Shops make over 1 million

[system]

I have 1 pizza shop doing 1.2 mil. My question is to other owners that have just 1 shop doing over 1 mil…
What was your growth in 2005 & 2006 and what have you done to
keep growing every year.
Running out of ideas, don’t want to lose any market share.
12% growth last year, can always do better!
Shop background… 8 yrs old, 1 owner, 50 seats, take out & del.located in
New Jersey

 

[system]

In 2004, we expanded and doubled our business making just over $1M mainly due to new location and expanded menu
In 2005, we had a 13% increase from 2004 mainly due to increased efficiency and better service from prior year.
In 2006, we had 4 new competitors and worked hard to keep sales the same from prior year…we added delivery half way through the year otherwise we would have been down
In 2007, I predict 5-10% growth based on the fact that some of these new places will not last and our “hands-on” ownership and service is better than others…delivery could boom to double digit growth though!
Next, decision is to add beer and wine or not? Running out of ideas though, but we are open 6 days and 7 days is NOT an option

 

[paul7979]

2003- 650K
2004- 789K
2005- 913K
2006- 987K

Just missed the million mark last year, but will shatter it this year. I’m hoping for a 15% increase this year. Owned my store for nearly 10 years but in 2001 moved to a new location, had to change phone number. Lost some addresses, but gained more than lost. Can attribute increase to higher menu prices, new constuction,addition of a POS system, new movers mailers, and having all advertising done by a profesional graphic designer. More than anything, I attribute it to a complete change in attitude towards resolving customer complaints, and an absolute commitment to customer service which wasn’t a priority in the past.

 

[system]

I have 3 locations 2 do 750K each and 1 does 1.5 mil
its a lot of fun

 

[system]

paul, how big is your pizza shop, how many seats do you have, i just opened a small pizzeria with 40 seats. i would just like to hit 200k. this year. have any suggestions? how was your first year or two in business? concretekid

 

[paul7979]

I have almost 1200 square feet, no tables, just carryout and delivery. I bought the store in 1997 doing 500K and didn’t do much with the sales till 2001-2002. Our company has three stores in this town, one that is significantly busier, and one that is significantly slower than mine. As far as advice to increase sales in a dine in setting, I’m sure there are others on this site much more qualified than I to help you there. The best advice I can say is to be proud of your product and take every oportunity to comp it out. Every time someone says I haven’t tried your place yet, give them a certificate for for free diner. Don’t make it contingent on purchasing something. No better way to gain customers than to have them try your place risk free.

 

[NicksPizza]

paul7979:

As far as advice to increase sales in a dine in setting, I’m sure there are others on this site much more qualified than I to help you there. The best advice I can say is to be proud of your product and take every oportunity to comp it out. Every time someone says I haven’t tried your place yet, give them a certificate for for free diner. Don’t make it contingent on purchasing something. No better way to gain customers than to have them try your place risk free.

I have to say that you know more than you think.

1. Get your food in their mouths
2. Get them in the door
3. Give them the best first experience they’ve ever had (or that you can offer) so that they’ll come back.

Giving out a $50 gift certificate will get them coming if it is slightest bit interesting to a customer. It’ll cost you maybe $15 bucks in food, and they may give you back $20 a week for several months. When I get my sit-down expansion ready this spring, we’ll use all those strategies like samples out to existing customers, canvassing local businesses with freebies, taking free meals to different places on speculation (Actual food and not certificates), offering a couple discount or free catering gigs to local non-profits, a small booth at local festival, special invitations to community leaders and dignitaries for an invitational dinner.

On the flip side, you can jack up the delivery fee so high they’ll either walk away from you totally, or start coming in. A gentler plan I have is to offer some menu items that are ONLY for dine in . . . no take out packaging or delivery.

I am going to try for the first time taking food to the radio station in the next town with my business card anf flyer. Make sure it gets to the DJs. I won’t beg for advertising, but if it wows them, I will bet money I can get a mention on air. If not, we may be able to arrange a local broadcast dealy.

 

[snowman]

concretekid:

paul, how big is your pizza shop, how many seats do you have, i just opened a small pizzeria with 40 seats. i would just like to hit 200k. this year. have any suggestions? how was your first year or two in business? concretekid

200k? You’re aiming WAY low. At 200k, you’re going to have to run 25% profit to even make a decent living. You’ve spent a decent amount of money getting your doors open. It’s time to make some money. 40 seats is how many people can eat in your store at any given time. It has absolutely no bearing on how many people can carry-out or order for delivery.

Find ways to get people in at odd times. For instance, after a football game, baseball game, etc. Try to get the high school teams to come in after the games… the parents follow. You may have to feed the kids for free or a reduced rate, but their parents and friends don’t eat free.

Try some sort of after-school special. Don’t be afraid to experiment and don’t be afraid to fail on some of the ideas. By trying and failing, you’ve at least determined what DOESN’T work for your store.

Let’s say you have a 20% profit margin (you’re going to have to if you want to make a living on $200k in revenue). Would you rather make $40k on 200k or 45k on 300k? Sure, the percentage has dropped (from trying ideas that didn’t pan out), but you’ve retired the bad ideas and kept the good ones. Next year, you’re starting with the good plans in place and making that same 20% on maybe 280k. Don’t be afraid to fail, fear will CAUSE your whole business to fail.

 

[system]

Thanks for the info~