strategy New Niche Binge - Restaurant and Food Services

[ThatNameGuy]

As most of you know for the last five years I've attempted to carve out a niche portfolio with the likes of new TLD's like; .realty, .homes, .online and most recently .link (see thread titled "Throwing in the Towel".

Not being one to give up on anything and living in the largest resort city in the world I've decided to focus on the food services industry, and restaurants in particular. And this isn't to say I'm giving up on the 300 brandable name portfolio I've accumulated over the years.

This idea/revelation came to me while waiting to pick up my order @ CaribShack.biz (featured on the Food Networks Diners - Drive-Ins and Dives by Guy Fieri). When i saw their .biz TLD, i checked to see who might own the .com and and it happens to be for sale at DAN for $9,300. Then while waiting I thought I'd see if the domain CaribHut.com was available to register, and damned if it was, so for $9.45 i registered it

In the US alone there are over a million restaurants with well over 200,000 startups each year. Anyone else see this as a profitable niche assuming a comprehensive "outbound" marketing strategy is developed? Anyone own food/restaurant domains that need exposure? Suggestions, observations and recommendations are welcome. Thanks

 

[Joe N]

Nice to see you back at it, Rich.

As much as I love restaurants, I personally have not had much success with domain names in this niche. I think that restaurant owners, on average, are much less likely to spend significant money on a domain, since they are much more reliant on local customers and word-of-mouth. Brand authority via an exact match .com name doesn't tend to be as big a factor for them as it is for businesses in many other industries.

Your Carib Shack example illustrates this perfectly. They're operating on the lowly .biz TLD (no doubt hand registered), but it sounds like it has had very little impact on their success.

I think that catchy food industry brand names are still a great investment, so long as the name isn't one that would be limited to being used for a restaurant.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Nice to see you back at it, Rich.

As much as I love restaurants, I personally have not had much success with domain names in this niche. I think that restaurant owners, on average, are much less likely to spend significant money on a domain, since they are much more reliant on local customers and word-of-mouth. Brand authority via an exact match .com name doesn't tend to be as big a factor for them as it is for businesses in many other industries.

Your Carib Shack example illustrates this perfectly. They're operating on the lowly .biz TLD (no doubt hand registered), but it sounds like it has had very little impact on their success.

I think that catchy food industry brand names are still a great investment, so long as the name isn't one that would be limited to being used for a restaurant.

Joe....it's been my belief that "determination wins", so much so that I just registered the domain DeterminationWinsxxx.

btw, i agree with your assessment about restaurants and their domain names. This is why I don't expect to target existing restaurants with "name ideas", but rather restaurant startups that tend to be rather well funded.

I just registered SushiHut.biz and SushiShack.biz for a whopping 5.48 each because neither of the .com's are in use, and DAN is asking $24,888 SushiShack.com

Joe, i do own a few pretty "catchy" domains that could be used for either the food service industry or possibly a restaurant......and they're actually .com's. However, potential "end users" haven't a clue they exist. So what's different this time around? An outbound marketing strategy whereby successful business professionals like myself can educate the industry masses about the value of a good domain name.

Thanks for chiming in Joe!

 

[bmugford]

 

[bmugford]

Nice to see you back at it, Rich.

As much as I love restaurants, I personally have not had much success with domain names in this niche. I think that restaurant owners, on average, are much less likely to spend significant money on a domain, since they are much more reliant on local customers and word-of-mouth. Brand authority via an exact match .com name doesn't tend to be as big a factor for them as it is for businesses in many other industries.

Your Carib Shack example illustrates this perfectly. They're operating on the lowly .biz TLD (no doubt hand registered), but it sounds like it has had very little impact on their success.

Local (non-chain) restaurants are relatively low margin businesses with high failure rates.

The National Restaurant Association estimates a 20% success rate for all restaurants. About 60% of restaurants fail in their first year of operation, and 80% fail within 5 years of opening.

That's a tough niche.

I think that catchy food industry brand names are still a great investment, so long as the name isn't one that would be limited to being used for a restaurant.

Yeah, that is the biggest issue.

