no no, thank you.
I have. What I find works is working good quality food at a low cost. A hearty portion for a moderate price. People have become bargin hunters. I have tried and successfully marketed large "pinchos" (little sandwiches). Everybody has them but mine are more like "bocatas" which are large sandwiches.
I have the only accredited "espresso" in the whole city. Accredited by all the Italian academies of coffee due to the grams set by the grinder per charge, pressure in the machine, particulars when toasted, ect. I sell that angle allot too. It seems to work.
I eliminated the high cost lunch menus in favor of a simple quick dishes which seems to work best. The area is mostly offices and banks. They have little time to sit around. I cater to them by offering very fast and competent service. They order whatever and I will not mess it up and have it served within 5 minutes. That gives me a good turn around and I need it, since I dont have many tables and the bar is not that big.
I have also reduced the amount of products I have to have on hand by using the same stuff for the "pinchos" as what I have on the menu. It has saved me allot of money.
What I can't help is the amount people are willing to spend. I can't raise prices globally since they come here with exact change sometimes. Yeah it's like that.
What I can do is modify quantity and renegotiate with my providers. I am their biggest pain in the ass. I am not a jerk, but I defend what is mine. If they want me to sell their product.....then they have to compete and I have made it a point to learn what each offers and who has the best prices.
Another thing I find that works is gossip.lol. I studied the area and found out that most of the residents are elderly women. So I make it a point to have a steady source of gossip magazines on hand for them to come have their coffee and talk trash about the royal family....lol
Then I saw that allot of people value having their own newspaper in the morning. I have 2 each of the most read and one sports paper, and a commerce paper. Seems to bring its own crowd.
I think what I might be lacking is more advertising. Like posters like you said. It is just that I think allot of businesses ruin their image with signs everywhere. The decoration is sheik and modern. I can't throw signs around but I could use a few more...you are right with that.
I tried having fresh fruit slushies, the machine just sucked up electricity like I was powering a nuclear reaction in there. I ended up drinking them myself, which was cool, but not the point.
Whatever I do from now on, I cannot increase operating cost. Some things are a catch 22, like changing the lighting for a more low cost system...that takes money, like 2 thousand Euros in all for the whole place....I would save allot a year....but I need the dough first.
It's a war of attrition. Fight overhead and learn whatever needs to be done so as to avoid more bills.
Like for example my cash register crashed and I lost my POS program. What I did was learn how to crack another from a couple years back and installed it myself. It took 2 days without sleep, but I saved myself 500 Euros for a technician to install a new one.
I don't know, there is allot I can do but I can't spend anymore than I have and do. That is how the rest have closed around me. My next door neighbor will be closing and it is because she went nuts advertising, adding products to her menu, ect....She has like 5 cafes throughout the region. She can afford to throw thousands of Euros around.
I can't. So I just have to hold it down with what I got. All in all, I am liking the KISS theory. Keep it simple stupid.
But thanks man. You do have a few good points I could work on.
edit on 3-8-2012 by BIHOTZ because: (no reason given)
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