Open for Business

Driving home from work the other day, I noticed that two nearby restaurants are no longer there. One seems vacant and is up for a new lease and the other has switched hands to a new owner with a new name and menu. I had been to both of the previous restaurants and thought the food was good (not necessarily great), the price was fair, but what impressed me most was the attention to customer service. When opening their doors just a short time ago, both places went above and beyond to make sure your food was prepared just as you wanted and that you had everything you needed.

These two restaurants made me think about a coffee shop where I held a part-time position in high school and college. A family started the business together with two locations. I remember that the initial training was rigorous and everything needed to be just right, and I remember marketing the two locations to local businesses to draw foot traffic. About two years after I stopped working there, the coffee shop went out of business. I couldn’t help but think about the family that poured so much time and money into the business and what a loss this was to them.

The restaurant business can be tough, but very rewarding if successful. In order for your restaurant to become a staple in the community, it takes consistently perfect food preparation, a menu that joins the good ol’ standbys with the latest foodie craze, friendly customer service, reasonable prices, a unique but comfortable atmosphere, and last but not least strong restaurant marketing and advertising. What gives me solace as I pass the two closed nearby restaurants is that in between both is a brand new restaurant in which our advertising agency helped get off the ground by creating the perfect logo design. Seeing their “Open for Business” sign lit up day after day makes me think they’re getting closer to their dream of turning the restaurant into a chain, and we wish them the best of luck.

Entry by: laura