New restaurants and their nature in the beginning

Here in the office for the past 10 years or so we've been finding, sorting and qualifying new restaurant locations. Most new openings are not chain restaurants but independents. On the average, we publish more than 750 new restaurant openings per week. More than 80% of what we report on are independent, single unit operators. The remaining 20% are chain operators. So rest assured chains are not taking over the world. Not yet.

How come the chains start with such a bang compared to independents? From our perspective it comes down to a sense of posture and respect. We can often tell in the first phone call if someone will be out of business within a year. We believe it's congruent with what a customer sees and feels as they drive into the parking lot and enters through the front door. Sure, clean restaurants and quality design provide a basis but if the phone is not answered with a pleasant indulgent confidence the rest of the operation can follow suit.

If you've ever called a large chain restaurant and asked for the manager (even if the location is brand new or pre-opening), the host, wait person, cook or other line level employee will ask you to "please hold on" and then go and get the manager without much quizzing. Typically he will pick up the phone and patiently answer your questions. Almost nothing is off limits.

Our view is many new independent operators take a filtering approach towards callers which can sometimes alienate future customers.