Opening a Bar

>>962463
Columbus, Ohio
Too's

>>962565
OSU kek reporting in, can confirm

>>962640
RIP tidal wave shots

>>962463
Fugg
The bar business is like bizaro world.
>watch your employees like hawks
Theft is rampant.
>don't skimp on security
As someone who has been involved in multiple bar lawsuits, I can tell you you need people with cool heads and can be trusted when getting grilled by a lawyer

>don't drink at work
Self explanatory

>maintain high standards.
Boot people for fucking up, try to limit undesirsbles. You don't want your bar looking like the cover of someone's mix tapes.

>pay the cops
If you can. In some places this is above boards, where you can pay to have moonlighting officers. It's expensive but worth it in a high volume bar enviroment. Once the cops get used to their juicy 60 dollar an hour moonlighing gig they will have an intrest in keeping your bar out of trouble. This only works if your local department permits this kind of cronieism. But it's awesome.

>try not be a scumbag
I have not yet met the non scumbag bar owner, and I have been around. Some of them start as scumbags, and some are transformed. But man its a scummy industry.

One day i wanna open a craft cocktail bar. The art of it interests me greatly

I don't know shit about running a bar except what I've seen on Bar Rescue so the only advise I can give you is clean the place well and regularly.

Need more info. What kind of bar? Dive, venue, club, games, fancy, what? What's your traffic? What's next to you, who is your competition, etc.?

>>962463
work your fucking ass off is what you need to do.

>>962771
>You don't want your bar looking like the cover of someone's mix tapes


Wait... you dont want jamal spend $2000 on one bottle and throwing 15k in ones?

>>962463
I hope it's a microbrew, isn't it?

>>963380
Strip Club not bar.

>>962463
Irish bars have the lowest failure rates in the country.
Get Good kitchen Staff, Good Food and good drinks go together. and people can self adjust their sobriety. so overall more profit less headaches.

Theft is rampant in this industry but a certain degree of it keeps a good crowd around. Get a few "insiders" or regulars who prime their social groups on the regular. Every bar has a floating tab for the bartenders to get the hooks in.
In general Fast bartenders are good bartenders.

>>962463
>tfw drink cheap liquor at home with friends

Get fucked barfags
I'm not paying 9 dollars for a 4 fl oz cocktail

>>962463
>What do I need to do *right* to minimize costs & maximize profits?
Don't buy a bar.

>>962565
>>962640
>>962647
OSU checking in

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>>962463
depends on location.. if it´s in the UK be prepared for lots of bar fights and smashed windows by drunks...

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http://izismile.com/2009/03/25/nightlife_in_united_kingdom_40_pics.html?fromt=yes

All you need is cheap booze as cheap as possible in terms of money and lots of choice.

10 tequila shots for 10 quid for example.

Marketing is pointless. Life shows are a risk because in the UK you can easily lose your license if there is too much noise and neighbours complain for example.

Make sure to keep drug pushers and dealers out at all cost as it will cost you your license if they find people with drugs in the premise.

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>>963524
/thread

They can be money pits. Plus you have licensing issues, liability if someone gets shitfaced and hurts themselves, shit constantly breaking down, staff who could steal from you or just straight up dont show up for work.

I've been a bartender for 5 years.

>>963481
>tfw drink cheap liquor at home alone every night
Ftfy

>>963664
That's sound advice.
Also it really depends on the kind of crowd you want to get in.

>regular drunks
That's your average Joe pub goer, mainly blue collar, that come drown his sad life in cheap beer every night. They want a cozy environment and cheap beer. Good pub food is a plus, as only a last stage alcoholic who doesn't want to face his wife can swallow pickled eggs .
These guy provide a regular income but, unless you live in Birmingham I don't think they are numerous enough to maintain a bar by themselves nowadays.

>the binge drinker
Mostly students and 20somethings that get plastered from Thursday to Sunday. They at essentially looking for very cheap beer and booze. So diluted pilsner on tap, happy hours and cheap shots. You can also get some funny gimmicks like flaming Jaeger bombs, funny shots (Tabasco flavoured or monkey brain(baileys+coke)) or a bell to announce theatrically some shit.
If there are no paki or fishnchips around you can probably extortionate them with overly expensive food once they are drunk-hungry.

>sluturday night fever
The usual miniskirt/teen pregnancy weekend partier doesn't care much about the price of her beverages as the chad crowd that go along usually pay for them. As long as its sweet and inebriating enough to lose any kind of dignity they'll down it. They enjoy dimly lit places (even with 3g/l of blood, them white trash are still too ugly to copulate with in broad daylight), loud pop/electro music and karaoke. As they dribk like russians and bring along a bunch of horny dudes it's in your interest to have them spend their quids at your bar instead of a shitty club somewhere.
Ladies night, karaoke night , games, miss election, flavoured vodka, cheap fake champagne and 2x1 promotions (so the chads can invite them) are your best friends to retain their income.
These bitches will down a yoghurt with their morning after pill so don't worry about food.

>>963707
Cont

>Les hipsters
Snobs and high income, they are a volatile kind as if your place become too popular they'll flee it for another more underground one. Have a hip concept like hidden bar or bar with a hidden room, craft beer or special cocktail to retain them. Lounge music so they can hear themselves be so clever about Sartre and Justin Bieber, is important. Have one of them beardy fucker make you a good underground playlist (the underground plug.DJ is also a good place). Price don't matter, actually if its expensive and keep the plebeians away its even better.
Serve funny named overpriced organic sandwiches/burgers to nail it. Good coffee is important too during the day.
In the UK good scotch is great too, be snobby with the clients and mock their lack of knowledge. Like a real Frenchman bartender would.

