5 Essential Tips for Starting a Second Venue

If you’ve achieved success in your first hospitality venue, you might be wondering what to do next? You can bask in your glory, that’s cool, or you might be keen to expand to a second hospitality venue elsewhere, like this cafe owner.

But just because you’ve experienced success once doesn’t mean it’s a given. Below, we’ve listed five essential lessons to starting a second hospitality business.

1. Make Sure Your First Venue Is Solid

Your first venue needs to be on solid footing before you begin expanding into your second location. For a start, you may be using the capital from the first venue to fund the second, so it needs to be profitable and reliable.

But it also needs to work successfully without demanding too much attention, especially if you’re going to be spending more time developing the second site. If your current venue has issues, it’s best to sort them out before embarking on a whole new venture. The last thing you want is to lose the bird in the hand in exchange for two in the bush.

It also means you’ve got all the kinks sorted out, so you won’t be transferring the same issues to a new venue. But you might also have to spend time away from the venue to work on the second location.

2. Stick to the Same Business Plan

If it worked with your first venue so successfully, why would you not use the same business plan on your second venture? Duplicating your business model can certainly take much of the hassle out of opening a second venue.

Of course, minor tweaks will likely be needed so reassess your business plan to see what worked and what didn’t from your first venue.

The menu is an obvious example. If you’re planning to set up a very similar venture, you have the luxury of being able to either transfer the most popular items across or create similar variations on the tried-and-tested formula.

In basic terms, if the blueberry pancakes at your first venue sell like…hotcakes, then why not create lemon and ricotta pancakes at your new venue? That way, you can use the same base batter and your staff can follow the same method they’re used to.

Just remember to think about the proximity of your second venue to your first and make sure you’re not creating competition for that first venue!

3. Choose the Right Location

If you’ve experienced enough success in your first venue to be considering expansion, you probably already know about the importance of location.

When you’re choosing a location for your second venue, you should employ many of the same things you used to weigh up the location for your first venue. But there are a few additional things to consider.

Having a second venue in the same vicinity as the first has its perks. It can help handle overflow and make it easier to manage the two venues; you can send staff down the road if one venue is peaking or produce a lot of the food from one kitchen. And there have been numerous examples of this working well.

However, there’s also the ‘all your eggs in one basket’ factor. By setting up shop close by, you could also be limiting your customer base and creating competition for your own first restaurant. Instead, you may choose to enter a new location to tap into a new demographic.

4. Ensure You Have Trustworthy Staff

It’s nearly impossible to maintain a consistent presence at two venues – especially in the beginning, when your new venue will demand more time getting up and running. And you certainly won’t be able to manage the daily operations in both venues simultaneously.

That makes it essential to have competent and trustworthy staff. You may need to collaborate with a business partner or hire a general manager.

If you choose to hire a manager, have them shadow you for a while at your first location before the second venue opens; you can then leave them in charge of the first venue while you concentrate on the second.

Of course, don’t neglect your first venue! Check in several times a week – or even daily, if possible – to show that you are still heavily invested in its success.

You can also use your expert team to train staff at your new location, or have your new staff shadow your veteran employees at the first location.

5. Duplicate Processes Across Venues

Your first restaurant, café or bar was really your training ground, where you could explore various processes and get the right systems in place for your venue.

If you’ve found a hospitality POS system that works, use the same software in your second location. This is going to facilitate a smooth opening, since you and your staff will already be familiar with the system. It will also help things run more smoothly if both venues are using the same accounting and inventory management systems.

The same could work for your steps of service, training program, and more.

Are You Ready to Open Your Second Venue?

Do you feel like you’re got your first venue perfected and are ready for a new challenge? It might be time to expand into your second venue! But take care. Success with your first venue is no guarantee for your second. Always apply your due diligence and consider your lessons learned from your first venue.

And for more information about getting ahead with your hospitality business, check out some of our other tips and advice on the Impos blog that will help you get your second venue started right. Every little detail is covered, from music strategy tips to dealing with online reviews.