Last updated: Mar 24, 2026, 11:21 AM
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In this Article:
As a business owner, it’s easy to get bogged down by your day-to-day operations. In an effort to keep things running smoothly, sometimes aspirational goals get left on the back burner. However, it’s important to keep an eye out for where your business is headed — and what you want it to become. As hard as it sounds, the best way to get started is to carve out some time to sit down and think about your business goals.
There are many ways to approach this exercise — one way is to start with the classic 6 questions: what, why, when, where, who, and how, in whichever order works best for you.
For example:
Even if you have your growth plans laid out, securing the necessary funding adds yet another bump to the road.
That’s where a Toast Capital Loan can help. Toast Capital provides eligible Toast customers with access to fast*, flexible funding for any business need, such as fueling your restaurant’s growth through the ideas in this article. To learn more about Toast Capital, check out our guide, .
*Get funds in your account as soon as the next business day after application, subject to processing time and completion of your loan agreement. To reduce processing time, make sure that all of your restaurant’s ownership information on file with Toast is up to date before applying and respond quickly to any requests for information.
Reach Your Growth Goals
Expand or Renovate Your Space
Renovating your restaurant or expanding your space is a great way to wow your regulars and attract new customers, but it’s a daunting task with a laundry list of costs. Renovations aren’t something to brush off for too long though — our article notes a 5-year horizon for when a restaurant typically goes for a facelift.
An opportunity for expansion can arise from things like shifts in dining trends or observations of your guest’s experience and restaurant flow.
For example:
If a renovation or expansion is already built into your budget, it’s important to account for unexpectedly high costs and unavoidable project delays. In cases where construction forces a temporary closure, these projects come alongside the double-whammy of lost sales. Therefore, it’s important to build in some financial wiggle room in the budget you’ve set aside.
Open a New Location
Opening a new location is an aspirational “reach” goal for many restaurateurs, and there is no shortage of planning and budgeting required for such a major decision. Pinpointing the right time to open a new location is a key challenge, but it often boils down to strong business performance to sustain a new location, as well as trends in your market:
Our guide on is a great place to start your planning — offering a restaurant expansion checklist to help guide your process.
New Revenue Streams
Food and beverage businesses take many forms — maybe it’s time to explore a new way to reach your customers. We’ll look from the lens of a restaurant in the examples below, but other businesses often move upstream to restaurants as well (e.g. a popular food truck launching a brick-and-mortar dining space sparked by excess customer demand).
Learn more about how to update or add to your restaurant business model .
Marketing Strategy
Even if you’re using email marketing, loyalty programs, and gift cards, keeping a restaurant’s marketing fresh can be difficult. However, marketing upkeep is a great way to draw new customers and keep your loyal guests coming back.
Marketing tactics aren’t one-size-fits-all, so we’ve gathered dozens of ideas in the articles below to help you select what works best for your business.
Below you’ll find some marketing tactics to consider, with some requiring more money than time to execute:
Apply for a Toast Capital Loan
Ready to apply for a Toast Capital Loan? Follow our guide, , for the next steps, or visit your to check for pre-qualified offers.
If you have any additional questions about Toast Capital Loans, please reach out to a Toast Capital Specialist.