If your website doesn’t include a streamlined, optimized menu, you’re missing out on potential business!

Today we’re going to talk about optimizing your online menu. Assuming you’re already online in some form or another — I’ll repeat myself again: you should be! — it’s still important that you make the most of your web presence. Your restaurant’s own website includes a posted or linked-to menu, right? I hope so. If people are looking for you on the internet, they’re hoping to find a menu. My girlfriend and I pore over menus before we decide where to go out, especially if it’s a special occasion or we’re visiting a new place. This is not an unusual pastime for web-savvy consumers.

But having a menu isn’t enough to turn web visitors into flesh-and-blood customers (in your dining room or through takeout). You have to have the right kind of menu. What is the right kind, you ask?

Well, it’s not a PDF. Let’s get that out of the way — many restaurants post their menus as viewable, downloadable PDFs, which is certainly a viable option, and definitely better than nothing. Don’t go right out and chuck your PDFs because I said they weren’t perfect. The main reason they aren’t the best option is that they can be clunky and slow to download. Potential customers looking for your menu on their smartphone or tablet may be especially annoyed, as they have to download the PDF to their device, which can take a while, and then they have to find some way to zoom and size the thing to make it readable, which is often finnicky and difficult on smaller mobile devices.

Instead, you should consider making your menus seamless. Rather than having out-of-date, hard to edit, slow to download PDFs cluttering up your website and our mobile devices, you should format your menu as an integrated part of your website itself. It should look like a streamlined part of your business, because it is. Phone and tablet users will be pleased at the greater readability, and even regular old computer internet browsers will view your menu and website as more professional.

Finally, remember that your online and offline menus should, and will, be different. Customers are looking for different things in person vs. on the internet. Those who browse the web to decide on a place to eat are looking for certain, easy-to-parse information. You should include: prices, photos, and weekly specials. Furthermore, you must keep your online menu up to date. If it falls behind, you look incredibly unprofessional. And, finally, you should add the option to order online, whether it’s through your own website (using some sort of merchant software) or via GrubHub or other food ordering websites. Some customers will like your menu but not feel like dining in, so they should be able to dine out. (Read more about takeout and delivery options and services in our archives!)

Anyway, hope this information helps! I’ll be back with another post on Wednesday. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

Paninis. They are good, but you can’t serve them without the proper legal certifications for food service operating!

Get on with it, you’re probably thinking. Tell us what the last step is. Well, ok. Your last step, at least if you’re thinking about it in the rather spare, bulletpoint type of way I’ve been presenting the information, is this: Take Care of the Necessary Regulatory Steps & Run Your Restaurant Legally. Maybe that’s two steps, but oh well. What I mean to say is this: you can go into as detailed explanations of every single thing you need to do to start a business (hiring, training, purchasing, the list goes on and on), but as far as the basic starting points go, my tips end here, at the point where you have to get your proper licensing and regulation steps. These include registering your business name, getting a tax ID number, registering for state and local taxes, obtaining appropriate licenses and permits for your restaurant (this will, of course, vary), and taking the legal steps necessary to hire employees. Each of these things can be researched deeper at any number of online sources, and there are business and government agencies whose job it is to help you with this information and process. Doing your research (one of our early steps!) includes researching these sort of bureaucratic things. Know what you’re getting into!

Finally, even once you possess all your licenses, permits, and tax information, you must learn how to run a restaurant legally and to code, and maintain the strictest level of cleanliness, sanitation, preparation, and efficiency. The restaurant business will run you straight out if you’re not following regulations for food safety, handling, and various cleaning, storage, and equipment procedures — it doesn’t matter what licenses and permits you have; you still have to do the fundamentals correctly, or you could face financial and legal ramifications. Serious ones. Again, all of this should be covered during your researching stage, before you ever apply the knowledge inside of a working commercial kitchen or restaurant. Do you research! Go back and learn everything there is to know about proper food service operating! If you don’t, your business will undoubtedly be short-lived.

Anyway, I hope this information has been valuable. I love fast food. I’m going to eat some more of it on the road I’m sure, as I head from New York to Newark and back across the country to Chicago. If you take the right steps and make the right food, next year I could be eating yours.

I’ll be back next week. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

You gotta lose your mind in Vanee Rock City.

It’s May, the weather here in Chicago is (finally!) warm and Vanee is once again gearing up to invade the National Restaurant Show at McCormick Place this weekend. I fully anticipate that all of Wednesday’s headlines will read ”Vanee Rocks National Restaurant Show! Complete Pandemonium Ensues!” so consider this your advance notice before the face rockings officially commence!

Also, while I’m thinking about it: prepare to have your faces rocked.

