How a diner is growing by selling to a niche community

In an overcrowded inustry like food, finding your community as a business can be tricky. This diner does it by focusing on the nightshift.

The restaurant business in Lagos is super crowded, on every street there is almost always someone selling food. From the Mama Puts to the fast foods and the boujee restaurants, there is never a shortage of places to eat in Lagos, Nigeria.

A mall with different shops in Falomo, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Osioke Itseuwa.

Looking at how one restaurant grew its community in this overpopulated industry in Nigeria, can shed a bit of light on how to scale your Nigerian community in a crowded marketplace.

Jay’s Diner sells the usual restaurant options; Milkshakes, Pastas and Burgers. They have an outdoor seating area and a good number of waiters who rush to any new person who comes around. 

Seat out area at Jay’s Diner in Falomo, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Osioke Itseuwa.

This is normal for any serious restaurant. What is unique about them though is they only work from 6PM to 5AM every single day. In a city that never sleeps, this works. They are by no way the only restaurant that does this, some work 24/7 with staffs on shift, but for me, they are the first to work only through the night and do it with an extra oomph; focus.

I find this interesting because it gives them a unique selling proposition and introduces them to an audience and community that really needs this focus. Focus because for 24/7 shops, the evening shifts mostly get the tired staff. With little to no supervision or programming/marketing around their late night offerings, work dwindles. This is especially true when they aren’t a night club or a lounge, just your good ol’ diner.

Customers looking at the menu while the waiters wait on them. Photo by Osioke Itseuwa.

This focus brings some quality service which is usually missing from other restaurants who try to serve night crawlers, because they treat the night service as an add-on, not their main business. But for Jay’s Diner, this is their main business, they do not work at any other hours, and so they focus well on this audience and give them the quality service they deserve.

A well lighted ornament and the exit sign at a mall in Falomo, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Osioke Itseuwa.

So what are you focusing on with your community? Be like Jay’s Diner and focus on the nightshift.