As 2024 unfolds, restaurant proprietors are gearing up to prepare solid restaurant business strategies and marketing efforts to foster the growth and long-term sustainability of their establishments throughout the year.

It is no secret that the F&B industry is a rapidly paced industry that will keep growing. With so many enticing options available, customers have to filter through numerous choices to get the best dining experience. Therefore, creating growth strategies to boost the restaurant business should undoubtedly be on every hospitality owner’s priority to-do list.

Now the question is, where to start? Here’s a quick guide for restaurants to prepare their own 2024 restaurant growth strategies:

1. Explore restaurant business trends

Long-established restaurants are expected to have discovered their signature style and branding that remains top of mind with their guests. But beyond having a strong branding presence, restaurateurs need to keep exploring what’s currently trending to achieve profit maximization for restaurants.

Here are just a couple of major trends in the industry for restaurants to follow:

Boost restaurant business by empowering staff

One of the everlasting trends worth trying is upskilling the staff and boosting their spirits with appreciation and reward programs. Energized, friendly, and knowledgeable staff who serve wholeheartedly will more than likely give a good impression and thereby create memorable experiences for guests.

Transform restaurants into a sustainable business

With more and more people being environmentally conscious and looking for eco-friendly restaurants, diving deeper into sustainable dining practices is considered one of the keys to staying ahead in the industry. Here are just a few ideas to start being a sustainable restaurant:

• Train staff on the importance of running the restaurant sustainably and why it is needed for long-term growth.

• Incorporate seasonal ingredients on the new year's menu and introduce new vegan dishes.

• Work with local farmers and food suppliers for fresh produce.

• Minimize food waste and use parts of ingredients that are normally thrown away innovatively or donate excess food to food centers and charities.

• Invest in energy-efficient appliances and install water-saving devices.

Learn more: Going eco-friendly: The future of restaurants | How to train staff to deliver an exceptional guest experience

2. Hire the best staff

For a restaurant to deliver a remarkable dining experience, its staff must be trained thoroughly with a customer-oriented mindset. A comprehensive recruiting process is also necessary to ensure the restaurant secures suitable talents both in attitude and skills. Needless to say, preparing appropriate questions and tests during the recruitment process will be beneficial in the long run for a business.

Learn more: 5 essential tips for hiring the best restaurant staff

3. Elevate restaurant operations

There are many ways to boost restaurant operations for success. But for restaurants to take it to the next level, operators need to enhance all aspects of hospitality management from menu planning, inventory or stock control, staff training, front-of-house and kitchen operations down to customer service and after-sales.

However, a powerful way to elevate hospitality operations is to use technology and combine that with a human touch. Digitizing reservations by using an effective reservation system is one way to ensure the smooth functioning of a restaurant. If the reservation system has powerful features such as consolidating bookings in one dashboard or having the capability to build guest data, imagine how it will help restaurateurs provide a positive experience for their customers in the entire guest journey from booking to dining.

Learn more: Fuel your success with your own restaurant guest data

4. Deploy the right restaurant marketing strategies

Amid the dynamic and fast-changing digital world, it is very easy for a customer to get numerous pieces of information simultaneously, leading to distractions and loss of focus when picking a restaurant to dine at.

Thankfully, there are many tools nowadays that could help a business generate effective restaurant marketing efforts to help diners choose restaurants much more efficiently. From social media marketing and Google ads to implementing restaurant booking platforms with automated marketing capabilities like TableCheck EDM, restaurant proprietors have a range of options to choose from to jumpstart their restaurant marketing for the year 2024.

Here are a few ideas that restaurants could adopt in the new year:

• Identify the target audience: Determine the specific demographic the restaurant wants to cater to and tailor the restaurant's offerings and promos according to the target customer's preferences.

• Create a restaurant marketing calendar: Crafting a plan for the whole year allows hospitality businesses to strategically execute marketing activities for success, ensuring the brand maintains a presence and stays top of mind with guests.

• Offer promos based on seasons or happenings: Introduce special promotions according to the restaurant's seasonal calendar, trends, and events.

• Maintain exceptional operational standards: Ensure that food and service are always delivered with excellence to ensure repeat business.

• Meet audience expectations upon their visit: Exceed customer expectations, from the food served, and customer service down to post-visit interactions.

• Leverage positive online reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to share their experiences online to create more buzz for the restaurant.

Learn more: How to run successful EDM campaigns | Holiday marketing magic: 10 strategies to attract diners during the festive season

5. Enhance restaurant financial management

When it comes to hospitality, business owners would need to enhance their skills in restaurant financial management to ensure the long-term success of the establishment for the new year.

Here are a few things that restaurant proprietors need to keep in mind:

• Budgeting: Owners need to have not only solid budgeting skills but also the foresight to maneuver changing circumstances in their business.

• Cost control: Controlling food costs, inventory, including staffing costs is key to ensuring that the business' revenue exceeds expenses.

• Sales data: Learning how to analyze sales data can help owners maximize profit and their bottom line.

• Marketing ROI: Evaluating the return on the investment (ROI) of marketing campaigns can help restaurateurs fine-tune their marketing efforts without spending extra expenses.
  

6. Engagement strategies for restaurants: Create unforgettable customer experiences

One of the most important restaurant business resolutions and commitments should be creating an extraordinary customer experience, which is also one of the proven ways to boost restaurant sales.

While creating special menus and delicious dishes for important seasons and catering to guests' dietary requirements is the first step, enhancing the ambiance in the restaurant with good lighting and music can contribute to the overall feel of the restaurant.

However, the most fundamental way for restaurant owners to attract repeat guests is to enhance customer service. Engaging with guests is key to creating memorable dining experiences. Here are some suggestions to ensure that the front-of-staff delivers five-star hospitality to guests:

• Greet guests by their name: When a guest is recognized by name and their preferences are attended to – chances are they will have good trails of memory at your establishment. Restaurants can do this easily if they implement a powerful reservation system that allows them to compile guest data and understand customer preferences.

• Enhance waitlist management: Rather than relying on paper-based methods, restaurants should digitize their waitlist management to seat guests more efficiently and ensure that guests can be informed about their position in the queue while waiting to be seated. Guests can meanwhile go to the restaurant bar, where the front-of-staff can serve them cocktails and explain what's the menu of the day. All these add to a smoother customer experience.

• Offer online delivery: Depending on the occasion, going beyond the usual way to deliver your food to the customer’s doorstep could be a golden trick to create a unique dining experience as well. Some may prefer the warmth and comfort of their home during Christmas or Thanksgiving – why not make it even merrier with your solid selections of seasonal menus by offering them through delivery apps?

Strategically publicizing the restaurant from time to time on social media and other digital platforms will allow guests sufficient time to plan for their visit, reserve and personalize their session, and overall create a seamless experience.

As cherry on top, again, we’ll never get tired of saying how important it is to have a genuine, knowledgeable, and well-trained staff to cater to the guests and create a great dining experience to pleasantly be talked about for a long time.

Learn more: A restaurant owner's guide to finding the right booking platform | How to host a perfect New Year's Eve celebration

From managing online reservations to optimizing restaurant operations, TableCheck helps restaurants and hotels provide award-winning experiences to their guests and drive more revenue to their businesses.