Hostess Service

An influencer is a person or organization that has significant influence over the opinions or behavior of a certain audience, especially in social communication mediums such as social networks, blogs, and other platforms. Influencers often use their popularity to advertise products, services, or to spread certain ideas and viewpoints.

Influencers can be bloggers, celebrities, experts in a particular field, content creators on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms. They can influence their followers or audience through their posts, videos, or other forms of content.

The importance of influencers in modern advertising and marketing is growing, as many consumers trust the opinions of real people more than traditional advertising.

1. Hostess — usually a woman working to greet guests in a restaurant, club, hotel, or at events. She welcomes visitors, escorts them to their table, and performs other tasks related to service.
2. Outsourcing — a business practice where a company delegates certain functions or tasks to third parties instead of performing them internally. For example, a company may outsource IT services, accounting, or customer support.

Influencers at the service of the restaurant business: Introducing a mobile application that connects restaurants and female influencers in a mutually beneficial collaboration. Restaurants gain valuable clients and promotion on social networks, while influencers earn commissions for each successful reservation and additional bonuses for posts about the establishment. We create a new channel for attracting customers for restaurants, enriching their client base, and provide influencers with a new source of income. An ideal solution for new restaurants looking to quickly attract visitors, as well as established venues aiming to strengthen their online reputation.

Business Model:

1. Main Participants:

• Restaurants/Venues
• Female Influencers
• Service (application)

2. Revenue Streams:

• Commission from restaurants for each reservation
• Additional commission for promotional activities (social media posts)

3. Key Metrics:

• Total number of active restaurants in the application
• Total number of active users (female influencers)
• Average reservation check
• Percentage of successful reservations (when clients actually come and pay for the order)
• Number of social media posts and their reach/engagement
• Reviews/ratings of restaurants and influencers in the application
• Average commission received by the service from restaurants
• Average commission paid to influencers
• Average cost of acquiring a new restaurant/influencer (CAC – customer acquisition cost)

Operational Model:

1. Attracting Restaurants:

• Active sales and partnerships with new and existing venues
• Offering special conditions for new establishments

2. Attracting Influencers:

• Advertising campaigns on social networks, referral programs
• Offering premium conditions for influencers with a large reach

3. Monitoring and Quality:

• Tracking the quality of restaurant services and feedback from influencers
• Analytics of social media post effectiveness

Risks:

1. Fake reservations: Influencers may attempt to earn commissions by making fake reservations.
2. Content quality: If the content created by influencers does not meet the restaurant’s standards, it may cause disagreements.

Possible Ways to Scale:

1. Expansion into new geographical regions.
2. Adding additional categories of venues (e.g., cafes, bars, clubs).
3. Integration with other platforms and services, such as table reservation systems or food delivery.

Implementing such an idea will require significant investment in marketing and technology, as well as strict quality control and partnership management.

Key Metrics and Formulas:

1. Total Number of Active Restaurants in the Application (TNAR)
   • Formula: Sum of new restaurants – Sum of restaurants that left the platform
2. Total Number of Active Users (female influencers) (TNAU)
   • Formula: Sum of new influencers – Sum of influencers who left the platform
3. Average Reservation Check (ARC)
   • Formula: Total amount of checks / Number of reservations
4. Percentage of Successful Reservations (PSR)
   • Formula: (Number of successful reservations / Total number of reservations) * 100%
5. Average Commission Received by the Service from Restaurants (ACSR)
   • Formula: (ARC * % commission) + (Average cost of promotional post * number of posts)
6. Average Commission Paid to Influencers (ACPI)
   • Formula: ARC * % commission for influencer
7. Average Cost of Acquiring a New Restaurant/Influencer (CAC)
   • Formula: Total marketing expenses / (Number of new restaurants + Number of new influencers)

Mini Growth Simulation:

Month 1:

• New restaurants: 10
• New influencers: 50
• Average reservation check: $100
• Percentage of successful reservations: 60%
• Average commission from restaurants: $20 (20% of the check)
• Average commission for influencer: $15 (15% of the check)
• Total marketing expenses: $1000

Month 2 (with 20% growth):

• New restaurants: 12 (10*1.20)
• New influencers: 60 (50*1.20)
• Average reservation check: $100 (unchanged)
• Percentage of successful reservations: 65% (slight improvement due to experience and feedback)
• Average commission from restaurants: $22 (22% of the check, slight growth due to promotional posts)
• Average commission for influencer: $16 (16% of the check, stimulating activity)
• Total marketing expenses: $1100 (10% increase from the initial budget)

To calculate turnover and profit, first determine the turnover based on the average check and the percentage of successful reservations. Then determine the profit, considering commissions paid by restaurants to the service and commissions paid by the service to influencers.

