How Restaurants Can Survive This Pandemic

Published in

The Startup

4 min readMay 15, 2020

As a consultant, I’ve been reaching out to the local community during this pandemic, particularly mom and pop restaurants, and trying to help in any way I can with social media and marketing. The past few weeks have been extremely insightful and I hope these tips can benefit your restaurant as well.

Social media

Maintaining a restaurant’s daily operations is difficult enough, and many restaurant owners struggle to keep their social media feeds fresh with new content if it’s not a responsibility that is formally assigned.

Make sure you hit up Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter regularly, and advertise promo codes through those platforms. Post photos of your staff — real humans — because we all want to see and support the names and faces that we see on our screens.

Don’t forget to cross-post and share content from other small businesses, too, as you can extend your audience reach that way. I’ve seen so many small biz owners lend each other a hand during these difficult times.

Apply for funding

If you’re like most businesses, you’ve probably already applied for the Paycheck Protection Program. But that’s not the only source of funding available. Research local loan and grant programs in your state and county, and you may be able to find several sources funding to help tide you over.

These are some programs available for Virginia-based businesses:

Frontline responder programs

Get connected to your local hospital or nearby medical facility and ask if they are accepting donated meals. Then add a frontline responder meal item as an option in your menu, and note that you’ll also deliver the meals to frontline responders.

If there’s a silver lining in all that’s going on right now, it’s the swell in generosity that I’ve seen coming from so many people. Since setting up such an option on a restaurant’s menu a couple weeks ago, they are well on their way to selling and delivering over a hundred meals to the local hospital.

Hey, doctors and nurses gotta eat, too.

Gift cards

Gift cards are a fantastic way to support restaurants during this pandemic, even if you’re not open for dine-in meals. Customers can always use the gift card later for themselves or give it to someone. Offer gift cards for purchase on your online ordering platform, and throw in some extra value if customers buy $100 or more.

Groupon

While Groupon does take a significant commission chunk (usually 50%) out of a merchant’s earnings, there is room to negotiate with them right now, even as a small business. Get Groupon on the phone, state your case, and you may walk away with a better deal. The last deal I brokered was whittled down to a 20% Groupon commission.

Third-party food delivery platforms

While there is a large debate on third-party food delivery platforms, it still is a viable way for restaurants to get their name out there. And, just like Groupon, you may even find some room to negotiate commission with them during these challenging times. Check out any promotions they are offering for restaurants, such as Grubhub’s free $250 promotional credit for the month of May.

You probably already know them, but here are the major players, once more for good measure:

Offer contactless pickup

Set up an area in your restaurant with clear signage about food pickup, so third-party delivery drivers can quickly come in and pickup orders without having to interact with someone. Put out a bottle of hand sanitizer for these drivers.

Tailor your menu for larger orders

For my clients, the average value of orders has risen in the past couple of months. With everyone at home, many customers are ordering platters of food for the entire family. If you don’t already have it, consider adding a “Dinner for 4 or 6” option to your menu to capture these large family meals.

Improve your signage

Some restaurants have decided to temporarily pause all operations, and others have had to permanently shut down. Make it 150% clear to your customers who pass by that you are still open for business. My recommendation is a window cling that sticks on the outside of your restaurant. Use eye-catching, bright colors and large font.

Restaurant directories

I’ve noticed several apps and directories pop up recently that help promote local restaurants. Sign your restaurant up for all of them (free to sign up).

Here are some restaurant listings for Virginia:

Fairfax County Take Out Trail
Rally for Restaurants
Try Spread (a text message-based app, currently in NYC only)

GoFundMe

Set up a GoFundMe page and ask your social media followers for donations. Take good photos and keep your audience updated. If you feel uncomfortable about this, don’t be — customers want to support small businesses in any way they can right now.

I hope some of these tips were helpful. Give a shoutout to your restaurant in the comments below! We’re all rooting for you!

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing. Please refer to your local state and county health offices for guidance on how to resume business operations.