It doesn’t take a genius to realize that restaurants are opening and closing in the Charlotte market—and elsewhere—at breakneck speed. Profitability means a day-by-day quest to gain and retain customers. Statistically, one out of five restaurants will close.
One Charlotte entrepreneur is doing all he can to raise a glass for his friends in the restaurant industry. As a self-described foodie and frequent diner himself, D. Alan Smith wants locally-owned restaurants to succeed. And his new business idea gives him a financial stake in driving their stability.
Alan’s concept is called Dine Genius. The idea is to help restaurants fill unused seats and add incremental revenue through app-based marketing. Currently in development, the app uses Geo-location to display daily menu specials. Users can see the food and drink specials closest to them, helping them decide which restaurant to visit.
Says Alan, “Basically, we are the Kayak for restaurants. Kayak aggregates and lists all available hotels and flight deals. We list restaurant specials.”
Dine Genius has two key targets within the Charlotte market: independently-owned restaurants and business professionals or working families as the end-user.
So, what’s behind the need for this information? Alan describes a scenario that takes place in his workplace—and offices everywhere—just before lunch every day:
“At 11:30 a.m. every single day, some guy will say, ‘What’s for lunch today?’ Dine Genius will aggregate daily dining specials so he can be an informed diner. There will also be ancillary posts,” he said. “For example, Charlotte is big on al fresco dining so we’ll post related information, like what patios are dog friendly? Who has wine specials on Wednesday when you have business partners coming in? And it’s not just lunch, but also dinner and drink specials.”
Most restaurants don’t post their daily specials. The diner usually doesn’t find out until the wait staff rattles off the information at your table. According to Alan, no other site has a comprehensive daily list like it, not even Google.
With Dine Genius, restaurants will be able to outsource their digital marketing via its software-driven solution. Alan refers to this as MaaS, or Marketing-as-a-Service.
As a banker and seasoned investor, Alan is doing the proper market research to determine how to make Dine Genius a viable and supportive entity for locally-owned restaurateurs. He started by participating in the spring 2018 cohort of UNC Charlotte’s Ventureprise program.
Avid about learning, Alan reports that the program helped him significantly in identifying the target customer, getting in-depth research from his core client and understanding the right business model to bring it all together.
But this isn’t his first time launching a business. Alan’s been an owner, investor or working to support other entrepreneurs for over 20 years. While entrepreneurship was always a side gig, he has shown he knows what it takes.
Alan started a property management company as a University of North Carolina at Charlotte undergrad, recognizing an opportunity to help students sublease during the summer months. He successfully sold that business. Other businesses would follow. He remains an investor in a local cocktail company called Liberate your Palate that teaches classes in craft cocktails.
So we had to ask how all his great past experience is helping him launch Dine Genius.
Alan replied, “It [entrepreneurship] is a mindset. From understanding that it takes time to build a successful company to the patience that is one of the outcomes of being an entrepreneur. Coming from a traditional background and having a strong understanding of finance and accounting helps, too. I definitely keep an eye on revenue and the P&L.”
Still, he is realistic about the challenges ahead.
“The restaurant industry is a difficult market because there are a lot of people selling to them. It can be hard to circumvent traditional advertising. The main challenge is getting them to see there are new ways to solve the problem of empty seats,” he said.
Alan is pleased with the supportive community he’s found in Charlotte for startup help. That includes One Million Cups Charlotte, which recently welcomed Alan’s Dine Genius presentation at its monthly think tank meetup. He welcomed the feedback.
Alan is enthusiastic about the potential for Dine Genius and firmly believes that driving customer acquisition, engagement and retention is a smart investment in the success of local restaurants. After all, as the company’s tagline says, Dine Genius is “the smart way to make dining decisions.”
And it doesn’t take a genius to recognize the value in that.
Biz Beginnings 