Times Change

I met a restaurant owner yesterday who point blank asked me why I did what I did. It is funny how over the years my answers have drastically changed. When I started www.DineWilmingtonOnline.com
over 3 years ago my answer was to develop a business that provided information to the public and an exclusive venue to the restaurants. My biggest challenge was to design and develop the site simultaneously - I had to promote it to users and at the same time, sell it to restaurants. If I didn't have restaurants, the content would not be appealing for repeat visits. If I didn't have visitors, the restaurants would be placing a billboard in a field.
In year two, I became an ezine. Many of my restaurants did not understand online marketing and were skeptical. When our stats showed that the majority of our traffic were between the hours of 8am and 6pm, it became obvious that the site was not a place to check the Friday night specials. Our page views became extensive and our average visit lasted up to 10 minutes. My answer in year two - to provide a frequently visited (we hit our 1M hit goal) site exclusive for promoting and marketing restaurants through an online magazine format. My simple business of providing information now included writing, photography, eventing, and consulting.
In year three, I watched the industry that I had immersed myself in, fall apart. After three years of developing relationships and building what was my obsession and passion, I watched as the restaurant industry slowly fell apart. The signs were obvious, they were everywhere. While corporate restaurants were able to dig in and take aggressive action against the local market, the local restaurateurs very quickly started to fell the repercussions of the fear and concern of their customers. In year three my answer is much more complicated. My response to the question that was asked was more heart felt - I was in business to support local restaurant owners. Yes, I still convey information to the consumer, I still work with the restaurants to provide savings and offerings to increase business but, I have become an advocate to the local restaurant owner. I raise awareness about local dining and the importance of supporting them within our community. Like many business owners, restaurant owners need support but they also need to learn change. When I am asked why a particular restaurant has closed I usually simply answer "for a multitude of reasons", all of which contribute but the one thing that always concerns me is the inability of an owner to recognize, adjust and change with the times.