Monsoon has hit us and almost every big city in the country has been getting rain washed over the past few days. Soaring temperatures have dropped and people are enjoying the weather. It’s all good but a question looms for the restaurateurs: How will monsoons affect the restaurant business? Yes, yes, depending on the intensity of the showers, you might find an empty restaurant or with very little footfall. But all is not lost in these months of rain. People still need to eat even if it’s in the comfort of their home or office. There are a few ways you can still keep business afloat without a packed restaurant day after day.

Keeping delivery options open

If you already do home deliveries, you know how important it is for extra business. You need it now more than the rest of the year. What’s also important is that you keep all windows of delivery opportunity open. Just taking delivery orders via phone calls isn’t enough any more. Sign up for online orders and expand your chances of getting more orders in. If you don’t have enough delivery people, train your restaurant’s staff for emergency deliveries so you don’t fall short. There’s no point hiring more people when you’re trying to make up for lost business through walk-ins.

Make those offers rain

Who doesn’t like a good bargain? Particularly when it’s with food, consumers wait for meaty discounts and offers any restaurant has to offer. It’s value for them and business for you. Currently there are many restaurants offering anywhere between 10% to 25% off on online orders via Zomato, of course with a catch like a minimum order. Promotions needn’t only mean discounts. You can also offer a combo deal for lesser price. Have your chef come up with monsoon-related food and combinations you can have for a limited period of time. This will get customers ordering very often.

Keeping customers busy

Another good value addition would be having board games and books at your restaurant or cafe. Ideally, when it begins to rain, there’s nothing much people can do besides wait for it to stop. Why not let them sit around and while away time? Having board games and books will not only keep them occupied but will also get them to order more. It’s a small add-on which will make a difference in overall sales.

Serving special food

Every season has something special to offer. Be it seasonal produce or the way we serve our food, the weather has a key role to play. Soups for winters, juices for summers and likewise, hot fried food for monsoons is what sells. Even upscale restaurants have monsoon special menus to take advantage of the season. From loaded French fries fried chicken to something more local, there are several rain special food items to cheer for. Take Chaayos for example, who have kulhad pav bhaji and pakora baskets on their menu at this time. Small joys like these get people’s attention during the damp weather when no one wants to go out.

Keeping things clean

Monsoon is also the season of flu, cold, cough and other bugs. That’s one reason why people tend to stay away from any food that isn’t home cooked. It’s a given that restaurants are expected to be hygienic and that food is cooked with care. However, we hear of one off cases when even high end restaurants are negligent and pay their price for it. When it’s monsoon, in particular, it wouldn’t hurt to be extra cautious. For instance, bread and other baked goods are vulnerable to spoiling sooner than before during monsoons. So are dairy products. Make sure to be careful with such foods so there’s no chance of them affecting your diners. Because all it takes is one bad experience for them not to return.

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Until the clouds dry up, you have time to rethink varied aspects of your business. From tweaking your menu to renovating the interiors, there’s a lot you can do during these monsoons if you want to start afresh when the rains are done with.