Before you say competitors are fighting me with ratings, first look at your restaurant. One of the strangest things you might hear from a restaurant owner is: "The competitors are the ones giving us negative reviews." "The market is bad." "All the restaurants are dead." Okay, a competitor might give you a negative review once or twice, and the market might indeed go through a quiet period. But when you open the reviews and find the same complaint repeated by more than one customer, here we can't say it's competitors. A customer says the food arrived cold. Another says the food was late. A third says the taste is different every time. A fourth complains about the service. Here, the reviews are not attacking you. The reviews are telling you: You have a problem, pay attention quickly and solve it. Instead of replying to every review saying the customer is wrong, gather the negative reviews and read them carefully. If the same problem is repeated, start looking for it within operations. Food is cold: Review preparation, delivery, and packaging times. Taste is different: Review the recipe, weights, and preparation method. Orders are late: Review the order journey from the moment of ordering until delivery. Service is bad: Review the team, training, and follow-up. The problem is, if you remain convinced that every negative review is a conspiracy by competitors, you will never see the real problem within your restaurant. Not every negative review is correct. And not every negative review is wrong. Cleverness is knowing how to differentiate between a review aimed at defamation and a real complaint that can improve your restaurant. And don't spend money on ads to bring new customers to experience the same problem that old customers told you about. Before you say who gave me a negative review, ask yourself: What did they say? And did anyone else say the same thing? At that point, a negative review can turn from a problem into a free tool to help you identify the defect and fix it. Mohamed El Shenawy Consultant for establishing, operating, and developing restaurants and catering Founder of "Bayt El Matame" (The House of Restaurants) I help restaurant owners diagnose operational problems, improve customer experience, control quality and costs, build systems, and recruit and train staff. Before blaming the competitor or the market, make sure first that the problem is not within your restaurant.