Each time I converse on the Pizza Expo, invariably folks ask me the identical couple of questions, however primarily it’s: “How did you do it?” The “it” is a tremendous story of how I took Romeo’s Pizza from one to 31 shops during the last 5 years with 21 of them coming within the final 18 months. One of the simplest ways for me to reply is to elucidate the lengthy, arduous course of and the way it takes time, planning, and execution over a interval of years. So once I was requested by Pizza Immediately to jot down an article detailing and recounting our phenomenal development in the course of the worst recession in many years, I used to be excited to share with you, the small unbiased pizzeria proprietor, a narrative I hope evokes and helps you develop your operation as effectively.
In 2001, I purchased a small mother and pop pizzeria in Medina, Ohio, referred to as Romeo’s Pizza. It was operated very poorly, however but nonetheless managed to do some good numbers and the pizza appeared fairly stable. This was my third pizza restaurant, and I seemed ahead to rising the enterprise. I tweaked the recipes, added higher administration and started to see a variety of potential. 4 months later, September eleventh occurred, and the world stopped. Gross sales dropped considerably as folks started to expertise a few of the monetary uncertainty that’s nonetheless with us at the moment.
In March of 2002, I requested business advisor Huge Dave Ostrander for some help make my idea duplicable. My objective was to open a number of Romeo’s Pizzas and probably begin franchising, however first I needed to repair the areas of my operation that have been nonetheless damaged and tremendous tune the areas that weren’t. So Huge Dave invited me to the NAPICS meals present in Columbus, Ohio, to satisfy him, and informed me to enter the pizza contest since I’d be down there anyway. After dreaming that I gained that evening, I entered the preferred of our pizzas The Butcher Store and proceeded to win first place! The prize was an all expense paid journey to Italy to compete on the World Pizza Championships.
Over the subsequent couple of years, I labored on my system. I had a robust grasp of meals and labor prices, centered on advertising and marketing and customer support, and located methods to make my enterprise not rely upon me to run it daily. I employed two managers and paid them effectively (each of whom personal a number of Romeo’s Pizza shops at the moment). I additionally put collectively a really aggressive bonus program for them. One of many largest keys to success I’ve discovered is to have a bonus program to your supervisor. My managers get bonuses based mostly on gross sales, labor price and meals price. This offers them a vested monetary curiosity in my enterprise, which is priceless. I like to pay bonuses! Managers that don’t bonus in my firm often aren’t round lengthy. Get your folks invested in your online business!
I spent about 4 years attempting to good my system, specializing in menu engineering, coaching packages, operations manuals and advertising and marketing packages. Throughout that point, I gained the Finest Pizza within the Midwest at NAPICS once more, Finest Gourmand Pizza in America in New York Metropolis, and was featured on the Meals Community’s $10,000 Pizza Problem. I’ve gone to Italy to compete on the World Pizza Championships 7 instances as a founding member of the World Pizza Champions. All through, my principal focus was at all times constructing a system that will permit me to open one other retailer. I’ve recognized three of an important areas I centered on that led to the expansion of Romeo’s Pizza. There are numerous different components, together with luck, however these three issues are completely vital if you wish to develop your operation: • Defining your model advertising and marketing technique. • Making a system. • Private improvement.
Defi ning Your Model Advertising and marketing Technique Since December of 2008, Romeo’s Pizza has grown from 10 shops to 31. Similar-store gross sales have risen 20 % month after month throughout that point. We have now crushed down the $5 pizza guys, destroyed the “Purchase 1, Get 2 Free” guys, and have overcome an unprecedented advertising and marketing blitz this business has by no means seen earlier than by the Huge 3. So the massive query is how did we do it? What’s the magic button that you would be able to push to make all of that occur for you and your online business? All of it begins with advertising and marketing. Model Advertising and marketing. Whereas a lot of the smaller pizza chains and independents stopped promoting in the course of the recession, we really spent essentially the most we ever have. Extra importantly, we modified the best way we marketed. Being fed up with competing within the cash mailers and coupon books for one of the best deal, we stopped doing them. Promoting is simply a chunk of promoting. It isn’t the one factor. We started to give attention to constructing our model. Branding is all about creating a picture of your organization that provides your prospects and potential prospects confidence that your organization and merchandise will meet or exceed their expectations each time. Advertising and marketing your model will proceed to pay you again lengthy after the coupons have expired.
Step one is to find out who you need to be and create your model based mostly on the purchasers that you simply need to entice. We needed to draw loyal, value-oriented (not value pushed) prospects who admire high quality over rubbish — so we constructed our model round them. I finished utilizing coupons as my advertising and marketing technique and began to construct actual worth into our choices. I created bundle offers that will assist Romeo’s maintain our common ticket round $20. Among the packages included a pizza with wings or a pizza with a salad, breadsticks and pop. We even had some two- and three-pizza packages. Lately, I created the “Romeo’s Pizza Construct Your personal Final Supreme Pizza” with as much as 5 toppings for less than $13.99. It permits us to compete with the $10 value level and nonetheless preserve our place as a premium model. We’re going to really have it for a restricted time in order that our promotional value doesn’t develop into a everlasting value discount.
