Becoming an Active Member of the Community
Being involved in your community as a business is one of the most effective strategies to get your name out there and build a positive brand. You can get involved in a variety of ways, and its often advantageous to pursue many different strategies to optimize your outreach to the community.
- Sponsoring a Little League sports team and offering discounted meals for families and players
- Providing free catering to a school event
- Providing free catering to a community or office party
- Giving money to local charities and spending free time working with them
- Feeding homeless shelters
- Giving local businesspeople discounts
- Holding fundraiser nights for charities or local causes where a certain percentage of sales go to the sponsoring group/organization.
Often these outreach efforts will take a bit out of your profit margin, as you are offering your stuff for free or discounted, but the benefits you will reap are certainly worth it. You are exposing potential customers to your food and positively branding yourself as a concerned member of the community who cares about local causes. You will also meet various community members in the process and form friendships and bonds that will yield a loyal customer base who will promote your restaurant for free.
NEXT SECTION: Creating a Website