Here is somethign I see over and over and I just got off the phone from a consultation now where I saw it again- there was nothing wrong with the restaurant concept this owner and I were discussing, but there was nothing about it that was right, either!
I discuss it at more length in my starting a restaurant book (coming out one of these days!) but here is the crux of the problem: the only way to not be unique in your concept is if you are unique in your location. In other words- if you are the only game in town (which means this only applies to really small towns or obscure ethnic foods in larger towns) then you have to have a positive differentiation from your competition.
It doesn’t have to be huge, but it has to be something. I saw this quote from another blog, which explains the problem but I think misses part of it:
For those who I’ve worked with and those who subscribe to my WOW newsletter, you know I’m big on getting you to develop and verbalize your special advantage – the element that makes your restaurant different and more memorable than the others.
The challenge remains – most restaurant owners don’t know their competitive advantage, or don’t know what makes them special. And certainly their staff doesn’t.
The part I think it misses is that many restaurant owners can’t explain their special advantage because they don’t have one. They are simply another me too concept with nothing unique or memorable to offer.
The good news is, this can be changed and fairly quickly. The bad news is, you can only start to work on a cure if you realize and admit you have a problem. test your restaurant right now, or test the restaurant business plan you are working on. If you can’t verbalize quickly and easily your special advantage (and it really needs to be special and unique in a way not knocked off or sidelined in two seconds by your competition) then go back to the drawing board and get one!
Quoted Article Source Link: Cohen
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