How to Open a Restaurant in Singapore

Pandemic-related restrictions on dine-in and tourism have eased worldwide and Singapore is no exception. Revenge spending and revenge dining are on the rise, with real opportunities for restaurants to rebound. There are plenty of chances for budding entrepreneurs to launch new concepts that appeal to Singapore diners.  

As a recognized food tourism destination, Singapore has so much to offer – with an exciting melting pot of cultures and cuisines, and hawker markets that have become the icon of the local dining scene.

If you’re exploring the option of opening a restaurant in Singapore, there’s a lot of on-the-ground and strategic planning to do.

To help you out, we’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) on this subject. We cover basic restaurant opening requirements in Singapore, renting vs. purchasing locations, restaurant technology that will help you run your restaurant, and everything in between.

Here’s a summary:

• How do I incorporate my restaurant in Singapore?
• Should I rent instead of purchasing my own Singapore restaurant location?
• How do I go about choosing my own restaurant location?
• What documents should I prepare in order to rent a restaurant property?
• What Singapore restaurant permits and documents do I absolutely need?
• What other Singapore restaurant licenses or certifications should I consider getting?
• What should I consider when buying kitchen equipment?
• What are the benefits of restaurant tech in my operations?

How do I open a restaurant in Singapore?

Although it is possible to start a restaurant business without incorporating a company, it’s better to form a corporation that will own your future restaurant’s assets, and protect yourself against personal liability in case your restaurant runs into financial trouble. 

Singapore has a good reputation for bureaucratic efficiency. Submit your business application papers at the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) Bizfile portal. Expect processing to take 1-2 weeks.

If you’re a foreigner, you should first apply for a Singapore Business Visa, or Entrepass, from the Ministry of Manpower, the document that allows foreign nationals to start and operate a business in Singapore.

All citizens and residents of Singapore need a Singpass to access government and private sector services. If you plan to live and operate your business in Singapore, a Singpass will help you with many document applications and processes as you get ready to launch your restaurant.

Should I rent instead of purchasing my own Singapore restaurant location?

Singapore was ranked as the fifth-most expensive real estate market in the world in 2021, making outright ownership of your future restaurant’s location a very expensive proposition. If you don’t own any property, a long term lease is probably your best option. 

Enlist the services of a real estate broker to help you narrow down potential locations and find the owner of a property you may be interested in.

If you are looking into more than one restaurant location in Singapore, talk to commercial property consultants to help you do the groundwork or pinpoint attractive locations within their portfolio. If you are considering a mall location, contact the mall’s leasing property group to inquire about their terms and conditions.

How do I go about choosing my own restaurant location?

Choosing the best restaurant location for your business depends on what type of restaurant concept you are considering. Is it a casual, quick-service, or fine dining restaurant, or a cloud kitchen back-end operation?

Consider these important factors:

• Foot traffic: Do a lot of people regularly pass through your targeted area? Do nearby workplaces, commercial establishments, and other locations attract your desired target market? 
• Target audience: Even if you have a lot of foot traffic, will the typical demographic in your chosen area find your USP appealing?  
• Size and amenities: How many dining covers and turnovers will the venue be able to handle? What is the size of your kitchen? Will there be enough space for equipment and storage? Do you have access to parking?
• Competition in the vicinity: Do you have a lot of competition in your segment? Will you be able to differentiate your restaurant from theirs?  
• Costs: Have you assessed what it will cost to open your restaurant in your chosen location – terms of contract, permits and fees, insurance, restaurant design fees, restaurant equipment, and staffing plan?

If instead you’re looking to open a cloud kitchen, you can focus your search on less costly neighborhoods. If you only do pickup and delivery, you won’t need space to entertain any dine-in customers. You don’t have to take foot traffic and marketing your location into consideration.

If your restaurant location is too small for key food preparations, you may also have to look at renting commissary kitchen space as a standalone business or as a co-tenant. It may also serve as an alternate pickup location for online ordering customers.

What documents should I prepare in order to rent a restaurant property?

• Letter of Intent: Think of this as the Tenancy Agreement, but temporary. You can submit it in place of a Tenancy Agreement when applying for your Food Shop License (more on this later). 

• Tenancy Agreement: The actual contract between you and your landlord, stating the length of your lease, monthly rental, and other terms guiding your agreement with the property lessor. Complete this document once you have obtained all the licenses and permits required.
• Property Owner’s Fire Certificate: A property Fire Certificate is issued by the Civil Defense Force and renewed annually as proof that the property in question meets fire safety standards. 
• Application for Change of Use: You must file for a Property Change of Use with the Urban Redevelopment Authority in the event that your target location isn’t originally for restaurant use.

What Singapore restaurant permits and documents do I absolutely need?

To operate a Singapore restaurant according to local food regulations, these two are essential:

• Food Shop License: Singapore’s National Environmental Agency (NEA) requires your restaurant to conform to certain standards regarding interior design and hygiene. You can access the entire checklist here.
• Basic Food Hygiene Course:  All of your staff who will be handling food are required to pass the Basic Food Hygiene Course. They must also take and pass subsequent refresher courses. The Certificate is proof that the bearer has passed this requirement.

What other Singapore restaurant licenses or certifications should I consider getting?

Depending on the nature of your restaurant, you may need these other licenses and permits to help you run your business more efficiently and without legal issues.