>metalheads / punks / "I'm in a rock band" guys
Hairy, dressed in black and bad BO, they tend to drive away most of the other bar goers with their ultra loud music and Nazi tastes. " OMG why people aren't more tolerant with metal, it's just music! Wait is that rap? Every person listening to hip hop should be euthanized, change this heresy immediately".
They drink beer and urine, with little distinction between both. Live gigs will attract them. Also Bourbon so they can feel like in sons of anarchy for drinking JD with coke.

In general live gigs will only attract rockheads or hipsters, with some exceptions for the sluts/groupies according to the band. Tbh its a lot of hassle and with little return most of the time. Unless you have a bunch of well connected friends it's not easy to get the bands, expensive to host them and hard to make a profit. People seldom pay much for a show in a bar and they only drink beer.
But if you enjoy it and are pasioned it can be a good business, just it isn't the easiest thing to do. Greatly dependent on the local crowd and your commitment with it.

Tldr: everybody like cheap booze

Source: I'm an alcoholic

>>963380
I would be fine with that. But the truth us Jamal doesn't have a job so he sneaks in booze, or takes trips out to his car to guzzle cheap vodka and doesn't spend a dime.

>>963722
>Source: I'm a bitter alcoholic
FIX'D

>>963831
Slutty metalhead detected.
Don't be butthurt.

My post is mainly about telling op that there are various winning strategies depending on the people who you want to attract. Also you have to make sure these people actually exist. Opening a very elitist cocktail bar in a small village far from.everything won't work, even if your strategy is great. As much as a Regular pub for the local alcoholics will fail in a street full of students bar and nightclubs.

As I said, unless you are specialized and very dedicated, gigs is a hit complicated and not an instant success-story strategies. Lots of externalities and it appeals to a very specific crowd.
Of course some can be very successful that way, but its far from being the majority. (While every hostel/club combo seems to be draining shitload of cash).

In the end the booze supply is of utmost importance. Big groups like inbev or Heineken usually offer good prices and a lot of advantages (taps, coffee machines, tables and promotional gears) but you are then tied to one range of products.
Going inde is interesting but only if you can capitalize on it and make.a premium for your variety. Selling Heineken AND Stella won't give you.much an edge on the other pub that only sell one or the other, especially if they are 30% cheaper in these places.

Also sometimes a weird concept can get you a captive audience. I know a medieval-fantasy bar in a small town of France that's very successful because its one of it kind and every d&d player from several leagues around come to drink hypocras regularly. Very lawful customer base ready to travel a lot.
Same for a Mexican cantina I knew in new Zealand. Not that there were a bunch of Mexican but it attracted some wealthy hipsters to drink mezcal in an underground place far from the regular party goers.

>>963722
>the underground plug.DJ
Plug.dj got shut down a while ago

>>963975
>I know a medieval-fantasy bar in a small town of France that's very successful because its one of it kind and every d&d player from several leagues around come to drink hypocras regularly.
T-that'd be me in my younger days...

>>962463

> Buying a restuarant or bar

Hope you like 60 hour work weeks for about $50k a year.

My friend bought a restaurant 4 years ago and he hates it.

I'll just put out a few tips:

- get great and reliable distributors for food/drink
- take your time to hire good, reliable people
- keep your costs as low as you possibly can
- use gimmicks, promotions, and social shit to just keep bringing people through the doors, every day every hour

>>962463
That's "Stinky Fingers" in Portland.

>>963996
Yeah? What happenned?
Its been a while i've been there

>>964049
This bar is actually pretty rad, great food and a nice variety of drinks. Cosy place with a lot of boars games, lot of metal or medieval music gigs. Video games tournaments or forging demonstrations.
So you get 50yo bikers next to steam punk tumblerinas and highschooler playing magic

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>OP here again
Wow, thanks for keeping this thread lively, friends! Special shout-out to my UK repliers, but this bar is in the states (but nowhere near OSU).... FURTHER HINTS:
>blue state with certain red leanings
>small city with hipsters and satellite college campuses
>near a river but not on the seacoast
>in basement of recently-renovated multi purpose brick building build nearly 1.5 centuries ago
>other occupants of building include commercial, residential and collegiate tenants and others
>town foolishly hosts 2 substance rehab centers
>location is on busy Main Street intersection (or right next to it)
>it snows

I'm reading a loot of good advice; many thanks & keep it coming!

>xcreencaps of this thread entitle the bearer to one free drink

Are ottermode bouncers trained in joint-locks and martial arts a good idea?

Or should it be bearmode?

>>965893
Martial arts is better generally. but should be able to handle sluts.
The big guys just shove people around.

>>965262
Blues state where it snows.
Vermont?

>>965893
You need bearmode because drunk morons are less likely to fight with them in the first place.

One designated ottermode dude couldn't hurt though.

>>965262
somewhere in michigan? Ann arbor or something? I used to live there when i was a foreign exchange student... Nice place

>>966382
This is true. Truth is, it doesn't take all that much special to be able to handle drunks, since they are drunk, but alot fewer people will be willing to fuck with a big guy.

We had one or two small guys at any given time ( out of a normal complement of 7 to 10 bouncers) and we were always having to back them when people wouldnt listen. Like, some drunk asshole would get up on a table, and the small bouncer would tell him to get down and he would just stand their with a dumb smirk. Then I would tell him and he would immediatly get down and apologize.

90 percent of bouncing is getting people to behave without using any force. Use of force is troube, and best avoided. There us a reason bars hire giant dudes to bounce.

>>967040
Coming at it from the other side, this man speaks the truth. I'm only 5'8" and ~200 Lb, but I know from experience that it takes at least two average sized guys, sometime three, to make me go somewhere I don't want to.

But If Lennie comes up and gives me look like I'm gonna be that overloved puppy if I don't leave, I fucking leave.