Small Town going under need help

I’m in a small town of about 5k only sit down pizza shop we have buffet but getting tired of it , we are going to stop it to much waste. to much man power to much dishes, any of you small town guys have any ideas on a no budget we are sinking fast

we do delivery, 3 diff pasta dinners and a steak

last week did 2.700

week b4 3700

am i just jumping the gun or what help, help, help

thanks

How much time/cash do you have left? This makes a difference as to what advice people might give you.

I would start by getting rid of the buffet. What is your percentage of deliveries? Can you afford to drop them too? No other pizza places around…Make your customers come to you. 1 manager, 2-3 insiders. Keep labor low. Keep food cost as low as possible. Concentrate on makeing PROFIT.

And take an honest look at your product. Is your pizza a product you are proud of?

THanks for the input will be inplementing today

SLOW DOWN!

I am a small town guy myself! Don’t be too quick to make a dramatic change. Small towns are like big families. They can be resentful of the change, and it could be just enough to put you under. Not saying don’t do it, but I am saying think it through first.

Small towns are all about small towns. Did you pitch in for the 4th of July fireworks? How about an entry in the parade? Coupons and logo items in the goody bag for the schools golf fundraiser?

Are you a chamber member, and do you do more than just hang a member sign on your wall? Do you volunteer? Go to meetings?

Is it 5k people, or 5k addresses. Big difference.
Tourism? Highway? Near a major city or way out in the sticks?

A buffet may have killed quality perception and may have lowered price perception. If you kill the buffet, bite the bullet, close down for a couple days. Clean up, paint, get some marketing ready. Re-grand open with a new image (maybe even uniforms), some new products, and most of all a NEW ATTITUDE. If yyou are depressed, your crew is depressed, your Customers will pick up on it. BE EXCITED! Customers like to go where there is energy!

Good luck! Keep plugging away!

Thanks that really helped you are right i have been down lately and that does pas on to the crew we will change our outlook today

Toughest thing to do.

I was once in similar shoes. It’s hard to be upbeat when the only phone calls are bill collectors. Find something, ANYTHING to be proud of, and latch on.

We’re SMALLER than that! Try 1494 people, counting elderly, babies, 37 dogs, and a visitor this week!

I only offer a minimal sit down dining room, cater to carryout, and deliveries. We keep our menu VERY simple using the same ingredients for a variety of items (pizzas, sandwiches, etc.). You can’t be everything to everybody, but you can serve a quality pizza for a fair price, with limited staff and make a profit in an operation like mine. You won’t get rich, but if you enjoy what you’re doing it will show. Keep the place spotlessly clean, decorate it up with “local” things of interest, and promote your community to EVERYONE! That means give away a few things, discount a few things to the schools, clubs, etc., and BE wherever anything is happening in your community. School’s about out, get a “cheap” little group to play inside your place or outside in the parking lot, sell a couple of slices of pizza and a can of soda for $2.50 and pack them in for a “Summer Kickoff” about Memorial Day weekend! Get your staff some nice looking t-shirts with your business logo on them and LOOK like the kind of place everyone wants to associate with! If I had 5,000 people I wouldn’t WANT to go home at night! You can do it in a town of 5,000 and make some serious money while having FUN!

Good ideas. We do some similar things in our town of 2500. Gotta immerse the shop into the community.

I wonder wehat became of those folks from last June. Anyone know if they made it?

Small Guy writes:

I’m in a small town of about 5k only sit down pizza shop we have buffet but getting tired of it , we are going to stop it to much waste. to much man power to much dishes, any of you small town guys have any ideas on a no budget we are sinking fast

Click to expand...

we do delivery, 3 diff pasta dinners and a steak

last week did 2.700

week b4 3700

am i just jumping the gun or what help, help, help

thanks

It sounds like you’re having a rough go of it. Sorry to hear that. Listen to what these other guys have donated as far as ideas because they know what they’re talking about. I’ll give you an idea myself and maybe it’ll help get you out of this hole you found yourself in:

Doorhang - As some who frequent this forum regularly know, this is the best advice I can give anyone. Like the advice I gave a friend of mine who was struggling a few months ago, “You’re sales are slow so you’ve got time to dedicate yourself to marketing”. With that approach you’ll want to advertise in a cost-effective way. The best solution would be doorhanging. You can print 2,000 flyers (I’d recommend menus with solid coupon offers) for about 4 cents each. Your total cost would be $80.

If you put out all 2,000 flyers in a week’s time you can expect to get an immediate 3%-5% return. This translates to 60-100 additional orders. With an average ticket price of $15 this doorhanging will raise your weekly sales from $900-$1500.

However, there is a trick. You can’t just stick anything on a flyer and get it out there to potential customers. It’s got to look uncluttered and easy to read. It needs to look professional in appearance. It also needs to have good perceived value in it’s delivery coupon offers.

You get this one task done correctly and you’ll see better sales. One word of caution: Doorhanging only works if you’re consistent in your approach. You must doorhang on a weekly basis to see substantial results.

-J_r0kk