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I am seriously considering getting back into premium web design and management for the restaurant industry. The lockdowns have been brutal on the restaurant ma

I am seriously considering getting back into premium web design and management for the restaurant industry. The lockdowns have been brutal on the restaurant market but just as after a forest fire, new plants appear that are no longer shaded, the same explosive growth potential is there for new restaurant startups. A few hundred bucks a year contract for a simple menu website and domain name, with future service potential is an easy sell and they add up quickly into a substantial passive income.

wikibob 6y ago
The best restaurant website is a single page. Literally, one page. Address and phone number at the top. Days of the week and hours. Link to a PDF of the actual exact print menu. Link to their online ordering option of choice. Done.
- kleer001 6y ago
  > Link to a PDF of the actual exact print menu. One would that that would be universally useful. But on mobile I find reading a PDF can be a pain sometimes. But yes, that should be good for 99.99% of restaurants and 99.99% of their customers.
- sigmaprimus 6y ago
  Exactly, there really isn't much to it, but not everyone is as technicaly inclined as the average HN reader. You would think most restaurants would just do it themselves but my experience is that many of them don't want the hassle. It does involve in person cold calling but the researching of potential customers is easy(new restaurants without websites) and as far as not paying, I did run into that but it happened after the 1st year and all work and expenses for the first year are covered by the initial sale. I think it is more of a sales job and many people lack the confidence(or ego) for cold calling but I know it can create a significant passive income as lots of restaurants do keep paying year after year(especially if you are the domain name owner)
1123581321 6y ago
Good luck. I can't see any reason why a typical restaurant would not just use one of the many online ordering services that throw in a splashy front page theme for free. We observe this as we serve vendors to restaurants.
mattmanser 6y ago
I've worked with two startups in this space. Restaurants are pretty bad customers. Not tech-savvy, high churn, can suddenly stop paying with no warning, don't have a lot of money. They won't be seeking you out, so you've got to do phone sales or even in person, then you're only charging a few hundred bucks? Doesn't work. It's one of the worst segments you can target, especially as you'll essentially be up against them simply having a Facebook business page or something like Wix with a PDF menu on it.

wikibob 6y ago

The best restaurant website is a single page. Literally, one page. Address and phone number at the top. Days of the week and hours. Link to a PDF of the actual exact print menu. Link to their online ordering option of choice. Done.

kleer001 6y ago
> Link to a PDF of the actual exact print menu. One would that that would be universally useful. But on mobile I find reading a PDF can be a pain sometimes. But yes, that should be good for 99.99% of restaurants and 99.99% of their customers.
sigmaprimus 6y ago
Exactly, there really isn't much to it, but not everyone is as technicaly inclined as the average HN reader. You would think most restaurants would just do it themselves but my experience is that many of them don't want the hassle. It does involve in person cold calling but the researching of potential customers is easy(new restaurants without websites) and as far as not paying, I did run into that but it happened after the 1st year and all work and expenses for the first year are covered by the initial sale. I think it is more of a sales job and many people lack the confidence(or ego) for cold calling but I know it can create a significant passive income as lots of restaurants do keep paying year after year(especially if you are the domain name owner)

1123581321 6y ago

Good luck. I can't see any reason why a typical restaurant would not just use one of the many online ordering services that throw in a splashy front page theme for free. We observe this as we serve vendors to restaurants.

mattmanser 6y ago

I've worked with two startups in this space. Restaurants are pretty bad customers. Not tech-savvy, high churn, can suddenly stop paying with no warning, don't have a lot of money. They won't be seeking you out, so you've got to do phone sales or even in person, then you're only charging a few hundred bucks? Doesn't work. It's one of the worst segments you can target, especially as you'll essentially be up against them simply having a Facebook business page or something like Wix with a PDF menu on it.