• GST Registration: You need to apply for the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) once you start making S$1 million in yearly revenue.
• Liquor License: Issued by the Singapore Police Force, this permit is necessary for establishments planning to serve  alcoholic drinks.
• Import License/Customs Account: Do you need special raw materials, equipment, and ingredients to execute your menu? If you plan to do your own food importing, you will need to acquire an import license from the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority, and secure a Singapore Customs Account to go with it.
• Halal Certification:  A Halal certificate from the Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) certifies your adherence to Islamic dietary guidelines.

What should I consider when buying kitchen equipment?

The restaurant equipment you need will depend on your menu, the size of your restaurant space, as well as your budget.

If you’re just starting out, you may be able to save money on a mix of brand new and second-hand equipment, but be prepared to do your homework. If you know what you need, finding serviceable storage shelves, prep tables, or barely-used fryers or refrigerators at discount prices might be worth your while.

Tap into the local restaurant community for tips and advice. They might  be able to point you in the right direction and be selling some of the equipment that you need. Network, be active in the right associations, and look on Internet forums catering to Singapore restaurant owners and chefs, where you can get more advice and referrals to reliable suppliers. 

Read more on how to choose your own restaurant equipment. 

What are the benefits of introducing restaurant tech to my operations?

Introducing restaurant technology (or restech) to your restaurant’s operations isn’t just a way to avoid future challenges. It’s a strategic effort to improve your restaurant’s overall service, food quality, leading to more customers and greater revenues.

Nowadays, more and more restaurateurs are in search of a restaurant management software solution that helps them manage critical restaurant functions all in one place. A cloud-based point of sale (POS) system that’s good at order management, sales reporting, and inventory Management are just a few of the basic requirements. 

If you’re a high volume restaurant business, a good POS system will let you and your staff know when you’re close to running out of certain ingredients in real time; it can also calculate your cost of goods sold (COGS), identify potential food wastage, and come up with solutions to lessen it.

Consider a POS with a CRM tool as well. You can keep track of every customer you’ve had along, and if they gave their phone number, you can entice them back with promos via SMS. 

These are just a few of the many benefits a restaurant software solution offers to owners like you. As a prospective Singapore restaurant owner, you should look into Enterprise Singapore’s Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG) to avail of restaurant tech solutions at a highly reduced price.  

PSG-eligible restaurants can be reimbursed for up to 80% of the cost of adapting restaurant IT solutions such as online ordering and food delivery, e-procurement, inventory management, CRM and loyalty, automated reservations, and more.

Opening a restaurant in Singapore is a rewarding experience

Opening a restaurant in Singapore is a challenging but rewarding experience. Focus on doing the research, planning, and doing all the necessary paperwork.

It’s equally important to pick a location that’s best suited to your restaurant concept and unique selling point; not compromise on quality equipment to operate your restaurant; and consider investing in the long-term benefits of restaurant tech.

Congratulations on taking the first step towards your restaurant journey!

(First published here)

Your Restaurant Data Analytics Should Have Answers to these 8 Questions

Making business decisions based on solid numbers is a universally good practice. The problem these days is managing the abundance of relevant data now at your disposal.

So how do you make sense of it all? How do you turn the information you collect into practical, actionable solutions? This is where restaurant data analytics comes in.

For example, you might be trying to redesign or reengineer your menu to improve restaurant margins and decrease inventory loss or wastage. By applying restaurant data analytics, you can study order patterns and ingredient costs to determine which dishes should be 86’d and which ones ought to stay.

It’s important to make sense of your restaurant data and maximize the value it can give your business. Here are 8 answers you can get out of your restaurant data which will be highly useful to your decision-making.

1. What are my most popular menu items?

This is probably one of the first questions you’ll ask and one of the easiest to answer.

Any POS with a built-in analytics tool keeps daily comprehensive records about customer orders and order breakdowns, which will pinpoint your most popular items.

On the other hand, you can also identify items that don’t sell as much and take the appropriate action. You can include them in promos, have your wait staff push them, or axe them from the menu.

2. What kind of new items should I introduce on my menu?

You can also brainstorm ideas for new dishes and drinks. Look at your bestsellers and see if they have a common theme: are they mostly bar chow? Vegan or vegetarian? Breakfast items? Follow the data and introduce more items under the same theme.

Connect sales data with inventory data to come up with offerings that use on-hand ingredients more efficiently. With supply chain difficulties being experienced in many countries, it’s better if you can come up with something that’s more locally available, easy to store, and with a longer average shelf life.

3. What are my most profitable items?

You can take your menu analysis one step deeper by measuring profitability of your specific items. A good POS measures what each of your menu items makes after subtracting ingredient costs. You might see some dishes and drinks that don’t sell a lot, but make up for it by bringing in more revenue than some of your pricier bestsellers.

On the flip side, restaurant data analytics also lets you see which items could use a little fine-tuning. Maybe go easy on certain ingredients? Or shop for more cost-effective alternatives of about the same quality?

4. What are my best and busiest days of the week?

By looking at the average sales of each day for a certain period of time (say, an entire quarter), you can confirm your best days at the restaurant.

This data becomes more important if you’re looking to reduce days or operating hours. On what days do sales performances come close to Fridays, which is the strongest day for many restaurants? When should you really close doors?

You can also identify which special days actually bring in lots of business by looking at each date’s average sales; a good POS system provides access to this kind of historical data across several years.

Holidays will bring in extra restaurant business, but there are also days or times that don’t need marking on any calendar.

