im on the gold coast setting up a new pizza store finally i bit the bullet and decided to go it on my own after working for the big players
ive bought a blue seal pizza oven
prep line all the equipment almost finished decking out the shop
im in the process of making my menu and deciding on trading hours
is lunch time trade a good thing for small pizza shops im concerned about the cost of running a oven all day and if i should add lunch items also many small operators ive noticed dont do lunch and even close mondays
You will have to evaluate the potential lunch market in your area. We open for lunch everyday except Sunday. It is not a huge money maker, most of the time just a little above break even, sometimes great and sometimes dead. Most days we make a slight profit at lunch. During this time we also do our prep, a little cleaning and the like so basically I would be paying some labor before the dinner hours so we may as well sell some food while we are here. Then the occasional good day pops up where lunch is as profitable as the evening shift. If I was losing money everyday being open for lunch i would not bother, but, as I said, most days we make a little.
We do it with me and one hourly person so I only pay one person and keep the rest of the money for myself as a greedy owner should
As a fellow Aussie and one who knows the Gold Coast well, I would need to know a few points about where you are etc.
Where on the GC are you situated? If you are not in the heart of Surfers Paradise, Coolangatta or in one of the HIGH VOLUME major shopping centres, then forget it.
I would only open where there is all year round high traffic volumes where there is a big spread of tourist looking for something quick and easy (and there are heaps of places catering for them on the GC) and easy spending locals.
Are you looking at slices for lunch time? If so do you have equipment for keeping them hot and fresh looking. Also do you want to sell a slice for the same effort as selling a full pizza.
What other side products are you selling as well as pizzas? What size pizzas are you doing. If small “Large” pizzas such as Dominos, Pizza Hut and Eagle Boys then your prices need to reflect close to theirs if you want to get any of the lunch market they get.
Many of the answers you will get will be from U.S.A. where their markets are completely different to ours, plus the wages are half to what we pay. We do not eat any where as much pizza as they do and we are not geared to pizza at lunch time. So be carefull evaluating any information from there, as good as it is, because it doesn’t reflect the Oz market.
You also say you are going with a Blue Seal oven so I can assume it is a deck oven not a conveyor. Taking the longer cook time for decks vs conveyors I think it would be too long to wait at lunch time for a deck to cook a pizza.
My personal experience from lunch time openings is that it is a no go. You just cannot get the volumes to meet the time and costs.
If you are opening for the first time then put your efforts into where the volumes are going to be and that is the night trade. Stuff that up and you wont have any market, let alone a lunch trade. Get your “i’s” double dotted and your “t’s” double crossed to have your night trade the best it possibly can and build on that. Once you get that high volumed, running smoothly and getting rave reviewsacross the coast then maybe start doing the numbers on lunch trade.
After 6 1/2 years we are now evaluating the possibilty of lunch trade when our centre is fully completed with it’s upgrade whhich includes a food precinct (we are primely situated right in the middle of it). We are high volume, great staff, massive online review support, strong brand name etc, but when and if we open for lunch the format will be not as our night trade. We will be more deversified with less emphasis on pizza and more on “cafe style” food so we can capture a bigger market at lunch time.
Get your shop set up, learn to crawl, then walk and when you can run very fast look at lunches for an option.
Dave
Dang Dave… seriously my only lunch concern down under is the video of the sharks having lunch today off Yanchep! I guess if people cannot swim they might as well buy pizza!!! :mrgreen:
