It seems like a small thing, but choosing the right bar glasses for your new bar or nightclub is important.  Bar glasses set the tone for your establishment.  The type of clientele you want to attract determines the kind of drinking glasses you should have on hand.  For example, if you are looking to create a rugged, dive bar atmosphere, you might not need wine or champagne glasses—just straight shot glasses, highball glasses and rocks glasses might do; but if you are catering to a sophisticated jet-setting clientele in a metropolitan hub, you will need to diversify your glassware.

So you should definitely put some thought into which types of bar glasses would be the best fit for your bar/nightclub.  Here are some tips for choosing the right ones:

New Bar Glasses: The Basics for Getting Started

When you are just opening a new place, there are certain special considerations you want to keep in mind.  First, of course, is the issue of cost.  It may simply not be realistic when you first open your bar to get the ideal glassware.  With all the initial start-up fees, from furnishing and construction to advertising and hiring, you may simply not be able to spend the extra-costs related to diversifying your bar glasses.

Second, you must take into account the increased chances of breakages that will occur during the first few weeks of operation.  This is inevitable given that you will both have an entirely new staff and that everyone will be unfamiliar with the new layout.  You will discover unintended choke points, often near the kitchen (if you have one) where narrow passage and high foot traffic make it especially hazardous for glassware.  You should plan for as much as 1 in 20 drinking glasses breaking during the opening week—especially if you have a Grand Opening planned.

Photo Courtesy of Hector Garcia

All of this points to the importance of training your staff beforehand.  Many managers will have a dry run on the day before the Grand Opening, inviting friends and investors in for a special dress rehearsal.  This helps staff get used to moving around in the space and can reveal problems with the layout in advance—when they can still be fixed calmly.

And even when things settle, a certain amount of weekly breakages will continue as clumsy customers inevitably add to your glassware costs. (Numbers vary but you should expect to lose at least 1-2% of your inventory per week.)  In addition, glassware with stems generally break at higher rates than pint glasses and shot glasses.  Expect wine and champagne glasses to break at the upper end of the spectrum.  So you will need to factor in a certain amount of your budget to replacing glasses just as you need to replace toilet paper and napkins.

Types of Glasses

So what kinds of bar glasses should you get?  A full service bar of the kind you will have in a five-star hotel will typically have more than a dozen different kinds of glasses.  Generally, however, your basic bar that is just getting started probably only needs one kind of each of the following five different categories:

Beer Glasses: The most basic choice here is the classic pint glass—simple and efficient.  Other classically simple alternatives are pilsner glasses or beer mugs (especially popular for German themed beer houses).  There are a few more obscure types as well, like tulip glasses, but unless you intend on opening a gastropub featuring a monster assortment of foreign and domestic tap beers, you can probably stick to simple pint glasses like the Guinness pint below.  (Even if you have such a beer connoisseur type of establishment in mind, one or two types of glasses will probably do the job at first.)

Pint Glass Photo Courtesy of Matthew Trevithick

Wine Glasses: Not all establishments serve wine, of course, but if you do, and it is more than an afterthought at your establishment, it is probably a good idea to have one type of glass for whites and one for reds (typically whites are in a longer slimmer glass and reds are in rounder bowled, thinner stemmed glass).  If you are opening a wine bar, or the central feature of your establishment is a wide variety of wines, you may want to diversify even further to capture an even more authentic experience. (FOR MORE ON WINE GLASSES SEE OUR POST.)

Shot Glasses: Tiny, sturdy shot glasses with thick bases are great for dive bars where they are used for hard spirits.  However, bartenders also love shot glasses because they are the perfect measuring devices for mixed drinks.  Many bartenders have learned to mix with them, and some may feel a bit lost without them.  So, if you are going to have mixed drinks/cocktails, its always good to have at least a few shot glasses.

Rocks Glasses: Glasses for mixed drinks served with ice.  Shows like Madmen and the general cycle of things have made martinis especially popular lately.  But you don’t necessarily need to stock martini glasses.  Rocks glasses are a good substitute for martini glasses and smaller mixed drinks.