The first day of classes and the day before a holiday are often good days if you have many schools in your area. After-lunch coffee dates or midweek Happy Hours will boost your sales if you’re in a business district. Paydays, mall sales, or concerts in nearby venues, can likewise drive extra traffic to your store.

5. When should I schedule more staff?

If you’re paying your staff by the hour, identifying your busiest hours and scheduling more employees for those time slots can save you some money. Sharpen your analysis by looking at the average number of covers per day over a certain period of time in addition to your sales.

This gives you a chance to optimize the number of full-time staff on deck, and hire extra part-timers during high-traffic periods.

6. How do I forecast next month’s sales?

Knowing if business will pick up next month is also helpful when figuring out when to schedule more staff.

Look at historical monthly patterns and take note of changes in sales or covers from a particular month to the next – and get the average value.

If the average is positive, then your restaurant has consistently experienced more sales or covers for that month. It’s probably safe to bet this year won’t be different. Consider hiring some part-timers.

If the average is negative, you still come out on top by implementing temporary cost-cutting measures.

7. Should I accept private functions and events? If yes, when?

Once you’re able to forecast how much you make each hour on average, you can start accepting private functions and events with no fear of making less money.

Just compare how much a private party or events organizer would be willing to pay against what you’d normally make if you kept your restaurant open for regular walk-in/dine-in customers.

You can also turn to lower-traffic periods (like mid to late mornings, or between after lunch and dinner) – to host events in sectioned parts of your restaurant.

8. Which ingredients should I buy more of – or less?

We mentioned earlier the importance of tracking inventory consumption over time. You can come up with new menu offerings that utilize underused ingredients or simply cut back on the amounts that you purchase.

A POS with an integrated inventory management system lets you see that information in real-time, listing and updating ingredient quantities on hand after each restaurant order. It also allows you to calculate the food cost of each menu item as well as its impact on recipe costs, a crucial factor in calculating specific sections of your menu’s profitability.

Use a POS that gives you the answers your need

Restaurant data analytics is a rich treasure trove of information about your restaurant’s very own performance. Many new and advanced point of sales systems provide this information as part of their offering; today, it makes absolute sense to invest in a solution that helps you find the answers to your business questions quickly and effectively.

The solution you choose becomes even more powerful if it helps you implement other restaurant management solutions with a minimum of difficulty, such as menu and inventory changes.

Evaluate the system you have now. Take time to learn your POS system and assess whether it has the top-of-the-line features you need, including live, accurate reporting of your restaurant performance.

It should provide detailed, and ideally customizable, daily sales reports; an overview of your inventory levels; and let you raise inventory purchase orders when you need to – not before or after.

It should also offer seamless integration with other systems, offer modules that simplify kitchen operations, and help you scale your business, especially if you want to increase revenues beyond on-premise dining.

If your current solution lacks some or many of these features, consider making the switch to a solution that does.

(This article was originally published here)

Six Energy Conservation Tips for Restaurants

Inflation and rising wages are soaring, cutting into many restaurant owners’ already-thin profit margins. Salaries in the US restaurant industry increased by 14% in 2021. Meanwhile, ingredients became more expensive by an average of 10.5%, with US beef, chicken, and cooking oil leading the way with price increases of 41%, 36%, and 39%, respectively.

There’s only a limit to how much rising restaurant costs can be passed on to consumers before they stop giving restaurants their business. In America, menu price jumps are at their highest in 40 years. How will owners cope?

Cutting back on salaries is obviously out of the question. Finding a cheaper location is a lengthy process and may not be applicable for everyone. Restaurants consume up to seven times more power than the average commercial establishment, so it is imperative to find ways to save on restaurant electricity costs. Here are six ways to help you achieve that.

1. Switch to LED light bulbs

LED light bulbs use less energy than incandescent bulbs – at least 75%, according to the US Department of Energy – and last up to 25 times longer. One study points out that using an LED bulb for 25,000 hours consumes $30 in electricity costs, while an incandescent bulb would cost you $169.

By making the switch, you can lower your power bill and reduce light bulb replacement costs.

2. Upgrade all kitchen equipment with energy-efficient models

Why aim for LED light bulbs alone when you can also make the switch with your kitchen equipment?

Energy-efficient appliances do the same amount of work as their electricity-thirsty counterparts, but at a fraction of the electricity cost.

Take fryers, for example. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an energy-efficient standard size electric fryer saves $120 per year in electricity consumption. This number goes up to $460 for a gas fryer, and up to $520 for large vat fryers.

Fryers, griddles, ice makers, ovens, steam cookers, refrigerators, and all other appliances in the kitchen that are involved with food preparation make up at least 35% of a full-service restaurant’s electricity costs.

If there’s an area where you can make the most impact on your electric bill, this would be it.

The EPA has a guide on all the kitchen appliances you can upgrade and how much these can save you on your next bill. 

3. Clean and do regular maintenance on your appliances

Take, for example, the air conditioner unit that’s keeping you cool as of this moment: if its air filters get clogged with dirt, it will have to consume more power just to do the same amount of work.

Refrigerators and freezer gaskets wear out easily from all that opening and closing, allowing cool air to escape and hot air to get in. Condenser coils get caked with grease and dirt, making it harder to expel heat from these appliances. Have them regularly checked to identify when they need to be replaced.

