Exactly a decade ago, two old school mates met over a beer and decided to start a business together – building reservations management software in South Africa, for South Africa’s restaurants.

Today Dineplan – initially called Come Dine – is not only an electronic reservations book for businesses both locally and internationally, but also a mobile app and website for diners to conveniently book tables online.

Dineplan software now spans to Vouchers, Takeaways, Table-Side Ordering, Covid-19 Management, Digital Menus, Statistics, Detailed Reporting, Reviews, Marketing and more.

Time flies when you’re having fun, and the Dineplan team has enjoyed one ‘hellova’ rapid ride to the top. But with all businesses, there are ups and downs.

I asked Dineplan founders Greg Whitfield and Martin Rose to recount the best and worst bits of building SA’s leading restaurant reservations management software over the past 10 years.

 

MM: What was your career before starting Dineplan, and what drove you to dive in and take the risk of starting this venture?

GW: Investment banking. I wanted a change, and I wanted to be part of something that made a difference in peoples’ or business’ lives.

MR: Web developer. Working in London I gained valuable experience and saw an opportunity back home in South Africa.

 

MM: What was your first or worst challenge to date? And how did you tackle it?

GW: Our first major challenge in the early days was just to make some money to pay rent and feed ourselves. This took 2 years, so I rented out my car to pay my rent and drove a scooter.

MR: We actually started the business as Come Dine, modelling Top Table from the UK. We had some early success with the product but struggled to scale the solution and we quickly realised that we needed to build a reservation management system, which we then called Dineplan.

After that, acquiring customers became our biggest challenge. We had to gain trust and build a reputation. Our business model is such that we earn incremental income which took time to build up enough customers to be able to afford to pay our own salaries.

I clearly remember my first paycheck of R2000 in November 2013, more than 2 years after starting the business, and 1 month before my wedding. Fortunately I had my wife to help support me. I think she made a good investment!

 

MM: What were the first restaurants to use Dineplan software, and how did you get them onboard?

GW: The first restaurants we approached were the top fine dining restaurants. These were the restaurants that put the most importance on guest experience and service levels, and these were benefits that we could easily show that Dineplan could help with.

Once we convinced a few to use Dineplan, it immediately gave our product some credibility and it became easier to get others onto the platform.

There were a few chefs and operators such as Bertus Basson of Overture and Pete De Bruin and Franck Dangereux of The Foodbarn that went out of their way to support and spread the word about Dineplan amongst the industry players, which helped tremendously, and we were immensely grateful for.

MR: I’m on the software and IT side of the business but back then I was also involved in meeting with clients and getting them onboard. I remember setting up the first account and doing a demo for Cube Tasting Kitchen in Johannesburg while I was up there visiting family. They have since closed down.

 

MM: Best friends starting a business together could have ended badly! What makes it work for you two? What is the other person’s strengths that keep the wheels from falling off?

GW: I think the most important factor that has made it work, apart from getting along really well, is that our strengths and areas of expertise are very different.

Martin in charge of the tech and development of the product, and myself overseeing the sales, operations, finance and general business management.

This meant in the early days that we could cover the essential areas of starting a tech business between the two of us before we could afford to employ more staff, and we didn’t step on each other’s toes.

MR: I met Greg in Grade 8 in high school so by the time we started the business we knew each other well. There is also a certain kind of trust that is born out of attending a boarding school and being in the same boarding house together – you really get to know someone.

The skills we each bring to the business are complimentary which was crucial to the success of the business early on. While we get along very well, it is important to note there are times when we don’t always agree on certain things, but because we both understand that we want the best for the business we use this as a compass to guide our decisions.

 

MM: What is your funniest or fondest memory since starting Dineplan?

GW: In the early days, during big productions at the Artscape Theatre, Martin and I would spend our evenings placing ‘Will you have dinner with me?’ serviettes on all the cars in the Artscape Theatre parking lot while ducking behind cars to hide from the security guards and watching peoples’ reactions to the note on their windshield. Only after seeing the Come Dine logo and info on the back would they realise it was a marketing stunt!

MR: Wow there are so many fond memories. From riding my scooter after midnight around the city placing gorilla marketing ‘Tjips’ stickers, to hitting parking lots with what looked like handwritten ‘Will you have dinner with me?’ serviettes under people’s car windscreen wipers.

In the early days of the business, I had set up a meeting with Eat Out to pitch the idea of putting an online booking widget on each restaurant’s listing on their website. I got them onboard which helped to drive the success of Come Dine back then.

 

MM: If you can give anyone starting a new business one piece of advice, what would it be?

GW: We were definitely naive as to how difficult it would be and how long it would take. But we were too stubborn to give up. It was at the time of our lives when we could live cheaply so it worked out.