Highball Glasses: For larger mixed drinks or your nightclub’s specialty cocktail, you might go with a highball glass or the even classier Collins glass.  Not all bars need these kinds of cocktail glasses, but if you want to have a special sort of drink a highball glass will work well, as it will draw extra attention to the drink—creating the “I’ll have what she’s having” effect.

For most establishments, having a representative from each of these categories in stock is enough to take care of most situations.

A Few More Types

There are three more types of bar glasses that might be important however depending on the type or establishment you have.

Margarita Glasses: The giant, distinctive bowls that margaritas are served in are a must if you want to offer margaritas.  Customers just expect that kind of presentation at this point—anything else will be a disappointment.

Champagne Glasses: Although not as important to the presentation of champagne, customers still expect a certain look to champagne glasses as well.  If you’re offering it, better to stock it.

Specialty Drink Cups: If you are going to serve brandies, cognacs or specialty alcoholic coffee drinks, you might consider getting the corresponding snifters and coffee mugs for these as well.

How Many?

The next question has to do with how many bar glasses to get when you are starting out.  Do you get an even amount of bar glasses or is there a magic ratio?  Like so many other questions, this will have to do with what kind of a bar or nightclub you are creating.  If it is going to be a wine bar, you will obviously need more wine glasses than anything else.  But if you are going to focus on beers, pints or pilsners will dominate.

How Many Bar Glasses to Get

Rule of Thumb:  Multiply your capacity times two and then divide your glasses accordingly.

For example: If you have a bar that seats 100, you should have 200 bar glasses.  One for each customer and one for cleaning/back-up.

Of course, this number can change according to different factors, such as how diverse your glassware is, and how much traffic you get at your location.  You might need three times, if you are going to serve every drink and have the appropriate glass for it.  Also if you are a sports bar located next to a stadium where you get a rush of fans in the two hours before games, you might need extra glass to handle these flash mobs.

The Magic Ratio

The other consideration is what the ratio between types of glasses should be.  This, again, depends a lot on the type of bar you have and what your customers come in expecting.  A bar near a sports arena might be more beer heavy than a rooftop hotel bar serving a rich international clientele.  As a basic rule of thumb however, you might think of it as a 3:2:1 ratio. Have 3 of your main types of glasses for every 2 of your secondary types (and only 1 of a type the occasional customer will demand).

For example, let us say you just have your local neighborhood watering hole that serves burgers and is beer heavy.  As in our previous example, you have a capacity of 100.  You might stock your glasses as follows:

60 pints (for beers)

40 wine glasses

40 rocks glasses

40 high balls

20 shot glasses

If you are a wine bar with the same capacity, on the other hand, it might go something like this:

60 white wine glasses

60 red wine glasses

40 rocks glasses

20 Collins glasses (highball)

20 beer glasses

However, a good bar manager knows how to pay attention to his or her customers.  If just as many people ask for your Brandy Alexander as your wines, then perhaps you need to order more brandy snifters.  The rule of thumb should be a starting point not an ending point.

One final note about bar glasses for brand new establishments:  Be sure to get sturdy glasses.  The kind of glasses that most of us drink from in our homes are simply not sturdy enough to handle the treatment they will receive on a busy night in your average bar or nightclub.  When wait staff—especially a green wait crew not accustomed to working with one another—are rushing around trying to get drinks and food out to impatient customers, they will simply not be thinking of the cost or fragility of your glassware.  So be sure to get shot glasses with sturdy bases and beer glasses that are extra thick.

When buying stemware, avoid the more delicate kinds when possible.  If the connection from the stem to the bowl is very thin, or the bowl itself is very thin, the chances of breakage increase.  Wine glasses with stems that flare into the bowl (as with white wine glasses) provide extra support.  Recently, many bars have turned to wine tumblers in place of traditional wine glasses.  These stem-less glasses can create a cutting edge feel to a nightclub or lounge, however, if they don’t go with your overall establishment theme they may just feel out of place.

Cost Saving Tip: One more consideration is in terms of glasses and costs.  The capacity of liquid the glass can hold will change your pricing and the amount of liquor you use.  This isn’t simply a matter of highballs using up more liquor than rocks glasses.  The holding capacity of glasses also effects this.  Thus, a thin glass will hold more fluid than a thick one of the same exterior dimensions.