The same goes for any of your other restaurant’s appliances. Keeping them regularly clean helps them consume electricity at an efficient rate, saving you more money on your next utilities bill. Regular maintenance also involves replacing parts to keep your appliances at peak performance.

4. Keep it cool: reduce your kitchen’s ambient temperature

Let’s stick to the topic of fridges for a moment. The temperature of the air around it affects its performance: the hotter the air, the harder a fridge has to work to keep the food chilled.

Keeping a lid on your kitchen’s ambient temperature reduces the stress on your refrigerators and freezers. Start by optimizing your kitchen’s layout and separating cooling appliances from heating appliances. The less hot air around your fridges and ice makers, the less they have to work to keep cool.

Review the condition of your kitchen exhaust hoods and consider whether you need to enhance your installation. Not only do they filter out grease and dirt that build up in your kitchen’s hard-to-clean areas; kitchen hoods also reduce the temperature in the air circulating inside your kitchen.

Finally, consider switching to induction stoves, cooktops, and other induction equipment when it’s time to replace existing equipment. They release less heat into their surroundings and also consume less electricity.

5. Turn off any equipment you aren’t using

Remember, if something is plugged in, it’s adding to your restaurant electricity costs even if you aren’t using it. You end up paying for energy you haven’t used at all.

Start by simply turning off the lights in unused areas of your restaurant. Place clear, readable signs reminding your staff to turn lights off when leaving the room. Consider turning off the fryer during off-service hours and then preheating once business starts again.

Use a power strip for office equipment such as printers, computers, and phones. Instead of having to individually unplug each one, you only need to press a switch.

6. Go paperless for your receipts and order slips

You can go further and minimize printer use by switching more of your ordering services process to digital. Having a QR code-based ordering system allows you to send your customers’ receipts via SMS or email, while a top-notch kitchen display system sends their online, dine-in, or take-away orders directly to the kitchen without having to write them down on order slips.

Power up your business by lowering energy costs

Remember, you don’t have to pass all rising costs to loyal customers and risk losing their business. Cutting down on your restaurant electricity costs will go a long way in protecting your long-term viability. Especially since restaurants consume up to seven times more power than the average commercial establishment.

This doesn’t require powering your whole restaurant with solar panels or making large investments in similar power-generating alternatives, although the building or mall you are located in should probably start thinking about this down the line.

Start with something relatively simple, like changing kitchen appliances’ positioning, or ensuring all lights are turned off when not in use.

More strategic changes, such as upgrades to your kitchen equipment and POS system, will eventually be offset by visible savings on your utility bills throughout your new equipment’s lifetime.

(Originally published here)

Five Ways Your Restaurant Can Ride The Food Delivery Surge

More and more people are choosing restaurant delivery services over dine-in these days, as it provides owners with an opportunity to increase sales and capture more repeat customers.

The absolute number of delivery orders and their share in restaurants’ total sales was rising even before the COVID pandemic. The US-based National Restaurant Association (NRA) reported an increase of 300% in food delivery requests from 2014-2019. 

Meanwhile, delivery rose from 7 to 9% of all restaurant sales in the US market in 2021, despite the easing of dine-in restrictions.

In Europe, Deliverect reported that 60% of all UK customers who placed their first delivery order in 2020 said they would continue having their meals sent to their homes and offices.

Why Restaurant Delivery Is On The Rise

There are many reasons why customer preferences are changing.

1. Pandemic-related lockdowns

The COVID19 pandemic was responsible for many changes in consumer behavior, top of which was the increased preference for off-premise dining.

The NRA said in its 2021 Mid-year Report that the percentage of Americans who dined-in for breakfast, lunch, and dinner fell by 7, 11, and 12 percentage points respectively from March 2020 to August 2021. Meanwhile, numbers for takeout and delivery for those three dayparts rose by 2, 6, and 3 percentage points.

2. Gen Z-ers are coming of age and are more comfortable with mobile technology

The NRA likewise revealed in its 2022 State of the Industry Report that 70% of all Gen Z-ers said they would have delivered meals more often now than before the pandemic.

This young, mobile-savvy generation is more open to delivery than average American adults, only 58% of which were more open to delivery now than in the past.

3. Restaurant owners racing to outdo each other in terms of delivery service convenience

For example, global QSR chains have taken the lead in encouraging diners to order directly via their apps instead of through third-party partners.

In fact, McDonald’s, Domino’s, KFC, and Burger King’s apps were all in the top 10 in terms of food delivery app downloads worldwide.

4. Restaurants are winning more customers with great delivery experience

One study found that 58% of Americans thought ordering through a mobile app was the most-improved aspect of quick service restaurants (QSR) in 2021, followed by 29% for website ordering. 

As more customers appreciate the conveniences of meal delivery, more will make it their primary option instead of dine-in, which will push more and more owners to improve their processes.

Stepping Up to the Challenges of Delivery

Many restaurant owners are committed to adding delivery services to their services, but they’re not easy to set up and maintain at a level of consistency that will satisfy most customers.

Restaurateurs themselves worry about changes it will bring to customer experience. Here are their three most common concerns.

Loss of personal touch

Not everyone is sold on online delivery, or any other recent innovations in the industry such as self-ordering, QR codes, etc. Some of these customers argue that a restaurant meal is an experience by itself – and removing human interaction detracts from it.

Just another brick in the app

Restaurant owners have many reasons for opting to partner with third-party apps. They’re more cost-efficient than having one’s own delivery fleet, and they give great exposure to thousands of app users and potential customers.

