NY to FL: Logging My Journey to Open a Pizzeria

Here’s a question. I may start an extra thread for this one.

I’m a numbers person. If I pick a marketing strategy, I want to be able to quantify my results as much as possible. An issue I’m facing now is advertising through numerous methods simultaneously. I have an ad coming out in Clipper Magazine this week. I’d like to do some direct mailers with my menus, and I’d also to get some magnets and use them as box toppers.

Assuming sales go up, how can I tell which worked, which didn’t, etc.

Do people advise against advertising at the same time, especially with new methods for this reason?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
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IMO advertising/marketing results is a sum of the parts. There is no magic bullett, it’s an accumalation of all that you do that brings in the results. Do all that you can do…multiple impressions/frequency is key.
 
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you state;

I personally cannot stand the taste of chain pizza including pizza hut, dominoes, papa john, ci ci’s, etc. I never said they couldn’t be potentially good investments. This is what I project to be my career, so i’d like to be proud of my product. I enjoy the atmosphere of the small business pizzeria. If money was the only factor, I am well endowed, maybe I can get into p**n?

Just a comment.

I encourage your ambition but note. Do not discount popular preferences. All the companies you mention are vastly successful. Apparently a vast number of people like their product.

Just a short story from my past. Back in the late fifty’s or early sixties a good friend of mine worked for a company importing Volkswagens. A delegation from Japan approached them to sell their motorcycles.

The management of that company was not interested and assigned my friend the task of turning them down . Being gentlemen that management had my friend wine and dine the delegation.

My friend came to me with a proposition he said those folks told him ,
“if he would buy just 3 of their motorcycles he could have a 4 or 5 state franchise.”

I could have financed that project but as I did not care for motorcycles I declined to participate.

My friend did not get the distributorship but HONDA became a vast success.

Never discount the preferences of the mass of the buying public.

George Mills
 
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George Mills:
you state;

I personally cannot stand the taste of chain pizza including pizza hut, dominoes, papa john, ci ci’s, etc. I never said they couldn’t be potentially good investments. This is what I project to be my career, so i’d like to be proud of my product. I enjoy the atmosphere of the small business pizzeria. If money was the only factor, I am well endowed, maybe I can get into p**n?

Just a comment.

I encourage your ambition but note. Do not discount popular preferences. All the companies you mention are vastly successful. Apparently a vast number of people like their product.

Just a short story from my past. Back in the late fifty’s or early sixties a good friend of mine worked for a company importing Volkswagens. A delegation from Japan approached them to sell their motorcycles.

The management of that company was not interested and assigned my friend the task of turning them down . Being gentlemen that management had my friend wine and dine the delegation.

My friend came to me with a proposition he said those folks told him ,
“if he would buy just 3 of their motorcycles he could have a 4 or 5 state franchise.”

I could have financed that project but as I did not care for motorcycles I declined to participate.

My friend did not get the distributorship but HONDA became a vast success.

Never discount the preferences of the mass of the buying public.

George Mills
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I’m kind of confused with this post. I never discounted popular preference and clearly stated my understanding of the success of the pig chains. Like I said, things like Pizza Hut, CiCi’s, etc. can be “good investments”.

So I completely understand. With money, there are plenty of business opportunities. I’d prefer to stand behind something that I enjoy and am happy with. There has to be a happy medium with allowing your business investments to be something profitable but something you won’t mind spending 80 hours a week doing.
 
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NYFLPizza:
I’d like to do some direct mailers with my menus, and I’d also to get some magnets and use them as box toppers.
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Check out mailshark.com. They have a direct mail campaign that cycles through menus, the magnets with coupons (like Monster Magnets except they’re not generic printings) and post cards. My experience with them the last few months has been an absolute pleasure and they will work hard to make the program work the way you want. Plus, they offer you the ability to order extra materials to use in-store, for door hanging, etc. and spread the cost out in your weekly billing (I think it’s $15/wk per 1000)

For 'fridge magnets, get in touch with Royster on here. High quality product, fast turn around and lower prices than anywhere else online that I saw.
 
