🔥 Bonji Hot Takes: Volume 1 🔥
Hi all, we hope your week has been successful as we near the end of 2021. We’ve decided to switch up our Thursday newsletter to reduce the formality a bit and give you some insight into opinions we’ve picked up along our journey. Although everyone may not always agree, it’s important to share that perspective, and feel free to comment on our blog at www.bonjifoods.com we'd love to hear new thoughts or ideas!
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Premium Business Location is OVERRATED
We couldn’t be more serious when saying that the classic line of “location, location, location” is overplayed and has turned into nonsense. If you search the internet, you’ll find hundreds of articles trying to explain why location is the most important thing for your restaurant or business. Although it may play a small role, it is drastically blown out of proportion. In truth, the days of needing the best possible location are through. If a customer wants an açaí bowl, chicken marsala, or prime rib, they will simply plug it into Google and find their way to order it.
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1. Online Visibility Means More Than Physical
How many times have you driven past a restaurant and said, “Oh that place sounds great…” probably a ton. Yet, how many of those times do you whip your car around and shoot across traffic to get there? Probably not very often, maybe even never at all. You may drive by and search for something similar along your route, closer to home, or you will just order it when you get to your destination. Just with this in mind, the “visibility” that is so often talked about can be dismissed. We believe it’s drastically more important to be “visible” online, where your potential customers are searching for the delicious food you are offering. We are constantly trying to improve our Google ranking because when a customer types “acai bowls near me” into their browser, we want to be the first business that pops up.
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2. Is Foot Traffic Really That Important? Yes of course, foot traffic can positively impact your business. However, if you are serving buffalo wings in a strip mall that has clothing stores surrounding, how often do you expect the casual TJ Maxx shopper to come in for a plate of wings? There are exceptions here, but truthfully, you will do just as much business if you spend that insane rent money to market your restaurant properly. Don’t overlook the other parts of the business just to throw money at a location that might not even benefit you, especially if you are paying a premium. Foot traffic will only get you so far, considering you may end up deterring hundreds of other potential consumers with a location solely focused on those passing by. Moreover, nowadays it seems that shopping malls and other locations that used to hold a ton of value are simply lacking in many other areas.
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3. Why Accessibility Still Matters Over the years, we’ve come across plenty of restaurants and juice bars that pay premium prices for space in a strip mall, or some other “prime” building. Originally, it feels that paying top dollar will translate positively towards your bottom line, but in time you’ll see that is only causing you to dump money down the drain. In reality, your business location needs one major factor: ease of accessibility. Accessibility relates to how easy it is to park or, in other cases, how easy it is to jump out of your car and run inside. We operated a cafe in a busy city. Every time our loyal customers came in we’d be greeted with a complaint declaring “it’s way too hard to park here I almost said screw it and drove home!” Therefore, a busy street may have foot traffic, but you’ll only piss off the delivery drivers and deter those who are driving by looking for a quick bite to eat. Doordash and UberEats drivers have a few notorious restaurants that make it nearly impossible to do their job, and that will undoubtedly affect your business just as much as they may get a negative review. Additionally, think about making your business accessible from an online perspective as well. It’s important to maintain your website and online ordering to ensure a flawless transaction that will encourage a customer to return to easily enjoy their favorite food.
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Final Thoughts: Ultimately, we are not here to tell you that you shouldn’t worry about the location of your business at all, because it does hold value. However, the days of dealing with a difficult landlord who is charging you a massive premium are through. Take control of how you use your hard earned cash flow and stop throwing it at landlords who couldn’t care less about your business. Re-invest the money you are spending at a high-end location into marketing, online ordering, or the many other lanes to drive customers into your restaurant.