I would advise to set realistic expectations and be prepared for a lot of hard work, but it’ll all be worth it once you succeed!

MR: One piece of advice will never be sufficient. Identify a problem to solve that will help people or make their lives easier.

Find a mentor that has travelled this road before – they will have valuable advice but also remember that sometimes they can be wrong too.

Starting a business is not easy. Focus on getting an MVP (minimal viable product) out as fast as possible to prove your product works.

 

MM:  When Stage 5 Lockdown was first announced last year, you immediately started working on releasing free platforms like Voucherplan.co.za to help support restaurants through the difficult time. Why do you feel it’s important to give back?

GW: During the Covid lockdowns we had the development resources to build something that could assist our clients and other businesses. A free-to-use voucher platform seemed like the best solution.

We never dreamed that it would result in over R6-million worth of vouchers sold. The gratitude that we received from our clients and other businesses was so rewarding during that tough period.

An indirect benefit was that it kept us really busy while all our clients were closed, and also earned us some great goodwill when things opened up again.

MR: When the lockdowns were sprung upon us we found ourselves in a position where we needed to adapt to the times to help our clients as best as we could. We created the voucher platform that allowed restaurants to earn revenue while they were forced to close.

And our takeaways ordering solution was conceived to empower restaurants to manage their own takeaways at a cost significantly below the fees that food delivery companies are charging.

 

MM:  What’s next for Dineplan?

GW: We always have a list of exciting new functionalities that we are working on but can’t say too much about that. Other than new functionality, while South Africa will always be our priority, we would like to attempt to grow our clients internationally, including specifically African countries.

MR: We have a focus on international growth while also developing new products to offer to our existing clients. Locally we will continue to develop the Dineplan brand to be the go-to place for diners looking for restaurants in South Africa.

Nando’s joins the Loeries to celebrate design Design from Africa and the Middle East finally gets the recognition it deserves with the expanded Nando’s Design category at the Loeries in 2019. This year’s category has been extended to recognise design from a much broader range of creative professionals. “We’ve expanded the design category beyond only brand communication to include areas of design such as retail furniture and product design, fabric, wallpaper, lighting, architecture and interior design, and even the design of signage programmes,” says Loeries CEO Andrew Human. He adds that the Loeries has long been recognised as the highest accolade in advertising and brand communication.

“A strong design award has been lacking for our region and this is a great opportunity for all designers to showcase their work and achieve recognition.” Design is woven into the Nando’s DNA, making Nando’s a natural partner for the Design category. “Design and creativity have been an intrinsic part of the Nando’s way of doing business.

Nando’s is the first local brand to collaborate with local designers at the scale it does,” says Deirdre King, Nando’s Brand Experience GM. She adds: “Putting our support behind the design community is important to doing business well. Our PERi-PERi power has charted new paths and careers for many local artists and their art. Putting that same fire behind the extended Design category for the 2019 Loeries gives us a chance to spice things up for the wonderful designers who will imprint their names onto this exciting category. According to Gaby de Abreu, Loeries board member and creative head of Switch Design, the awards are invaluable because they offer a chance for designers to showcase their work to a far greater audience.

“The Nando’s Design category at the Loeries is an opportunity to showcase excellence across disciplines in countries throughout Africa and the Middle East. For independent designers, it’s a unique chance to achieve recognition across the industry, reaching creatives internationally,” says de Abreu. “For a furniture designer working in an independent workshop or a graphic designer outside of the agency network, this year’s Loeries offers a chance to show the world what you’ve achieved,” he adds. The Nando’s Design category at the Loeries is open to designers across all the main disciplines. The entry deadline is 15 May and more information can be found on loeries.com.

About Nando's: While proudly South African, Nando’s is an international flame-grilling, PERi-PERi chicken restaurant group. We offer a twist of Afro-Portuguese with an upmarket and comfortable dining experience. Two friends, Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte, opened the first Nando’s in 1987 in Johannesburg, South Africa. All Nando's PERi-PERi chicken is marinated for 24 hours, locally sourced and never frozen, ensuring our customers only get the finest flavours.

Our unique PERi-PERi recipe includes herbs, spices, garlic, lemon juice and bird’s eye chilli. Nando's authentic PERi -PERi has captivated its customers all over the world, making it the largest South African restaurant group to expand internationally. DEADLINE FOR 2019 LOERIES ENTRIES EXTENDED TO MAY 31 About Loeries Africa Middle East: The Loeries, a non-profit company, is Africa and the Middle East’s premiere initiative that recognises, rewards, inspires and fosters creative excellence in the brand communication industry.

As the highest accolade for creativity and innovation across our region, the Loeries promotes and supports creativity by helping marketers, agencies and consumers appreciate the value of ideas and fresh thinking.

