You were the best small restaurant in town. You personally knew most of your patrons. You even knew that Sam loved a bit more spice in his food and that little Emily was allergic to nuts. But now a big franchise restaurant has opened up two blocks from you. Many of your regular customers have been checking it out and your tables are almost empty. Business has been slow for a few months anyway since the recession, and this new competition is seriously giving you sleepless nights! So what should you do? Throw in the towel or find ways to fight back? If you are passionate about your restaurant then fight back! Here are some tips that might help:

– First of all, take a serious look at your business. Sometimes we don’t have any real competition, we tend to become too confident in what we do. Maybe the slower pace is due to your complacency that came with being the local restaurant for years! So you need to analyze whether there is any room for improvement in your present set up. Have you been offering the same menu for a long time now? If the answer is yes, then it is high time to think about some new items to offer. How about a paint job or change of ambiance? Spruce up your storefront and also give your staff a pep talk.

– Secondly, talk with other small independent restaurants in your area/city. Suggest with them that you hold a joint advertisement blitz that will remind the people why they came to your restaurants. An email campaign is one way of reminding them that you, and your staff, are still one of them. In the email state that the money they spend with you fully goes into the local economy. However, big national franchise chains source materials from outside and also may contribute little to the local community. Also, in small business restaurants the patrons get to eat only the freshest food cooked everyday; something that often does not happen with chain restaurants.

– Thirdly, go back to the core of your business which is your food dishes and your culinary skills. When you opened the restaurant, it was these skills that set you apart from others along with your passion and zeal for the business. But somewhere along the line, maybe this zeal and the personality got lost in the hectic job of running a business. So it is time to bring back that personality to your business. Remember to talk to your guests as they come to your restaurant. Ask your staff to be very sincere in dealing with the patrons. This will help win customer loyalty even if the person is visiting only for the second time.

– Lastly, getting customer loyalty is your trump card and that can be built with little things like a free drink with orders or a complimentary ice cream to the children. Big chains have their own set of regulations which they cannot break by offering such giveaways without corporate approval. Making the customer feel like a king is the best way of advertising your restaurant’s charm.

So view the coming of national franchise chains as a challenge to your business sense and zeal of being a restaurant owner. That way, this apparent problem can turn out to be a blessing in disguise as you learn to handle your business in a new way.

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