Glass versus Plastic: The Great Debate

One of the ways some establishments try to get around the initial costs of old fashioned glass cups is to use plastic glasses at first.  This solution has its positives and its negatives.  On the positive side, plastic will lower the initial costs of buying glasses and get rid of the problem of breakages.  In some cases, plastic glasses make for the ideal type of “glassware,” such as in nightclubs at beachfront resorts where clients are likely to wander off for moonlight walks.

However, there are many disadvantages to plastic glasses.  One is that many customers simply don’t like the experience of drinking from plastic glassware, as it changes the taste of their drinks.  In addition, although there is an initial savings to plastic, in the long run they can cost more because of the continued need to replenish them and because of the added amount of garbage they will add.  Finally, plastic is just much less classy than good old fashioned glass.  For many kinds of establishments plastic simply won’t work.

Growing Your Glassware with Your Business

As you become more firmly established, you will want to allow your glassware to grow with your bar or nightclub.  Special wine glasses, a couple of types of cocktail glasses, margarita glasses when you decide to add this type of drink to your repertoire—all of these can be added with time, as you listen to your client’s desires and look for ways of diversifying your customer base.  Or, you might find that all you really need are your initial shot, pint and rock glasses.

Cleaning and Storage

You shouldn’t forget about how you are going to clean your bar glasses and store them at your bar.  Cleaning can be a problem if you get heavy traffic and don’t have a large staff.  Though expensive, a glass washer is a necessary expenditure for anyone looking to run an efficient bar.  These washers allow you to wash 600 or more glasses per hour (if continuously loaded and unloaded of course) and free up hands to do other things.

If you have a washer, don’t forget that new kinds of glasses means new washing racks as well.  Improper racks will break glasses as many bar owners find out the hard way.

Also, some glasses are stackable and some aren’t.  If you own a hole in wall type of a bar where space is at a premium, keeping glasses to the simple stackable kind is a must.  For stemware, ceiling racks can help save space.

Creating a Brand through Glassware

Here is one final thought about glassware.  Once you have established yourself, you might consider getting individualized glasses that display the name of your bar or nightclub right on them.  This is definitely an added cost and I would not recommend it for a bar that is just trying to get off the ground on a tight budget.  But, if you have established a unique watering hole, with a cool theme that draws people in by word of mouth, you might consider getting bar glasses that express this uniqueness.  Customers really dig having cool touches like this.

An Extra Revenue Increasing Tip from the Pros: This bar manager I knew had established just such a personalized bar glass.  It was a red tinted highball glass with the bar’s logo embalmed in fancy lettering across the side.  They were great, but they were disappearing—about twenty a week would go missing.  One night, he caught a college kid stealing one of them.  The kid offered to pay him forty bucks for the glass because he loved it so much.  Instead of calling the cops, the manager set up a little display area and sold the cups for a 100% markup on what he paid for them.

The lesson is: If you establish a brand name for your bar or nightclub, you can make extra money merchandising it.  Sell the bar glasses.  Sell t-shirts with your bar logo.  Sell stickers with your bar logo.  It can add a completely new revenue stream for your establishment.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Working on volume is far and away the best way to make money in this business. You’re here to make money, right? Bars vs nightclubs? Where is the revenue? No contest! Let me explain.

There are definitely more bars in this country then there are nightclubs, no doubt. But before you get into this industry, you have to weigh the best options for yourself. Ones that make sense financially.

Opening a bar is nice. By doing so, you are able to get into an industry that maybe you have always wanted. And that’s good. But there are many decisions you need to consider before doing so. When opening a bar, you have a small place that you will need to keep busy with customers, all the time. Without it being busy all the time, you will never be able to pay your expenses.

It’s nice having a smaller place. It’s cozy, and definitely more personal. Many people feel secure in opening a bar as just the small size makes them feel more secure. They feel like that they can handle it. This is especially true for people new to the business. However, if you are honest with yourself, and you find that you really don’t have the experience in this industry, or the business acumen, you shouldn’t go into any business, especially this one.