I firmly consider that, as an business, we want cease decreasing our costs. Pizza is the preferred meals in America, and essentially the most economical for a household — but many people attempt to market solely based mostly on value. I inform prospects all the time I’d fairly clarify my value than apologize for my high quality, and regardless of how giant we develop into, we’ll at all times use solely the very best substances on our pizza.
As soon as you establish what you need your model to face for, it’s essential to create advertising and marketing supplies that signify that picture. We constructed menus, flyers, magnets, door hangers, menuboards and field toppers with the best high quality paper and pictures, and put our model “look” collectively. Our menu is the second best advertising and marketing device we’ve (our pizza is the primary). We try to draw folks which are loyal and will not be afraid to pay for high quality; and all of our advertising and marketing supplies, particularly our menu, have to signify that. I additionally insert our menus in all places. Immediately, we insert our menu in those self same coupon books we shunned, however now we stand out. Our model advertising and marketing picture separates us from the barrage of coupons and low-cost pizzas, and has allowed us to develop our gross sales system-wide 20 %.
In your promoting it’s essential to talk your distinctive promoting proposition, or USP. What do you try this no person else can do or say? At Romeo’s, we use solely one of the best tomatoes from California, which go from the sector to the can in mere hours. We make our personal dough every day by skilled dough masters in every of the shops. We have now a specifically blended cheese made in Wisconsin utilizing provolone and mozzarella that’s used solely by Romeo’s Pizza. That’s the means we promote our model. What are you able to say about your pizza that both nobody else can say, or nobody else has mentioned? Lots of people use the identical sauce we use or get their cheese from Wisconsin. Lots of people make their dough recent daily … The distinction is how we talk it to the shopper.
Keep in mind, promoting is simply a part of advertising and marketing (the most costly half!). Different areas of promoting we centered on have been lazy buyer playing cards, new mover packages, up-sell contests within the shops, native sponsorships and different junk mail items particularly focused right down to the provider route for neighborhoods through which we needed a greater presence. We additionally give a menu and a magnet to each buyer, and we put field toppers and bounce-back coupons on each pizza. Quickly we’re beginning a rewards program that might be built-in with our POS system. I even have a weekly electronic mail that goes out to our database (and a textual content program as effectively).
One of the simplest ways to win a buyer is to present them a pizza at no cost. We glance to present our pizza away at as many locations as we will. I’d fairly give a gaggle a bunch of pizzas at no cost than attempt to promote them for 5 bucks every (as a result of I preserve my model picture and worth, and I do know that I’ll achieve prospects for all times if they only attempt it). Lots of people are afraid to attempt new issues, so it’s important to make it very simple to attempt your pizza.
Advertising and marketing is the lifeblood of your online business, and it’s like a tree … you should water it to make it develop, not look forward to it to develop after which water it. However your operations have to satisfy the guarantees that your advertising and marketing makes, and that’s the place making a system comes into play.
The subsequent space of focus for me was operations and making a system. I needed to have a really duplicable idea, and I spent 4 years attempting to good it earlier than I opened our second retailer. We continuously attempt to enhance each facet of our enterprise, so the work on the system is rarely completed. Among the areas that we addressed have been the look and look of the foyer, staff and meals. We’ve standardized and weigh each pizza, sub and pasta dish. We set a strict costume code for our administration and employees, and created and enforced an worker handbook. We additionally aligned ourselves with a POS system, which I really feel is totally important in duplicating your idea. I’d by no means open a retailer and not using a POS system.
We additionally spent a variety of effort and time on documenting the best way all the things is meant to be completed. We created a meals prep guide that particulars the best way to make all the things we make, in addition to an operations guide, which particulars how we function a Romeo’s Pizza restaurant. Moreover, our worker handbooks element what is predicted from every worker in writing earlier than they begin. My objective was to create a system that will run my shops, permitting me to work on my system. In case your retailer is determined by you to achieve success, then you definately haven’t created a robust sufficient system and you aren’t able to develop. As we’ve grown, I typically have to return and alter a few of the insurance policies and procedures, so I have a look at these manuals as a fluid doc that has the rigidity to run the shop, and but has the flexibleness to make modifications for the higher.
I attribute a variety of the expansion of Romeo’s Pizza to private improvement. I consider that with a view to develop you should develop into a grasp of many abilities. You must perceive finance and accounting, you want to have the ability to rent and practice good staff, and you should develop into a robust chief. You want to have the ability to calculate meals prices, create efficient promoting campaigns, and be capable to hear alternative knocking. You additionally have to eradicate negativity and excuse making out of your vocabulary. All of those abilities will be discovered, and I centered rather a lot alone private improvement. If you’re weak in these areas start investing in your self. Take a category, learn as many books as you possibly can, and attend Worldwide Pizza Expo 2011 subsequent March. Folks ask me on a regular basis if I ever thought Romeo’s can be this large, and I can actually reply “sure.” I really believed we may.
I’ve tried to present you a glimpse into the method I took to construct a profitable pizza firm. Our plans are to return and tighten up our system once more and add shops in 2011. We’re taking a look at a number of DMA’s to develop and increase as we develop into a regional chain. Our objective for the subsequent 10 years is to have 1,000 shops. We will even develop same-store gross sales as we proceed rising externally via opening firm shops and franchising. You can also create the enterprise of your goals. Get began at the moment.
