Would You Like Fries With That? The Fast Food Approach To Thriving In A Down Economy

by smallbizbee · 3 comments

The following guest post by Matt Rodela explores what we can learn from the fast food industry and apply to our own businesses.

It’s hard to ignore the popularity of fast food and quick service restaurants (QSR) these days. Despite the commonly known fact that fast food is bad for your health; the fast food industry continues to thrive in this down economy.

Provide Focused Options

When ordering at any of the major fast food restaurants, you normally feel like you have a good variety of options to choose from. You can order food a la carte, or get a few items together in one of several value meals. Don't want fries with your meal? Most places offer alternative sides like salads or fruit.

However, when you really start to look closely at the menu, the majority of the items offered are a variation of the same thing. McDonalds, even with its wraps and salads, basically only sells hamburgers. Taco Bell has the same few basic ingredients mixed and matched in different kinds of tortillas. Even Subway, with it's plethora of topping choices, only offers one main product: a sandwich.

Fast Food teaches us that it's important to find a niche (burgers, sandwiches, Mexican food) and then offer different customization options within that niche. By establishing only a few main products or services to sell, but then offering different combinations of those services, you give the perception of variety without causing confusion or diluting your business focus. You can experiment with this concept by combining two products together, or offering smaller add-on services to compliment your main service.

Be Convenient

Research shows that convenience is the main reason consumers choose a fast-food dining option. Although most people know that the cheapest way to dine is to cook at home, many are still are choosing to spend a little bit more for fast food because it’s convenient. This is the bread and butter of the fast food industry and why it continues to do well while not being the most affordable option. Customers never have to leave their car to order a meal. There’s a restaurant at every major intersection. Fast food knows that it has to be available to you whenever your hunger strikes.

This is an important lesson for small businesses. The modern American is hooked on finding the quickest way from point A to point B. Help them out by making your business easy to find and your options easy to understand. If you have a store front, make sure it’s easy to see and access form the road. If you offer products online, help your customers order with the least amount of clicks possible. These small things go a long way and your customers will show their appreciation with their pocket books.

Take Advantage of Trends

Lately, fast food is taking whatever happens to be culturally popular at the moment and integrating it into their business. For example, a few years ago, thanks to the popularity of Starbucks, gourmet coffee became all the rage. McDonald's and Burger King answered back by offering premium roasted coffee on their menus. Then Starbucks retaliated by offering breakfast sandwiches on the menu as a way to pull customers back from fast food.

Now that healthy eating is en vogue, fast food is jumping on the bandwagon. Many popular QSRs are by offering "fit" meals and healthy menu alternatives like salads and fruit. It wasn’t that long ago that the only beverage options at fast food restaurants were sodas. Now the menu is full of less sugary alternatives like sports drinks and water.

Sometimes it may feel like riding the wave of a trend will somehow ruin the integrity of your business, but the effect is quite often the opposite. Customers will identify more with your brand if you show that you have your finger on the pulse of society. Pay special attention to other successful businesses in your industry and don’t be too proud to start using what is working for them.

The QSR business model is thriving. If you want your business to survive one of the worst economic downturns of our lifetime, it’s in your best interest to take a page from the book of the fast food industry.

Matt Rodela is the man behind Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy, which chronicles the journey of this twenty-something "computer nerd" as he tries to turn his passion for helping people with computer problems into a successful home-based computer support business in Maryland.