But, generally if you do, it’s usually a small bar. Anyone can do it, right? Wrong. Bars have to be marketed like any other business. Growing a bar business is tough, but it can be done. And a small bar will limit you working on volume.But don’t count on friends and family to be your mainstay.

In a bar, you have the possibility to make only so much money. Period. The size itself will limit you to growth and profit dollars. However, you will find that the overhead to operate one is not small. Especially in the States that do not allow bars, only restaurants. These States need to wake up and realize it is 2009. That’s another story.

States that do not the sale of liquor only, and require restaurants put a burden on bars as then as the bar owner you need to hire staff to make and serve the food. Now your overhead is really high, and we haven’t even talked about the costs associated with food. OMG!

As you probably already know, sixty five percent of restaurants that have opened for three years, fail. There is very little margin for error here. And it’s not only the privately owned ones, but the franchises too.

Opening a bar requires you to be busy all day and all night. It will take you years, if ever to pay it off, let alone make substantial profit dollars. Without working on volume, you need to make money per person. Then, like all of them, you will start to offer specials for beer, and food, which MAY bring in more people, put at less of a profit margin then you had before your specials. See what I mean.

Now, you are living on specials! You know what I mean. Look at all the ads in the paper, tv, and radio, advertising their specials!! That’s smart? If you can’t build a bar that can charge full price for the product and service you provide, and keep your customer base coming because they love your place and what you provide, you shouldn’t own a bar!

Are their exceptions? Sure there are. This is life and there are always exceptions. Many times it depends on where you are located geographically. In smaller towns the cost of a lease is dramatically less expensive then a large city. Also, you will find labor is less too, along with insurance, food and beverage, and many other things.

And as there are more bars then nightclubs, your competition is greater. Now, you all are offering specials! In most small bars, you have no room to grow, have larger gatherings, and most of the time, you don’t even have room to put a mop and bucket.

The best exception, and I feel the only exception that makes sense, is when you decide to build your bar, is to build a large one. This is where you will have the opportunity to begin working n volume. One that you can accommodate a larger group of people to make money. No too small where fifty people are going to fill you to capacity, but not too big where if you are slower it won’t look so empty.

So what’s the size? In my opinion, I think 2500 sq ft is perfect. That’s customer space mind you. Add the amount of square feet necessary for bathrooms, storage, office, walk in coolers, kitchen, etc. This is where you make money. Small enough where it is cozy and personal, and large enough to accommodate a larger group of people, entertainment if you wish, or whatever your needs are. Here, you have the ability to host a larger group of people and make more money.

When you are working on volume, you have options. It’s like this. In a smaller arena, you need to get top dollar for everything you sell in order to make money. In a larger bar, you can charge a normal price, provide more fun, and make more money.

Example. In a smaller bar, you may have a hundred people walk through your door in the course of a night, that spend an average of twenty dollars. So you have two thousand dollars. In a larger bar, you may have two hundred people walk through the door and spend fifteen dollars per person and you end up with three thousand dollars. That’s an extra thousand dollars just for one night. Keep the prices up, and that will relate to an extra two thousand dollars! This is for one night! In other words working on volume works, and the shear size, gives you options. And we haven’t even spoke of cover charges.

It’s like if one person gave you a dollar, no big deal. But, if a million people gave you a dollar, you are rich! You can’t make money on a few! Period! You need to be working on volume.
Then there are nightclubs. The grandaddy of the bar business. Talk about volume! These monsters make money if managed and marketed correctly. Do they cost more to build? Sure they do, bu sometimes not all that much more for the possibilities of profits there are to gain.

Working on volume is great here, but most people say away from these as the get intimidated my the shear size of these. Also, without a good imagination and marketing skills, you may be better off in a larger bar then a nightclub. And honestly, regular bar owners don’t have the skills or education to operate one. That’s the long and short of it.

But these are cash cows. This is working on volume. Properly run, sales, plus vending, plus cover charges, will bring you profit dollars. And it doesn’t have to be all that huge. When you go to lease space for these large sites the square footage price is less, and they come with parking. The days of operations can be as little as two days a weeks, Friday and Saturdays.