Turnover = (Number of restaurants * Average check * Percentage of successful reservations)
Profit = Turnover * (Commission from restaurants – Commission to influencer)

Calculations:

Month 1:

• Turnover: 10 * $50 * 0.6 = $300
• Profit: $300 * ($10 – $7.50) = $750

Month 2:

• Turnover: 11 * $50 * 0.61 = $335.50
• Profit: $335.50 * ($10 – $7.50) = $838.75

Month 10:

• Turnover: 23 * $50 * 0.63 = $724.50
• Profit: $724.50 * ($10 – $7.50) = $1,811.25

Month 12:

• Turnover: 28 * $50 * 0.64 = $896
• Profit: $896 * ($10 – $7.50) = $2,240

Month 24:

• Turnover: 80 * $50 * 0.68 = $2,720
• Profit: $2,720 * ($10 – $7.50) = $6,800

Here, turnover represents the total amount that restaurants have paid for reservations through the platform, and profit is the portion of this amount that the platform earns after paying commissions to influencers.

These calculations are simplified and may be adjusted based on additional information such as operating costs, employee salaries, taxes, and other expenses.

<aside> 💡 Training and certification of restaurants (own quality mark)

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In addition to the main income from commissions from restaurants, there are many additional revenue sources that can be implemented in such a business model:

1. Sale of aggregated data: Since you have information about purchases, client preferences, and restaurants, you can sell this information to other companies (e.g., product suppliers or advertising agencies) in aggregated and anonymized form.
2. Premium subscriptions for restaurants: Providing additional features or dedicated space in the application for restaurants willing to pay a monthly or annual fee.
3. Advertising in the application: Based on data about user preferences, you can offer targeted advertising in the app.
4. Partnerships with suppliers: Since you have information about what’s popular in restaurants, you can enter into partnership agreements with suppliers and receive commissions for attracting deals.
5. Organizing events: Organizing special events or parties in partnership with popular restaurants and influencers.
6. Courses and training for restaurants: Training restaurants in best practices in hospitality, marketing, and management.
7. Sale or licensing of technology: If your platform or algorithm is truly unique, other companies may be interested in purchasing or licensing your product.
8. Merchandising: Selling branded merchandise with your brand’s logo or collaborating with restaurants to create exclusive products.
9. Paid reviews or articles: Offering restaurants the opportunity to pay for a review or article about them in the app.
10. Tourist packages: Collaborating with travel companies or hotels to create package offers.
11. Training and certification of restaurants (own quality mark)
12. An unconventional method: Organizing “secret dinners” based on user preference data, where users pay in advance for a dinner at an unknown location and only learn the details at the last moment.

Verification of receipts with the establishment

Fault tolerance

Creating a fault-tolerant and scalable smartphone application is a complex process, but the following recommendations can help you:

1. Cloud solutions: Use cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) that offer tools for automatic scaling and resilience.
2. Microservice architecture: Divide your application into small, independent services. Each service is responsible for specific functionality and can scale independently.
3. Databases: Use databases that can scale horizontally. Consider data sharding, caching, and using NoSQL solutions where appropriate.
4. Caching: Use caching solutions (e.g., Redis or Memcached) to speed up access to frequently requested data.
5. CDN: For fast delivery of static content (images, styles, scripts), use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs).
6. Load balancing: Use load balancers to distribute traffic between servers.
7. Monitoring and alerts: Use monitoring tools to track performance, errors, and other metrics of your application in real-time.
8. Load testing: Regularly perform load testing of your application to understand its limits and identify bottlenecks.
9. Updates and deployment: Implement Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) processes so that code updates occur smoothly and without downtime.
10. Backup: Regularly create data backups and test the recovery process.
11. Incident response plan: Develop an incident response plan to know what to do in case of failures.

To create such an application, it is recommended to involve a team of professionals, including developers, test engineers, database administrators, and DevOps specialists.

Understanding and accounting for risks is a key step when developing any product or service. Below is a detailed description of potential risks for your project:

1. Receipt verification risk:
   • Unauthorized access: If receipt data is stored in a database, there is a risk of the database being hacked.
   • Incorrect verification: Automatic recognition of data on the receipt may fail due to poor image quality or software errors.
   • Data privacy: Storing receipts may violate client data privacy, as receipts may contain information about personal preferences.
2. Receipt forgery: Dishonest users may attempt to use fake or repeatedly scanned receipts to receive rewards.
3. Technical failures: Any technology is prone to failures, whether due to software bugs, server issues, or other unforeseen circumstances.
4. Reputational risks: Negative reviews from users and restaurants about the service may affect the overall reputation of your business.
5. Data processing risks: Non-compliance with data protection laws can lead to legal liability and fines.
6. Dependency on partners: If restaurants or other key partners cease cooperation or change deal terms, it may impact the business.
7. Economic risks: Changes in commissions or other costs may affect the business’s profitability.
8. User fraud: Dishonest users may try to deceive the system, inventing various fraud methods.
9. Restaurant fraud: Some restaurants may attempt to minimize payments or evade them.
10. Competition: The emergence of competing services or copies of your application may reduce market share and profit.
11. Legislative risks: Possible changes in legislation that may affect the business model, such as regulations regarding receipt processing or cashback.
12. Technology obsolescence risks: New technologies or standards may emerge, making the current system less efficient or obsolete.

To minimize each of these risks, it is recommended to conduct regular analyses, software updates, testing, staff training, and collaborate with legal experts to ensure compliance with legislation.