Concept validation within your market
How will you know if the menu, ambience and environment of your business will be well received, and generate repeat customers?
“A new concept with a high probability for success aligns its USP with market demand and current trends.”
It is certainly true that the demise of many failed restaurants points to their lack of due diligence exercised, at concept development stage, to validate the concept within a market. However, the good news is that there are practical schemes that can be adopted to limit major negative surprises when the business opens.
If you have a "hunch" or a "gut feeling" that a new menu centered around a particular cuisine will do well; research is key.
At a macro level, the more research that can be initiated the better. For example if the plan is to open a seafood concept, then visiting say 50 seafood restaurants across the US would provide a bowl of ideas that can be siphoned and deployed into the overall conceptual recipe. Research is readily available online; sources such as the National Restaurant Association, Technomic, and Statistica, among others, all provide an inordinate amount of free data that can be exploited to assess consumer trends.
Important data points include, market size relating to your concept, forecasted growth, regional growth patterns, supply availability, competitor activity and any risks that are foreseen in the related sector.
At a grass roots level; talk to your future neighbors and fellow competition. Sit in their restaurants, order their most popular items and start talking. Gather as much intelligence as possible from your waiters or bartenders. Ask them about popular menu items and even request direct opinions about a particular dish or concept you are developing, don’t be shy, most restaurant operators enjoy talking about their business and not all see competition as a threat.
Don’t stop there, spend time in the neighborhood of your future restaurant at different day times, watch the demographic, and try to understand the people and customer types that pass through. While taking note of the general ebb and flow in your area, talk to people: be honest about your ideas and then ask for their feedback. Ask where they consistently eat and why? Ask how often they eat out in the area? And of course ask if they would be excited to try your food. In doing so, you'll surely gain direction about your ideas while additionally uncovering exploitable gaps and opportunities you may have missed. This is also a marketing opportunity, by informing them of the new business, you just might earn their business.