"Small Restaurant Owners Should Cut Advertising Costs" – A Completely Wrong Business Mindset

The Wrong Idea About Saving on Advertising

Many new business owners or small restaurant owners, especially those with low profits, tend to have the mindset of saving on every expense. "Save money to make money," is an old belief that comes from a time when markets were less competitive, and people relied on savings to accumulate wealth.

However, in today’s modern economy, capital must be put to work to generate more capital, instead of being left idle. The new mindset should be, “Use money to make more money,” or in simpler terms, "invest to grow".

There are different levels of making money:

1. The lowest level is earning money through hard work.

2. The next level involves using knowledge and intelligence to earn.

3. The highest and smartest level is using money to earn more money.

One of the most crucial investments for any restaurant is advertising. Today, advertising expenses are just as important as rent, labor, utilities, materials, machinery, and maintenance costs. And here’s a seemingly paradoxical yet proven fact: The smaller the restaurant, the more you need to spend on advertising.

The Advertising Budget to Profit Ratio

The following advertising-to-profit ratio is gathered from U.S. businesses and can be easily verified via Google:

Delving deeper, we can see that the proportion of online advertising spending within the total advertising budget is significantly large and continues to grow. In the Asia-Pacific region, this proportion was 36.3% in 2016.

To make this more understandable, think of it like a person who, when they are born or when they are unwell, needs to invest in food, exercise, and nutrition to build up strength and immunity. You need to "eat" to stay healthy instead of starving yourself to "save." If you avoid nourishing yourself, you’ll remain weak and unproductive.

Why Advertising is Vital for Your New Restaurant

If your restaurant is newly opened, has low profits, or is struggling with fewer customers, this is exactly when you need to spend on advertising—especially through social media, a professional website, and brand identity design, instead of trying to save costs. Sitting idly and hoping that the slow business period will end, or waiting for things to improve in the future, is simply not a sustainable strategy.

Advertising, whether online or offline, is your restaurant’s chance to introduce itself to the community, build its brand, and ultimately drive more customers through the door. Dazzle Pixel can help your restaurant create a lasting, professional online presence that attracts and retains customers.

Don’t wait for the perfect moment—invest in marketing now to grow your restaurant. Start with a professional website, build a strong brand identity, and use advertising to reach your audience. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will see results.