Restaurants are mushrooming everywhere, in every big city and even the tier two cities. Content on Zomato tells us that there were 13,645 active restaurants in 2015 in India and that number grew to 27,614 active ones in 2016. This looks great for the restaurant industry. With so many varied cuisines and kinds of restaurants, cafes and pubs opening across the country, there are more and more people ditching their corporate jobs to follow their restaurant dream. All that is fantastic, but it also means as a restaurateur you have competition. And lots of it.

If yours is a successful restaurant, it still doesn’t mean you’ll sail through effortlessly with all these new restaurants opening up around you. How do you plan to sustain your business without a heavy dip? If you think you don’t need to do anything, in no time you will be overtaken by the new kid on the block and you might have to shut shop. And you don’t want that. There aren’t any fool-proof ways of making sure you stay afloat. But there’s enough space for everyone to coexist in this business.

Check them out

If you see an opening soon sign of a restaurant in the neighbourhood, be curious. These days with a few clicks it’s easy to find out about a restaurant before it opens. There’s usually some buzz created on social media. Once they open, be sure to drop by for a casual visit. Check their menu out – dishes, prices, offers and the likes. You should know where to start work on with yours. In any case, if their restaurant is anything remotely similar to yours with regard to cuisine, style and price points, customers are going to get curious and visit them. Don’t make any decisions in haste. Wait it out for a couple of weeks before you make any changes to your service and menu.

Tweaks and changes

Now that you know what they’re all about, it’s time to make little tweaks to things around your restaurant. Not too much and not too drastic. If it has been way too long since you’ve updated your menu, you might as well do it now. Again, it doesn’t have to be anything major. Even introducing a specials menu works. It’s something new for your customers and also for you to stay relevant in the business. Of course, introducing something new is probably easier compared to changing things entirely. There will be a change in rhythm and it’s a great opportunity for you to test anything new.

Pay attention to customers

Talk to your customers. Find out what’s working for you, or not. Read reviews of your restaurant on Zomato and respond to diners, happy or otherwise. Mend things and be sure they come back. The one thing that trumps everything at a restaurant is service. If customers feel taken care of and served well, they’re bound to be repeat customers. Train staff to pay attention to diners, right from the minute they enter the restaurant. Service also means you need to involve the kitchen in it. If food doesn’t reach the tables in time, not much will be of help to save you from bad reviews.

Make some noise

Social media is so strong today, it can make or break a business. Your customers are on it and are talking about restaurants. From a banner ad on Zomato to creating and managing Facebook pages, there are many ways to make sure your presence is felt and your restaurant is seen online. If you’re going to make changes and introduce new things at the restaurant don’t forget to advertise about it. Zomato is where your target audience is, and Facebook is like your notice board where announcements are made.

Live and let live

Lastly, you should welcome some healthy competition. It makes you push for more and innovate within your own space. Don’t let the hunger to defeat your competition make you get nasty. If not them, there will be others who come by and maybe even bigger players than you. Do what you do best and everybody wins. Play your cards right and you might pull out tricks from your sleeve you didn’t even know about. Remember, there’s enough pie for all.