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11 replies

Dollar menu

FM Former Member
Every large chain seems to be going to a dollar menu. I have thought about it and came up with one particular item that can be a little gold mine....perhaps!

First before I let the cat outa the bag I would like to mention something that I learned I think from a legitimate source. Briefly: Wendys was the first to come up with the 99 cent or whatever menu. It was a killer for sales..it was wonderful...but...other sales dropped and to the point where Wendys found that they made a terrible mistake. By the time they were figuring how to pull out the other large chains followed suite to stay with the competetion but some like McDonalds have a "floating" dollar menu that changes items and even the quanity of items. Again no doubt that McDonalds has some smart people. So I don't think a dollar menu is such a good idea.

But I did come up with a similar item while thinking about dollar menu. By the way, for me the dollar menu isn't entirely out...I believe there is a way to still profit with bbq and dollar items but probably very limited.

What I came up with is a Krystal bbq snadwich! The buns are easily available sliced, 2 dozen for $1.24 in my wholesale market. So that is about 5 cents for the bun. I crammed as much meat on that little puppy and came up with about 1 ounce of meat a dab of bbq sauce and for about a 15 cent cost I have a sandwich much bigger than Krystal that I could sell for 4 to 6 times the raw material cost! Perhaps a bbq with salw for 99 cents! My sandwich is $3.50 with a 4 1/2 inch 20 cent bun, 4 ounces of meat, at about 9 cents an ounce cooked after shrinkage, and that is piled on, about 8 cents worth of bbq sauce...so my sandwich costs about 65 cents and sells for almost 5+ times that cost! So I shouldn't be hurt if people swing towards the little cheapie!

Still thinking about this...seems like I am leaving something important out...I don't mean the overhead costs...just something...I often have very good ideas but those ideas usually have nothing to do with making money! LOL! I also have thought I am a lucky person but not when it comes to money! I rarely gamble when it comes to money!!!

So...anyone have any interesting thoughts here?

Peter
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FM Former Member
From where I sit, reading your post, it sounds like a winner. You did the homework, realize the up AND down side of your idea, and IMHO came up with a great marketing tool. Great job!!

Where I would run with it is this: take your slowest day of the week, combine your Krystal BBQ with a soft drink or tea. Charge $2 for the combo. If you're using a post-mix soda gun, the cost of the cup, ice and beverage is under 5 cents for a 12 oz cup...add another .95 profit to the bottom line.

Thing is, you need to advertise your new idea if you want to build traffic and repeat customers. Look at that as marketing cost, which it is. The good news is that you're NOT Wendy's...meaning you can pull the plug whenever you choose to do so.

Let us know how it works out for you.
FM Former Member
Herman...I get more like a 60% yield and yesterday I think I paid 79 cents/pound at my Sam's. That calculates $.090+ per pound at a 60% yield!

Topchef...you're reading my mind...was planning on that for a Thursday to see if it'll fly...maybe all Thursdays for a limited time...or maybe Sundays. Don't have a drink machine just 20oz bottles...they cost to much. Tea is cheap to brew. Selling a 20 oz cup for $1.00 now. I'm still thinking about all this.

I have one of those flashing arrow signs you can get at Sam's...it really works! Otherewise I can't afford much more for advertising yet. Word of mouth is finally working...it is slow to start but is gaining ground now.

Thanks guys,
Peter
FM Former Member
Woodburner...
Yeah something like that...good names! Someone brought me a whole list of names but I don't recall what all they were...I threw the napkin away! Good news...doubled Thursdays sales today! Maybe I'll be able to afford more than salad stuff for supper soon! LOL

Peter
FM Former Member
peter, my biggest concern for your dollar menu is the reduction of your a.c.e. for me, that is very important, cause customer count is very low. oopps.... "average customer expenditure" . i may not get more than 20-30 guest on an average day, but at a ten dollar ace, i will make my goal. if i were selling something for a dollar, i would be worried about hitting my target sells. hhmm, maybe i am being too reserved..certainly there are alot of bottom feeders out there.. where do ya get those buns? what size, 1 inch? we will call it "capt pete's minique"
maybe offer them in sack fulls...by the dozen, or half dozen.....
FM Former Member
Coffee...
You have hit exactly what Wendy's ran into as I stated in an earlier post above. And I totally agree with you and see their problem. However...my idea is like a special, a temporary thing, whereas that is where Wendy's messed up and McDonalds played it safe by continuing to change their dollar menu! I am thinking I can get new people to try my food with a hot deal like that. If there are any periods of slowness, such as Thursdays ans Sundays, I could run it then only, etc.!

Peter
FM Former Member
yea, peter! thats an awesome idea! i run daily specials mon-thur. like, mon-dollar off salad entree, tues- free dessert with purchase of 2 chicken dinners, etc.. and i post them on the website, and put a flyer(1/3 of a page) in each outgoing bag.
sounds like a great special for one day a month. good job, pete! oh yea, thought of a catchie name for your 'lil' q , but cant post in fear of getting kicked off the forum....... Red Face
oh yea, another idea for you...
do the same thing with chicken, might help use up old birds.... also, a big hit around here is our stuffed spud. you might get a good response on this one... huge baked potato, cut it open, butter it, cram bbq in it, sauted peppers and onions, cheddar cheese, and you got a meal.....
serve it up with garlic bread, sourcreme and bbq sauce on the side.. its a big hit around here..
FM Former Member
PuttersPit...
I think I didn't write it correctly. In my first post of this thread the costs are correct accept the sauce. The bbq sauce costs me 4.3 cents per ounce and there may be at the most 2 ounces of sauce on my regular sandwich. I was probably thinking about the tiny bbq sandwich having 2 cents worth or maybe was thinking 2 ounces and stopped thinking right there instead of calculating. Gray matter (hair) you know!

Thanks for pointing that out. It must have been driving you crazy trying to figure how I could do that and what you might have been missing for yourself!

Sorry and thanks for pointing that out. I'll edit that correctly.

Got some other ideas and questions that I'll post here asap.

Peter

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