Top 3 Ways to Fail in the Pizza Business

The top 3 ways to fail in the pizza business are obvious to some but not all operators. Avoid these basic mistakes and it will help you prevent failure.

1.  Trying to be everything to everybody. You can’t please everybody all the time so don’t bother trying. Pick a style of pizza that you are a master of such as the NY slice style, Detroit style or Brick oven Style and do one style great. The same advice goes for having an incredibly large menu that gives too many choices, requires incredible prep and storage(resulting in waste) and too many mediocre dishes.  Be famous and well known for one signature pizza like the Vodka Pie created by the Original Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza on Hylan Blvd, in Staten Island NY back in the early ’90s. Then there is the famous Sicilian(square) pie from Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst or the Clam Pie from Peppi’s in Connecticut.  You get the idea and probably have a local pizza place that is famous in its own right for doing something spectacular.

2. Bad location.  This one seems obvious but it is a killer. The things that you should be aware of are No parking, inconvenient to get to, too small a place, too big a place, too much renovation required. Then there are restrictions-like no delivery or no pizza competition. Then there is the neighborhood itself. Is there a lunch crowd, a dinner crowd?

3. Not paying attention to your customers. This one comes in many forms but the bottom line is: Ignore your customers at your own peril.  What does this mean? It means to be courteous and thankful for feedback not annoyed or argumentive. If a customer tells you the bathroom needs cleaning-clean it and keep it clean because he is not the only one who noticed it. Rarely will a customer complain out loud these days so listen and be thankful because most just will simply be upset and not return.  If you keep running out of grape soda-stock more. When customers like a dish-get it on the menu and the opposite is also true if it doesn’t sell improve it or get rid of it.

Just a few things to avoid and

Top 3 Things to Avoid When Starting a Pizza Place by NY Brick Oven Co.

the best of luck to you.

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