But these all come at a price: it becomes much harder to stand out from all the other restaurants. Restaurants have to supplement their marketing efforts elsewhere to help them build trust and credibility.

Commissions, commissions, commissions

The most common issue restaurateurs have with third-party platforms is the commission. For example, many restaurants have peak seasons that help them absorb commission fees, and offseasons where business is slow.

For restaurants with razor-thin margins, sticking with third-party delivery services can be hard, so they have to look for alternative channels – or make the most of their presence on social media.

The Key To More Successful Delivery Services

Despite the challenges, there are ways to make the most of delivery services opportunities in the market. We propose five: website ordering, social media, customer incentives, promotions, and quality service.

1. Switch to website ordering

Restaurant businesses looking to explore multiple delivery channels should consider having their own website. Customers save time by logging onto your site instead of searching for meals on multiple apps.

In addition, website ordering that is integrated with your POS enables efficient and real-time collection of  important data such as customer preferences, inventory levels, and sales. This allows owners to adjust important aspect of their operations in relation to the data. 

2. Social commerce is real

As we mentioned earlier, many opportunities lie in social media – and you can work on standing out from the crowd by strengthening your online presence.

Identify your target audience and their preferred platforms (Instagram and Tiktok for millennials and Gen Z-ers; Facebook for Gen X-ers; review sites like Yelp and Zomato for everyone) and have accounts for your store there.

Customers aren’t just using the Internet not just to research about their next meal. They have been ordering from their restaurant of choice in increasing numbers.

Having your restaurant on social media gives you control of your image and the power to attract more people. And if you’ve got the setup, you can new customers and get orders straight into your kitchen. 

3. Convert app users into website orders with incentives

You can take things one step further with third party apps. Some of the largest QSR chains, even those with their own delivery websites and apps, are present on major food delivery apps to maintain their visibility.

By offering promos and other incentives for placing orders on their own website, these restaurants can eventually increase their chances of winning more orders through their restaurants’ own channels.

4. Update your menus with promotions

Digital menus should also be updated regularly to highlight promotions and campaigns, whether to convert app users to your own website, encourage customers to subscribe to your Loyalty program, or push limited-time offers (LTOs). 

Having professionally-done photographs of your items and easily-understandable descriptions is a must, whether you’re using a third-party app or your own website.

5. Focus on quality service: food made fresh and on-time

Last, but certainly not least, be relentless about the basics: work hard to ensure your customer gets the right order, on time, every time.

One key to successful delivery services is having a delivery management system that is integrated with your point of sale (POS) system. Connecting these two systems speeds up customer order processing, from the moment customer orders from their device, to the moment an order arrives and is sent to the right station for prepping.

It will also connect order processing to a pickup and delivery system that tracks orders that are on their way to the customer. 

A New Era For Food Delivery Services

The “delivery-first” era for restaurants is here to stay. Growing ease with online ordering among customers, combined with improvements in restaurant processes, are creating a steady rise in the number of patrons.

The COVID pandemic accelerated the rate of innovation in restaurant delivery, ushering in new levels of customer experience. Even as dine-in restrictions being relaxed across the world, patrons continue to prefer having their meals brought to their homes.

This change in customer preference is a potential gold mine for restaurant owners who can address the challenges of delivery operations.

Enhancing your online presence, developing and expanding channels for ordering, and delivering a fast and error-free experience to customers are of utmost priority. Access to digital tools that facilitate this experience are likely to spell the difference in these efforts.

(Originally published here)

How to Set Up a Successful Food Truck Business

More and more restaurateurs are turning to food truck businesses instead of regular brick-and-mortar stores. Food trucks have surged in popularity due to several factors: the COVID pandemic; their increasing presence in pop culture and reality TV shows; and the flexibility they offer in terms of cost and operations to budding entrepreneurs.

The bad news is that many food trucks fail. But here’s the good news: successful owners have plenty of valuable experience that came at considerable financial, physical, and emotional cost – while you can access these lessons without the accompanying pain if you continue reading this article.

These lessons can be summarized into the 4 D’s:

• Do your homework
• Do it like a business
• Diversify your revenue, and 
• Digitize your operations. 

1. Do your homework

What do elite athletes and successful restaurateurs have in common? They do a lot of studying in preparation for each game.

While superstar athletes like LeBron James and Connor McGregor spend hours watching videos of their opponents’ performances, restaurant owners study a lot of things before they design a menu or cook a single dish.

The same thing applies to everyone who wants to be a successful food truck owner: do your homework before you even buy a food truck, so that all of your hard work and investment won’t go down the drain.

Choose Your Niche

Determine your food truck’s niche: the cuisine, the specific menu items, and what separates you from other food trucks and restaurants in the area.

If you’re going to serve burgers in a city where a lot of vendors and establishments offer them as well, no one will stop you. But consider what you could do to help the customer choose your burgers over others.

It’s likewise not as simple as selecting a cuisine and developing new dishes that no one else is serving. There might be a reason no one else is selling Japanese puffer fish, Scottish haggis, or Philippine-style duck eggs (balut): there may be no market for them in your area.

In addition, you also have to consider if your concept will work well in a food truck setting: can customers eat your offerings while standing up or sitting on a park bench? Will they need utensils? Can your food be cooked, assembled, and served quickly from within the limited kitchen space inside your vehicle?

