Quote:
Originally Posted by Clare Quilty
it wouldn't be a hijack, as this thread isn't just meant to be an ask me, but also just general bar talk. it would be great to get owner perspective (you, diablo, KJS).
but anyway, thanks! if you open a bar in Tahiti, say, let me know...
Ok, well I set up, owned and ran a late night bar in a mountain tourist valley in Italy for 4 years. Before that I had worked in bars full time from when I was 18 to about 24, including managing some.
Setting up and successfully running a bar is way more complicated than people think. I had to talk a friend of mine out of doing the same thing earlier this year in Australia, (he already owns and runs a very successful pizza place). It was obvious to me and another good friend who owns two big bars here that this guy was going to lose his 200 grand investment in about 6 months tops.
He thought that running a bar would be easy as there is no prep work, (as compared to food), and all you have to do is give people drinks. It took us a good few months to get him to realise how wrong he was. This attitude is very common and the biggest factor in why so many new bars go belly up in the first year.
Most important factors when setting up a bar or buying an existing one:
Know your target clientèle and how you will target them.
Understand ever aspect of décor, including lighting, bathrooms, capacity, and ratio of clients sitting to standing. For example, the mirrors in the female bathrooms must make them look better than they actually are. This way when they go into the bathroom for the little hair check they will think "wow I look awesome" and will stay in your bar thus attracting male patrons who will spend all their money trying to pick them up.
Music is huge, way bigger than you realise, as is your sound system.
Do not fall into the trap of setting up the bar that YOU would like. Set up the bar that your identified patrons will like. There is a big difference.
Get great bar staff and keep them. Very hard to do.
There's so much more but that's just a start.