Nobody Said It Would Be Easy!
By Rich Unger
I have discovered books, seminars and web sites that have generic and overall
information on being successful in the nightclub and bar biz, but the real answers to your
day to day problems, your slow nights, your weak advertising, your lack of presenting good
bands, your unfriendly bartenders, your sloppy dressed DJ, your overall operation, it's
all up to you!
Nobody said this business was easy. I remember when I opened my first 15,000 square
foot nightclub, my partner said to me "Richie this business will knock ten years off
your life". I ignored him and went on to make a ton of money and even sold the club
for $100,000 more than I paid for it.
Nobody said this biz is easy. What a lot of owners say is, it can make you a great deal
of money. The key is having a complete insight into your business. Where every penny goes,
what promotions work, what is your core market, what are you lacking and are you aware of
your entire operation. It's costs, it's problems, it's strengths and it's weaknesses. You
would be surprised how many owners are absentee owners, who have other businesses going
and own a nightclub, sports bar, lounge, or bar for the investment and the ego.
And then when it starts faltering they panic. They can't understand what happened to
the bank deposits that were so fat just six months ago. What happened was they stopped
going to their establishment as often as they did, they stopped taking a hard, direct
interest in it, and they stopped calling their manager every day and now call every other
day. If you don't care, why should your manager or your employees?
If you are too busy to have a hands on mentality, then the fault, the decline, the poor
numbers, poor traffic and overall sinkage is on nobody's shoulders but your own.
Nobody said this biz was going to be easy. What a lot of managers say is, "with a
good staff, a sharp leader, and an involved owner" you can make a great deal of
money.
I receive so many calls from absentee owners and it's always the same old song,
"our club, our lounge, our sports bar is not doing well", well hey it did not
happen overnight and it won't turn around overnight either.
It takes me three weeks to stop the hemorrhaging of a club on the decline and turn it
around.
And remember when your club, lounge, sports bar, or bar is packed, and the drinks are
being poured, and the music is pulsating, and the dance floor is packed, and there is a
line to get in, and the lights and video are on, and the cash registers are ringing, it
doesn't get any better than that!
Rich Unger, Ph: 941-921-7027, Fx: 941-921-7278 E-mail: RichUnger@promotingnightclubs.com |
