Your new restaurant is finally open for business, the food you cook is as good as you can make it; there is just one small problem, Tuesdays are so quiet it is hardly worth opening and to be frank you could do with some more customers most nights of the week. Here are the doNOWdo top tips for increasing custom and getting those all important repeat customers

 1 The maxim there is no such thing as a free lunch applies particularly to restaurants. Of course you don’t want it to be free: you want to make money, but offering a free meal/ starter/ pudding in the early days to everybody you know and their friends (not the drinks) can be an excellent way of getting your restaurant known and importantly make the restaurant fuller – people assume that busy restaurants are good

2 Even when you are established be ready to offer a free little something from time to time and especially when things go wrong. Research has shown that people are more ready to return to places where there has been a problem but the staff worked hard to put it right than where there was no problem in the first place. So if you know there is going to be a long wait before the main course is ready, apologise and tell your customers that you are bringing them complementary olives, some bread and olive oil, a few dips and you will find its put them in an altogether happier frame of mind.

3 Don’t let the bill be an unpleasant surprise. People will mentally work out what the bill is going to be as they go along. Hidden charges, a cover charge they hadn’t expected, higher wine costs than they were anticipating, can work once but will leave them feeling disappointed.

4 However, you can tempt them to spend more. A fixed price menu can include pay extra options as long they really are for a something that can be seen to be worth it.

5 Consider your menu. Is it too long? People like choice but they also like variety. If you list everything you could offer on the menu it will always be the same. It will also be more difficult to do well than a shorter menu. Far better to have just a few regular items but also to have daily or weekly specials that change with the seasons.

6 Talk to your customers and find out what they recommend. Market research needn’t cost a fortune. Simply asking your customers what they like and what they don’t like will give you lots of useful information. Don’t assume they like the music – ask them.

7 Get your service staff to be alert to what people are wanting rather than make fixed rules. Some people like having their wine glasses topped up, others prefer to be left in peace. Encourage your staff to treat the customers as individuals. Go easy on asking people if everything is all right. Once is fine more than that you seem to be seeking reassurance.

8 Make sure the loos are as luxurious as you can make them. People assume an association with the standards of the loos and the standards of the kitchens.

9 Remember vegetarians and think how they get really fed up with omelettes and pasta in tomato sauce. Can you offer something more exciting? And change the options regularly. About 7% of the UK population claim to be vegetarian but there are more of them in ABC socio economic groups – the people who are more likely to eat out. And this means that in any family of four there is a 25% chance that one of them will be a vegetarian.

10 Think publicity. Publicity needn’t be expensive it just needs imagination. Have you taken advantage of free publicity offers such as the one that is available on doNOWdo? Do you have any special events on that quiet Tuesday? How about a jazz evening, or a special buffet, how about offering a bottle of wine in the free Tuesday raffle, or a singles night. How about contacting local clubs and offering them a discount? How about celebrating the summer solstice, harvest festival, bonfire night, diwali. If you do get good publicity make the most of it. Framed articles in the front window really do get noticed.