Serving good food, welcoming customers, having more time and freedom, realizing the dream of opening your own business and achieving financial independence. There's no shortage of motivations to start a business in food, but to succeed you need much more than tasty meals and a welcoming atmosphere.
Although the eating-out sector moves billions every year and has enormous potential, managing a restaurant or bar is a complex task full of challenges — which ends up leading many to close their doors within the first few years.
If you're starting this journey or want to understand more about entrepreneurship in gastronomy, keep reading this article! In it we'll look at the current state of the market, the main challenges and what to do to succeed. Follow along!
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The state of the gastronomy market in Brazil
After a period of crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, the gastronomy market in Brazil is fighting to recover. Now, entrepreneurs in the food service sector are focused on returning to the same pre-pandemic levels and growing again.
According to data from the Crest study, conducted by the Instituto Foodservice Brasil (IFB) in partnership with Mosaiclab, in 2022 Brazilians spent R$ 216.2 billion on eating out. That represents a 27.6% increase compared to 2021.
The study also indicates that:
- Consumers are spending more: the average ticket was R$ 19.27, up 8%;
- Foot traffic to physical establishments is higher: it rose 2%;
- Delivery's share of the market grew: it went from 9% in 2019 to 16% in 2022.
Even with the positive results, in 2023 the picture is still complex. One of the biggest challenges is still the economy, with inflation driving costs up and unemployment hitting purchasing power. The good news is that both are falling and the outlook is for improvement, however slow.
Another Crest study points to a stagnation of the sector in the 2nd quarter of 2023, with a 5% drop in foot traffic and growth of just 0.5% in spending compared to the same period in 2022.
Although the picture is challenging, o food service sector in Brazil has a lot of growth potential. Ainda segundo o Crest, a penetração do setor está estagnada em 23%, o que significa que a cada 100 potenciais consumidores, apenas 23 fizeram uma refeição fora de casa no dia anterior.
In other words: there's still plenty of room to expand. To gain market share and grow consistently, you need to watch changes in consumer behavior, follow the trends, meet customers' new demands, pursue constant innovation and invest in digitalization. We'll look at this in more detail ahead — check it out!
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Entrepreneurship in gastronomy: 5 steps to success
Being a food entrepreneur is a journey full of challenges. After all, restaurants and bars are highly complex businesses. You have to manage different processes to run an efficient operation, deliver excellent service and ensure financial health.
In a highly competitive market and an unfavorable economic climate, those with strategic vision come out ahead. Below, check out the five steps to a successful restaurant.
1. operational efficiency
The first step is having an efficient operation. That means keeping everything flowing perfectly: orders, production, payment, cash flow, inventory control, purchasing, tax and financial management.
There are many points to keep an eye on, which is why it's essential to have technology on your side. Choosing a complete restaurant system that integrates and automates processes end to end is the best way to achieve operational efficiency.
2. Excellent service
Once your operation is running perfectly, you should focus on optimizing the experience and building customer loyalty. Remember: people who leave satisfied always come back and recommend your restaurant to others, and that's the best way to keep the house full.
Everyone likes fast, friendly service — but that's just the bare basics that every restaurant or bar should be doing. To stand out from the competition, you need to go further.
One way to do that is collecting data that helps you understand your customers' profile and behavior. With a solution like EPOC, you can generate this information and run analyses easily.
With that, you can get insights and think of ways to deliver exclusive, differentiated service that impresses your customers.
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3. Cost reduction
If you don't look closely at your costs, you won't be able to reach good profitability.
This is one of the big challenges for food entrepreneurs. According to a survey by Abrasel, only 43% of bars and restaurants operate at a profit. Muitos estão endividados, gastam muito e não conseguem equilibrar as contas.
To cut costs, you need visibility into the business: the state of your inventory, who your best suppliers are, which input generates the most waste, how productive the team is, the current state of your COGS, which dishes are most profitable, how much is being spent on fees, which tax rules are being applied.
And to have that visibility you need a tool that delivers reliable information. Choose a restaurant ERP that provides this data and lets you analyze your results, make comparisons and identify opportunities for improvement.
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4. Business intelligence
O Business Intelligence (BI) is a trend in every industry, and it's no different in food service businesses.
Anyone who has reliable data available, knows how to analyze it correctly and turns that information into strategic action will certainly have an edge over the other players in the market.
Fortunately, there are Analytics solutions for restaurants and bars that simplify these analyses and generate valuable insights. EPOC Analytics, for example, was built specifically for this segment and brings everything you need to boost your results.
5. Constant innovation
Finally, cultivating an innovative mindset and always looking for new solutions is an essential skill for anyone starting a food service business.
And when we talk about innovation, we're not referring only to the latest technologies, but also to business models, new products and new experiences.
Keeping up with changes in consumer behavior and not being afraid to experiment is what drives businesses in this industry.
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Discover EPOC's solutions for your food service business
It doesn't matter whether you're just starting out or already in an expansion phase. EPOC has a solution that adapts to different business models and helps you face the challenges at every stage of the food service entrepreneur's journey.
We've been in the market for 20 years, developing solutions designed to help restaurants, bars and nightclubs increase operational efficiency and profitability.
We created a fast, modern POS integrated with a multi-store ERP with complete Analytics. We also offer a KDS system, QR Code digital menu, self-service kiosks and much more!
Talk to our experts now and find out how we can help your business.
