Offering Experience that Drives the Restaurant Franchises

In the past couple of years, the restaurant industry has undergone many changes as consumer preferences keep on changing with time. The stressful lifestyles and increasing affordability have created a niche for restaurateurs to experiment and offer customers an experience beyond good food and classy ambiance.

Nowadays, people don’t go to the cafes and restaurants just to satiate their hunger, but for a lot more activities that they would love to enjoy, such as live music, karaoke nights and many more.

In conversation with Franchise India, Santosh Vishal, Vice President, North Finch, throws light on how entertainment and experience is creating difference in the restaurant franchise system of India.

Coming Up with the Idea of Experience-Focused Brand

As mentioned before, consumers are looking forward to create memories in a cafe or a bar, apart from eating good food. For instance, amalgamating music with food becomes an experience which is worth spending money. And therefore, the concept of music (live music and karaoke) is helping brands in getting more and more footfall in their outlets.

Famous for its fine dining and live music that it offers, The Finch is one of those cafes that serve this concept to public. Talking about the trend of live music, Santosh Vishal says,   “Indian people want value for their money and a place where they can get a holistically entertaining experience. Hence, we feel that such concepts will keep showing continuous growth.”

“The country's love for music, food and good conversations makes it a great market for a business like ours. Once the brand makes a mark amongst people, it’s a good opportunity to scale up to different locations and provide them with a tailor made version of the experience,” Vishal further adds.

Talking about the difference in sales and footfall that the concept of live music creates, he says, “Our Mumbai outlet gets an average footfall of 4000. Live Music is definitely complimentary to our sales as it gives people something to stay back longer and keep coming again. They can get a different experience every time. This helps in repeated footfalls and increase in the overall APC.”

Franchising as the best expansion route

In order to expand the footprints of such restaurant, franchising seems to be the perfect solution. In order for a debutant or emerging entrepreneur to become a successful franchisee in this field, a pinch of quirk and the managerial skills are much needed.

The feel is the most important thing while running a restaurant like this as it differentiates a high-end café from a typical restaurant. Everything in the restaurant has to be decided as per the theme, like the menu, props, atmosphere, administration, cutlery and designs, and the area – the place should have the look and the experience in its totality. So, the maintenance of the restaurant requires much more detailing than a regular restaurant (although it's a one-time investment). 

The Finch has recently forayed into Chandigarh with its outlet via franchise route. “Chandigarh is a booming market with high demand for a concept like ours. With its love for music, good food and drinks, along with its high spending power, we see a lot of potential for the growth of our brand,” says Vishal.