Running a sustainable restaurant business — lessons from the lean startup
Eric Ries’s The Lean Startup is a guide to creating sustainable and efficient businesses in conditions of uncertainty. While the book focuses on startups, its principles can be adapted to the restaurant industry to improve operations, foster innovation, and maximise customer satisfaction.
Here’s how restaurants can apply Lean Startup principles to achieve long-term success:
Validated Learning: Understand What Customers Really Want
Restaurants often operate with assumptions about what customers prefer, but Ries emphasises the importance of validated learning—testing assumptions with real data.
- Application for Restaurants:
Experiment with limited-time menu items to see what resonates with customers.
Use surveys, feedback forms, and social media polls to gather insights.
Observe customer behaviour—are they ordering specials or sticking to classics? Use this data to make informed menu adjustments.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Test Before Committing
An MVP is the simplest version of a product that allows you to gather customer feedback. For restaurants, this means starting small to test new ideas.
- Example:
Before launching a new menu, introduce a single dish as a special.
Test a delivery service with a limited radius before expanding.
Open a pop-up before investing in a full-scale restaurant.
This approach minimises risk while letting you gauge interest and refine your offerings.
Build-Measure-Learn Feedback Loop: Innovate Quickly
The Build-Measure-Learn cycle is about quickly creating something, measuring customer reactions, and learning from the results to iterate.
- Steps for Restaurants:
Build: Offer a new type of cuisine or a revamped loyalty programme.
Measure: Monitor customer responses through sales, reviews, and feedback.
Learn: Refine based on the data. Did customers enjoy the new dishes? Was the loyalty programme engaging enough?
This cycle allows you to adapt rapidly to customer preferences and market trends.
Pivot or Persevere: Know When to Change Direction
Sometimes, strategies don’t yield the desired results. Ries’s concept of pivoting involves shifting your approach while staying true to your vision.
- Restaurant Example:
If your dine-in experience isn’t drawing customers, pivot to focus on takeaway or delivery.
If a specific menu theme isn’t popular, adapt to a cuisine with higher demand.
Recognising when to pivot is critical to avoid wasting resources on ineffective strategies.
Innovation Accounting: Measure What Matters
Traditional metrics like revenue and profit are important, but they may not provide a complete picture of growth. Innovation accounting emphasises tracking metrics tied to experiments and progress.
- Key Metrics for Restaurants:
Customer retention rates.
Sales of newly introduced menu items.
Online order frequency and delivery times.
By focusing on these metrics, restaurants can better understand their progress and make data-driven decisions.
Flipdish: Helping Restaurants Innovate and Succeed
At Flipdish, we empower restaurants to operate more efficiently and meet modern customer demands. Our tools help you:
Launch your own branded app or website, reducing reliance on third-party platforms.
Gain actionable insights with powerful analytics to track customer behaviour and sales trends.
Test new ideas with digital marketing campaigns, helping you gather feedback and iterate quickly.
By combining the principles of The Lean Startup with Flipdish’s solutions, restaurants can innovate faster, reduce waste, and provide exceptional experiences for customers.
Learn how Flipdish can support your restaurant’s success today!
With the Lean Startup methodology, your restaurant can move beyond guesswork, fostering innovation that keeps customers coming back. Pair these principles with Flipdish’s technology to streamline operations and grow your business with confidence.
