From The Page to Profit: Why Your Burger Franchise Menu Matters

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When you open a restaurant you dream of all sorts of things. How will it look? How will your staff dress? What kind of music are you going to play? What is the vibe you are trying to project? There are a million things to consider. One of the most important and ever-evolving decisions you will make is what you will offer on your menu?

It Takes More Than Grandma’s Recipe Rolodex To Make A Menu

There is a lot to consider when putting together a menu. It isn’t just a matter of sitting down and thinking of all the recipes you know. You have to consider a variety of variables. In the context of a restaurant franchise investment opportunity, aside from the types of burgers and shakes you will offer, it is important to consider things like:

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What if any customization options will they allow?
How do they account for dietary considerations?
Will their menu be seasonal?
Will they offer daily, weekly, or monthly specials?
Do they offer a kids’ menu?

Wouldn’t it be nice if all you had to do was just pull out a recipe card or consult the recipe binder you have put together over the years, pick out your favorites, and VOILÁ! You have a killer menu! Ya…No. Unfortunately, that isn’t how it works.

As you build out the menu, the best burger franchises know there are practical things to consider that will impact what does and does not go on the menu. At Harlem Shake, we have had to make some hard choices over the years that have impacted what goes on our menu and what does not.

At Harlem Shake, our experience has taught us to also consider variables such as:

Popularity
Margins
Trends
State & City Laws
Portability
Packaging
Supply

Think You Know What Your Most Popular Menu Item Will Be? Your Guests: “Hold My Shake…”

Sometimes just when you are sure you know which menu items will be the top sellers at your burger franchise, your guests throw you a curveball, and all of a sudden those Organic Shakes you put on the menu start selling like hotcakes because some celebrity decided they loved them and you can’t keep enough milk stocked to make them! You just never know what will and will not be the most popular menu item at any given time. These are things you learn as you go, and where the experience of a franchisor comes into play.

TikTok, Trends, and Celebrity Friends:The Impact Social Media Can Have on Your Menu Selections

Speaking of influencers…

Trends can start and stop on a dime. Are you paying attention to contemporary trends in diet, flavors, and product offerings? (We’re looking at you Hot Chicken and Boba Tea). All it takes is one influencer to decide they like or don’t like something and the next thing you know your sales are either going gangbusters or you find yourself on the business end of a recently canceled trend.

That said, “Caveat Emptor”. Which is Latin for “buyer beware”. It will be important to strike a balance between how much attention you pay to what is being said on social media and what you choose to bring to your menu. It is easy to get caught up in a fad that has been made famous by someone with a huge following on IG or TikTok, and the next thing you know some other influencer comes along and tells everyone why that is such a silly trend. You don’t want to wind up with thousands of dollars worth of ingredients for something, only to have it fade within a matter of months. Let alone if a particular food trend is even worth the effort from a profit perspective.

This brings us to more practical considerations for your menu construction like margins. These are the aspects of creating a menu the best burger franchises will help you consider. Harlem Shake among them.

Menu Money-Ball: Why Knowing Your Margins Matters To Your Menu

Among the most make-or-break decisions when constructing your menu is margins. Ever heard of ‘em? Kind of an important aspect of your menu to consider don’t you think?

You’d be shocked how many burger restaurant owners simply cannot tell you what their average profit margins are on a 2 top. A lot goes into whether or not you can live off the profits that can be made from the selections you offer on your menu.

Consider this, if you are using the ”freshest” and “highest quality ingredients”, as everyone in the QSR, Fast Casual, and Full Service Hospitality space seems to claim:

Can you charge what you need to cover your costs AND make a profit worthy of the effort you are putting in, day in and day out?
How much of that menu item will you need to sell to make it worthy of the space it takes up on your menu, let alone in your kitchen?
Is this going to be a staple on the menu or should it be a short-term promotion to test if it has staying power? Meaning, how much of what goes into the menu item do you want to buy?

Creating a menu for a burger franchise like Harlem Shake takes more than just making sure it appeals to a wide range of customers and stands out in a highly competitive market. You may want to think of the menu as a roadmap to your profitability. Meaning, if you were to take a menu from the host stand, sit down with it, and write the profit margins beside each of the menu items you decided to put on the menu. These insights may influence which items you may want to advertise most or ask your service team to recommend to the guests they serve.

Choose a Burger Franchise That Knows Menu Choices Matter

At Harlem Shake, we know these insights and others are what burger franchise candidates are expecting. They are looking for experienced and dedicated franchisors who already know and are prepared to share insights like the ones in this article. Because we have either seen what happens when you don’t consider the practical matters of menu composition and/or we have experienced the success that you can achieve when you do.

What separates good burger franchises from great ones is the scope of experience a franchisor brings to the table and their ability to use that experience to nurture success.

Inquire About Owning A Harlem Shake Burger Franchise Today

To learn more about becoming a Harlem Shake Franchisee, use the link below to schedule a call with our expert Franchise Consultant, James Lloyd, who has over 20 years of experience in franchising he can call upon to help you consider if Harlem Shake is the right franchise opportunity for you. Click Here to start your franchising journey.