BUSINESS: 4 Ways to Make the Most Out of Your Restaurant Business Loan
One of the best ways of succeeding in this industry is standing out from your competitors. That means making improvements to your restaurant. Unfortunately, making improvements comes at a price. Whether you need to revamp your interior, implement a new marketing strategy, or offer delivery services, a restaurant business loan gives you the working capital you need to take your restaurant to the next level. If you’re planning to apply for a restaurant business loan, here are some of the tips to make the most out of it.
DID YOU KNOWS…
Jif vs. Gif
Do you pronounce .GIF with a soft j or a hard g (like a sane person)? Well, the Jif peanut butter crew is looking to settle that debate once and for all. They’ve teamed up with Giphy, the animated GIF hosting site, to sell limited-edition jars of peanut butter. Consumers get the option of buying jars that say Jif or jars that say Gif. Which would you buy?
Coronavirus Recoveries Overtake New Cases
Tracking from the Johns Hopkins University shows that coronavirus recoveries outpaced new infections for the first time on February 19th with 439 new cases and approximately 1,800 recoveries. That trend has continued and on February 22nd, there were 1,800 new COVID-19 cases and 4,000 recoveries. Since then, there have been fewer than 600 new confirmed cases of the virus daily and they have been outpaced by the number of recoveries. Despite the positive news, a lot hinges on containment strategies outside China where there are nearly 3,000 cases of the virus in over 30 countries.
How to Store Condiments
Do you know the best places to store your condiments? A lot of it depends on the condiment’s characteristics. Condiments with high levels of carbs and protein should be refrigerated after opening to keep bacteria growth at bay. The easy way to remember is if you turn the bottle upside down and the condiment flows to the bottom, refrigerate it; if it takes a while to fall when upside down, it contains enough fat to be shelf-stable.
CORONAVIRUS IS BAD FOR BUSINESS
Why it matters to you: The impact of this pandemic will be felt here soon enough.
The hysteria surrounding a potential pandemic is nothing to laugh about. The coronavirus has caused some governments to quarantine whole cities while citizens are fearful of being in public. Thus far, North America has been spared the worst of the virus results, although the CDC is warning that won’t last.
So, what happens when that hysteria comes to your community? We can’t be sure exactly how people will react, but we can see some examples of what might be simply reading the news. Let’s start with the potential cancellation of the world’s premier sporting event, the Summer Olympics. If you’re among our sports-themed restaurant audience, then you know the quadrennial international event is happening in Tokyo this July. Officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have announced they are reviewing the schedule to determine if the virus’s presence in Japan might require postponement or cancellation of the games.
To be direct, if that happens you will know this is a pandemic. The amount of money associated with an Olympics is in the billions and it would only be cancelled if things were dire. The IOC has said they won’t act until May at the latest. There is little any of us can do to combat or prepare for the consequences of this pandemic. So far, as of this writing, there have been just 53 cases reported in the US. I would wager that if we have a fatality, things will get ugly very fast. With recent cuts to the CDC’s budget and questions around our national preparedness, we can’t even be sure if we have the capacity to combat the spread effectively. This link is for some insights on how to combat it for yourself and guests. But make no mistake, the stock market hasn’t dropped nearly 2000 points this week for no reason. Everything from supply chain to your children’s schools are likely to be disrupted and you can assured it won’t be good for your business as well.
[Source: Politico]
LESSONS FROM SHAKE SHACK
Why it matters to you: Sales declines and delivery woes seem to be plaguing the nascent chain.
After a sustained year of same store sales growth, Shake Shack saw their sales plunge 3.6% in the fourth quarter of 2019. This was made worse by the fact that the same quarter last year showed a 2.3% increase in those store sales. But slowing sales aren’t their only problem. They recently decided to choose GrubHub as their exclusive delivery partner. That’s all well and good, except GrubHub is not strong in every market that Shake Shack serves which they point to for why some of their sales declines occurred.
This is causing the fast-casual superstar to reconsider their marketing and embrace a more buzzworthy approach to their product roll-outs. This is undoubtedly related to the Popeye’s chicken sandwich phenomenon and Shake Shack’s desire to emulate that success. Unfortunately for Shake Shack, that’s easier said than done.
So, what’s the lesson? Going viral isn’t something you can necessarily do on purpose. Shake Shack is focusing on their new Hot Chick’n Bites and plant-based proteins to stem the tide of their recent sales slide, but will that work? Let’s be real, not having a viral item is not why Shake Shack sales are sagging, but we are looking forward to see if they can turn it around with or without one.
[Source: Nation’s Restaurant News]
