This seems obvious to me but as I wrote before the concept was really a show for TV not a lesson on how to start a restaurant the right way.
A basic and common sense approach to building a restaurant chain that is successful is to start with a single unit and then use it to work out all the kinks in the plan. You will very likely make changes to the prices, menu (as the story mentions they have already had to do), and procedures for running the restaurant many times in the course of a year even if you have many years of experience in the industry.
Each new concept is different and will require fine tuning before you can reasonably expect to be successful opening more units. This is just common sense, which is a very helpful thing to have access to when you are working on a restaurant business plan.
So it comes as no surprise to me at all that the winner of the America’s Next Great Restaurant show, which was based on the idea that the winner would open three locations simultaneously in three different parts of the country has already been forced to close two of the three to try and save the one.
Whether that one lives on or not is not certain but it is clear that their chances are a million times better if they don’t have to try and split their attention between three locations for a brand new concept.
Soul Daddy, which was named the winner of the America’s Next Great Restaurant reality show in May, has closed its Los Angeles and New York City locations after just one month.
Soul Daddy’s original premise was soul food, including fried chicken and waffles; however, several menu changes were made to reflect a healthier offering of the menu, backed by the tagline: “New Home Cooking.”
“The realities of running a restaurant are very difficult, more so with multiple locations in multiple cities. After a careful review of the business model and the performance of the restaurants, we have decided that our best opportunity for Soul Daddy’s success is to focus our efforts on establishing a solid footing in one location, building the brand, and developing the operations from there. We have decided to close our restaurants at Hollywood and Highland in Los Angeles and the South Street Seaport in New York, effective June 14, and focus on developing the best restaurant we can at the Mall of America restaurant in Bloomington, Minnesota. While it has certainly been a difficult decision, we believe this is the best approach as we work towards ongoing success for Soul Daddy.”
Quoted Article Source Link: FastCasual
