Lubbock Restaurants Are Going To Have To Step It Up To Survive

The churn of restaurants in Lubbock is almost frightening.

Let's not forget there are many restaurants out there that are doing very, very well.

One of the biggest problems restaurants face is a lot of other people in that product category.  For instance, Taco Bueno found out it could not survive in a market that loves Taco Villa and Taco Bell. Yes, that's a pretty broad statement, but it'll do for one of the examples. This kind of thing has also happened with numerous pizza restaurants, and  I wouldn't bet money on a chicken place right now.

Even given credit to market/category overcrowding, those aren't the two biggest issues that I see. The biggest problems seem to be a lack of advertising and a lack of quality help. It used to be you could hire a half dozen sixteen-year-olds and put together a pretty good meal and that word of mouth would get you by. Those things are no longer a sure thing, in fact far from it.

You have to CONSTANTLY be on people's minds. They just don't have the attention span to remember you're there. That's why so many places advertise and bring new or limited-time items to the menu. Yes, I'm in the radio/digital business, but if you can't make that leap up to us, at least post daily on social media or put someone with a sign-out front to get you started (although I must say, if you didn't budget for advertising when you put together your business plan, you screwed up).

Next up is a lack of quality employees. Do you know how to get quality employees? Pay them. I f you pay minimum wage, you're going to get minimum effort, or as my friend says, "If you pay peanuts, you're going to get monkeys".  Again, if your business plan was based on minimum wage, you screwed up. Delving into this further, it's my belief that one well-paid, dedicated employee is better than two half-assers.

Please think about this before you go into business then turn around and break our hearts.  All of us really want you to succeed.