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A restaurant facing the Coronavirus challenge
Are we going to the restaurant again? While the Coronavirus keeps spreading most of us are thinking about how our new lives will look like in a few weeks. The hospitality industry is among the most affected by this crisis and we're all asking ourselves if we can go out for dinner again. We read this interesting article on Rakuten Ready , they surveyed more than 100 people to understand the impact of Coronavirus on their future behaviors when talking about restaurants and bars. They found that nearly 40% of us will change our habits due to Coronavirus by avoiding restaurant and crowded locations, while the 30% will opt for a home dinner more often. "It's a challenging time for restaurants — large and small — and we believe that there are some practical steps restaurants can take to address the social distancing concerns you and many are voicing today," said Susie Fogelson, Founder/CEO, F&Co . "First and foremost, restaurants need to address the obvious points about density and restrictions being put in place by local public officials, about cleanliness and safety and engagement. Utmost care and attention is required today." Until now the key pillars on which we based our restaurant reviews were basically focused on food experience and location. Tomorrow we'll need to add a third one: the overall safety of the experience will guide our choices. That's why we believe restaurants should base their future marketing plans and communications stressing the most important point. The great experience after COVID-19 will be not the same as before but even better and safer. Our tips on how to manage a Restaurant in the Coronavirus era Having read tens of interviews among the most important player of the hospitality business, like Bo Peabody (founder of Seated), Patrick Hardy, Rolyn Stone (founder of Zedic), we want to sum up the best and most practical advice for a restaurant dealing with the Coronavirus challenge. Automate: as many operations you can like table ordering devices, with a real time chat boot with staff and avoiding cash payments boosting contactless ones via credit or apps. Sanitize frequently: every single corner but more often tables and chairs at the end of each reservation. Don't forget to put personal sanitizer on every table to let people feel safer. New rules of service : we need to define new behavioral rules for the staff and be sure they follow them and let our customers do it too. We need to leave the proper living space to our customers, that's social distancing. A new business plan: putting distance between tables means turning them more often and (or) push home deliveries. You may also think about new business areas like…the brunch? Marketing and Communication: customers want to know they're safe, they need to enjoy the first dinner with family or friends just chilling and tasting amazing food. The role of hospitality interior design As a natural consequence of our everyday job we are rethinking about the role of hospitality interior design in the near future. It's more important than you think as it will be fundamental to renovate your spaces to maintain a rentable business. At Restylit we saw a strong increase in requests coming from restaurant owners from the beginning of Coronavirus crisis. They're asking us to renovate their spaces, widening them or finding new ones to deal with social distancing. But we need to take care about outdoors too, if you have, that space where people will feel more comfortable and safer. They're spaces to be cared for as much as your amazing interiors, they need to reflect the soul of the experience you're offering today more than ever. We're also focused on supporting our clients with an advisory pack built with a famous field expert to work together on a new business plan to face this big challenge and turn it into new opportunities.
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Being an Interior Design Startup at the Time of Coronavirus
"Every challenge hides a big opportunity" It's scary enough being a startup in the Coronavirus era. As its impact continues to accelerate , times are very uncertain. It feels as if any plans that we make (or have made) could soon be subject to delay or cancellation, and the situation is such that rather than coming together as communities to show solidarity, we must in fact isolate ourselves in our homes. But every challenge hides a bigger opportunity. Boredom is perhaps inevitable, but comfort and well-being should be also. Since these difficult days began at Restylit we have seen a strong increase in website traffic and number of orders as people resign themselves to staying home for the foreseeable future and we are fully committed to helping our customers as much as we can. Here's what we are learning from those hard days as startups at the time of coronavirus: People need to make plans and talk Our killer feature never seemed so appropriate. We were born to turn a talented interior designer next to you and those hard days people seem to appreciate that even more than usual. Conversations on our live chats or whatsapp are getting longer, they are shifting from “Hey I just saw that blue sofa on your shop, what if I place it there (living room pics)?” to “Hey I just saw that blue sofa on your shop, I was thinking to buy it but...can I call you to have 30'/1h of advisory with your team? I may want to change everything here! I can pay for that…”. We all have more time available nowdays to take care of what you usually ignore or postpone like the space where we leave, and it's time to take action! We all need a dream home, just in case Now more than ever our homes are turning into prisons in some way, we can't get out (and please stay home!) but the risk is losing our mind inside those walls. But here comes the power of interior design! We said it years ago, despite any conspiracy theory, we all deserve a dream home and it should not cost us a fortune. We hope that all this bad things happening will teach us how caring about where we leave do worth our money, and we can do great things without spending a lot! The power of living in a place which amuse us every evening when we come back home has definitely a strong impact on our lives, now more than ever People are getting familiar with online interior design That's a big win for us as we've struggled a lot to gain people's trust about being delivered an interior design project by a…laptop. Yes, at Restylit you always talk with your personal interior designer, yes we are experienced in the field and can show you a successful track record of amazing projects delivered and customers feedback but we all know it's not the same as having an architect sitting next to you. Those days forced at home and isolated are helping us to get convinced that it's possible. You can get your interior project done by an italian interior design company while sitting on your sofa 9,000 miles from our HQ. We can take care of your dream during the quarantine time! What does it mean to be a startup during Coronavirus pandemic At Restylit we saw an increase in traffic to our online shop and Instagram page with the same marketing effort. We're talking about a consistent +30% in sales and +40% in traffic on almost last 4 weeks of European lockdown. The average order value also saw an increase reaching 1,200 euros. We are now expecting a further increase in traffic but a lower conversion rate and lower incomes for the rest of the lockdown (depending on the geographical area) while the purchase impulse will be replaced by the uncertainty of the future as the Economical crisis will spread. Then we expect a consistent growth by the end of the year (Oct-Dec) with the hope and purpose to have consolidated and consistently spread our business model. This mess will end up soon, with scars on our hearts but also jumping into a new society and a new way of thinking, more fluid and more open to testing new things as far as they can help us evolving and feeling better. We deserve it. Read the original article or go back to the shop .