These don’t have to be million dollar investments. There is only one Las Vegas. You are creating in most instances a fun atmosphere not a five star atmosphere, so the build out costs are not all that bad. What a nightclub would make in gross dollars in one night would be the equivalent of an entire week in a bar. And depending on the size, more. Working on volume is the making money. Why else are you going into business?

So the next time you are thinking of investing in the bar business, weigh all your options. Small will create you problems I am sure. Working on volume is the way to go. Remember, bigger is better!

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Understanding liquor inventory and bar inventory may be confusing if you are just getting into the business. Recently, I had a man by the name of Steve consulted me with questions he had.

Although I wrote a lot about inventory control/understanding inventory, evidently I didn’t break down enough for a beginner. I could have swore I did, but leafing through the pages here, I thought I would write this to break it down more simply.

SO let’s start at the beginning. The inventory, or supplies that you have in your business are needed to operate. Without supplies, you have nothing to sell. These of course cost money. As anyone who gets into business is doing so to make money, they need to make enough money to pay bills such as the inventory of the products you are selling, but to also pay payroll, insurance, utilities, etc and make a profit. Are you with me so far?

Now in order to make this money, not only does the owner need to have supplies on hand, but they need to make a certain percentage of profit for each item they sell. By charging enough per item, and if business is good, they will be able to pay their bills, and make a profit. OK?

Here in lies the problem. The supplies, or inventory, are actually money. It did cost money to purchase these items, and therefore the owners have money, or inventory, sitting on the shelves, or in coolers, etc.

For items that are perishable, meaning items that will go stale within a certain amount of time, it is important that you don’t purchase too much. If you do, before you can sell it all, it will go stale and you won’t be able to serve to your customers. Therefore, if it goes stale and you have to throw it away, it’s like throwing money in the garbage. Owners don’t like that too much.

This is why owners hire managers. Managers are supposed to see what items are selling, how much of the items are selling, and to order the right amount, so they are not throwing supplies/money away. By watching sales of individual items, it gives the managers the information for him to know how much of a certain item to have on hand every week, without having to throw little or any away. They call that the “par” of that individual item.

For perishable items like food, you have to be as precise as possible, in order that you have as little waste as possible. Remember, if you are throwing things away, you are throwing away the owners money.

Also, it is very important, especially in food products, to always be watching your numbers of sales on items. You may a product that sells well and on your inventory sheet it tells you that you need to have, let’s say, three cases of a product. But, as time goes by, the sales of this item may dwindle and therefore instead of having a par of three cases, you may need to adjust your par for that item to be one case.

Some perishable items can be saved by freezing. If the product approaches its shelf life, which means the number of days that it is good, you can freeze until needed. But items like mild, and produce, can’t be frozen and you will have to throw away.

Back to the bar. In a perfect world the owner would buy his supplies, charge the customer what they need to to make his business profitable, and that’s it. But, when dealing with humans, you also have to deal with theft.

In the bar business, it is notorious for theft in one form or another. They will steal the booze, they will give the booze away, or they won’t ring up the booze, and take the cash.

Many larger companies hire “secret shoppers” who walk into your place and act like a customer. And they are trained to watch your staff and they know what they are looking for. Then they make a report to the owners of who is doing what.

Many times they send in the same person to start to develop a relationship with the staff, and become “a regular”, and even find out more of what is going on.

In the mean time, the only way to know for sure if you are getting the profit you are supposed to be getting, is by doing inventory. Figures don’t lie! If you have priced your booze to reflect a 20% booze cost, and at the end of the week you run your numbers and you have a 29% booze cost, your inventory is being stolen in some way. This is why you do inventory. Do you understand now?

So how do you start an inventory from scratch? I can tell you it’s a pain. And it takes time to put together. And even though it’s an additional pain to do this inventory every week, it also requires time to keep up with price changes that can happen weekly in some cases. Although most price changes in the liquor business are very slight, and don’t happen too often, you will still need to update your costs of products every quarter. (every 3 months)

So what information do you need, and how do you begin? Well, hopefully you know how to use Excel. Using this software will enable you to input information and calculate your costs so you don’t have to do it manually. If you don’t know how to use Excel, you can hire someone to create an inventory sheet for you. You will need to hand write your sheet of inventory and explain to the person the calculations you will need.

