Over the years Blue Sky PR has helped launch many new restaurants. We’ve also been asked for help with promoting existing eateries that for one reason or another have needed a bit of a push.

Here are seven things that restaurant owners should be doing when launching their new venture.

1. Location, location, location: No, not Phil and Kirstie this is more Gordon Fu**ing Ramsay – and there’ll be more of him later.

Location is paramount, unless you are a well-renowned restaurant with a top chef. When a restaurateur comes to us for help with his existing eatery it’s usually because there is an issue, a very serious one like being in the wrong street.

It makes sense to be near other restaurants, that’s where the crowds go, if you’re in the next street there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on the passing traffic; and don’t be tempted by cheap rent!

2.    Marketing money: Make sure you set aside funds in your business plan for marketing, better still, speak to PR and design agencies before you finalise it to get an idea of costs.

Once you finance is secured, and you have a chosen location get the marketing people in early so they can start planning a launch campaign and hit the ground running.

3.    Hold a launch event: Restaurant launches are about creating a buzz, one that will not be forgotten by your diners so that they keep coming back and, importantly, tell their friends about what a great place it is. This word of mouth marketing is of paramount importance because customers are your greatest asset.

Events work best when aligned to a local charity because it bring with it local press coverage, and it’s a great excuse to invite sport clubs and associations, plus business owners and local dignitaries from the surrounding areas – all of which generally come in big numbers.

And, they’re also likely to bear you in mind for events of their own such as someone’s birthday or a Christmas celebration.

4.    Your offering: This is where Gordon makes another appearance. We’ve been to see prospective clients only to be confronted by restaurants that don’t look like restaurants, bland 1990’s decor, a confused menu, badly laid out dining rooms.

It makes you want to fu**king swear, because the problems are so obvious. It’s then that we have to shatter the owner’s bubble by being honest and telling them what the problem is. And it’s then that they usually say they’ve spent a fortune on advertising in the local paper or leafleting the town.

Here’s another freebie; look at what your rivals are doing and watch Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

5.    Get online: Make sure you have a website ahead of your launch, that way you can direct any pre-publicity to it where your potential customers can read more about what to expect – and even book a table, or ask to be invited to the opening; and get them to sign up to your news so you can email them with special offers or remind them of particular occasions.

Get your social networking going early, and make sure there are links on your website and menus, and advertise it in the window – but, please no A4 printed signs with Blu-Tack.

6.    Public relations: Try to generate some news or a stunt once a month, not only, for the local press but for your social networking a well.

Here’s a few ides to help generate some news:

•    Why not host cooking classes on a quiet night, you could get a group of, say, 10 people for a series of four, two hours lessons, after which they all get a certificate and discount vouchers. You could even invite someone from the local paper to one of the classes

•    In the build up to Christmas hand deliver trays of food to the management of the larger businesses in the area

•    Invite members of the local allotment association along for a free meal – they bring the food, you do the cooking.

7.    And finally, smile: Make sure your staff are well trained; they are attentive but not intrusive and are able to build a rapport with the customers.