Culminating in the biggest creative gathering in Africa and the Middle East, Loeries Creative Week Durban brings together the best innovative minds from our industry for a festival of networking, inspiring minds and recognising great work. Our region's creative economy is world-class and has great potential to grow and to offer employment both to our talented youth. The growth occurring throughout Africa and the Middle East is very exciting, and a major focus of the Loeries is to increase the standard of brand communication in the region.

Major Partners of the Loeries: DStv Media Sales, Gearhouse Category Partners: AB InBev, Barron, Brand South Africa, Facebook, Gagasi FM, Google, JCDecaux, Nando’s, Tsogo Sun, Woolworths Additional Partners and Official Suppliers: AAA School of Advertising, Antalis South Africa, Aon South Africa, Backsberg, BEE Online, First Source, Fresh RSVP Guest Logistics, Funk Productions, Gallo Images, Grid Worldwide, Hetzner, Mama Creative, Newsclip, Paygate, Rocketseed, Shared Value Initiative, Shift Social Development, Vega School, VQI Communications Nigeria Endorsed by: Association of Communication and Design, Brand Council South Africa, Commercial Producers Association, Creative Circle, EXCA, IAB, South African Institute of Architects, IID Official Media Partners Between 10and5, Bizcommunity.com, Book of Swag, Brand Communicator Nigeria, Business Insider by Pulse, Campaign Middle East, Film & Event Media, Modern Marketing The Redzone. Twitter: @loeries Instagram: Loerieawards Facebook: The Loeries

Distributed on behalf of the Loeries by: Riana Greenblo Communications: 011 3256006

For more information, interview requests or high-res images please contact: Gina McLoughlin: 0113256006 (mornings only)or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Riana Greenblo: +27 82 5675159 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

SOUTH Africa's leading reservation software company has just launched a free online booking platform for restaurants in South Africa.  

Branded 'Requests by Dineplan', restaurants can now load an interactive booking widget onto their website, Facebook page and Google business listing for guests to make quick and easy booking requests online.

It also integrates into the Dineplan mobile app for consumers booking on the go. The widget allows guests to choose the date, time and party size they would like to book for. 

Once a request booking is made on the widget or app, the system automatically notifies the restaurant via SMS and email to respond to the guest timeously. 

Dineplan co-founder Greg Whitfield said this platform is highly beneficial for restaurants, particularly those still using outdated booking enquiry forms on their websites. 

‘Around 80% of guests who do not receive a response to their booking request within 30 minutes, simply book elsewhere. 

‘The decision was made to roll out Requests by Dineplan free of charge to encourage restaurants to offer online reservations. 

‘Consumer trends show a significant increase in demand from consumers to be able to transact online.  

‘It has become standard practise to book flights, rental cars, accommodation and movies online, and restaurant bookings are no different.  

‘Unfortunately, many restaurants are still behind in offering online bookings, and Requests by Dineplan goes a long way to provide an immediate and efficient solution to this demand. 

‘Our longer-term goal is that we can convert many of the restaurants using the free Requests by Dineplan platform onto one of the paid-for packages that Dineplan offers, however, there is no obligation for a restaurant to upgrade,’ Whitfield said. 

 

About Dineplan 

Dineplan founders Martin Rose and Greg Whitfield started the reservation software company in Cape Town in 2011, developing back-end software for restaurants to use as their electronic reservation book. 

This would later enable instant bookings to diners via the Dineplan booking widget on restaurant clients’ websites.

In February this year, the company launched the consumer-based Dineplan App, enabling app users to make instant or request bookings at 1000s of restaurants across South Africa from their mobile phones.

The app allows users to search restaurants by availability, name and area, as well as to create lists of their favourite restaurants, browse opening hours, customer ratings, and research different cuisines on offer.

Diners can even share reservation information with fellow diners, which includes Google Map locations.Today, more than 20 000 bookings are made across the Dineplan network every day.

The Sunday Club launches at the Blanko Restaurant in Constantia.

Happening every Sunday at noon, this is the perfect chance to get the whole family together and enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon with us.

A delicious three-course lunch for R240 is on offer and can be paired with a selection of award winning wines whilst being entertained by live jazz.

The Sunday Club also offers a supervised childrens fun area provided by entertainment experts, Bazinga.

Adults can sit back and relax while the children choose from face-painting, balloon sculptures, a jumping castle, games and more!

A childs fee of R50 for these activities will be donated to the Cape Peninsula Feeding Association.

So come and enjoy your Sunday with family and friends at The Sunday Club!

Booking is essential.

For bookings: Tel: +27 (0)21 795 6300

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Address: Alphen drive,
Constantia

www.alphen.co.za/home

{pp}A year in the making and it’s finally here...The all new WHAT2NIGHT.CO.ZA (www.what2night.co.za), the online restaurant and nightspot guide, has arrived…