Chances are after you explain to the person what you are trying to accomplish, they will understand enough to write the correct formula’s. I have always done this myself, but I am sure there is software you can purchase where you can just input the information and it will calculate it for you.

The first thing you need to do is to write a list of all the products in a category that you need to keep inventory of. Basically everything. But you can do this in steps. Develop inventory for the most important things first. In the bar business it is going to be the booze. So start with an inventory sheet that will contain liquor, wine, and beer. Although they will be like three separate inventory sheets, do these first.

The information you will need to put this together is going to be the product name, the pack size, the cost of the item, the cost per ounce for liquor, draft beer, and wine, and the cost per bottle for beer. In addition, you will need to know what sales cost you need to operate on. In smaller towns it may be 25% and in larger cities it may be 15%.

Without throwing a wrench into the mix, starting an inventory has many variables. It’s like hiring a carpenter. You hire two carpenters to build you a box. The both build you a great box, but they both build them differently. The final product is the same, but done differently.

I know a man that actually weighs his kegs with a bathroom scale. Bizarre? I think so, but that is me. He could not stomach the thought that he didn’t get every cent out of everything. Personally, for the about of hours and tracking down pennies was a waste of time. Tripping over dollars to save pennies.
Lets say you want to operate on a 20% booze cost. For me, I would charge prices to reflect a 20% cost for most of my items. But I didn’t use this same percentage to reflect my rail liquor as by doing so, you would be selling the drinks way to cheap. An example would be the price of a rail bottle of vodka. It may only cost you $6.00 for a litre. That would break down to about .18 cents an ounce. So if you pour a one ounce shot for a drink, you would charge the customer about .90 cents for the drink to reflect a 20% booze cost! Of course that would be stupid. So you charge your customer more.

That can be done either by charging what the going rate is with your competition, or you can make it $1.00 cheaper then a standard middle shelf item like Bacardi Rum or Jack Daniels, or you can work on a different percentage like 5%. Your cost of sales can’t be across the board as it will never make any sense. Common sense has to prevail.

Another unusual item is wine. I never priced my wine to reflect say a 20% booze cost as the price of wine to the customer gets extremely high. I never had that many people who would drink wine compared to the sales of other products so I would operate on a 30% cost of sales. This again is your choice. Some places charge for it and some give wine sales a break. I used to use it as a marketing ploy to have good wine but was not expensive at my place.

Another unusual item is the very high priced liquors today that have become very popular. Again, depending on where you live, it reflects if you can, or want to, run on the cost of sales that most of your items run on. You could run on a little higher cost of sales here and still make a ton of money. They say life is full of choices, so this is yours.

Honestly, to make things make sense, you should develop a couple of percentages, for the unusual products, that you can live with rather then winging it.

If I was making a ton on rail liquor, I had the levity to charge a little less for my wine and still screw up my cost of sales. I would roll everything into one “cost of sales”. I worked on 20%. Yours may be different. At the end of the week, I would achieve a 20% cost of sales. If it varies, then I know there is problems.

Some people would keep a spillage sheet to write down what was spilled, or dropped, or the beer you had to run through the draft lines starting the day or when cleaning it, but I didn’t. It was too small of an amount. You could spend all day every day tracking things and counting things. I managed my own places and had a great staff. If something spilled it spilled. Period! Unless excessive, it wouldn’t make one tenth of one percent difference in percentages for the week. In other words, it’s not worth the effort to track it.

I used inventory sheets to order product only, not to figure costs as I knew where I was daily because I was the one who was there and managing. I knew off the top of my head where I was.

But if you are an employee in the corporate franchised environment, they will count everything. And I mean everything. Besides, it’s good to know how your place is supposed to operate. This knowledge is good for the newbies.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Your night club theme or bar theme is what and who you are to the public. The bar atmosphere you project is your niche. Customers need to have the need of feeling “comfortable”

And of course, that’s a matter of opinion. It’s like eating food really. You may like steak, but your friend may not. That’s why all the different types of nightclubs and bars.

