h a l f b a k e r y
See website for details.
idea:
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, best, random
meta:
news, help, about, links, report a problem
account:
Browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
or Create a new account.
|
|
|
Years ago, a celebrity chef starred in an American Express tv ad and claimed that 90% of restaurants close in their first year of business. This claim was challenged and it was later revealed that, “one in four restaurants close or change ownership within their first year of business. Over three years,
that number rises to three in five. While a 60% failure rate may still sound high, that's on par with the cross-industry average for new businesses, according to statistics from the Small Business Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.” [Article linked]
Some small restaurants fail due to the lack of hype. Buzz is normally generated by hiring publicists, celebrity endorsers, etc., all of which cost entirely too much money for a start-up.
My proposal is to help increase the survival rate of start-up restaurants with the help of the daily rain forecast.
Restaurants will be listed online according to the likelihood of light precipitation in their area for couples who wish to end their dinner with a kiss in the rain.
Aside from the rain heads-up, the list will also show the dining places based on proximity to house or workplace, type of cuisine, average cost of dining, accessibility, and reviews from other patrons.
Restaurants are listed for free in their first 2 years. On their 3rd year however, a small fee will be charged if they want to remain on the list. Patrons will never be charged for this service, and, the Small Business Bureau will be tapped for financial assistance while this program is still in its early stages of implementation.
To give diners an illustration of what’s in store for them: different kissing-in-the-rain scenes from movies will be shown on the website, like, the upside-down kiss scene from spiderman [for those who are into men in spandex], the downpour kiss scene from the notebook [for those who like to scream and fight prior to kissing], and, the one scene that expresses my idea best, the kiss from Great Expectations [linked]. Enjoy.
(p.s. don’t forget to bring a change of clothing for you and your date if you decide to use our service.)
kissing in the rain scene from the movie Great Expectations
http://www.youtube....watch?v=vIIA4dBO1Fk
[pyggy potamus, Jan 07 2008]
The Restaurant-Failure Myth
http://www.business...20070416_296932.htm
[pyggy potamus, Jan 07 2008]
types of rain according to the BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A14281265
for this enterprise, we are hoping for tiddling/light rain, which some say is the *perfect* rain. [pyggy potamus, Jan 07 2008]
[link]
|
| |
//Restaurants are listed for free in their first 2 years.//
Two years' free advertising? I doubt that any business would opt to pay for a third; if they've not made a reputation yet, they ain't gonna. Also, as you not charging, how is this enterprise funded? |
|
| |
I always thought it would be a good plan to salvage (purchase) a business that had been there for a while and was closing. Then with new management, new ideas, better quality, some upgrades people get excited at the newness. Depending upon other factors of course. |
|
| |
//Two years' free advertising?// |
|
| |
Well it's not really advertising in the regular sense of the word, but whenever there's rain in their particular area, their restaurant's name will come up in the search. |
|
| |
//Also, as you not charging, how is this enterprise funded?// |
|
| |
I have said that for the first few years, the Small Business Bureau/Administration will hopefully fund this sort of ad campaign. Small restaurant start-ups are at a handicap because they're considered high risk by most bankers. They do not have easy access to loans unlike other businesses. |
|
| |
My sort of ill-conceived ad idea might help them survive for at least over a year. Well, maybe. |
|
| |
How is the Small Business Bureau/Administration funded? |
|
| |
Businesses of any type in their first two years of operation are not considered a good risk by any banker I know about. That means there is an incentive for the owner to make a fist of it and risk their own funds. |
|
| |
Most aspiring restaurateurs are starry-eyed romantics, believing it will somehow be sexy to cook for the whining, demanding, nasty, careless turds that constitute the bulk of your customers. No-one considers the 4-6 hours prep ime before opening, nor the three hours cleanup after closing, when they decide to open their Chez Botulinus. |
|
| |
I've owned a couple of restaurants or parts thereof. They are hard, thankless work. |
|
| |
erm, yerp, chick flick stuffs. |
|
| |
I've never seen the movie Great Expectations, but I read the article on the rate of business failure for new restaurants. |
|
| |
It got me to thinking about other diners who might want a reasonably priced scrumptious dinner at some unknown, not popularly recognized quaint spot somewhere. That was the inspiration for this idea. |
|
| |
//How is the Small Business Bureau/Administration funded?// |
|
| |
The government funds it. It's a service the government provides to small businesses, and usually under the domain of the Department of Trade and Industry. |
|
| |
Why would you want the government to fund restaurants that are doomed to fail, usually because of lack of marketing, poor location, inappropriate service or unpopular menu choices? |
|
| |
//that are doomed to fail// |
|
| |
do you have a magic crystal ball that shows you which businesses are doomed to fail at the onset? |
|
| |
Something like that. I can usually figure it out within a half hour of meeting the owner and seeing their business premises and plan, if they have one. Of course, it helps that I develop, train and support small businesses for a living. It also helps that I've owned or run businesses for 24 of my 26 years in the workforce. |
|
| |
At one stage I owned seven operating businesses simultaneously. Now, I only work directly with 16 of them at a time. Others are assisted on an indirect basis. I also invest in some, as a venture capital partner. |
|
| |
Yes, everytime I look into it it says the business will fail. It is correct a staggering amount of the time. |
|
| |
Enthusiasm will last 10 months if 2 or more people are involved, 33 months if it's a lone operator trying to make a business work. There's no crystal ball, just years of hard experience. |
|
| |
For a restaurant, for instance, gross food costs cannot be more than 28-33% of revenue and should be under 25% if you want to succeed. Wages and owners' drawings should not exceed 30%. Rent should be 6% unless it is in a high traffic area like a shopping mall foodcourt. It will then sustain up to 11-12% of revenue in rent costs... etc, etc. |
|
| |
//The government funds it.//
With whose money? Please explain why taxpayers should fund promotion of a (probably) doomed business for *two years*. (Pointing out that we already do this is not sufficient grounds for doing it more.) |
|
| |
//With whose money? Please explain why taxpayers should fund promotion of a (probably) doomed business for *two years*.// |
|
| |
This idea is NOT intended for one particular business which is fated towards doom. I don't think I said anything of that sort. |
|
| |
The article I provided shows that 40% of small restaurants do go on to be really successful enterprises. BUT at the onset, all people who have invested their time, money and effort into a restaurant business should be given the chance to prove themselves. Nobody has magical powers to say that something is doomed to fail or not. |
|
| |
This idea is intended to help small start-up restaurants that may want this type of marketing aid. |
|
| |
The service will match restaurants who need diners and a select group of people who might like a kiss in the rain after dinner. |
|
| |