To be a quality investment, you need terms with larger pools of potential buyers.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

As much as I love restaurants, I personally have not had much success with domain names in this niche. I think that restaurant owners, on average, are much less likely to spend significant money on a domain, since they are much more reliant on local customers and word-of-mouth. Brand authority via an exact match .com name doesn't tend to be as big a factor for them as it is for businesses in many other industries.

Your Carib Shack example illustrates this perfectly. They're operating on the lowly .biz TLD (no doubt hand registered), but it sounds like it has had very little impact on their success.

To illustrate this further, I was talking to a friend who owns a restaurant locally.

They have been tracking their business name in .COM for quite some time. It finally expired and was up at GoDaddy auctions.

This was not a great term, but still the name of their company where they have tracked the domain status for a few years. I asked them their budget. $50.

The price of (1) entrée on the menu is not much less.

Brad

 

[VadimK]

I feel the same as fellas domainers mentioned already.

Coming from a travel industry and knowing lots of restaurants, catering and food venues in Spain, I can tell that the quality domain name is on the very bottom of their priority list for almost all of them. Believe it or not, but until like 3-4 years ago, about 20-30% of restaurants in Spain didn't have a website at all...they felt no need... And decent places. I assume in the US it's better, but core logic will be the same...If you tell them you want to sell them domain name for as little as $1000 - they either will shoot you or themselves, depending on who talking to ))))

This is type of people that if like the name will take any available extension without thinking twice, or simply add 1 to the end of the name they like (I saw it more than once, I swear). They don't care. Extremely small % of them will see a value in the name, thus investing heavily in this industry is an absolute no-go, imo.

I myself hold no more than 10 names related to specific food and gastronomy, and not one of them has been inquired seriously (although I believe they are good ones and will continue to keep them in my portfolio).

 

[phaethon]

Only high end restaurants pay attention and invest in quality domains and there are also the book a table / review / delivery food companies that work with them and do their promotion.

I think I hold one name only related to fast food and I'm about to drop it.

 

[BestBrandDomains]

Good example Brad! Thanks for sharing.

I agree with phaethon and other above, only high end or large restaurants will pay the premium price. Most smaller ones will be frugal.

The restaurant business is really tough, then add Covid on top of that. A lot of the best restaurants are out of business now.

The only exception would be if you had popular keywords that can be both a restaurant but also fit other businesses (food delivery service, software app, etc.). Stay away from smaller niche and geo ones, go for broader/global appeal.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Good example Brad! Thanks for sharing.

I agree with phaethon and other above, only high end or large restaurants will pay the premium price. Most smaller ones will be frugal.

The restaurant business is really tough, then add Covid on top of that. A lot of the best restaurants are out of business now.

The only exception would be if you had popular keywords that can be both a restaurant but also fit other businesses (food delivery service, software app, etc.). Stay away from smaller niche and geo ones, go for broader/global appeal.

Actually Covid created opportunities for some domainers who understand that change involving such things as food delivery, pick up, catering, tasting and even food truck growth are examples of new concepts requiring domain names.

While Whisky.com sold for 3.1M in 2014, "zooming" as a result of Covid has me registering names like WhiskyFocus.xxx and DiscoverScotch..

A friend of mine owns Bo Bo's Chicken here in Virginia Beach where seafood happens to be the dominant fare in most restaurants. The young man who started it in 2019 is knocking the cover off the ball ever since he closed his dining room due to Covid and started serving chicken and a variety of family recipes via his "backed up" drive thru similar to Chick-fi-A's. And like Chick-fil - A he's closed on Sundays......so where am I going with this? Because i happen to luv wings, I've registered a few "catchy" names for Bo like BoBoWings.xxx hoping to entice Bo to create the best recipe known to man for a variety of chicken wings that can be made in my garage

Finally, i've started, operated and yes NAMED dozens of businesses in my life, and I've said to friends that if they ever hear me say I'm starting a restaurant please just pull out a gun and shoot me. Bottomline, I'm determined to fail at starting and running a restaurant, but I'm just as determined to succeed at NAMING restaurants.

 

[bmugford]

Actually Covid created opportunities for some domainers who understand that change involving such things as food delivery, pick up, catering, tasting and even food truck growth are examples of new concepts requiring domain names.

While Whisky.com sold for 3.1M in 2014, "zooming" as a result of Covid has me registering names like WhiskyFocus.xxx and DiscoverScotch..

A friend of mine owns Bo Bo's Chicken here in Virginia Beach where seafood happens to be the dominant fare in most restaurants. The young man who started it in 2019 is knocking the cover off the ball ever since he closed his dining room due to Covid and started serving chicken and a variety of family recipes via his "backed up" drive thru similar to Chick-fi-A's. And like Chick-fil - A he's closed on Sundays......so where am I going with this? Because i happen to luv wings, I've registered a few "catchy" names for Bo like BoBoWings.xxx hoping to entice Bo to create the best recipe known to man for a variety of chicken wings that can be made in my garage

Finally, i've started, operated and yes NAMED dozens of businesses in my life, and I've said to friends that if they ever hear me say I'm starting a restaurant please just pull out a gun and shoot me. Bottomline, I'm determined to fail at starting and running a restaurant, but I'm just as determined to succeed at NAMING restaurants.

You have been at this for years now jumping from extension to extension and idea to idea.

All this experience, all these connections, all these stories...

How many domains have you actually sold?

Success in some unrelated field doesn't really translate to domain investing.

You would probably be wise to do more listening to successful domain investors.

Brad

 

[VadimK]

While Whisky.com sold for 3.1M in 2014, "zooming" as a result of Covid has me registering names like WhiskyFocus.xxx and DiscoverScotch..

But these are not in reality Food and Beverage industry names. It's for some highly motivated enthusiasts. I myself have VodkaPro.com and GinStuff.com - both 've been sitting with me for 3 years, waiting for the occasion. But going heavily into these types of names - you'll burn your cash heavily.

Because i happen to luv wings, I've registered a few "catchy" names for Bo like BoBoWings.xxx hoping to entice Bo to create the best recipe known to man for a variety of chicken wings that can be made in my garage

There is no correlation whatsoever between him making awesome chicken wings and him wanting to buy a domain name for $1000. He will register BoBoChickenWings or BoBosChickenWings without understanding how one can pay $100 for a domain name, let alone a much higher amount. And 99% of them are like this.

 

[BaileyUK]

since they are much more reliant on local customers and word-of-mouth

Indeed, Given the number of local food outlets available to most members here, the name is fairly insignificant, food quality, location, price and reputation are all that prevail in our choice of establishment. We tend to remember only the geographical location of the best food-outlets, Hardly ever the name unless it's a national brand

you'd be far better off going for domains that represent the Supply-chain for those businesses. Once again you seem to have gone-off on a poorly thought through domain concept.

I sold a few domains that I thought suitable for restaurant branding. I don't think any ever got used in that context though. Thankfully none contained the word 'Chicken'

 

[DomainNature]

Most of times customers of physical products/services don't visit their websites, I tell you from my own and of others experience.
The only profitable domains in my opinion are the ones which relate to cars, yachts, planes etc. In short I prefer to invent new brands in the tech industry and try to concentrate on domains that can offer digital services more than those who sell physical products/services.
Although this can change in the future, people will prefer to order products digitally more than going physically to eat somewhere, in such case a domain will be in demand for such businesses.
And let's not forget that social medias are used today for many purposes, the domains are not needed much!
P.s. I own a couple of food domains but did not had any offers yet.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

You have been at this for years now jumping from extension to extension and idea to idea.

All this experience, all these connections, all these stories...

How many domains have you actually sold?

Success in some unrelated field doesn't really translate to domain investing.

You would probably be wise to do more listening to successful domain investors.

Brad

Thanks for the encouragement Brad.....believe it or not I just sold a .com via GD for $800 where the buyer pays all commission and fees. I've sold fewer than a dozen domains in the last five years, but enuf to keep me in the game.

I don't know how you measure "success" in the domain industry, but my guess is your measurement of success at DataCube is making maybe 100k to 200K annually for Brad Mugford.

Buying, holding and maybe selling 2-3% of ones domain portfolio is NOT my idea of success. Here are a couple of companies I founded, operated and yes NAMED over 25 years ago that are generating 10M and 5M respectively in what is referred to as "fee revenue" today;

CreditControl.net - a debt recovery company
and
AcSel.org - a medical billing company

I only share this as a measure of success where "naming" of these businesses contributed to their success. Only if you care to hear the story, I'll share how the name "AcSel" evolved from the original name, "Accounts Receivable Management Corporation"

Thank again!

 

[ThatNameGuy]

But these are not in reality Food and Beverage industry names. It's for some highly motivated enthusiasts. I myself have VodkaPro.com and GinStuff.com - both 've been sitting with me for 3 years, waiting for the occasion. But going heavily into these types of names - you'll burn your cash heavily.


There is no correlation whatsoever between him making awesome chicken wings and him wanting to buy a domain name for $1000. He will register BoBoChickenWings or BoBosChickenWings without understanding how one can pay $100 for a domain name, let alone a much higher amount. And 99% of them are like this.

So Vodka and Gin aren't beverages? Last I heard they're called "alcoholic beverages" ABC actually stands for "Alcoholic Beverage Control" in the state of Virginia, USA. While VodkaPro.com and GinStuff.com are pretty good domains, you'll likely be sitting on them three years from now unless you're able to get exposure beyond what you get at dynadot

With regards to Bo Bo's Wings..... Bo happens to be a very smart young man ( business degree from UVA), and in a very short time has quite a local following. Can he expand that following with BoBoWings.com.... time will tell

 

[NameInbox]

 

[VadimK]

So Vodka and Gin aren't beverages? Last I heard they're called "alcoholic beverages" ABC actually stands for "Alcoholic Beverage Control" in the state of Virginia, USA. While VodkaPro.com and GinStuff.com are pretty good domains, you'll likely be sitting on them three years from now unless you're able to get exposure beyond what you get at dynadot

Vodka y Gin ARE beverages, but it wasn't my point. My point was that in this industry (FnB) very small percentage of businesses (comparing to other industries) will be willing to buy the name because they desperately want it, and names like Vodka, Gin, Whisky (whisky is actually even worse, because word can be spelled differently - whiskey vs. whisky), but regardless - all three are extremely specific for selling. Not only that you need a restaurant, but a very specific type of venue or buyer. And only amongst this specific pool the only one who likes your name is to be found...

I am fine with my names, I am not struggling to sell them, it's a great add-on, but buying 500 to 1000 of such names would be a complete disaster - that was my point, let alone going further to more ''food'' names - chicken, fish, etc.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

Vodka y Gin ARE beverages, but it wasn't my point. My point was that in this industry (FnB) very small percentage of businesses (comparing to other industries) will be willing to buy the name because they desperately want it, and names like Vodka, Gin, Whisky (whisky is actually even worse, because word can be spelled differently - whiskey vs. whisky), but regardless - all three are extremely specific for selling. Not only that you need a restaurant, but a very specific type of venue or buyer. And only amongst this specific pool the only one who likes your name is to be found...

I am fine with my names, I am not struggling to sell them, it's a great add-on, but buying 500 to 1000 of such names would be a complete disaster - that was my point, let alone going further to more ''food'' names - chicken, fish, etc.

Lol....do you mean buying/registering 500 unique domains costing less than $5,000 "would be a complete disaster" I don't know where you're from, but the "average" commercial oven for a restaurant kitchen costs more than that.

Another friend of mine owns YnotPizza.com, a very successful regional pizza chain. Any idea what my friends first name is?.....it's "Ynot" spelled backwards

Some of the restaurant names I own are "catchy" enough they're worth trademarking. Have you ever done that for any of your names?

You and I will just have to disagree on the size of the FnB market for domain names. The naming of ones restaurant is every bit as important for a startup as it is for other industries. You might not think so, but I KNOW SO!

 

[VadimK]

Lol....do you mean buying/registering 500 unique domains costing less than $5,000 "would be a complete disaster" I don't know where you're from, but the "average" commercial oven for a restaurant kitchen costs more than that.

Another friend of mine owns YnotPizza.com, a very successful regional pizza chain. Any idea what my friends first name is?.....it's "Ynot" spelled backwards

Some of the restaurant names I own are "catchy" enough they're worth trademarking. Have you ever done that for any of your names?

