Getting in over your head......job related

[goodsamaritan]

Guids,

I've never run a business, but I've been to my fair share of clubs, and I think I've got a decent sense for what makes them successful:
1. Reward your loyal customers handsomely, especially if they are hot chicks or guys that bring hot chicks. This is essential to ensuring that your club isn't just the spot that is cool for one year but is empty the next.
2. Number 1 was probably, obvious, but here is something that many club owners neglect: Make sure your staff doesn't treat your male customers like [censored]. We all know that having a lot of female customers is essential to the success of any night club, but don't forget that the large majority of your money will be coming from dudes. So make sure your male bartenders aren't busy flirting with the chicks while some dude has to wait 10 minutes to buy a round of patron shots.
3. Do everything in your power to deter the thug/ghetto crowd. I'm not sure what kind of music you plan on playing, but I would strongly consider not playing hip hop
4. Make sure you do not hire any bouncers who have something to prove. A bouncers job is to prevent fights, not to let out his rage over not being able to play high school football anymore. The last thing you want is a lawsuit or police scrutiny because of some meathead bouncer.
5. Don't be penny wise, pound foolish with mixed drinks. The marginal cost of alcohol is very low compared to what you'll be charging. People are happier when drunk and don't appreciate paying 10 bucks for drinks with no alcohol in them.
6. If your club becomes very successful, never forget the importance of good service. I've seen many a club that were minting money one year and then closed down a couple of years later because they thought being popular was a license to have [censored] service.

Good luck, you have a lot of balls for doing this.

[guids]

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Guids,

I've never run a business, but I've been to my fair share of clubs, and I think I've got a decent sense for what makes them successful:
1. Reward your loyal customers handsomely, especially if they are hot chicks or guys that bring hot chicks. This is essential to ensuring that your club isn't just the spot that is cool for one year but is empty the next.
2. Number 1 was probably, obvious, but here is something that many club owners neglect: Make sure your staff doesn't treat your male customers like [censored]. We all know that having a lot of female customers is essential to the success of any night club, but don't forget that the large majority of your money will be coming from dudes. So make sure your male bartenders aren't busy flirting with the chicks while some dude has to wait 10 minutes to buy a round of patron shots.
3. Do everything in your power to deter the thug/ghetto crowd. I'm not sure what kind of music you plan on playing, but I would strongly consider not playing hip hop
4. Make sure you do not hire any bouncers who have something to prove. A bouncers job is to prevent fights, not to let out his rage over not being able to play high school football anymore. The last thing you want is a lawsuit or police scrutiny because of some meathead bouncer.
5. Don't be penny wise, pound foolish with mixed drinks. The marginal cost of alcohol is very low compared to what you'll be charging. People are happier when drunk and don't appreciate paying 10 bucks for drinks with no alcohol in them.

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Actually, I forgot about the bouncer part, I have a good friend that is a big dude, bad ass reputation, but is really good with people, perfect for a security guy, people are scared of him, but in the 5 years that Ive been running with him on a pretty nightly basis, Ive never saw him in a fight. Im forming an LLC for him, and getting him started with a "security" firm. My hope is that after we hire him, and his crew of guy (all trained in security classes) and after a year or two of semi-incident free nights, that I can start reccomending "his" company to other bars around us, basically Id like to start up a "private" police force for every bar around the city, that knows how to handle people correctly, keeps fights to a minimum etc, adn get a peice of the profits. It also give me club a little protection because we are hiring an "outside" company.

the bar taht was there before us started attracting a ghetto crowd, and after an 15 year stint at that location (which is sick in the night club industry) they were forced out of their lease by the leasing company, so obv, I know not to make that mistake

The cheap stuff will be reasonably priced, the expensive stuff will be expensive, my thought is that if you are the type to drink the expensive stuff, you arent going to care how much it is.

as far as rewarding loyal customers, this is where lots of people get into trouble, rewarding loyal customers does nothing really imo. If the place is run correctly, you will always have business, if it isnt run correctly, the only customers you will have left after a year are the "loyal" ones looking to score free/cheap drinks because you took care of them when you were doing good business.

[adsman]

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Im forming an LLC for him, and getting him started with a "security" firm. My hope is that after we hire him, and his crew of guy (all trained in security classes) and after a year or two of semi-incident free nights, that I can start reccomending "his" company to other bars around us, basically Id like to start up a "private" police force for every bar around the city, that knows how to handle people correctly, keeps fights to a minimum etc, adn get a peice of the profits. It also give me club a little protection because we are hiring an "outside" company.


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My brother did exactly this with his club in Australia and it worked very well.

