Subscribe for FREE exclusive weekly updates from Michael Cage
Why sign up?
Simple marketing with Restaurant web sites
Posted by Michael Cage on Tuesday, October 03, 2006I live in Fairfax County, Virginia, smack dab in the middle of the Virginia "Dulles Tech Corridor" made up of Reston, Herndon and a few other towns. It is a very Internet-friendly place.
How is it possible that a restaurant with a significant delivery business in an Internet-friendly area does not have a web site with their menu and contact information?
It flat-out boggles my mind.
Let's do some simple math.
I order out 4-5 times per week, average about $40 per order. That works out to about $200 per week, or $800 per month.
Because I am not the greatest at recovering from interuptions, I have most of my meals delivered. When I get hungry, I don't dig through drawers for outdated, food-stained menus. Instead, I hop over to my del.icio.us bookmarks, pull up restaurants that deliver, and choose from the menus online.
It's important to note that NONE of the restaurants I regularly get delivery meals from are my favorites. There are restaurants that a) deliver and b) I like better all around me ... but because of the extra hassle of finding and holding onto the menu, my money goes to their competition instead of them.
I know for a fact a restaurant can get a kick-ass, easy to maintain web site that will bring them plenty of new business for around $1500-2000, probably cheaper if they go with "lesser" providers. The business they'd get from a single customer like me would pay for it in a few months ... and there are plenty of "me's" out there, not to mention full offices of workers (the Oracle people in Reston eat up a storm, I hear) and plenty of tech-saavy families.
A restaurant web site doesn't have to be fancy to be insanely profitable ... but it does need to be a) present, b) have a menu and c) be "findable."
Sometimes businesses go out of their way to avoid making money.
11 Comments & Trackbacks (add your own) Add To The ConversationPlease keep your comments on-topic and civil.
Trackback URL for this entry: http://www.entrepreneurslife.com/trackback/1848/
You are so right… OFTEN businesses go out of their way to avoid making money. People are generally too lazy to follow through after coming up with an amazing idea!
Len on Tuesday, October 17, 2006HI
india spice restaurant please come and join with us for thanksgiving special buffet and we r open for lunch buffet and dinner
from india spice
India Spice Restaurant on Thursday, November 16, 20061-248-381-5449
Michael,
you are right on this! and I had the same thought, and just decided to do something about it… we do exactly that- put a restaurant menu with complete ordering online (the restaurant does not need to even have a computer..) .
If you let me know the restaurants you are interested in, we’ll be happy to get them online quickly. (or if you prefer , just tell them about our website, and we’ll take it from there).
see GetMyMeal.com for details.
GetMyMeal.com on Tuesday, January 02, 2007thanks!
I have beat the street trying to sell web marketing to various eateries. Simply put they just don’t understand the internet. The internet is confusing and they don’t really know where to start.
Mike on Tuesday, February 06, 2007 Simple marketing with Restaurant web sitesAuto Tracked from: Auto on Monday, June 18, 2007 Simple marketing with Restaurant web sites
Nurse Tracked from: Nurse on Tuesday, June 19, 2007 Simple marketing with Restaurant web sites
Supply Tracked from: Supply on Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Simple marketing with Restaurant web sites
Commercial Funding Tracked from: Commercial Funding on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 Simple marketing with Restaurant web sites
Commercial Capital Tracked from: Commercial Capital on Thursday, July 12, 2007
a
HibqOuon on Monday, November 12, 2007http://aciphexasa.0catch.com “ ]a[/url]
I agree “A restaurant web site doesn’t have to be fancy to be insanely profitable ... but it does need to be a) present, b) have a menu and c) be “findable.”
Sometimes businesses go out of their way to avoid making money.”
haiming webhosting reviews on Wednesday, April 30, 2008Thanks!