It’s also never too early to identify areas where your truck will do business. Places with high foot traffic such as malls, business districts, university campuses, and popular nightlife areas are a good choice, as long as there aren’t already lots of competitors in the area.

Not all cities and countries are food truck-friendly, so it’s always a good idea to have multiple, creative options. For example, many breweries in the US state of Colorado don’t serve food because they aren’t required to, and it leads to simpler operations. Instead, they invite food trucks to park in front of their establishments.

Know Rules and Regulations

Some cities also have food truck parks which cater specifically to potential businesses like yours. As with any other location, weigh all factors before signing up for a spot: does the place have a lot of foot traffic? What fees do you have to pay? How about facilities and regulations?

Rules on operating such a business, parking your vehicle, and where you can sell food, to name a few, differ from country to country.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, some areas heavily regulate food trucks, and owners have to contend with different laws and ordinances at the national, city, and state levels. All of this has to figure in your research.

Permits go hand-in-hand with regulations. The most common ones are the same for restaurant owners: for operating a business, for handling and storing food, those from the local health department, and those from the fire department. You’re operating out of a literal truck, so permits regarding motor vehicles are also necessary.

Write Up Your Business Plan

Not every city requires food truck owners to provide this information, but including them in your initial research will save you a lot of headaches. 

Where will you do your food preparation? Are you required to do it in a commissary kitchen? 

How, and where, do you dispose of waste like grey water and used oil? 

Where will you park the truck when it’s not in use?

All of this information should go into your Business Plan – the physical representation of all your research and preparation – along with the other usual information, including: costs and expenses (plan for unexpected expenditures!), where you will get your needed capital, and financial projections.

2. Do run your food truck like a business

Let’s assume you have now done everything in the previous section. Congratulations. It’s not yet time to kick back and relax because you’ve only done the groundwork. Now it’s time you start running it as efficiently as possible.

Streamline Tasks

Want to streamline your billing, inventory, and menu planning without investing in expensive software and hardware? Then the first order of business is to consider going on the cloud, and shift from a traditional POS system to a cloud-based one. 

A cloud-based POS software solution will save you a lot in expenditures because you don’t have to buy proprietary hardware and pay for someone to install it: access it on the web, or just find a compatible tablet, download the POS software app, and you’re good to go.

Look for an solution that works both online and offline. That way, even when you’re in offline mode, all your transactions are saved on the device you’re using and get synced with your POS account information once you go online.

Simplify the Menu

Simplifying your menu is a great second step. Your truck has limited storage space and can fit very few people. At the same time, your customers expect quick service. Put those two factors together and it means that the less items you offer, the better. 

But how can you attract customers if you only have a few items on the menu? Simple: you focus on bestsellers that are easy to prepare. If half of your sales comes from the house specialty, then it’s safe to cut down on other offerings, so kitchen staff can focus on that one item and you can dedicate more storage space to its ingredients.

Great restaurant POS systems have analytics reports that save you the hassle of figuring out which offerings you should keep. A POS system sales report can show how many times an item has been ordered within a certain period of time, as well as how much you made in sales individually.

Go Contactless

Enabling contactless ordering and payment via QR codes is a nice touch that your patrons will also appreciate. Long queues tell prospective customers to get their meal somewhere else. With QR code ordering, people can browse your digital menu at their own pace without causing a long line.

3. Diversify your food truck’s revenue

Having a vehicle as your place of business adds another layer of complexity to your operations, but it’s an advantage if you know how to use it. 

We already mentioned making a list of spots with high foot traffic, but you should also consider going to public events and catering to private functions to diversify your revenue stream.

Identify the Right Events and Catering Opportunities

Public events such as concerts, festivals, carnivals, and fairs are obvious choices: a lot of potential customers crammed in a small area. 

But more importantly, you should not be rushing to join every event. Why? Not all of them are made equal. Some don’t have the demographic that your food concept appeals to. Some don’t even have a lot of foot traffic.

There’s also the question of fees: how much would it cost you to get a slot at a particular event? There’s also the issue of competition: you might get into the biggest street party in your city, only to find that you’re parked between two trucks with the same food as yours.

Band with Other Food Truck Owners

One key to public events is working together with fellow food truck owners, preferably those who offer different concepts or cuisines. There are bound to be some veterans who are more than happy to point out which occasions are worth going to, and which ones should be avoided. 

More importantly, experienced food truck owners tend to go around in groups, ensuring that they aren’t selling the same food in the same event. You can also learn a lot by just talking to them.

Food trucks catering to private functions have become popular in the US since the onset of the COVID pandemic. 

The same rules apply here as with public events: know the terms beforehand and team up with other food trucks in the area.

4. Digitize Your Operations

Last but not least, we have technology: if you think an aspect of your business needs improvement, there is a tech solution for it.

Listen to the Data

We have said analytics are a way to make your menu efficient and competitive. But an excellent Business Dashboard gives you more than that: from a top-level summary of how your food truck is doing to specifics like stock on hand, time it takes to complete an order, top combo items, etc for any specific date and range.

Explore QR code use

We’ve also discussed QR code-based ordering and payment. Many quick-service restaurants (QSRs) now have their own app for making a purchase, but with QR codes, you’re saving customers time by linking them instantly to a digital menu.

Build your CRM and Loyalty base

Lastly, customer relationship management complements unique food and quick service in creating a large number of repeat customers. The ideal CRM tool enables food truck owners to record all their customers in a database, keep track of inactive ones, and reach out to them with SMS campaigns. 

