One of the huge advantages of being a smaller company is that you can be nimble, and independent restaurant operators are flexing their creative muscles like never before.

If there’s one thing learned during the past year’s pandemic, it’s that restaurants need to find new ways of doing business to generate cash. Across the country, we are seeing new ideas — innovation in action — to do just that.

These are steal-able ideas that may or may not work for your operation. But they could spark a new way of thinking about the way you do business. Many of these ideas were born out of the pandemic, but these case studies show they have potential to stick as restaurant dining rooms reopen and consumers return to their pre-pandemic dining habits.

Here are nine examples of restaurant operators who have found creative ways to generate new sources of revenue.

What’s your idea?