To that (face-rocking) end, Vanee cordially invites you and yours to visit us at booth 7867. Vanee foodservice consultants will be on hand to dazzle and amaze you while also answering any burning questions you may have about canned entrées but were previously afraid to ask. And if somehow that isn’t enough, there will be chili.

Yes, chili.

So please please please justify the last few months of my life by stopping by and saying hi. And if you happen to see me, feel free to ask for a high five. I’ll be the dude with the beard.

We’ll see you at McCormick Place!

No investor will pony up his or or her cash without feeling good about the investment itself.

However, many would-be restaurateurs can’t get the ball rolling without some additional investment; it’s nothing unusual — many food service operators start with business partners or benefactors of some kind. The good news is that you’ve made a business plan, at least if you’ve been following the steps I’ve laid out for you in previous posts, and now that business plan can serve as the basis for a loan proposal or investment plan. Anyone helping finance your restaurant — whether via loan or partnership of some kind — is going to want to see exactly what you have planned, how well prepared you are, and what steps you’re going to take toward success. They’ll want to know that you’ve thought of everything, including every last expense and efficiency-type issue. Otherwise why would they sink their funds and reputation into a risky venture?

The job of your business plan turned investment or loan proposal is to help convince potential investors that there isn’t much risk. Of course everyone knows the food service industry, especially opening a brand new restaurant, is a risky venture, but if you’ve researched, planned, and outlined properly, all your ducks should be in a row, so to speak. And seeing that this is the case will assuage many of the fears and doubts a potential investor might have. You want them to feel excited and somewhat safe about the investment, otherwise you can’t hardly expect them to make one.

One last tip: be honest and upfront! Be realistic about how much money you’ll need from them (and other investors), and just how much everything will cost. Find ways to save money (buying local produce, surplus or used equipment for your kitchen), but don’t over- or underestimate the cost of opening your restaurant. No one likes a business partner who crawls back halfway into opening and needs more money.

For the last post in this series, check back  Friday. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

Planning.

Fast food: a traveler’s best friend.

Maybe you think it sounds  a little dumb, or way too obvious. After all, aren’t you already planning — reading this and doing the other steps I’ve outlined earlier, isn’t that planning? Well, sure. But once you’ve got the kernel of an idea going, you need to sit down and make a legitimate business plan. You can’t go in blind, or be ad-libbing. If you do, you’ll lose money and risk failing before you’ve even really started. Your doors might never open at all.

By outlining a specific plan, you’ll have to go through your strengths and weakness as you pave a path to opening your own business. You’ll be able to tailor your restaurant to it’s demographic, and highlight areas you may need help with or work on. You’ll be able to figure out just how much things cost, along with what it is that you’ll need. Really, this is just an added-on part of the research step; you’ve done your research — now you have to apply what you learned to the specifics of your situation.

Without a business plan, potential investors, clients, and customers are less likely to take you seriously, or help you at all. It is the keystone to this arduous, expensive, and risky process. You need one. Get on that.

For the next post in this series, check back next Wednesday. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

Starting small can save you a lot of money (and risk).

You have to be willing to start small. A small sandwich shop, deli, or food stand can be a great way to dip your toes in to the fast food industry with minimal overhead and far less risk than some glamorous downtown location. If you have a brick and mortar store, it’s OK to focus on good, simple, tasty food without a lot of added pretension. If your place is clean, not entirely ugly, and has good food and great service, you have a fighting chance for success. And if, after the long (and inevitable) period of struggle at the beginning of your restaurant’s life, you start making good money — well, you can always expand then. Don’t completely forget your dreams of burger or pizza world domination; just understand that you have to pay your dues responsibly before you get there.

There is always the possibility of opening a franchise of an existing fast food restaurant, if you’re not quite ready to start something completely new. In fact, there are a lot of different possibilities for opening with low risk and starting small. You just have to do your research! (See part 2, duh!) The food service industry isn’t this horrible, dangerous place where it’s impossible to succeed — that’s a myth. What’s true is that a vast majority of the people who decide to enter the business aren’t prepared, don’t do their research, and have unrealistic goals or a general lack of business sense. Don’t let that be you!

For the next post in this series, check back next week. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

Chances are you’d be successful opening a cupcake shop right next door to my house.

If you’re serious about opening your own place, regardless of what type of cuisine you’re planning to serve, the three steps are research, research, and research. Which, yes, is really one step. The food service business is plenty competitive, and the fast food sector is even more so. Without doing proper research and preparation, you’ll set yourself up for failure. You’ll want to network, making sure to talk to people who have done what you’re trying to do before and had success. Ask them what they’ve found successful, and also what they’d do differently. There are networking events for this purpose around the country, as well as online forums and message boards where you can contact people if you’re not in an area that offers face-to-face events. Don’t skip this step!

