Pivoting to new revenue streams keeps Tifton restaurant afloat
Special Photo: UGA
From staff reports
TIFTON — While popular as a farm-to-table restaurant, the Local at the Lankford in Tifton found a new market during the pandemic: natural dog treats.
Owners Jennifer and David Scarbrough launched the new venture when they were forced to close the restaurant because of COVID-19. They also partnered with another local business to create Quarantini Kits, launched the Local To Go takeout service and opened a farmers market to support their suppliers.
“It’s critical during these times that businesses think this way,” Rob Martin, area director of the University of Georgia Small Business Development Center’s regional office in Albany, said. “They should ask, ‘What are new streams of revenue we can produce?’ or ‘How do we expand our existing lines so we will survive?’”
Martin helped the Scarbroughs secure federal funding available through the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act approved by Congress in the spring.
The new ventures allowed them to keep their seven employees on the payroll while they waited for the funding.
The restaurant closed March 14.
“Our last night of dining service was less of a St. Patrick’s Day party than we had hoped for,” Jennifer Scarbrough said. “Our team definitely knew things were about to change. But none of us knew just how much.”
The restaurant re-opened on May 25, with reduced hours and following coronavirus safety protocols.
“We’ve been grateful to have Rob as our UGA SBDC ‘therapist’ through this experience,” Jennifer Scarbrough said. “He not only understands the restaurant business, but he kept us sane, guiding us through all our crazy questions and listened when we needed it.”
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