Posted on 03/02/2010 4:33:18 PM PST by Yaelle
In this economy, even Rush Limbaugh said to turn your luck around by creating your own destiny, doing what you'd love to do. What if you would love to buy a pub, and such an opportunity is before you?
Have any of you done this? What were some of the pitfalls? What are the big decisions that factor into whether or not to take the plunge?
The opportunity that presents itself in this instance is of small capacity, maybe 50 persons, light and airy, with a kitchen for pub food as well. Location could be listed as "Could NOT be any better." Water view, tourist and local favorite area, plenty of foot traffic.
The long work day, or no free evenings, weekends, and holidays, does not frighten us.
What do you think?
Just don't kick out the smokers. They need love too. :)
Have you ever run a business before?
I mean, hands on?
Don’t drink up your profits.
Ping for small business (pub) advice!
The insurance premiums would frighten me.
Will give advice for pints.
If you have no experience working in a bar, I would get some ASAP before making a decision.
No smoking in CA. Whatcha gonna do?
Hire staff that don’t drink alcohol?
No need. The state will do it for you.
You’re nuts.
Nothing personal, but unless you’re willing to forget about EVERYTHING you’ve ever known (including this site), you will not stand a chance. It’s vicious out there and the government will make your life HELL.
Other than that, best of luck.
Do you have experience working in a pub or restaurant? If not a trusted and experienced employee would be very useful.
Don’t drink and eat your profits..
I think he’d insist on doing every job in the house under the current owner as a condition of sale.
Some business experience and some restaurant bar experience but never as the owner!
I am part owner of a pub for the last 7 years.
The best advice I could give you:
1) location is EVERYTHING
2) start menu very low budget with high profit margin foods like wings,fries and Pizza
3) play the beer vendors off each other to get best deal
4) start all people part time and keep the best for full time
5) remember what Rodney Dangerfield said about the business world in ‘Back to School’....prepare to ‘grease’ certain government inspectors and zoning officials
6) have fun!!!!!!!!!
Make sure you hire a competent chef and that you remain passionate about your business (and on top of your staff). The staff need leadership and discipline from you, or your business will fail.
This is from Chef Ramsey’s “Kitchen Nightmares”...
You should watch a few episodes of Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares. He identifies a lot of common sense fixes for failing restaurants, chiefly, the food not being freshly made, too many items on the menu, the menu not distinguishing itself from the other restaurants in the area.
Of course, you will be responsible for the drunks that have accidents after visiting your pub, so that liability is something to consider. Sounds like an exciting opportunity if you decide to take it. Keep us posted.
I'd love some more details. Extreme local gov't is good, but of course we are within the great state of Culliforneeah...
And we are not nuts for CONSIDERING it, are we?
Bless you — great, precise advice, all points. THANKS!
Funny you should ask - check out the first toon on this site: http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/2010/02/
Keep it in the family, and go for it.
I also agree about the smokers.. I dont smoke anymore, but I spent alot of time in bars before and the two go together so you want to be packed everynight? Have a SMOKE ROOM inside or if in a warm climate outside. In Florida, some bars have no windows so you can smoke inside because of the draft.
Happy Hours and free taxi rides to the bar/home a big plus.
The right bartender makes all the difference.
A pub needs to cultivate a good “family” of regulars.
I think we will need to find all of Gordon Ramsey’s show online PRONTO - we’ve never seen it! Thanks.
Pray about it. We will pray as well for your good discernment.
Another idea is to also run it as a Cafe during early hours (pending regulation) to make money off the morning crowd as well. You could offer breakfast pastries and basic breakfast menu items.
As far as the lunch and dinner menu is considered...
Keep it short and simple. Make it easy to cook the food.
BTW also play off the foodservice suppliers in your area for the best deals on food.
My husband and I have been talking about doing something similar. We have a friend who has owned one for about 20 years and he has all kinds of on-the-job experience. One main thing is the employees; he has had a problem with employees who have drug habits, I guess late-night bar type jobs sometimes attract these types. Their personal problems have caused him some work problems. Be careful in who you employ.
