agency Principle in the Nationwide Insurance system. As I read his book and I was reminded of the results of a recent survey of business owners, asking them why so many start-up businesses failed.

Those surveyed believed that “poor planning” was second only to “ineffective leadership” as a contributor to unsuccess (failure) of a business.

I am one of those “serial entrepreneurs,” having started 6 business and unsucceeded in 2, that are on the constant watch for ways to eliminate unsuccess. The reason is has become an obsession with me is that unsuccess is so painful.

Like those surveyed, Warren Barhorst and I are consistent in our belief of the essential value of planning, before you begin. You may be wrong in your assumptions or misguided in your objectives when you plan ahead of time but you do have a place to begin that seems right and you have some goals and milestones along the way to measure your progress toward your goal. Here are a few steps every entrepreneur should take before he/she starts any business:

1. Estimate the market for your product, are there 5 people who would likely buy from you or 500 million? Bigger is usually better.

2. What percent of your market can you capture, with relative ease, in the first year, third year and fifth year? “Relative ease” means without spending megabucks!

3. If you were successful in capturing your estimated market share, how much revenue would that mean for your business? Be realistic!

4. Given that amount of revenue, what would be the Gross Profit for your business given those revenues (sales)? Gross Profit = Sales – Cost of Goods Sold (GP=S-COGs). More Gross Profit is almost always better.

5. Estimate Expenses (what costs you incur to produce the product, sell it and service it i.e. rent, telephone bill, etc. but most importantly, the people you will need) Less is more, here. Think this part through carefully. Is it important for you to look successful or be successful?

6. Decide how your will drive sales. Develop a plan within a plan. Decide what you believe you will need to do and the kind of people you will need to do it. This may be the most critical piece to your plan because it likely determines both sales and expenses. I.e. good people cost money but poor people cost more money. Selecting you team to help reach your goal is pivotal to success or unsuccess. Hire people better than yourself!

7. Compute the Profits before Taxes, month-by-month and year-by-year because that is the most important part. Profit is what determines the money you will put in your pocket and whether your business will be successful. Profit Before Taxes = Sales – Cost of Goods – Expenses. Big is better!

8. Compute Profit After Taxes. Don’t forget the taxes which are dependent upon how our business is organized (Proprietorship, Partnership, Sub-Chapter S, LLC or Corporation) and where it is located (different states have different tax rates). This is what you can buy groceries with. A lot is good!

There you have what I call the “Essential Eight” steps to Entrepreneurial Success Planning. Following these eight steps will not guarantee success in your next business venture but they will bring you a lot closer to it. Reading the book by Warren Barhorst with Rusty Burson, titled “Game Plan.” will help a lot as well.