So when you are going to open your first one, or change the one you have, you have to figure out what you want to be. I know many owners that really don’t have a clue. And if you talk to them on what kind of a place they have, they probably won’t be able to answer you.

You have to know what you want to be and why you think there is a market for your bar theme or night club theme. After all, this is how you are going to make a living! Do you want to be a techno club? A sports theme? A retro look? Get it?

This is what you will be known for and attract customers to your theme that like this atmosphere. So, do you have your bar theme set? Do you have the
demographics numbers to be successful with your theme?

You may want to open a place that you always wanted to. But, is there the customer base for what you want to do? You can’t open a place that you would like if you don’t have the customers to come and frequent it.

I was always a Frank Sinatra fan, even as a kid. I would love to open a lounge, with a piano, and play the old standards. But I didn’t live in an area that I thought this theme would be successful. So, it was the nightclub business for me.

In addition, for about the past ten years, I have noticed a demographic change in the nightclub customer. Especially the nicer clubs. My customer base started to expand. I used to use the demographics for people twenty-one to thirty years old. But, with people living longer, fifty years old not being old anymore, and the divorce rate, you find that the demographic for the nightclubs, and bars for that matter, have gotten older.

Listen, this is a good thing! A larger customer base is more customers for you. And the older the customer, there is more expendable income, larger tips, higher priced drinks they buy generally, and it just gets better from there.

Don’t pigeon hole yourself to a twenty-one to twenty-five crowd! And don’t be so set in your ways that you can’t look at all the possibilities that surround you. The atmosphere you create is all about you making money and being successful.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

There is nothing better then great tasting bar snacks. Below are some bar snack idea’s that is something you can give away at the bar, or sell, and your customers will really enjoy.

I have good luck with the following items and thought I would share them with you. Actually, they became so popular that people would come in for happy hour, or a special promotion, looking for these tasty treats.

Although there are many items on the market, the key to delicious and different bar snack idea’s, like your general menu food, is to produce food that is tasty. I mean real tasty! And for a giveaway type food, it has to be inexpensive so you can justify the expense.

By providing these some of these snack idea’s, you will enhance you bar trade, and many times tempt the customer to order a meal. If you do both, cha ching!

Is your mouth watering yet? Give me a minute, and it will. The one I will talk about is chicken wings.

Chicken wings can be used as great bar snack ideas too.

I know you already know this, but check out the page and read this information. Using a small chicken wing, with my great sauce recipe, is always a hit at the bar. You don’t give them a full order. You use small 6″ paper plates, and put three wings on a plate, and let them have a taste. They WILL end up ordering a full order for themselves.

Please note. Prepare and plate them in the kitchen. Depending on how large your bar is, and how many customers there are, prepare say fifteen plates. Place ONE plate in front of each couple of customers. This way, your customers will have the opportunity to eat one or two, to tempt their tummy.

It also shows them how good they are. So, even if they don’t place a full order at the time, the next time they think of wings, they will think of you.
The second item I have used for snack idea’s is homemade potato chips! I’m telling you, to die for! I’m going to tell you how to do it. It’s easy, you get a great response from your customers, wonderful with a bottle of bar, and talk about inexpensive.

Before we go any further, let me remind you that these are snack idea’s for bar snacks! They are not to be offered in unlimited supplies! The idea is to ENTICE your customers to either come back, buy food, or buy a drink. Bar snacks are not intended to be a meal. Just a little tease!

Back to the potato chips. If you have never eaten homemade potato chips, you are going to love this as much as the customer.

Most restaurants use 100 count bakers for meals. It’s a great baked potato, and makes great homemade french fries. Also, it’s the perfect size as far as I’m concerned. Some restaurants use 80 count bakers, but I think they are too big. Just a personal opinion.

If you are not familiar with this, contact your food service company and tell them you want a box of 100 count bakers. They’ll send you what you need.

The great thing about potato’s as part of your snack idea’s is their cost. One potato will cost you about 12 cents each, depending on where you live. And potato’s go a long way!

