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Business Life Lessons

5 Powerful Business Secrets Revealed from Playing the Facebook App Restaurant City

Have you ever played Restaurant City in Facebook? If yes, you might have been staring at powerful business secrets all this time! If not, then this is your chance to discover the 5 powerful business secrets hidden in this popular online social game as they are finally revealed to you!

What is Restaurant City?

Restaurant City is a popular online social game in Facebook.  Your goal as a player is to build your own restaurant.   It is both fun and addicting.  While playing the game, I discovered 5 powerful business secrets that when applied and done right, you not only win in Restaurant City, you also win in real-life!

Here are 5 powerful business secrets revealed from playing the Facebook App Restaurant City!

Secret #1:  Start small…dream BIG!
When you start playing Restaurant City, you are given a small space, enough to setup a few tables and hire a cook and a waiter.  Everyone playing the game starts at the same place – small.  When you think about it, this is actually closer to real life than it seems.  Billionaire tycoons we look up to today started from small beginnings.  Henry Sy, the richest man in the Philippines according to Forbes’ list, started with a small footwear store decades ago.  Now, he owns the biggest and most frequented malls in the Philippines.  Jollibee, the proud Filipino burger icon, started as a small ice cream parlor. Everyone starts at the same place.  It is up to you to dream and make it BIG!

Secret #2:  Delight your customers!
In the online game Restaurant City, when your customer is delighted, he will give up a thumbs up sign and your customer satisfaction level goes up.  If the customer is dissatisfied due to late service, no available chair, or no comfort room, he will give a thumbs down sign.

The more thumbs up signs you get, the higher your customer satisfaction level will be, and the more people will come to your restaurant.  The same applies to real-life.  The more people you delight with great product and service, the more people will come to you and pay you to delight them again and again.  Because they are so delighted, they will share their experience with their friends and invite them along the next time they want you to delight them one more time.  The key is to delight your customers each and every time they come to you.

Secret #3:  Take care of your people!
In the online game Restaurant City, each of your employees has its own energy level.  When your employee cooks a meal, waits tables, or cleans up the restaurant, he consumes energy and his energy level goes down.  Once your employee’s energy level is depleted, your business goes down as well.

To resolve this, you have to restore the energy of your employees by doing any of the following: 1) buy a sandwich so your employee can have a quick bite, 2) buy drinks for your employee, 3) buy a full meal for your employee to eat or 4) have your employee rest or sleep.

In real-life, you can also do the same things.  Aside from these four ideas, you can also pay them well, care for their well-being, train them and let them grow with you.  The key is to really care for your people.  As Abraham Lincoln, aptly described,

“If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his heart, which, say what you will, is the great high-road to his reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little trouble in convincing his judgment of the justice of your cause.”

Secret #4:  Grow and expand!
Maximize the arrangement of your tables to serve more customers better and faster! Offer more appetizing food to level up and earn more money!  Hire more employees! These are some of the strategies in playing Restaurant City to grow and expand your restaurant faster!  This is the exciting part because you learn to optimize everything you have.  You learn to waste nothing.

As you become more efficient with your operations, your money will also grow exponentially. In real-life, some people utilize the concept of franchising to expand their business.  Others offer the same excellent service to a different location.  While the rest just simply build a larger grocery store, or a mall with annex, or a wider selection of goods.  These strategies will take you to the next level and take your small business into something BIG.

Secret #5:  Celebrate your own style!
In the online game Restaurant City, you earn money every time you serve a meal to your customers.  Once your restaurant is big enough, more money is coming to you than you can ever expect to spend.  At first, it is both exciting and a cause for celebration!  But after a while, it starts to become boring. When this happens, your focus changes from “growing your business” to “showcasing your own style”.  Buy a new set of furniture! Decorate and re-arrange your restaurant! Put your name on it.  Paint it with your favorite colors!  Have fun!  Enjoy!

In real-life, some people buy “new cars” or a “new house” to celebrate and enjoy!  Others, just continue to grow but look for other exciting opportunities to keep their hunger alive!  While the really blessed ones gain satisfaction in utilizing their growing business to serve and bless more people.  They donate to charities.  They create a foundation to help bring opportunities to less fortunate people.  They share their success secrets to inspire other people to achieve even more. As Bo Sanchez aptly puts it, “the ultimate purpose of money is to serve other people.”

You’ve just learned 5 powerful business secrets you can readily apply to grow and expand your business! Go out and play the game of life!

Categories
Business Life Updates

Is Facebook now more popular than Friendster in the Philippines?

During the past few weeks, I’ve discovered that more and more of my friends are now in Facebook.  Just a year ago, I still didn’t have a Facebook profile.  The past few years, I’ve been pretty much satisfied with Friendster.  As most of my friends are also there, I didn’t find the need to create a profile on another “social networking” website.  But ever since I joined Facebook, I’ve seen a gradual increase in the number of my fiends who were in Friendster that are now also using Facebook.  And the more friends I am connected to, the more I am fascinated with the features of Facebook.

What are you doing right now?

One of the more popular features used by Facebook members is the status update labelled “What are you doing right now?”.  I guess a lot of people want to let the whole world know what they’ve been up to the last few days, or hours…or even minutes.  Some users drop a one liner status like “having the greatest time of my life in …” while other can speak more in just one word like “zzzzz”.  Others like to be profound but barely making sense, while others like to be funny. 

The wonderful thing about these status updates is the ongoing comments from friends and colleagues.  Sometimes, the comments border on wild and funny ideas, but often times, people just want to say they’re there to listen.

I am a fan!

Another thing that I find interesting in Facebook is the numerous ways on how people can express what they like.  For example, I am a fan of Roger Federer, so obviously, I want my friends to know that about me.  What better way to do that than just clicking the “I am a fan” button in Roger Federer’s facebook profile?  Others, would like to find causes that inspire them.  Just a few days ago, the passing away of a great nationalistic Filipino Rapper, Francis Magalona, inspired a lot of Filipinos to voice out their support and love through fan profiles.  On the other end, oher people just want to let the world know of their favorite movies, TV shows, or even favorite food. 

I am tagged in a Photo

One of the most popular uses of social networking sites is to share photos with friends.  One of my college friends, for example, posted a photo of our “barkada” [a group of friends] about 10 years ago.  It’s a nice feeling to be able to remember what we were like then.  It certainly made me miss college and left a big smile on my face. 

The one thing I am amazed in Facebook photos is the tagging.  Thanks to Facebook, I can now be “tagged” on my friends’ photos.  Now, I don’t have to copy the same photo into my profile.  It automatically links those photos to me.  Sweet!

I am still fairly new with Facebook.  To be honest I haven’t really been that active with it.  But I am constantly amazed with the buzz and activity within my friend’s network.  It’s surprising.  It’s exciting.  And it’s definitely a lot of fun. 

So, is Facebook now more popular than Friendster in the Philippines?  What do you think?