INFOGRAPHIC: Top 10 Antidotes to Restaurant Failure
You’ve heard the statistics, 90% of all restaurants fail within the first year. Fortunately, for everyone involved that appears to be inaccurate. The actual rate is more like 23%, which means that 77% of all restaurants remain open after the first year. Restaurant failures are predictable because there just aren’t any new mistakes to make. That’s why this outlining the 10 ways restaurants fail is the perfect antidote to that possibility.
DID YOU KNOWS…
NCAA Men’s Basketball Fan Behaviors
You’re marketing to March Madness fans, yes? Because according to a Nielsen report, NCAA Men’s Basketball fans are 89% more likely to have gone to a sports bar in the past 30 days. But are they visiting your location and not your competitors? These same fans also are highly interested in video gaming, so if you’re looking to tap your restaurant into the eSports/gaming community, marketing your game-centric events during March Madness is a great idea.
NASA’s Budget
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has declared that the Trump administration wants to send humans back to the moon by 2024. That is four years earlier than NASA's previous target of 2028. Apart from changing rockets and switching between contractors, Pence did not provide any information as to how NASA will achieve another moon landing by 2024. For starters, the agency will need a much bigger budget as it’s just a fraction of what it used to be during the ‘60s.
Luxury Assets Soaring
These days, bottles of rare whisky are particularly sought after, especially single malt Scotch varieties. Last year was noteworthy when a bottle of Scotch set a $917,500 record at auction in October before being beaten a month later when a bottle sold for $1.6 million. Distilled in 1926, the hand-painted bottle was sold at Christies's wine and spirits auction in London. Over the past 12 months, rare whisky has gone up in value by 40% and over the past 10 years, it has soared 582%.
WE’RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT
Why it matters to you: China is no longer taking our plastic and paper recycling and it’s gonna be a real problem.
For years Americans have been trained to put their recycling in the nice blue container. Most of us simply didn’t know or care where it went. It turns out all that plastic was primarily going to China to be combed through to find suitable for reprocessing plastics and paper. That all changed in January of 2018 when they ended a policy of accepting some 70% of the world’s plastic waste. Some claim that it was a new policy call National Sword, but others believe the increase cost of labor and lower yields arising from too much contaminated plastic being imported are also to blame. In any event, all that plastic that your restaurant generates right now is likely being buried in overburdened landfills or worse being incinerated thus further injuring our fragile environment.
In practical terms, this also means that your trash expenses may rise as well. Eventually, and we mean sooner not later, all the plastic we consume is going to catch up with us. We strongly encourage you to continue to recycle, but we also know that you may need to review your waste management to ensure you have the best solution you can. We encourage you to reach out to your trash removal service and ask them about their approach to sustainability. It may come to us having to put even more energy into managing our trash than we already do with a paper dumpster and general trash. The time is coming for plastic to become less a part of your business, like Trader Joe’s, who are trying to eliminate plastic packaging altogether. Either way, there’s a plastic storm coming, will you be prepared?
[Source: Fortune]
WE HAVE AN AGENDA
Why it matters to you: It’s good process to keep up with legislation that might affect you.
Cities and states are where the most impactful legislation is being made, and it pays to know what that landscape looks like. This run down from Restaurant Business online is a great place to get just that insight. For example, the most potent advocate in NYC is the New York City Hospitality Alliance and they have put fourth an aggressive legislative agenda to protect restaurants in the city. From fighting for fair rent for operators to streamlining the municipal approval process for new restaurants, the alliance has been focused on getting real estate justice for restaurants that have seen a 44% increase in rent since 2006.
But they don’t stop there; they are also pushing to have the same protections that residential renters get to business rental contracts. This would ease the stress of potential evictions and give restaurant operators more leverage over their rental expense.
In national news, National Restaurant Association is pushing back against a tax law provision that was apparently written incorrectly and chokes off the deductions associated with qualified improvement property (QIP). This error cause depreciation extended to 39 years versus the 15 that was previously in the tax code. At a state level, Maryland legislators believe they have a veto proof majority for raising the minimum wage to $15. Governor Hogan is on record opposing the increase and could put them to the test. However, he hasn’t said whether he was going to veto the measure. Are you keeping up with the issues in your local trade area? Please let us know in the comments below and we’ll keep track of them.
[Source: Restaurant Business Online]
