If you’ve come into the One Fat Frog office in the last couple days, you might notice a different atmosphere. That’s because one of our salesmen, Bill, has been taking a turn as Office DJ, meaning the office music has switched from the likes of Beck and Arctic Monkeys to artists like Jimmy Buffett and Garth Brooks. People are coming in surprised, asking “why do I suddenly have an urge to drink margaritas and/or herd cattle?” Okay, they’re not really saying that. The point is that people have different tastes, so switching to Bill’s music from mine brings a totally different atmosphere and engages people differently. Keep that in mind when it comes to your restaurant: Little changes can have big effects.
Restaurant entrepreneurs are often afraid of changing anything about their restaurant because the restaurant is their baby and they want it to be exactly how they imagined it. Making changes to your restaurant, however, can result in increased sales and happier customers. Sometimes a small change is necessary, such as removing that shrimp appetizer that no one is ordering. Sometimes your restaurant needs a medium-sized change, such as hosting Trivia Night on Wednesdays. Other times, your restaurant is struggling and really needs to make a big change to bring customers back to a sagging business. Those big changes can be anything from slashing your prices to completely remodeling the restaurant interior to inviting all One Fat Frog employees to eat for free (hey, you can’t blame me for trying). So when you think about your restaurant startup, don’t be afraid to shake things up. Sometimes change can be good.