Like this Hotspot Charleston Brunch maintains food costs

Millers all day It is a full -day place for Brunch hidden in the heart of Charleston in South Carolina, known for his rustic charm and southern hospitality.

“Charleston is known as a guest city,” says the owner of Nate Thurston. “This creates an opportunity for a restaurant, cafe and all these hospitality to ensure incredible hospitality. So, as I presented it to our employees, we should welcome people as if they came to our home. “

Thurston wants customers to experience not only Homemade atmosphere But also unique ingredients from Charleston. He cooperates with local farmers to bring 12,000 fresh eggs and fishermen every week to deliver shrimps to reputable shrimps and grit.

Keeping him a local He became the fame of a restaurant. Yelp reviewer Dave B. I could not leave without praising the iconic grits. “It was probably my favorite place in Charleston to eat,” says Dave. “Yes, it was waiting and yes, it was crowded, but we once sat, we didn’t wait too long. And to be honest, the grits themselves are value traveling. I also had a Pimento cake, which was rattling implausible.

While fresh ingredients make customers come back for more, Thurston admitted that many restaurants have inflation influence local products. He says that some firms can devote quality to maintaining business, for example, buying pre -cut vegetables or frozen cakes. However, Thurston’s approach to the table table acts as an inflationary gap, because the ingredients come straight from the supplier, eliminating additional fees for processing often affecting inflation.

Although reducing costs in this way is an essential win, rent in a city like Charleston stays a challenge. “Charleston is not a cheap city to act,” says Thurston. “The rent here is very expensive. Our goal was to provide this unique breakfast and brunch. Our prices are lower than the prices of dinner restaurants [and] Steakhouse, so we have to make a volume to justify this business. It becomes very difficult that everything is internal through Scratch Kitchen and at the same time do volume. “

Since top quality food is not negotiable, the company had to lift prices to attain its goals and stay in business. “Over the past few years, the most important thing I have realized that you need to adapt your price points to protect the company’s performance, and then you need to identify who appreciates your product and how to aim at this particular market,” says Thurston.

Because the restaurant industry has such a thin margin, it might probably be useful for the owners to be qualified in many works. For example, when he is cooking or the server, Thurston’s abilities allow him to fill and maintain service. This habit allows him to see his business from many sides.

“If [an owner fills an empty role] Often, and you do it two or three times a week, and then you become a working element of the machine and you cannot go back and assess its performance, “he says. Especially when I have to be. Maybe it’s a great weekend, and my presence improves their morale. I may be next to them in the trenches, but I do not do it so often that I cannot go back and look at the final product we use. “

Thurston says that the best solution to assess the end product is the customer’s eyes and Feedback from customers It reveals popular pain points, providing owners of clear areas to resolve.

“In fact, we have a meeting where we print each review of the last 10 days,” says Thurston. “We will have Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, and look at all comments and look for trends. If one person loved a cinnamon roll, but the next week six people did not happen. He was full.

Although Thurston believes that feedback is important, he also warns against strongly considering every criticism. “For the first time I told one of the managers:” The guest is not always fine. ” From time to time, we must refute: “Lord, unfortunately, your expectations today are not reasonable, because we will be happy to change, or it can be the best if you go somewhere lunch today. “

Feedback from customers, whether positive or critical, can significantly affect Business evolution. Thurston recommends putting time to read the review to predict potential problems.

“I see a trend in companies when they stop recognizing public feedback,” he says. “They say,” Oh, we’re good. Whatever we do, it’s amazing. It doesn’t matter what they say. It’ll be all right “. Then they start to lose customers.

Seven years, two locations and a truck with food later, Millers all day assigns her success in maintaining loyalty of the following rules:

• Quality is not negotiable. If raising prices means that you can maintain the quality of the product that customers have loved, it is justified to increase the price and increase marketing around involvement in quality.
• The customer is not always right. Set the feasibility limits of customer demands. Sometimes this means suggesting that the client patronizes another company.
• Lean Partnerships. These will not only distinguish you from competitors But also minimize inflation impact on your business.
• Lead from above and earth. Balance, maintaining a high level of company and product with exercise on the floor to get a versatile view of what is effective, which is not and what your team needs to succeed.
• If many customers share the same problem, there is a problem. Instead of letting one Critical review Keep more weight than another, use trend analysis to document common pain points and ensure that the company remains in line with the expectations of customers and its basic values.

Listen to the episode below to hear directly from Thurston and Dave B. For review To get more from new company owners and reviewers every Thursday. Available on SpotifyIN Apple podcasts AND Pandora.

Editorial contribution Erin Palmero and Kristi Lindahl