Meeting Tacos Don Jose
Case Study: New Restaurant Opening
Tacos Don Jose is owned and operated by long time restaurant operator and talented Chef, Jose Castro. After over two decades of running restaurants in the greater Grand Rapids area, Chef Jose decided it was time to branch out and become an independent owner/operator. We teamed up with Jose as soon as he found a location, and we got to work with a winning business plan, branding kit, marketing strategy, and opening training plan. In short, when Consulting to Market takes on a project we treat your business like it’s our business.
Branding
We started by creating a basic branding kit, including logo, color scheme, and fonts. This set the framework for all materials moving forward, giving Tacos Don Jose a professional and cohesive brand.
Business Planning
The first two hurdles of a new restaurant opening are 1. securing a location, and 2. securing bank financing. Of course, there is some interdependence between these two challenges. We did extensive local research, including
Vehicle traffic reports
On site guest traffic audits at physical locations
Audited all publicly available sales data
Extensive competition analysis
Market pricing and menu comparisons
We used this information to create financial projections, including sales, COGs, labor, and fixed overheard expenses with best and worst case scenarios. We established all financial models would be profitable within a matter of months and ensured our financing had appropriate padding for adequate cash flow.
We then built a business plan that demonstrated a cohesive brand vision, thorough financial planning, and a demonstrated ability to outline operational practices.
Finances and location were secured.
Marketing
For every small business, cash flow is king. When investing in a new restaurant the opening weeks and months can define the future. Our financial plan was well thought out, but reality requires execution. Our goal was to create local buzz prior to opening and create immediate cash flow for the business. We decided to start 6-8 weeks out from the opening date, with the goal of building a social media following, email list, and general interest in the community. This included creating an online presence and installing a large street sign well in advance.
As we approached our pending opening date, we ramped up content production and engagement. The day before Tacos Don Jose officially opened, Chef Jose had over 600 engaged and local followers on social media, over 200 contacts on a marketing email list, and nine 5 star reviews on Facebook.
That’s a strong way to get started!
Grand Opening
The Lead Up
A great opening plan requires coordinating the marketing, training, and operational readiness of a new business. We planned an opening schedule that helped us continue to generate buzz in the community, create operations training time for the team, and help further build excitement around an opening date. We leveraged the social following for Tacos Don Jose, the email list we developed, and all social connections to schedule special services before our official opening date.
We prompted for feedback from this group to help generate online reviews and make any necessary operational adjustments before the official public opening.
In the meantime, Chef Jose and his family built an elegant dining room environment for dine in guests with planned traffic patterns, take out pick up location, and seating areas.
These limited service windows gave Chef Jose’s team valuable training time as operations scaled to busier sales days, and allowed us to make critical operational adjustments before the public grand opening date.
The Success
Tacos Don Jose opened to the public with significant public excitement and fanfare. With a strong and well trained team in place, Chef Jose and crew quickly established themselves as a Mexican cuisine destination in the Grand Rapids community. With just six days under their belt, they collected a stream of positive reviews and recommendations (pictured here) that were used throughout social media to help build the hype for this great new restaurant.
Chef Jose then rolled out a 4 pound Wet Burrito, and we challenged the community to come in and finish it. This generated a substantial amount of buzz, and was picked up by the local radio stations WGRD 97.9 and The River 100.5, and Wood TV 8. Sound delicious? You can check out the full menu online.