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If you want to track your results just put coupon numbers on the marketing material. Then ask for the coupon number when they order. Proceed to get all happy with your numbers in excel. 🙂
 
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It’s so tough to just track coupons by use though. What coupons are being used by those ppl just looking for a deal vs. the people who you will actually retain as customers? No matter how good your food is, some people are just looking for a deal.
 
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NYFLPizza:
What coupons are being used by those ppl just looking for a deal vs. the people who you will actually retain as customers? No matter how good your food is, some people are just looking for a deal.
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What’s wrong with that? You’re still making a profit right?
 
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gbomb:
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NYFLPizza:
What coupons are being used by those ppl just looking for a deal vs. the people who you will actually retain as customers? No matter how good your food is, some people are just looking for a deal.
Click to expand...
What’s wrong with that? You’re still making a profit right?
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I guess this is true.

To change the topic (I’ll probably create a separate post), I’m looking to get some menus made. Last time, we used CFM Concepts and got a discount because we were Grande Cheese customers. Here is our pricing this time with the discount:

11x17 full colour tri-fold, with or without coupons on 70lb gloss paper
10,000 is $1200
25,000 is $1775***
50,000 is $2800
100,000 is $4200

We’ll likely be going with the 25,000. They are running a promotion with free shipping to Mailwise Solutions which will store all 25,000 menus and then send some to us along with doing direct mailers of our menus with coupons 21.7 cents per menu.

If you go to www.damericos.com and click our logo you can see a pdf file of our current menu. It’s on very nice glossy paper.

I’d like to hear others experience when it comes to menus and the pricing they paid and if they were happy with the quality.
 
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NY to FL:
Hey Man, more power to you. I went back to school at age 25, just to have the degree. I a am done now, and was approached by my partner to start a shop. We have something like 15-20 years in the industry as it stands. We are in the process of starting a shop as we speak. Look, don’t let people tell you that because you are young, and you have family backing, that you do not deserve to start your own place. With that said, the reasons most shops fail is a shortage of capital during the first year. I am sure you know this. If you can get 200k, cut your start-up costs where-ever you can, in order to have some float capital for the first 6 months to a year. In the first 3 months you will probably loose money while you build your rep and client base. Just a thought, figure out your food, and start smaller than the shops that you came up in. There is no reason you have to start that large. Maybe find a space that is smaller with an option for expansion in 3 years. Maybe start knowing that you will have smaller numbers, so shoot for two ovens instead of four, saving cash for the next set… There are alot of options. Also, from what I have found in the industry, if you try to do to much, your overall product suffers. If you are into pizza, making really good pizza, why do pastas. Just do one thing very well, set the atmosphere and vibe, and work from that… Just a thought. In short go over everything, then go over again. Once you get a business plan in place and find a location there is no reason that you cannot be open in 12 weeks, not 12 months. Good luck making YOUR dream happen. Success is built upon the help and support of others.
 
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Getting close to 2 years since I posted on this thread! Man have things changed.

I’m glad to say I work a relatively normal schedule now. About 50 or so on site hours a week vs the 75+ I was doing earlier on. My wife helped get everything on track and is now back to work in the accounting field. She still plays an integral role on the crazy Friday nights we have at the pizzeria.

Sometimes I wish I had never gotten involved in the business, but I then realize I’d never have learned all the valuable information I possess now through the experiences I’ve had. There have been so many highs and lows it’s too hard too keep track anymore. We went from the only shop in town back in 2010 to having 3 new places open up within the past year (the 3rd one a few days ago). Through all that, we just had our #1 week in sales of all time last week!

I had some nostalgic feelings going back and reading some old posts on this thread, especially the ones prior to the wedding. Still haven’t gotten back to Vegas!

Thanks to all who contributed to this thread a few years back with their knowledge and experience.
 
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