You can just picture it now. The sound of glasses clinking, gentle laughter, and touches of sunlight casting a golden glow over plates of delicious food. There’s a light summer breeze weaving its way between the tables – not any old tables mind, but the cafe tables on your outdoor patio. These tables are full of happy smiling guests, enjoying the outdoors and spending money on food and drinks.
With Christmas fast approaching there’s never been a better time to consider setting up an outdoor patio. It’s not just about improving your curb appeal or increasing your seating capacity. More importantly it’s about increasing your profits.
You might wonder how an outdoor patio area can increase profits. Simple. It gives your customers more space to hold special events, shows off your cafe to passers-by, and gives them a comfortable place to linger longer and keep the good time flowing.
We’ve put together just a few benefits of incorporating an outdoor patio into your business plan.
Add more space
Adding an outdoor patio gives you more room for other activities and can breath new life into your cafe. Even if you don’t have the space for a full blown patio, you may be able to utilise the pavement space creating an extra vibe. Perhaps you have a flat roof with access. That being the case, what a perfect opportunity to create a trendy cafe bar that could also be used in the evenings and offer more of a secluded feel if you’re stuck bang in the middle of a busy city.
Having a patio area allows you to offer live music and even hold quiz nights. Throw in some patio heaters for those chilly evenings and some twinkly lights, and your cafe will quickly become ‘the place to be’.
Free advertising
A successful outdoor patio is a great way to benefit from free advertising. Depending on your set-up, it may well be the first thing that a potential customer sees. If you’re in a great location near a popular landmark or with a fabulous view, then having outdoor space is a given for your cafe.
There’s nothing like seeing customers enjoying themselves and smelling the delicious aroma of coffee and food, to entice passers-by to grab a seat even if they didn’t know beforehand that this was their intention! Be sure to have your social media hash tags and Instagram user names in full view of your customers so if they take a picture they want to share, they know just how to tag it.
Relaxed customers spend more money
If you already operate a happy hour then why not consider making it exclusive to your patio. It’s a great way of giving happy hour guests their own place to enjoy a drink and snacks, without it feeling too stuffy. As they start to feel relaxed, they’ll also want to stay longer, increasing your sales.
Finally, once you have your patio up and running just make sure to keep it looking clean and attractive at all times and don’t turn into a dumping ground for wobbly tables and ugly chairs. Make sure you have sufficient staff to ensure that guests are quickly welcomed and served. There is nothing worse than feeling as if you’re being totally ignored when sat outside.
Make a success of your patio and you can expect to see a generous return on your investment. To help you set up an outdoor patio, we’re doing a great deal on a cafe starter pack, so why not take a look.