Tuesday 16 March 2010

Video lessons to promote and teach


I've wanted to open my own restaurant for a while. I'll probably not get the chance. Something to do with not be an amazing chef and the hours being too long for a lazy guy like me.

Any who I do wonder about what i'd do to help with the ferocious competition in the restaurant business.
One idea I would love to try is combining my love of teaching with that of cooking and building a restaurant. The details would need working out but essentially I would teach people through the internet how to cook the dishes I'm currently serving in the restaurant.

I'd need a separate room some where off the kitchen for this to keep the kitchen private. The advantage for the restaurant is that this will promote the brand and get people interested in the food we're creating. I wouldn't reveal every trick we use because the meal at our restaurant is created by professionals so there will be extra detail, flavour etc. I feel people who follow the lessons will want to come to the restaurant to see how it's really done. They'll be excited by the menu because they have grown to know it. They've seen it made. Presented and eaten before and now it's their turn.

So I feel it's a way of promoting your concept and creating a new set of customers reusing skills of your everyday life as a cook.

I can see it being profitable if you price the lessons correctly and keep recording and distribution costs minimal. Video cameras are very cheap these days. Do most filming without a cameraman by using a tripod and working in a asmall area. Video editing software is very cheap. Prepare specific scripts in advance. You'll be presenting recipes you currently cook so you're an expert in it already. Distribute via youtube or other free site. Let them do the hard work of promotion for you.

Over time you'll build an array of lessons that can constantly promote you. Once they're created you put no more effort in yet they're promoting you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year with little to no further effort on your part.
The best thing you get is a chance for each potential customer to meet the head chef of your restaurant and learn about the attention to detail that goes into every dish on your menu.

This insider knowledge helps your restaurant customers appreciate more about what you do and enjoy their experience further.

To make extra revenue and get to know my customers more i'd then consider doing a live stream of a cooking lesson every so often and also hosting local cooking classes. The cost would increase for each option. Live stream class with perhaps a chance for audience to interact costs more than a youtube video lesson. Class tuition costs even more but you get a chance to meet the chef and team. Personal tuition costs even more but you get more input into the lesson.

Hopefully you'll start to have waiting lists which only serves to promote you further.
Anyway, that's what i'd consider doing if I where running a restaurant now that it's so cheap to do these things. If any one is already doing this I'd love to check it out.

No comments: