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Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

chompstack.com

41–50 of 144 posts

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#41
post #40

Solid idea, great implemntation, beautiful landing page. On your "Features" tab you do a great job actually focusing on "Benefits" (most people just list the features!). I'd propose that you change that menu title to "Why Do I Need Chompstack?" or just "Why ChompStack?" and then retitle the headline to: "ChompStack generates more customers by making your site accessible to mobile visitors." Then rather than opening u…

Excellent feedback, and great ideas. Thanks!

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar question about how the service connects with your site. Does it use a custom DNS record or does this mobile site sit on an island?

Right now we're doing a simple redirect to the mobile version if the user browses to the restaurant's normal website.

Do you provide the option to opt-out of the mobile version? I get really, really frustrated by mobile versions that are forced on me with no option to say "no thanks, give me the real thing".

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a similar question about how the service connects with your site. Does it use a custom DNS record or does this mobile site sit on an island?

Right now we're doing a simple redirect to the mobile version if the user browses to the restaurant's normal website.

[deleted]

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#44
post #9

I like it, but I hate your logo. Who takes a bite out of just the bun? Also, by showing a hamburger, you made me think of fast food and I could see conventional restaurants balking at that.

I created that logo and I hate it too. Any other ideas? I'm a horrendous graphic designer but I'm down to try again, and I agree with your points entirely. We were sort of pushing to get it done at the time. We could consider 99designs.com at this point I suppose.

Have the bite mark come out of the first 'C'. Seems a touch Apple-ish when I think about it, but you've already got a bit of that going on:

http://www.cultofmac.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/apple-...

Shoot me an email if you like. I'd be happy to put something together at a reasonable price if you're pushed for time :)

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#45
Strangely enough my friend was pitching me on this idea about 6 months ago. It just goes to shows, ideas truly are a commodity, and execution is everything.

So many websites I goto have menus that are PDFs of their actual menus.

It seems like the biggest hurdle to face is getting all the information in initially(those menus can get pretty long) and then having the getting the restaurant owners keeping them updated in terms of pricing/selection. To me, $15 a month is nothing, as long as there is minimal effort in maintaining the mobile sites.

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#46
post #9

I like it, but I hate your logo. Who takes a bite out of just the bun? Also, by showing a hamburger, you made me think of fast food and I could see conventional restaurants balking at that.

I created that logo and I hate it too. Any other ideas? I'm a horrendous graphic designer but I'm down to try again, and I agree with your points entirely. We were sort of pushing to get it done at the time. We could consider 99designs.com at this point I suppose.

Check out Duck Duck Go's founder's lessons learned re:icons/logos: http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2009/06/things-about-web...

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#47
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of charging a flat setup or monthly fee, have you thought about pivoting your business model so that customers can order through your app, and you charge a percentage fee to the restaurant owner? I think skeptical restaurant owners would choose that no-risk option, and you'd probably make more money. Restaurant owners who think it'll be successful in making sales would probably be willing to pay a decent sum…

Forget online ordering, just sell lead generation. I could sell your service to my local clients but not easily for 15/month. If you tracked leads you could easily sell your service on commissions alone.

Eh. This is the sort of thing I would (and might) recommend to my restaurant-owning clients free-of-charge, which is why they call me when they have other trouble, and why they recommend me to other people, which is where I make money.

That's not to say that it's a bad idea, just that it wouldn't change my recommendations, personally.

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#48
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of charging a flat setup or monthly fee, have you thought about pivoting your business model so that customers can order through your app, and you charge a percentage fee to the restaurant owner? I think skeptical restaurant owners would choose that no-risk option, and you'd probably make more money. Restaurant owners who think it'll be successful in making sales would probably be willing to pay a decent sum…

We have been contemplating adding ordering for a while now. To do it well, it's a non trivial problem with a lot of different challenges. Restaurant online ordering providers usually fall into two camps: 1) Simple ordering that goes to email, fax, or phone. There is no integration with the kitchen and restaurants have to reconcile their reporting at the end of the day. 2) Online ordering website integration directly…

> ...first you have to convince the POS manufacturers to give you access to their APIs.

Or roll your own POS and blow the competition completely out of the water. :-) There is a huge opportunity here for the sorts of people that hang out on HN.

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#49
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instead of charging a flat setup or monthly fee, have you thought about pivoting your business model so that customers can order through your app, and you charge a percentage fee to the restaurant owner? I think skeptical restaurant owners would choose that no-risk option, and you'd probably make more money. Restaurant owners who think it'll be successful in making sales would probably be willing to pay a decent sum…

We have been contemplating adding ordering for a while now. To do it well, it's a non trivial problem with a lot of different challenges. Restaurant online ordering providers usually fall into two camps: 1) Simple ordering that goes to email, fax, or phone. There is no integration with the kitchen and restaurants have to reconcile their reporting at the end of the day. 2) Online ordering website integration directly…

In regards to #1: sure there is. Assuming they are a sit down restaurant and have hosts/hostesses, put that fax machine at their stand where they wait for customers, if an order comes in via that, have them walk back and give the order to the expo guy or the guy in the "main window", they ring up the order as they do to-go stuff(at least where I worked at Mitchell's Fish Market) so receiving an order over the phone or via fax isn't too much of a difference. Perhaps some re-training.

I think maybe you are overthinking that aspect of it. I totally understand and likewise agree with doing POS integration with the kitchen(you can't automate it), but there are methods already present in every restaurant to getting an order to the kitchen, some are paper, some are DASH(Darden's system, microsoft stack) aloha system etc seems to be a pretty big one.

Re: Rate my startup: ChompStack, a mobile website builder for restaurants

#50

This is well-done. I'm working on a similar project, and one thing I'd like to point out is that menus are not always simple databases. There are several menus that have paragraphs of information that relates to several menu items rather than just one. How are you planning on translating that information to a mobile application, if at all? I'm trying to find a good example of this "paragraph of extraneous info" from…

I know what you're talking about, but do you think mobile sites could possibly get away with not displaying that 'extra' information? Especially considering screen real estate on mobile devices is fairly limited. If it is absolutely necessary, it seems like it would be fairly easy to have that show up when you select a section. That could get complicated if there are multiple paragraphs within a section (i.e. one for…

http://www.itservices.ws/websites/portales/menu2.htm

This is one menu that presents the type of problem I'm talking about. The line that worries me is "All entrees come with salad bar," which reflects on every entree. From my perspective, the easiest way to incorporate data like this would be to include it underneath the extended explanation of the menu item.

PS Steven - I want to set up a phone call with you or something. I'm working on something that is literally one step away from what you are. follow me on Twitter (@nate) or e-mail me at nchastain at gmail.com and let me know if you've got some time free some time next week. I'm still in the development stage and won't have a product out for at least a month.

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