Sample result
Innovation Plan Builder for Restaurants
The owner asked this:«I have five ideas going round in my head for months and I have not properly tested any of them. Which do I test first and how much can I spend?»
① The scored funnel
Five the owner brought in; three came from his own reasons-to-visit and the windows where the place sits empty. Scores from 1 to 5.
| Idea | Source | Fit | Margin | Ease | Total | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House desserts: 3 that are not on the menu today | Gap in the mix: a main course sells and then nothing | 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 | Tweak · 1 wk |
| Trucha al ajillo in a version that survives a 25-min trip | A star dish that does not travel | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | Tweak · 1 wk |
| Sancocho to order, in a family pot to take away on Sunday | Reason to visit: family celebration | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | Medium · 4 wks |
| Three-course executive lunch out in 12 minutes | Reason to visit: working lunch | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 | Medium · 4 wks |
| The origin table: one rotating dish a month with its story written on the menu | The house promise is not written where the customer decides | 4 | 3 | 4 | 11 | Tweak · 1 wk |
| Subscription of 20 prepaid lunches for the offices in the area | Core customer: 30-to-45 professionals | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | Medium · 4 wks |
| Bandeja for two with dine-in style packaging, own delivery only | Gap in the own channel | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | Medium · 4 wks |
| Fonda evenings, Tuesday to Thursday, short six-dish menu | Empty window | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | Big bet · 12 wks |
One debatable line per score, and this is the most debated one: fonda evenings scores 8, and not because it is a bad idea — it is probably the biggest of the eight. It scores 8 because opening a new window is twelve weeks and a full shift, and this test chamber is not here to decide big bets: it is here to buy cheap information about what nobody knows. Fonda evenings does not enter the funnel. It goes to the table where opportunities get ranked, which is another conversation and another assistant.
And an uncomfortable note: of the five ideas the owner brought in, two landed in the bottom half of the table. Scoring them high out of politeness is the most expensive way to run a committee.
② The winning pilot's spec sheet
House desserts. Minimum version: ONE, not three. The natas dessert gets tested, 4 weeks, location 1 only, Tuesday-to-Friday lunch only.
| Row | Content |
|---|---|
| Minimum version | 1 dessert · 1 location · 1 window · 4 weeks |
| Gram weight | 120 g per portion, weighed, not served by eye |
| Costing | 2,400 COP cost per portion |
| Selling price | 9,000 COP · pilot food cost: 26.7% |
| Contribution margin in money | 6,600 COP per dessert placed |
| Budget cap | 600,000 COP, signed before the first plate |
| The number that decides | Desserts placed per 10 lunch covers |
| Threshold | 2 out of every 10 |
| Window | 4 full weeks · nothing gets read before week 3 |
| Owner | Chef, location 1 |
Why this one and not the flashiest: it does not touch the peak hour —the dessert is placed once the main course has gone out—, it steals no hours from the Bandeja or the Sancocho, and it goes straight at the house goal, which is raising margin without raising menu prices. A dessert raises no price: it adds a line.
What it would be worth if it clears the threshold: 2 out of 10 across the month's 4,458 covers is 892 desserts, which at 6,600 COP of contribution is 5,887,200 COP a month. The jump from 8% to 14% operating margin is 12,840,000 COP a month. One dessert, well placed, covers 46% of that distance — and for that very reason it is worth measuring properly rather than celebrating in week one, when curiosity inflates anything new.
SUPUESTO: the 9,000 COP price is set as an add-on and not as a dish, below the 28,000–72,000 COP menu range the house declares; the 32% food cost ceiling is the house costing rule (MASTERESTAURANT® Methodology), not a sector average. If your kitchen cannot get the portion under 2,900 COP, the dessert breaches the ceiling and the pilot gets redesigned BEFORE it starts, not after: a pilot born above the ceiling proves nothing, it only confirms that you can sell dear what costs dear.
The full example has 1 more part(s): you see them inside the library, with your account.