You and I will just have to disagree on the size of the FnB market for domain names. The naming of ones restaurant is every bit as important for a startup as it is for other industries. You might not think so, but I KNOW SO!

Well, good luck with that.

 

[ThatNameGuy]

To illustrate this further, I was talking to a friend who owns a restaurant locally.

They have been tracking their business name in .COM for quite some time. It finally expired and was up at GoDaddy auctions.

This was not a great term, but still the name of their company where they have tracked the domain status for a few years. I asked them their budget. $50.

The price of (1) entrée on the menu is not much less.

Brad

Remember DowntheCatch.com Brad? Well, i still own it and have since 2019. Any idea why it hasn't sold? Same reason why DowntheHatch.com hasn't sold in 23+ years......talk about a fuked up industry

 

[bmugford]

Buying, holding and maybe selling 2-3% of ones domain portfolio is NOT my idea of success. Here are a couple of companies I founded, operated and yes NAMED over 25 years ago that are generating 10M and 5M respectively in what is referred to as "fee revenue" today;

What is your idea of success?

Hand registering thousands and thousands of domains, making hardly any sales, then dropping the vast majority of them?

That doesn't really sound like a recipe for success.

CreditControl.net - a debt recovery company
and
AcSel.org - a medical billing company

Those are reg fee domains. No one would pay a premium price for those.

I only share this as a measure of success where "naming" of these businesses contributed to their success. Only if you care to hear the story, I'll share how the name "AcSel" evolved from the original name, "Accounts Receivable Management Corporation"

Thank again!

"Naming" and making domain sales are apples and oranges.

It is bonkers that you still don't understand that.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

Remember DowntheCatch.com Brad? Well, i still own it and have since 2019. Any idea why it hasn't sold? Same reason why DowntheHatch.com hasn't sold in 23+ years......talk about a fuked up industry

The fact that you see these domains as equal is part of your problem.

"Down the Hatch" is a popular phrase with a large pool of potential buyers.

When people say “down the hatch,” they're using an informal expression to show when someone is about to drink something, usually an alcoholic beverage.

"Down the Catch" is not.

You can see "Down the Hatch" actually used in commerce -

https://opencorporates.com/companies?utf8=✓&utf8=✓&q=down+the+hatch&jurisdiction_code=&type=companies

Maybe you should be more into branding than domain investment.

Regardless, good luck with your latest binge.

Brad

 

[bmugford]

This idea/revelation came to me while waiting to pick up my order @ CaribShack.biz (featured on the Food Networks Diners - Drive-Ins and Dives by Guy Fieri). When i saw their .biz TLD, i checked to see who might own the .com and and it happens to be for sale at DAN for $9,300. Then while waiting I thought I'd see if the domain CaribHut.com was available to register, and damned if it was, so for $9.45 i registered it

In the US alone there are over a million restaurants with well over 200,000 startups each year. Anyone else see this as a profitable niche assuming a comprehensive "outbound" marketing strategy is developed? Anyone own food/restaurant domains that need exposure? Suggestions, observations and recommendations are welcome. Thanks

If someone was using "Carib Hut" I could see an outbound target.

If no one is even using the brand, who are you possibly going to outbound it to?

Just random Caribbean restaurants? Good luck with that.

Brad

 

[ThatNameGuy]

What is your idea of success?

Hand registering thousands and thousands of domains, making hardly any sales, then dropping the vast majority of them?

That doesn't really sound like a recipe for success.


Those are reg fee domains. No one would pay a premium price for those.


"Naming" and making domain sales are apples and oranges.

It is bonkers that you still don't understand that.

Brad

Brad.....i've had 10X the success in business than you'll ever have. The examples of businesses I founded, operated and named were started and named years before internet domains were even thought of. I didn't register CreditControl.net or AcSel.org, but I provided you the link for the websites of the businesses I founded that are still in business today. I guess that may have gone over your head

Brad I've learned in life there's ALWAYS a smarter and better way of doing things, and another thing I've learned is that "It Pays to Partner" for which I own the .com domain