How New Restaurants Can Thrive Locally

Filipinos are known to be voracious eaters. We are all adventurers when it comes to trying out culinary experiences. That is why places like Maginhawa Street in Quezon City, flourish in our local setting. However, with the multitudes of already existing businesses that offer appetizing meals to the hungry Filipinos, is there still a place for new entrants? There is, but navigating in the industry is now quite tricky. Here are a few useful survival tips for those who are planning to put up a restaurant in the Philippines:

1. Do require yourself intensive leg work. With the local landscape now being crowded by franchises of major fast food chains at the very heart of business districts where foot traffic is high, setting up a restaurant with a location that could win clients is a complex and tedious task, but not entirely impossible.

A diligent entrepreneur understands that finding a good location for any kind of business would take more than just making online researches. You have to be willing to do a lot of leg work in finding a suitable place for your new business, especially because convenience is most often the priority of people in choosing where to eat. Take note that fast food works in high foot traffic places, but concept restaurants that offer ambience and experience is more forgiving in choosing a location. Take a look at some of the Buffet restaurants owned by well-known chefs. Quite a number would require you to traverse small streets to get to their establishments.

2. Do not ask people for intensive leg work. Some of the well-known concept restaurants in Manila are not found near high foot traffic areas where fast food restaurants battle in a cutthroat competition. Some of them are even houses-turned-restaurants by the passionate owners who cook for their clients themselves. But no matter how good your concept is, do not choose a location that would require the same amount of leg work as you have when you were researching for places. Always prioritize accessibility. It is alright if your store is not along main roads as long as it does not require customers to pass more than two streets from the road.

3. Do offer new and sustainable concepts. Think of new ideas that will make your restaurant different.

For restaurants, new takes form in different aspects. It can be new food, new store design, or even new store concept. Offer something different. Add value to your customers’ eating experience through visuals through enticing restaurant design, and sound probably through live bands and music.

The most important element you need for your uniqueness to be effective is sustainability, that is, you can support the continued use of the concept without you sacrificing profits. This is especially true if you plan to make your restaurant famous for that new concept. For example, if you plan to be known for a restaurant that conducts quiz nights, make sure that you can maintain it all throughout your operation.

If you cannot come up with a sustainable concept that will set you apart from the competition, your store is guaranteed to close down with a span of few months. Be creative. Offer your clients something new. Entertain them. Capitalize on the fact that Filipinos take their time in eating.

4. Do not offer mysterious concepts. There are modern trends that we think would be accepted when we integrate them with our food, but there are concepts that are just really hard to swallow, no matter how attractive you plan them to be. Foods like vegetable-based cupcakes, or Sinigang chips are both out-of-the-box recipes, but are unlikely to be marketable. There are still boundaries on what the customers are willing to try. See if there is a likely market and avoid being different for the sake of being different.

Before risking it all in making a store that revolves solely on a mysterious concept that has never been tried before, you would probably want to test it out first in the market. Are the potential customers ready to accept your innovative culinary experience? This goes to those who wish to bring in to the country foreign dishes. There are certain foreign tastes that may not be liked by Filipinos. Always understand the palate, and your dishes will have a better chance to be a hit.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin, C-6, Sunday, April 3, 2016. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.