Whether your brand locations don’t sell any food at all or the ancillary foodservice options your customers have are weighing down your bottom line, you can use the three step DMX Method to increase your brand’s profitability by making sure your customers get a bite to eat when they’re visiting your stores.
The Demand, Menu, and Execute approach to adding foodservice at existing corporate and franchised locations can be applied in retail clothing stores, car repair shops, play centers and any other branded concept that has multiple locations and hungry patrons. The addition of a new stream of revenue through the introduction of foodservice concepts has spelled growth and increased profitability for chain brands ranging from Nordstrom’s to Walmart For locations that fit the DMX Profitability Profile, profit margins can range from 20-40% and, if applied properly, will improve the a brand’s return customer rate.
In Search of Demand
It's essential to first establish demand before investing in consulting or foodservice design services. Speaking with a knowledgeable Restaurant Consultant or Foodservice Designer will help to determine if your brand has the existing customer base and capacity to profit from foodservice offerings. Many factors should be carefully considered including existing customer profiles, labor realities, typical unit-area demographics, jurisdictional concerns, typical covenants and lease agreements as well as start-up and recurring operational costs. Determining if your system meets the DMX Profitability Profile is not a static process. Capacity and costs for different foodservice concepts vary widely. Considering a simple grab-n-go coffee bar is very different from diving into full-service restaurants.
If your system is determined to have strong profit potential, a careful and thorough analysis should be undertaken to determine what type of foodservice concept you should offer. Discovering the exact foodservice concept fit for your brand require the same level of planning and scrutiny that is conducted when a business franchises. A specialized Restaurant Consultant will be able to guide a brand’s leadership in determining a concept that will truly be demanded, feasible, manageable and a meaningful way of growing same-store sales and profit margins.
Let The Menu Be Your Guide
Too often, ill-fated foodservice concepts begin with questions like “Which food items would be easy to offer?” or “What foodservice equipment will fit in the space we’re not using in our stores?”. The above questions point out important potential constraints a foodservice concept might have. Possible constraints must be considered and a knowledgeable Restaurant Consultant or Foodservice Designer will be able to plan, eliminate and accommodate for them.
On the other hand, a successful foodservice concept begins with the question: “What menu items do my customers demand?”. A consultant or designer with knowledge of food, labor, and construction costs along with health code requirements will be able to guide you in transforming customer demand into high-profit menu items that form a brand-enhancing dining concept.
After creating a customized concept the job of high-performing Restaurant Consultants and Foodservice Designers is to work within your brand’s realities to select the purveyors, equipment, furniture and fixtures needed to successfully integrate a foodservice concept into your operation. A successful concept will also correctly predict the costs and timeline required to conduct rollouts and also provide the labor, capital and operational procedures needed to turn a turn a well-designed menu into predictable sales.
Measure Twice, Open When You Said You Would
Bringing a foodservice concept to life requires many modes of expertise: culinary, architectural, construction, logistics, manufacturing and foodservice operations. A great consulting partner will provide the guidance and leadership on all of these ingredients for foodservice success.
Many Restaurant Consultants have impressive backgrounds in the kitchen and the restaurant office but don’t understand the intricacies of foodservice manufacturing and construction. A number of construction and design professionals understand engineering and timeline realities but do not know how individual, let-alone multi-unit foodservice concepts function. It’s all to common for a large number of professionals with varied disciplines to be hired from separate organizations to assist with a foodservice rollout - and proceed to communicate very poorly.
When you choose to explore adding a foodservice concept to existing brand locations, make sure to partner with a guide that offers; restaurant consulting, foodservice design, procurement, installation, construction management and start-up support. It’s also highly advisable to contract with a team that can guide an initiative to completion in any geographic location. Minimizing the number of service providers when executing the rollout of a foodservice concept ensures accountability while lowering costs.
Don’t miss out on an opportunity to increase revenues and profits while giving your customers the foodservice options they want. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Restaurant Consultants and Foodservice Designers who can ensure the same-store sales growth and increased profitability you’re looking for.