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Instagrammable Restaurant, How To Make It Happen
"7 seconds, all the time you have to impress your customers" An instagrammable restaurant. When it comes to running those business, great food, superb customer service, and an incredible location can only get you so far. The long-term relationships you build with your diners are what keep your business running for decades. Building this kind of long-term relationship starts before your customer walks in the door. It takes just seven seconds to make a first impression, and in the restaurant industry, it's typically not the food or drinks that a customer sees first. And here it comes to hospitality interior design. Since new customers have yet to try your mouth-watering entrees or exclusive cocktails, they focus on what's around them: the atmosphere, as expressed by your interior design. An incredible interior will send the message to your customer about your experience – one you will follow through on all the way to last call. A good first impression has immediate benefits for your business. When customers feel positively about your location, they're more apt to share it with their friends. Here are some key ways to get that Instagrammable bar or restaurant design your customers will love sharing. Focus on the Positives The days of customers photographing their food are quickly moving behind us. Perhaps inspired by studies that say photographing your food makes it less appetizing , smart restaurant owners are now offering a more holistic experience for their customers – one that involves not just the quality of the food, but the start-of-finish experience of dining in your restaurant. Before you make any remodeling decisions, think about which parts of your current restaurant interior design create the most customer interest. Is it a particular decoration or mural? Are there color choices you want to emphasize? Do guests take photos outside the restaurant more often than at their tables – or vice versa? This kind of information can greatly improve your experience when working when working with the interior designer. Having foreknowledge of where you want to improve or maintain will lead to better ideas when it comes to deciding how your business will evolve - and where it should remain the same. Don't Cling to Tradition If you like the current look of your business, there may be a temptation to avoid changing anything at all. As the saying goes: Why mess with success? Yet a restaurant remodel offers several advantages to your bottom line. A proper facelift can increase sales 10 percent each year for six years – a much better ROI when compared to advertising. Moreover, a remodel gives you a great opportunity for online marketing opportunities. You can involve customers every step of the way by uploading pictures and videos of your refurbishment, thereby driving buzz and more sales. Not everything needs to change at once. There may be some aspects of your restaurant you want to survive any remodel, such as a favored heirloom or particular bit of decor. This is particularly true of long-standing, family-run businesses. If that's the case for your restaurant, keep track of these cherished aspects, and let your interior designer know what you want to build around rather than replace. Your restaurant should always reflect your business' personal theme – while keeping current on trends. In fact, industry experts recommend a remodel as often as every five to seven years. While this is a recommendation rather than a hard rule, you may be surprised to see how much your competitors are keeping abreast of current trends – and how much your customer's dining experience improves after an exciting interior update. That's the way to an instagrammable restaurant. Show Off Your Space A successful remodel doesn't just involve architecture. You and your customers may take great photographs for the 'Gram, but without the right strategy – and hashtags – your audience reach online is greatly diminished. Finding the right hashtags to use is a bit like the interior design – you want to be aware of trends without completely following them. There's room for originality in your posts alongside consistent, time-tested strategies for building an Instagram audience. Let's start with the basics: posts with a hashtag create 12.6 percent more than posts without. Identifying the most effective hashtags can take time, but a remodel doesn't mean you have to spend your current strategy. In fact, with the right photos, your interiors can really speak for yourselves – and attract first-time customers via word of mouth. Photos of your most stunning spaces, taken in high-quality and with natural light, will help you stand out from competitors and bring a new facet to your marketing. Better yet, focus on posting pictures with customers and staff. When your social media followers can picture themselves in your restaurant, engagement increases by 34 percent . You may not often highlight the design of your restaurant on Instagram, yet these kinds of photos fit in perfectly well alongside photos of food, staff, and promotions. A Better Interior, A Better Restaurant A fully instagrammable restaurant or bar remodel can be a daunting task. Some owners lose sight of their initial vision as time wears on. Yet in today's social media atmosphere, where standing out and following trends are essential, the power of a well-designed interior can be a massive boon to every other aspect of the business. Designing your strategy and space around an Instagram-ready look means more customers – and a more appetizing presence in today's design-driven hospitality experience. Read the article on MRN or get back to the shop.
