In Winnetka, Illinois, chef Michael Lachowicz has strong opinions on what it takes to run successful daily deal promotions. Lachowicz has run six Groupon deals at his establishment, Restaurant Michael, resulting in more than 5,000 coupons sold and $120,000 in revenue generated in the last two years. He estimates that 30% of coupon buyers have returned after their vouchers were redeemed, and says he’s negotiated a deal with Groupon to get 90% of his payouts just two days after his deals end.
What first got you interested in running daily deal promotions?
[Groupon] approached me, so we said we’d give it a shot. I did it really cautiously at first. I called [other restaurant owners] and checked on what their thoughts were, and I massaged my deal accordingly. In the first deal or two, they don’t give you a lot of latitude as far as what they’ll allow you to do. It’s more of, “This is Groupon’s way, this is what works, this is how we’re going to do it, otherwise the deal is off.” But after you run a couple and you [have] become a proven entity, you [can] name your own deal. What’s more important is that you prove that you’re not going to take the money and run. A lot of times, what ends up happening is restaurants that are in dire straits are grasping for whatever they can get their hands on trying to save themselves. If you do a Groupon, or some kind of a deal like that, because you need it, you’re going to fail. It puts you upside down.