We recently teamed up with Restaurant Business Magazine to host a webinar, “3 Growth Strategies to Help Emerging Brands Thrive.” Leaders from Dave’s Hot Chicken and bartaco shared ways to accelerate restaurant growth—including how to build a consolidated tech stack that scales with your brand and innovative ways to use guest data.
Keep scrolling for highlights from our conversation and watch the full video on-demand to hear directly from Leon Davoyan, CTO at Dave’s Hot Chicken, and Scott Lawton, CEO & Co-Founder of bartaco.
3 ways emerging restaurants can build and execute an effective growth strategy
1. Build a tech stack that can scale with your growth
If you want your restaurant brand to grow, you must figure out how to properly scale your business—including assembling the right tech stack and finding the right people. After all, running 5 locations is much different than running 50.
Don’t look for tech solutions to help you through the next two years. Give yourself a big runway by choosing solutions that will scale with your brand over its lifetime.
As part of the vetting process, prioritize the needs of internal stakeholders who will use the tool, as well as the guest experience. Doing your homework upfront will prevent wasted time and money from switching tech solutions later.
Remember, you can’t scale without pouring time into your team. You need people you can trust and develop. As your brand grows, empower them in any way you can.
“You have to select tech partners that will grow and innovate with you. The moment you start swapping out systems, you stop innovating. And in this day and age, that’s a heavy price to pay. To remain relevant, you have to continue to innovate.”
Leon Davoyan, CTO of Dave’s Hot Chicken
2. Leverage guest data to spark front-line engagement
Guest data shouldn’t just live in your restaurant marketing department. It should inform business decisions across departments, from the menu to real estate selection.
For example, you should know exactly how each shift went from the guest’s perspective—and be able to leverage those insights to drive repeat visits, improve operations, identify training opportunities, and recognize top-performing team members.
The deeper your understanding of a guest—from their order frequency and favorite menu items to their preferred marketing channel—the easier it is to provide a personalized and elevated experience.
“Guest data—not only who they are and what they like, but what they’re telling us and how we’re talking to them digitally and in the restaurant—has been our north star for running our restaurant.”
Scott Lawton, CEO & Co-Founder of bartaco
3. Incorporate tech and data that streamlines operations
Seamless tech integration is essential for scaling your brand. Only when your systems share data can you optimize operations, increase throughput, maximize guest lifetime value, and make informed business decisions.
Implement one or two tech solutions at a time instead of trying to do everything at once. Focus on enhancing the guest experience, driving sales, and increasing efficiency.
For example:
- Remove friction from the ordering process with self-serve kiosks
- Consolidate delivery orders from multiple third-party marketplaces
- Reduce cart abandonment and boost repeat orders with convenient payment options
- Leverage capacity management tools, like AI-assisted order throttling, that integrate POS and KDS data
Leon Davoyan, CTO of Dave’s Hot Chicken“With technology rapidly evolving, we’re all trying to place the right bets so we survive the wave. It’s kind of like surfing—you want to stay on the wave as long as possible.”
How to watch the webinar on-demand
Watch the webinar on-demand to hear Leon, Scott, and I discuss how these tactics have helped Dave’s Hot Chicken and bartaco become the industry-leading brands they are today. Plus, get real-world insight into taking an emerging restaurant business to the next level.
Request a demo to discover how Olo can help you scale your restaurant business.