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Unico Milano: the affordable side of Italian classy design
Unico Milano's pure and simple shapes is the ability of top Italian furniture brands to decorate our homes in a clean and polite way. They focus our attention with delicate balance. “It's perfect” we think every time we saw a Siviglia Black Sideboard installed, one of the Unico Milano best sellers. That's what we're talking about, being amazed by this brand retail prices too, what we call the smart side of Italian classy design. Unico Milano: your affordable classy living room When you need to renovate your living room adding a touch of eclectic contemporaneity it's all about choosing elements to catch your attention yet balanced with the surroundings. It is what we call “functional contrast” to amuse us and chill. For those reasons we often choose Unico Milano creations, our favorite, suitable for almost every space are Siviglia Sideboard (white, black or brown), Granada chairs and Nagoya lamps . This brand represents a passpartout of classy design, it doesn't mess with your spaces and pre existing furnitures but enrich them instead. Wood, Iron and aluminum playing together harmoniously are the main materials of those collections. Unico Milano showroom from your sofa, with your interior designer Sharing important values and philosophy with this brand gave birth to a highly appreciated partnership from customers all over Eruope. You can now shop Unico Milano collection from your sofa together with free help from Restylit interior designers. We can help you to find the perfect fit for your spaces, just tell us what you like and drop us a pic of your interiors! We all deserve a dream home and it shouldn't cost us a fortune, do you agree? Shop the new collection! Click here .
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I married my partner. What I learned from falling in love and starting a startup at the same time.
Welcome to the most incredible journey of your life I never thought I would find the man of my life on a plane. During that fateful flight back from a Sicilian weekend I had planned to put on my headphones and forget about everything else including my beloved job as an interior designer considering the period of high stress. Instead I found myself talking to my neighbor the whole flight, which was probably a better way to pass the time. And I have to say, it turned out to be the most important two hours of my life! Three years later, we were married with a son and had launched our online interior design startup. I have discovered that there are strong similarities between building a relationship and building a startup, two paths of passion, in every sense! Especially if this path is perpendicular and arrives at the same time. This is what the last few years of this crazy adventure have taught me. Take the plunge but be prepared to start "slowly". I already knew that our paths would not separate after that flight, and so as our relationship blossomed, the idea of creating our own startup slowly made its way. The initial concept came quickly on that flight, my knowledge of interior architecture and his knowledge of the e-commerce world quickly led us to understand that we could fit into an interesting niche market. We continued those conversations at length during dinners and aperitifs in the weeks and months to come. But we knew we had to act calmly and only after having made our ideas clear. Also because we were surprised to discover aggressive competitors right in "our" field. We went through countless revisions of our business model to get to our killer feature and find our distinctive identity thanks also to the help of some mentors. Communication is therefore always the key, both in relationships and in business. It all happened so suddenly and it wouldn't have happened this way if events hadn't followed one another so quickly. While it's true that taking the plunge is important, it's also true that there are different phases to go through to bring something to fruition. Stay creative If we talk about an online interior design startup, creativity comes first as far as I'm concerned. The hardest thing, in every sense, is to differentiate yourself from your competitors while staying on top of the hottest trends. Being a couple has helped us with this, two people with different backgrounds who compare notes on the same subject matter help you think outside the box. It is this approach to life and business that characterizes us. Of course, not all that glitters is gold, we probably spend weekends in Paris more often for work than for a romantic moment as a couple. It is the other side of the coin and you have to know how to manage it well, the risk is to ruin everything, absolutely everything! Build every day You may already know everything about the industry you're launching your business in. Relationships work a little differently, though: you start with a leap in the dark and then little by little you start to get to know each other. Checkpoints towards success, understood as the success of a business or a relationship, represent for me a fundamental concept to not get lost. Sometimes you don't understand if you have overcome an obstacle or if the obstacle has overcome you. In any case, keeping track of your progress and marking it with special appointments, an evening outside the box, a vacation, has helped me to have an increasingly clear vision of my path, as complex as it can sometimes be. And in any case, all this is part of the life and journey of a startup. Read the original article on Gritdaily or return to the homepage .
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