This can further be enhanced with a Loyalty Program tool that doesn’t burden patrons with lengthy paper forms, carry bulky plastic cards, or even download an app on their phone. A good Loyalty Program lets your staff enroll people in a matter of seconds with just a phone number.

All of these tools are important, but no one can blame food truck owners if choosing from a plethora of restaurant tech solutions feels overwhelming. That’s why the best investment when digitizing your business is finding a system that has everything you need. 

Capturing Your Customers’ Attention

Let’s repeat the 4D’s for successful food truck businesses: do your homework, do it like a business, diversify your revenue, and digitize your operations.

Research and preparation are critical to any restaurant food business. Many challenges are common, and as a result are avoidable if you learn from those who have experienced them. 

Digital tools can dramatically improve your food truck by streamlining operations and collecting data that allows you to study your customers’ behavior. 

Streamlining can make the whole ordering process easier, reduce turnaround times, and eliminate errors. Studying customer behavior enables you to repeat what customers like, improve other areas of your operations, and eliminate anything that doesn’t add value.

This allows you to deliver a perfect customer experience, something crucial in an industry where your first impression is often the only chance you get.

(First published here)

Common Holiday Scams and How to Avoid Them

The Holiday season is not just about gift-giving and family. It’s also the season where
criminals are looking to take advantage of employees with their 13th month pay, or
OFWs who have come home for Christmas. Two of the most common scams involve online
shopping and charities. Here’s how they work, and here’s how you can avoid them:

The Scam: Online Shopping

How It Works: Whether on Facebook buy-and-sell groups or shopping apps, scammers
will offer relatively low prices for their products, especially high-value ones like
electronics or clothing. But once you receive them, they will either be fake, of low
quality, and/or defective. In some cases, you won’t receive anything at all. One recent
infamous case involved a student who bought a laptop and received the original
packaging of a laptop with nothing but rocks inside.

How To Avoid: If you’re using a shopping app, they often indicate which stores have
been “verified” and are relatively trustworthy. You might find that it limits your choices,
though, so you want to check out the unverified ones. Or you might be shopping on
Facebook instead, where there are no safety features. In that case, always do your
research. Look at the Comments section of any product or seller. If they get more than
two or three negative comments, and are often of the same nature, that’s a huge
warning sign.

Always keep in mind, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is. Is the product real cheaper
in that store than in others? It doesn’t automatically mean it’s a scam, but you should be
carefully investigating the seller. Also, read everything carefully: the product description,
comments from other buyers, etc.

The Scam: Fake Charities

How It Works: You will receive a message, whether on Facebook, email, or SMS where
a person claims to represent this or that organization with a project for some
marginalized sector, community, or individuals. They will ask for a donation, almost
always in cash, on behalf of the supposed beneficiaries. Sometimes, it’s a picture on
Facebook of someone poor or affected by a disaster. In the caption are instructions on
how to send money to them. Once you send the money, you will never hear from them
again.

How To Avoid: Do your research. See if they have a website and/or a Facebook
account. Even basic details can give away whether they are legitimate or not: do they
have a physical office or headquarters? Is there a way to contact them directly? How
long have they been in existence? What are their other projects? Trust us, if at least one of those questions can’t be answered, you should already be careful. Two or more? Run
away as fast as you can.

Even if the charity is legitimate, the person contacting you can be a scammer. If they are
directly asking you to send money, or worse, asking for personal information like bank
account or credit card numbers, back off. Quickly. Go to the charity’s website or
Facebook account and ask them for details on how to donate. While you’re at it, report
the scammer.

‘Tis The Season To Practice Safety

Scammers never rest, not even during the holidays. That’s why it’s up to us to protect
ourselves, our loved ones, and our hard-earned money.

Staying Healthy During The Holidays

Many studies show that people have a higher chance of suffering heart attacks during
the Christmas season than other times of the year. A major factor is the eating and
drinking brought about by Christmas parties left and right: at the office, with various
relatives, among friends. The list is seemingly endless. And it’s not just any ordinary
food and drinks: this is the season for lots of alcohol and high-cholesterol foods such as
lechon. With that in mind, how can we reduce the risk of a heart attack during the
holidays?

Tip #1: Eat less by eating more

Before going to a party or reunion, eat something at home, especially if you anticipate a
traffic jam on the way. If you arrive hungry, it’s most likely that you will overeat. And
when you’re at home, eat more meals, but with less food each time. Similar to what we
said earlier, this will keep you from going hungry and eating out of control.

Tip #2: Only eat what you really want

Filipino parties are well-known for having lots of choices and lots of servings when it
comes to food and drinks. Don’t fall in the trap of trying to enjoy all of them. Just target
what you normally don’t eat on a regular basis. Or if you’re in a restaurant, try to limit
yourself with the place’s specialty. The same goes for alcohol: just because there’s a
whole case of beer or multiple bottles of rum doesn’t mean you’re going to drink them
all.

Tip #3: Drink lots of water

This is good advice, whether it’s the holidays or not. Our bodies are made mostly of
water and being dehydrated often makes it weaker and more prone to illness. But
during the holiday season, drinking more, especially before meals, will keep your
appetite down to a manageable level.

