The Program Aids Local Restaurateurs in Navigating Business Disruption with Technology Tools, Marketing Expertise, Business Coaching and Psychological Wellness Support
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Socialincs, Inc., today announced the launch of “Restaurants Rising,” an initiative providing resources and support to help local area restaurants operate and adapt in response to Covid-19 and the associated rapidly changing market dynamics.
The program will offer access to technology, marketing, and loyalty platforms, as well as pro bono business consulting and multi-disciplined operational and psychological support, to help local restaurants keep their businesses intact and survive in the current challenging economic environment. To qualify to participate in the program, restaurants must be independently owned and operated, and doing business in the Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside or San Bernardino County area.
Many local community restaurants were caught off-guard and have struggled to revamp their business models almost overnight to comply with Covid-19 social distancing mandates. Where take-out and delivery orders previously made up 15% of their business, they have had to quickly morph their business model to accommodate 100% of business via take-out and delivery, in the midst of an economic downturn.
“Today, the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to erase the livelihood and existence of many of our ‘mom and pop’ local restaurants that play a critical role in communities across the country,” said Dave Naidu, Chief Executive Officer, Socialincs, Inc. “We believe that we are in a unique position to provide a wealth of resources to help many of our smallest locally-owned restaurants. There are many concerns and much that restaurants need to do right now to stay afloat and succeed. Working together with other organizations, we want to help guide them and give them a game plan.”
Socialincs, the technology-assisted marketing and consulting group behind the offering, is a sister company of Opis, which launched the nationally acclaimed program to help “100 Businesses for 100 Days” in 2010 in conjunction with 14 cities of Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Santa Ana, and San Bernardino, Calif., providing free business coaching.
The “Restaurants Rising” program provides immediate and ongoing support in the following areas:
- Multi-lingual online food ordering platform and widgets to enable restaurants to seamlessly and easily add ordering capabilities to community websites.
- Support for no-contact doorstep delivery and minimal-exposure pickup options.
- Automated and streamlined collection and remittance of city/county/state sales and use tax.
- Business consulting and coaching on topics including how to drive improved order volume leveraging social media and the web, creating new family-style meals and packages for take-out, and customer service for curbside pickup and take-out orders.
- Training on best practices and templates for printed materials to promote employee and customer safety in accordance with City, County, State and Federal orders.
- Guidance on applicable emergency relief measures for micro businesses.
- Ongoing community supported forums and workshops.
One of the challenges small local restaurants face during this time is popular dine-out delivery providers such as GrubHub and UberEats are costly to small restaurant proprietors, taking on average 20-30% of the order proceeds from consumers and 20-30% of the order proceeds from restaurants.
Restaurants Rising provides restaurateurs with access to the Loqalli (pronounced “Locally”) platform. Developed by Socialincs, Loqalli is a turnkey secure online ordering and delivery platform that enables restaurants to support an online order and take-out delivery model, with secure online payment processing that speeds revenue collection with 24-48 hour payment settlement, and support for no-contact doorstep delivery and minimal-exposure order pickup options.
Moreover, the platform allows for the retention of more than 96% of the order proceeds, giving financially stressed restaurants more revenues to pay rents, payroll, and offer more value to customers.
Restaurants Rising also will address another underlying need that is often overlooked in the restaurant community – the high mental and emotional toll of fears, distress, and anxiety. In addition to the support listed above, the program offers free access to mental health resources, awareness, education, and tips via live and recorded webinars by area clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, and mindfulness coaches.
“Stress is the number one trigger for mental illness,” said Dr. Sonia Singh, a cofounder of Socialincs, organizing the mental health support elements of the Restaurants Rising program, who is also a licensed clinical psychologist and President of Chiron Psychological, Inc. “During these unprecedented times, where restaurant owners and their employees are struggling to survive, we must empower their emotional wellbeing so they can go from a sense of loss to resilience.”
Local Southern California restaurateurs who wish to enroll in the Restaurants Rising program can participate in a series of informational overview webinars to learn more. The webinars will be held on Monday, April 27 at 2:30 p.m. PT and Wednesday, April 29 at 2:30 p.m. PT, and will repeat weekly on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. PT and Wednesdays at 2:30 PT.
To learn more and to register for the webinars, please visit: https://restaurantsrising.com/.
About Socialincs
Socialincs, Inc. is part of the Opis Network of Companies. For 28 years, Opis has contributed to nonprofits and community programs to help stimulate and build its communities. Over the past two decades, we have developed innovative strategies to transform companies by increasing their market share, while significantly increasing bottom-line results. We are early adopters and integrators of technology-assisted consulting, which serves as our core advantage in the service of companies in 12 countries across the globe. We view our digital-enabled world as the rapid evolution of ideas and tools but, the fundamentals of conducting business, building relationships and serving our communities endure.
Contacts
Erin Lutz
Lutz Public Relations & Marketing (for Opis Network of Companies)
949.293.1055
erin@lutzpr.com
