Simple idea to throw restaurants a lifeline is an overnight success

A simple idea born just three months ago to help struggling East Rand restaurants survive lockdown restrictions was an instant hit on social media and the reason many have been able to keep their doors open.

Meet the originators of the Restaurant 911 Facebook page, Martin van der Vyver and Darren Timm, who own a security firm in Boksburg. The page’s slogan is “saving our restaurants one at a time”.

Martin lives in Boksburg and Darren in Benoni. The two have been mates since primary school and say they love the East Rand – hence, their idea to start the Facebook page to help stimulate the local economy and save restaurants in their towns from disappearing for good.

“It was concerning to see the effect of lockdown on restaurant owners and staff. We wanted to do something but didn’t quite know what would make a difference,” Martin said.

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“We spoke to a restaurant owner in Boksburg to get his view on starting a Facebook page on which restaurants could post their specials and promote their businesses. He thought it was a great idea, so we created Restaurant 911.”

Nothing could have prepared the two for the instant success of the page.

“By the end of the first day we had 5 000 members, 10 000 by the end of the week and 30 000 by the end of the first month,” said Darren.

“The daily activity on the page is unbelievable. We are almost at 36 000 members now.”

With just the two of them as admins on the group, it quickly became apparent that they would need to brush up on how to manage the group properly.

Martin said he is not tech savvy so Darren was tasked with taking a crash course to learn how to manage and leverage the success of the group.

About 80% of the members are from the East Rand, but Restaurant 911 has attracted attention countrywide.

Their initial idea was to create a platform for restaurants to post specials and the likes.

Darren and Martin then started making videos at local restaurants and posting these and encouraged other members and restaurant owners and staff to also become more interactive with video postings.

“Wherever we went to make videos we paid for our meals and drinks. Some people, unfortunately, commented that we were probably getting free food in exchange – but why would we do that? The purpose of Restaurant 911 is to support restaurants to stimulate the economy,” Martin said.

“People eat with their eyes, which is why we thought these types of videos would be a great publicity tool, and they were!”

What they love most about the page is the unity it has created among those struggling in the restaurant industry. The fact that the page is targeted at the industry is its biggest success, the pair said.

It has also highlighted the number of “hidden gems” on the East Rand. And, there is also all the brilliant suggestions made by members, like restaurants operating as roadhouses to circumvent the Covid-19 regulations.

“This idea just blew up into instant success. Many restaurants started serving roadhouse style.

This also had an off-shoot for those manufacturing the wooden serving planks for cars,” Martin said.

Feedback from owners about how Restaurant 911 has helped them has revealed they haven’t necessarily had more feet through the door but engagement on their own social media platforms has increased.

“Some restaurants have told us this group literally saved their businesses,” Martin said.

“We are very proud of what we’ve achieved and we are not monetising the page – it is all free, with Darren and I as the admins and people still being able to post free of charge.

“We have to approve all posts, so it can get hectic in between running our security business, which is also successful and demanding. It has been well worth it though to know we have helped keep our local restaurants in business – for their families and our families.”

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