[IggyWH]

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quids,

"Anheuser agreed to pay for some major Djs (tiesto, skribble)"

WTF? You have Tiesto booked at no cost to you?!

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yes, tentatively, we have skribble booked for the grand opening at least, and bacardi/AB are splitting the cost, we talked to tiesto, and will probably be doing the same thing w/ him.

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That sounds pretty damn sweet. I used to think Skribble was BS from his MTV days, but then I saw him live and he blew me away. One of the best DJ's I've ever heard IMO. Even if you're not into the whole techno/trance/dance type stuff, Tiesto is still [censored] sweet. I haven't had a chance to see him live yet but I hope to someday.

[NLSoldier]

quids,

this sounds awesome. i am jealous.

how many days/week are you going to be working 19 hrs?

[El Diablo]

quids,

You and gs make good points about bouncers. I'll add one more thing. Bouncer gets in a fight where he instigates anything, fire him instantly. You should definitely have your security's back in terms of being able to defend themselves and your patrons when necessary. But the second one of your security guys hits a guy for calling him a POS or a n***** or whatever, you have to fire him (or in your case, tell the security company that guy isn't working your club anymore).

[goodsamaritan]

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The cheap stuff will be reasonably priced, the expensive stuff will be expensive, my thought is that if you are the type to drink the expensive stuff, you arent going to care how much it is.

as far as rewarding loyal customers, this is where lots of people get into trouble, rewarding loyal customers does nothing really imo. If the place is run correctly, you will always have business, if it isnt run correctly, the only customers you will have left after a year are the "loyal" ones looking to score free/cheap drinks because you took care of them when you were doing good business.

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guids, my point with respect to the drinks was more about the alcohol content than the price. All I'm saying is if somebody orders a rum and coke they should get a shot of rum, not a splash.

And about rewarding loyal customers, I agree you shouldn't be lavishing them with free drinks all the time, because then they'll come to expect it and get pissed if you stop giving them free stuff. I'm thinking more along the lines of little things like remembering their names, making sure they get good tables, making sure they don't have to wait, giving them priority if you're having a special event, etc. Maybe that's what you consider to just be good business, but I think it is worth emphasizing. I'm sure you already know this, but the club scene is very fickle and even just a couple of weeks with low turnout can be devastating to your reputation. Having a good group of regular customers gives some insurance against that.

[guids]

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The cheap stuff will be reasonably priced, the expensive stuff will be expensive, my thought is that if you are the type to drink the expensive stuff, you arent going to care how much it is.

as far as rewarding loyal customers, this is where lots of people get into trouble, rewarding loyal customers does nothing really imo. If the place is run correctly, you will always have business, if it isnt run correctly, the only customers you will have left after a year are the "loyal" ones looking to score free/cheap drinks because you took care of them when you were doing good business.

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guids, my point with respect to the drinks was more about the alcohol content than the price. All I'm saying is if somebody orders a rum and coke they should get a shot of rum, not a splash.

And about rewarding loyal customers, I agree you shouldn't be lavishing them with free drinks all the time, because then they'll come to expect it and get pissed if you stop giving them free stuff. I'm thinking more along the lines of little things like remembering their names, making sure they get good tables, making sure they don't have to wait, giving them priority if you're having a special event, etc. Maybe that's what you consider to just be good business, but I think it is worth emphasizing. I'm sure you already know this, but the club scene is very fickle and even just a couple of weeks with low turnout can be devastating to your reputation. Having a good group of regular customers gives some insurance against that.

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I think I just took that part for granted, name remembering, vip services etc as far as table service goes is just standard.

[El Diablo]

quids,

Whether it's cutting lines, VIP line, side door entrance, whatever, giving the right group of people that type of special treatment is huge - and will build more loyalty for free than giving away lots of drinks.

[slamdunkpro]

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as far as rewarding loyal customers, this is where lots of people get into trouble, rewarding loyal customers does nothing really imo. If the place is run correctly, you will always have business, if it isnt run correctly, the only customers you will have left after a year are the "loyal" ones looking to score free/cheap drinks because you took care of them when you were doing good business.

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Based on this statement alone you'll do fine. Best advice I can give you is look to the long term. Don't keep changing your nightly's every other week - patronage takes time. Don't get nervous and jink around with stuff until 3-4 weeks into a special/promotion.

Hire good people and teach them to think like they are owners. The guy that brought me into the bar/nightclub business drilled that into me -"think like an owner" - if something was broken or needed tending and there was no one else around you do it. If you get 2 or 3 employees like that you're gold.