Once you know what works and what doesn’t, you’re ready to define your target market. In other words, to find your niche. Presumably you’ve already got something in mind — maybe you want to open a cupcake shop, or you want to revolutionize the world of personal pizzas. Whatever the case may be, you need to take your plan and your passion and apply it to the real world. Who are the customers you’re appealing to? How can you reach them? How can you better appeal to them? You can’t please everyone, and you shouldn’t try. You want to do what you do the best you can, and to market this fact to the right set of people to create a customer base.

Finally, you need to research locations. Having considering local demographics, you’ll also need to take a look at rental costs, building costs, and anything else that will be a part of your overhead. I’m not real estate expert, but it goes without saying that not every building is created equal, nor every location. You have to find the place that will best support your business goals from a financial and location perspective.

Wondering what your next step will be? Check back on Friday. Until then, comment below or contact us here.

Perceptions of fast food are changing from the simple burgers & pizza approach of the past.

Today, at least, I specifically talking about starting a fast food restaurant. Take-out and fast food subsets of the food service industry are booming, so even though there’s always some risk to jumping into food service, it’s about as safe a bet as you’re going to find. That said, would-be restaurateurs have to realize that the consumer perceptions of fast food and takeout options have changed radically in recent years; it’s no longer all about cheap hamburgers, pizza, and french fries (though there’s nothing wrong with those things, either!).

Today’s fast food consumer expects options. Rather than expecting cheap, moderate- to low-quality greasy fast food, customers expect quick service with greater range of choices, flavors, and in-restaurant ambiance. For the entrepreneur thinking about entering the food service business, this means there are nearly endless options. It also means there’s a lot of competition!

Next week, I’ll go into more detail about how to enter the fast food sector of the food service business. Today’s just an intro — we’re going to cover researching, building business plans, seeking investment, and taking care of the legal and bureaucratic side of starting a restaurant, among other things. Check back for advice and great tips on how to get started!

Until then, comment below or contact us here.

What’s the best way to combine all these trends into one sure-fire summer menu option? Smoothies! If you couldn’t tell, I love smoothies — I make a smoothie a least two or three times a week; other times, I’m lazy and I buy them at my local coffee shop. I just can’t drink hot coffee during summer months, and I don’t enjoy iced coffee at all. Other people like me, and just people in general, turn to smoothies during these times.

If you hadn’t noticed, smoothies are being offered everywhere these days. Dairy Queen has been running national commercials announcing their partnership with the Orange Julius smoothie brand (fresh fruits! lowfat yogurt! etc, etc!), while pretty much every single coffee shop has at least one or two smoothie options on the menu for those looking for summer refreshment (as well as those who don’t like coffee, regardless of the weather). Starbucks, Caribou (soon to be Peet’s), you name it. McDonald’s has been offering smoothies for a couple years now, too, and Jamba Juice is every popular.

Why not get with the trend? A smoothie is easy to make, and can be done for a relatively low cost (all you really need is yogurt and fruit, after all; it can be as simple or as complicated as you wish). You’re likely to sell smoothies consistently during summer months, and it can be a great way to get hot, tired, thirsty, hungry, and health conscious people in the door. People will drink them for breakfast, for dessert, and just for refreshment. You can’t go wrong!

I’ll be back on Friday with another post — until then, comment below or contact us here.

Lately I’ve been cooking a lot. At dinner time, on nights I’m not busy working, I like to make amazing food. I’m a pretty good cook, too. My knife skills are getting pretty slick, if I do say so myself. I can evenly dice an onion in no time flat. If you’re in the restaurant business, this probably doesn’t impress you, but I’m still proud of myself.

Small photo, big flavor.

One thing I didn’t think I could make, however, is chicken & dumpling soup. I’m usually fitting lunch in between training for a marathon and heading to work the night shift, so I rarely have time to cook. I’ll heat up a can of soup, sometimes, and throw together a grilled cheese. But here’s the thing, if you’re anything like me — we can make chicken & dumpling soup! (The most superior of soup varities.) And since you’re in food service, you can serve it up to your hungry customers.

Check out the recipe here. With a few shelf stable products from Vanee and the amount of time it takes to heat up liquid, you too can make this fantastic soup. Trust me, it’ll taste great — and it pairs well with toasted bread and melted cheese, for a cheap but tasty lunch.

I’ll be back later in the week with some more substantial advice. Enjoy the breather! Until then, comment below or contact us here.