Everyone loves the holidays. The season brings festivity and cheer, and for your restaurant, it can bring good business.

On an average, each American spends over $700 during Christmas alone, and most of the money is spent on groceries, drinks and eating out.

Whether it’s marketing, adding dishes to your menu or decorating every little thing can make the difference and add up to make a stellar Christmas.

Let’s work our way up from the small things to the big bang.

The first thing your restaurant needs to do is embrace the Christmas spirit. Your restaurant needs to stand out from every other place, and even from its previous versions on Christmas.

Throw out the box of the usual stuff your restaurant puts up every Christmas. Go out shopping and buy cool and unique Christmas decorations.

Consider it an investment, and the best one to pull in new traffic to your restaurant. It will pay off the rest of the year.

Curate an amazing Christmas soundtrack. Most free music apps can help you do this, and you won’t have to play “All I Want for Christmas” on repeat.

After all, your customers are your promoters. Both your existing ones and the new ones you attract can promote your restaurant throughout the year.

Getting noticed through word of mouth is the best achievement for your business.

The best way to make that happen is to create a customer database. Try to remember your customers by name, what they ordered last time, any feedback they gave and if so how you improved on it.

Creating this personal touch can get you far.

Make sure customer satisfaction is given the top priority. A customer who is made to suffer long queues isn’t a happy one. An unhappy customer can get you bad reviews, and that can make all the difference to make or break your reputation.

Increasing your table turnover rate can help change that. Make sure you have a good mix of tables for families, large groups and couples. You can always try a low budget renovation just in case.

Another way to increase your efficiency is ensuring the checks are promptly left and taken, and bussed immediately after your guests leave.

Your restaurant is made up of your employees, your food and ambiance. Make the best of all three.

Create a seasonal product for the holidays. New dishes on your menu always pull attention. Everyone loves warm beverages, and flavors like cinnamon, ginger, caramel, orange, fudge, and toffee are big this season.

Whether you own a restaurant or bar, find ways to incorporate these flavors. Baked goods are the biggest money-maker during the Holidays. You can sell take-home treats like cookie dough and chocolates, or add something innovative like pumpkin bread or Eggnog-Panettone Bread Pudding. Give out free samples to upsell these dishes to your customers.

Make the most of online delivery, for the people who want to eat in on big holidays. Most online food delivery apps also reduces your dependence on delivery boys by providing them, themselves. Create special discounts and codes for people buying in on Christmas, for saving you the restaurant space when things get crowded.

Take it a step further and release a tutorial video of your chef creating an amazing dish as well. It doesn’t take much effort, and customers will more likely remember your restaurant for it. Upload the video on your site and promote it on social media.

Share recipes, food facts, and even tricks to create classic holiday dishes. Several people would have questions about cooking, and be out there and ready to answer them.

In fact, you can ask your guests what they would like to see, or their favorite holiday dishes. Reach out to them through email and offer them discounts.

Contact bloggers and influencers and invite them to your restaurant to try out your new dishes.

Host a holiday party or event to bring in your best customers, employees, and neighborhood together. You can even organize a charity event where proceedings can go towards gifts for orphanages.

Lastly, start your social media marketing well ahead (which means right away!) for people to come across your business more often. Share pictures on what’s going on at your restaurant, any decorations and food included. The more people see your business name popping up, the more they’ll be tempted to pay a visit.

It’s the best way to spread the word on the magic your restaurant is cooking up.

Whether it’s renovating or decorating for the holiday, building a marketing strategy or hiring staff during the season bustle, have a proper financial plan, and apply for an additional financing option from Reliant Funding.

A maximum outreach for you and happy holidays for your customers is the best kind of double-win. Have yourself a great holiday season and good tidings into the year ahead!