Tip #4: Don’t deprive yourself

Limiting what you eat doesn’t mean starving yourself. It will actually make it harder for
you mentally, and you’ll eventually give in and eat and drink a lot. Like we said in #1 and 2, consume what you want moderately.

Tip #5: Stay active

Make it a point to maintain your exercise routine during the holidays. Try to make it one
of the first five things you do each day, before the endless parade of parties and feasts
begin. If you don’t workout regularly, now is the perfect time to begin.

Halloween in the Philippines

For many of us, Halloween is best-known as the time all TV channels and radio stations
come up with their own special programs on ghost stories and other urban legends. And
there’s no more famous legend than that of the Balete Drive in Quezon City. But do you
know the origins of that story?

Origins of the White Lady

The most popular theory is that the “White Lady” was a student who was killed by taxi
driver while in his car. Another is that she was a mere passerby who was hit-and-run by
a car. A third claims that she was a resident of one of the palatial houses in the vicinity
who was constantly abused by her family.

Hallows’ Evening

Speaking of origins, do you know the origins of Halloween? Christmas is pretty
self-explanatory, as it’s already in the name. The same goes for other holidays like New
Year or National Heroes Day or Independence Day. But what’s a Halloween?
“Halloween” comes from “Hallows’ Evening”, which in turn is a reference to “All Hallows’
Day”, another name for “All Saints’ Day” in other countries. So, if there’s a Christmas
Eve and a Christmas Day, there’s also Halloween and All Saints’ Day.

Samhain

But the birth of Halloween is located further in the past. Many scholars now believe that
it is based on the ancient Celtic festival of “Samhain” which commemorates the end of
the harvest season and the start of winter. If you’re not familiar with them, the Celtics
are the native people of the country of Ireland. They believed that during Samhain, the
spirits of the departed would visit their living relatives, similar to our local beliefs about
All Souls’ Day.

Soul Cake

Speaking of local beliefs, our native tradition of “Pangangaluwa” actually has the same
origin as “trick or treat.” In the past, people in England and Ireland would go around rich
peoples’ homes asking for a dish called a “soul cake” in exchange for prayers for their
souls (hence the name.) What do they call this practice? “Souling.” Which in Filipino
translates loosely to “Pangangaluwa.”

Jack-o… Turnips?

Another popular Halloween practice that came from England and Ireland is the
“jack-o-lantern” which is believed to protect people from evil spirits. But people originally
used turnips, or “singkamas” as we know them. When people from the two countries
migrated to the U.S, they brought the tradition with them. But with pumpkins being
available, as well as softer and easier to carve, we finally got the “Jack-o-Lantern” that
we are familiar with.

Beware of Scams!

10 months into the world’s longest lockdown, more and more people have lost their jobs
while everything continues to become expensive. Along with these events, there is a
rise in the number of criminals who are looking to trick you into giving them your
hard-earned money. There are many kinds of scams, and it seems like a new one is
born each week or month. We’ll discuss each one in the coming weeks, but for now,
here are some of the main types of scams and how you can identify them.

“Too Good to be True”

Many kinds of scams offer you something that seems too good to be true so you will let
go some of that cash you’ve worked hard to make. These could be supposed
investments that promise to pay you back regularly with ridiculously high amounts. Or a
text informing you that you’ve won a huge cash prize, even if you can’t remember
joining a contest or sweepstakes. Or an online store that offers high-value products
(such as electronics or luxury bags) at really low prices.

As the saying goes, if it seems too good to be true, it is. Trust your instinct. Don’t fall for
it.

Identity Theft

Some scammers are after something more valuable than a few thousand pesos:
personal information such as your email password, bank account and credit card
details, even things that you think aren’t of any use to other people like your birthday
and address.

These scams use even more sophisticated methods. Many use a website which will
steal all of that information once you visit it. Since many of us would never go there
willingly, they disguise the website in a variety of ways. Some of the more popular ones
include really convincing emails that use a real company’s logo and comes from an
email address that’s very similar to the real thing.

Come back here next week as we start to break down all of these scams, one by one.

Female 4th Engineer overcomes hurdles, paves the way for aspiring women seafarers

Imagine working at least 12 hours a day inside a hot room, lifting
heavy things and trying to concentrate on various technical tasks.
Now, imagine doing that while you’re suffering from fatigue, low
energy, and pain and soreness on basically every part of your body.

This is the kalbaryo 4th Engineer Quency Evangeline Sarmiento
Colango, 27 years old, goes through every month while at sea since
2014.

The eldest among five siblings from Tagbilaran, Bohol, her motivations
are all-too familiar: the desire to earn better, both for her and her
family. With a family of her own and their first child (a baby girl) on
the way, their needs have never been more pressing.

Quency dismisses the prevalent notion that women have no place
onboard maritime vessels. The argument that they are not as
physically strong as their male counterparts is inaccurate. As
mentioned before, she has to report for work even during her time of
the month.

Besides, life at sea is all about teamwork. Even male seafarers
encounter tasks which are physically too much for them and requires
the help of others. On her current contract with Westfal Larsen, for
example, her senior officer exempts her from certain tasks during her
period.

This is not to say that there is no gender discrimination or bias
onboard. Quency has encountered her fair share of discriminatory
jokes and gossip.

Still, our feisty 4th Engineer believes that shipping companies should
be more open to the idea of hiring female seafarers. As her own
experience shows, they are more than capable of handling the same
work as the men. As for her, the sky’s the limit as she envisions herself
being a Chief Engineer in the future.