Tough economy for restaurants, food trend for 2010
Some of the economists claimed that we had come out of the recession. Although it seems that most small businesses are still dealing with the bleak economy.
Since last month we have introduced a series of survey on small business owners, to gauge their current business status, as well as their outlook on the new year. We are also impressed by how small business owners innovate to win more customers. This article is the first of the series covering small restaurant owners.
Click Here to take survey
According to our survey, most of the restaurants had a tough year in 2009.
To be more competitive in the tough economy, most restaurants employed multiple solutions to win more customers and become more cost effective. The most popular measures include introducing specials/discounts and cutting cost.
Menu wise, as consumers become more health conscious, some of the restaurants are introducing more healthy menu items as well.
As for the new food trend in 2010, the overwhelming answer is "quality is king". Most of our respondents believed that it is quality over quantity, and good quality food can keep customers in the recession.
It will be interesting to compare side by side with our small survey on consumers who dine at restaurants. From consumers' side, restaurants need to introduce more healthy meals, as well as providing more "authentic" comfort food. Guess comfort food is especially needed in a bleak economy.
Click Here to take survey
Please feel free to let us know your feedback on our small business research.
