It used to be so simple. An enterprising entrepreneur would come up with an idea. He/she would spend a little time excitedly fine-tuning the idea, prepare a business plan, have some preliminary and colorful designs done and set out making the rounds of the various landlords. Along the way, he/she would tell anyone who would listen about the plans……..in detail.
That was then, this is now. Today it’s all a secret. Plans are kept under wraps for fear that a competitor would be warned of your plans, another entrepreneur might rip-off your plans or the landlord might ‘see you coming and increase the rates’.
As a publication whose mandate it to identify new and expanding concepts, expansion is beginning to sound like a dirty word. We seem to be going through a period where even the established restaurant chains avoid talking about growth plans. Unlike the owner/operators that can still be somewhat vocal, the hired experts often choose to remain quiet. “I know where we want to go,” one hired VP explained recently. “And I’ve been in touch with those landlords. I don’t want to be bothered with the calls from brokers and landlords with sites that I’m not interested in.”
Well let me tell you, this industry still has an ‘information pipe-line’ that would make some government espionage agencies proud. Due to the transient nature of the hired professionals, many might be surprised to learn, whether it is next season’s menu design, discussions regarding your next location, even specific restaurant sales, there’s very few secrets in this business that stay ‘secret’ for very long.
Instead of missing out on that great site because the landlord ‘assumed’ you were in a dormant mode, make some noise, remind people that you are active and ready to move forward.
Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re convinced that you are ‘plugged in’. Right, the appropriate landlords know what you want. Strangely enough, there seems to be a lot of ‘plugged in’ companies closing locations and filing for protection lately. I guess people forgot how ‘plugged in’ they were………………..WP