One question One Fat Frog gets a lot is “how do I build my new restaurant’s customer base?” It’s an important question and it’s something that every restaurant startup struggles with. Restaurants that have been around a while get a lot of customers through word of mouth and familiarity. How does your restaurant startup build a base of loyal customers?
There are a lot of ways to build loyal customers for your restaurant startup, but one big way of growing your business is by making your new neighbors new customers. Think about it: When you move into a new house or apartment, you don’t know the area yet, right? You get hungry, but where do you go? You don’t know any of the local restaurants yet. That’s why you need to move in, make sure those new neighbors know about you, and get them to come to your place.
Remember how many flyers and other ads for restaurants you got for restaurants soon after moving into a house? It’s not accident. There are companies that monitor new home purchases and send those advertisements out for you. Many restaurants work with those companies to make sure their ads go to new homeowners. If you can get a new homeowner to visit your new restaurant once, you can make them a loyal customer for years and years to come. They came into a new area not knowing much around them and you quickly became a familiar face. And when it comes to building a successful restaurant, or any business for that matter, familiarity is one of the most important factors.