I'd want to know why such a successful business was for sale.
http://www.restaurantowner.com/public/302.cfm
Several years ago, researchers at Cornell University and Michigan State University conducted a study of restaurants in three local markets over a 10-year period. They concluded the following: After the first year 27% of restaurant startups failed; after three years, 50% of those restaurants were no longer in business; and after five years 60% had gone south. At the end of 10 years, 70% of the restaurants that had opened for business a decade before had failed. Those are far different numbers than a 90% failure rate after the first year quoted by our television star chef. Another academic research study concluded that 81.4% of all small business failures result from forces within the control of the owners/managers. The bottom line is that even if the failure rate is a little daunting, failure is not inevitable.
entrepreneur.com have articles on owning a bar or pub
In CA...good weather? If you have the space, create an outdoor smoking patio. There’s a place here that made a large outdoor smoking patio and it is wildly popular when the weather is nice.
Ha ha! Yeah, Obama is not helping...
Good luck with a liquor license, but beer and wine is easy enough, with food particularly.
Zoning laws?
Start-up capital? Shopped for equipment yet? Priced any? Be realistic, it will cost more than you think.How will "stuff" arrive? Will it all be shipped to you? How much, how often, will you personally need to procure your own goods? This one, can be yet another persistent chore.
What competition is there? What/who is or would be your targeted clientele?
Freepmail me your locale?
Darn good advice! Its a cold cruel world.
parsy
I worked as a waitress in a pub one summer. In my experience, it’s very hard work, and requires one to be on their feet most of the time. Long hours, hard work and the ability to connect with the public are essential. That being said, it can be great for those who have stamina, understand the business end of it, and love being around people. Best of luck to you, whatever you decide!
” I’d love some more details. Extreme local gov’t is good, but of course we are within the great state of Culliforneeah...And we are not nuts for CONSIDERING it, are we?”
Naa, I’m just trying to get you ready for the reality of it. Running your own business is overwhelming, be it California, or probably, biblical Israel. It’s just the way things are. If you accept that challenge and understand what’s coming...then you are ready, and best of luck (it will be tough - but you don’t need me to tell you that).
We don’t know all of the reasons for sale but this current owner is phoning it in. He could do so much more with what he’s got. It’s lackluster but still makes profit today just by walk in blah cafe food and beer.
If you’ve never worked in the food services industry before,
no.
If you’ve worked in the food services industry before and
did not like it, no.
If you absolutely LOVE working in the food services industry,
maybe.
Oh. CA? Forget it.
I would have a covered, outdoor “smoke garten.”
Find out to the penny what it will cost you to pay someone say, $9 an hour. It will blow your mind...
The sure way to make a small fortune in the food/beverage service business:
Start with a large fortune.
Don’t hire anyone with the last name Kennedy as your bartender...
The bartender really is the key. They can make you or break you. A sneaky bartender can rob you blind right in front of you. Do NOT pay off any inspector. Make your place spotless. Keep the drunks out. Ban anyone who even looks like a druggie. And most important..Have fun!
Hey, opening a pub would be a great thing, and a service for others. Americana and the American way!
Even HST said his greatest ambition was to be a piano player in a xxxxxhouse!
I lived in California for 30+ years after I retired from the Corps, and I had come to think that the rest of America had been paved over too.
Then I married a lady from Rochester NY—imagine my surprise to move there and discover communities of neighborhood bars, brewpubs, etc, almost like my boyhood memories of Providence and Cranston, Rhode Island.
I now reside in a small town in central Fla—just a dot on the map—and it too is like old times.
America still exists, find it; recreate it!
Semper Fidelis
Dick Gaines
aka: Gunny G
*****
What will you do to change that? Would it pay off?
How to improve things(?), without driving off present customers, unless there is some sort of other crowd, just waiting out there, well, somewhere...
Bars of long existence build a reputation. Changing the decor doesn't necessarily equate with changing the reputation.
Oh wait! A big one! Earthquake retrofit? It better the hell not be in an un-reinforced masonry building!
Remember to think basics and profit, not grand ideas and vanity indulgences and personal fantasies, and I do so much recommend Kitchen Nightmares, like so many others here do.
Kitchen Nightmares is a chance to see in real life, the mistakes and the solutions involving restaurants and pubs.
Location is an absolute requirement, then you need to have a marketing edge - offering something no one else has - maybe the menu, maybe connections to organizations, or community, or some speciality - you need an edge, and you need to do the marketing survey to make sure it will sell in the locality.
Given the current economic conditions, anything less is foolish IMHO.
No freeloading relatives!
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