Douglas

There are only three ways to grow a restaurant. 1.Get more diners Online discovery, street visibility, events, and partnerships. 2.Increase the average check Menu engineering, upsells, combos, premium options. 3.Get diners to return more often Great service, follow-ups, loyalty programs, memorable experiences. For the biggest impact, combine all three. If you’d like free guidance on improving these in your restaurant, send me a DM.

You’re not losing guests to the restaurant down the street. You’re losing them because they can’t tell you apart. Drive through any commercial street in Lagos and you’ll see multiple restaurants that all look the part. Beautiful interiors, great ambiance, impressive menus. But to most guests, the experience feels the same. So they treat restaurants as interchangeable. In response, many spots start competing on price, bigger portions, and promotions. The real problem is that guests don’t know what you stand for. It’s not your food, service, or ambiance. Those are expected and your competitors have already figured them out. Here are three questions every restaurateur should answer: Why does your restaurant exist? Who did you open it for? What should a guest feel walking out, beyond being full? Answer that, then build everything around it. Your menu, your service, your atmosphere, your social media. That’s how you stop competing on price. And start becoming irreplaceable.

Most restaurants mistake repeat visits for loyalty. They’re not the same thing. Repeat visits are driven by convenience, habit, or simply having no better option nearby. Loyalty is when a diner passes three closer restaurants, ignores a discount elsewhere, and still chooses you without thinking twice. The difference? They feel something when they’re with you. Build that through consistency and genuine personal connection by remembering their name, their usual order, or that special occasion.

Bro just wanted to keep the party going Haidilao robot glitched and chose violence Glad the diners found it funny Add tech, but build safeguards so one failure doesn’t ruin the experience

@readswithravi Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl.

What’s a book you think everyone should read at least once in their lifetime?

@DailyLoud @YoriOlajide Love seeing this! Down syndrome or not, everyone deserves meaningful work and belonging

This coffee shop in Asia is going viral for only hiring Down syndrome employees to give them a chance to work ❤️

Here are 5 questions every restaurant should ask every week: Are we bringing in new customers? Are customers spending slightly more? Are customers coming back more often? Is the dining experience smooth? Is our food consistent every time? Fix one lever each week and watch your revenue grow steadily.

@iSayRandom_Shxt @Portfolio_Bull Good point. The first location is usually the hardest, and once the systems are in place, scaling across locations is where the economics really change

@_ajdouglas @Portfolio_Bull Its one of those business models that Initially require alot on the front-end just to try and recoup and break profit on the back-end but once you rolling with about 3+ locations you good

Worst businesses to get wealthy: - Restaurants - House flipping - Sneaker reselling - Vending machines - ATMs Best businesses to get wealthy: - Private… Show more

Here’s the mistake many Lagos restaurants make. They try to operate like Chicken Republic, McDonald’s, or KFC. Those businesses win with: massive marketing budgets huge prime locations high customer volume Independent restaurants can’t compete there. Your advantage is different. You serve fewer diners, so focus on building stronger relationships with them. Your goal: increase repeat visits and customer lifetime value. Independent restaurants win with loyalty, not volume.

When someone chooses your restaurant, they expect the experience they heard about. If they come once and never return, something went wrong. Either the experience didn’t match the promise, or the restaurant never followed up to build the relationship. Too many restaurants treat the first visit like a transaction. But it shouldn’t be. The first visit is meant to be the beginning of the relationship.

If you run a Lagos restaurant, ask yourself this: How did your guest even find you? They saw an ad, a recommendation, or something online. Then they drove through traffic and spent money with you. That entire journey shows intent. But after they finish eating, they simply walk out. No feedback is collected, no contact is taken, and no follow-up happens. And restaurants wonder why some customers never come back.

Every restaurant wants to deliver great service. Few build the conditions for it. You cannot expect great service from poorly treated employees. Low pay and little appreciation always show in the service. Respect your staff and train them well. That’s how great service is built. Employee satisfaction → service quality → customer loyalty → revenue.

@the_amazingama Love this take! Restaurants are perfect for celebrations and special moments, but not always ideal for casual first dates on a budget.

Why are restaurants the default first date options despite being largely unsustainable? In this video I explore concerns around the restaurant first-date model and explore the concept of third spaces in social interactions

This is brilliant.

How do I visit a premium Lagos restaurant five times and still get treated like a stranger? More restaurants would grow faster if they tracked guest history the way luxury hotels do. In hospitality, the goal is simple: make every customer feel seen, known, and genuinely valued every time they walk in.

After 3 years talking to restaurant managers across Lagos, I’ve learned this: One of the biggest reasons restaurants fail isn’t poor management alone. It’s undercapitalization. Many owners have the money to build and beautifully decorate their restaurant, but don’t budget enough runway for the business to sustain itself. My advice: plan for 12–18 months of runway. Even if you think you won’t need it.

Every restaurant owner/manager learns this eventually: The temporary pain of being short-staffed is better than a bad hire. I’m talking about the panic hires we all regret.

I see some restaurant managers ignore complaints because they think you can’t please everyone, and that part is true. But when several customers complain about the same thing, it’s no longer opinion, it’s a pattern.