Ready? OK Rinse off the potato’s. Put on the slicer, one at a time, and slice really really thin. Then remove your basket from your deep fryer, and put the potato slices in. The trick here is to separate the potato slices from each other so they cook separately.Potato slices tend to stick together.

Now they are going to cook really fast, because you sliced them really thin, right?Now, scoop the potato chips out of the deep fryer with a long handle ladle. Take a large bowl and line it with paper towels and put your fresh potato chips in there to absorb some of the oil.

Here comes the good part. Now salt. You can use regular table salt, or, my favorites are cajun seasoning, or season salt. Both you can buy at the grocery store or from your food service provider.

Make sure you salt as evenly as you can. Toss around in the bowl. Now place in small bowls or use a paper 5 pound food tray. Place around the bar and watch your customers go wild! I had people want to buy them by bulk from me. I chose not to do that.

Buy the smallest meatball you can. They generally come frozen in a 10 pound box, and they too are inexpensive. Thaw them out, and spaghetti sauce, heat up, and place a few in a monkey dish, sprinkle a little romano cheese, put in a toothpick in each, and put out on the bar. People love them. It’s fast, easy, tasty, and inexpensive.

I have had a few people ask me what a monkey dish is. A monkey dish is a small that you might put a side of dressing in. Basically, a small bowl. The idea is to put them in a serving container that will hold only a few meatballs.

The next item on the snack idea’s menu is garlic bread. Wait a minute here. Don’t say, Oh, just garlic bread. Do it my way, and your bar customers will absolutely love this.

Go to your local grocery store and buy a GOOD loaf of Italian bread. Or better yet, a loaf of french bread. I know, you want to know how I go from Italian bread to french bread. OK, here’s the deal.

The idea is to put small portions of tasty bar snacks on the bar. Depending on where you live, the Italian bread you may find in your are may be large and fat. Here, the idea would be after it is done, you would need to cut up into smaller pieces. You try to have the least amount of work to do as possible.

Some grocery stores make a smaller, less fat loaf, and would work better. This is where the french bread comes in. You see, french bread is a long, skinny, loaf. Generally, you can just cut into slices, and not have to cut into even smaller pieces.

I used to buy fresh Italian rolls for my sanwiches. I think the roll makes the sandwich. So, since I would only serve fresh food, the rolls that were a day old, I would make into garlic bread, cut into small pieces, and put into baskets on the bar. Talk about a hit!

So know that you have your bread, cut into slices between a half an inch to an inch thick, no more. Spread butter on top, sprinkle on garlic salt, sprinkle on a light coating of romano cheese, and then a light sprinkle of parsley.

Put under the broiler and toast. If you are using a larger bread, cut into bite size pieces, put into baskets, on place on the bar. Believe me, you’ll be a hit! This are great tasting bar snacks.

We’re back to those inexpensive potato’s again. Aren’t they great!

Let’s get out those 100 count bakers again. Rinse them off, and bake them off. If you like, you can microwave them. Cook them slightly less then done. Just a little firm.

When they are done, cut them into small mouth size pieces. Put into a bowl, add a little butter, or Whirl, which I prefer. Now to flavor. Go to the store, or your food service provider, and buy some Montreal Steak Seasoning. Sprinkle this on the potato’s. Spoon the potato’s into monkey dishes, add tooth pics, and put out on the bar. You will be a hit! Add some fried onions and it’s like heaven. By the way, the Montreal Steak Seasoning is fabulous! Try it on your steaks and people will think you have the best steaks in town.
These are some of my favorite bar snack idea’s to use. try them, and I think you will agree that you will get a reputation of the best bar snack idea’s in town. Talk to you soon

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

This page is brand new. We have had some requests from customers about night club pictures from around the county. I know that when you are in the process of building a night club, and you are contemplating the design of your nightclub, looking at what other people have done, gives you a little inspiration.

It’s really no different then going on a road trip and having a look see.

It helps, especially if design and creativity are not your strong suits. You take an idea from one club, tweak it a little, and then incorporate it into something you like. It is helpful.

That’s why we put up this page. If you would like to send in a night club picture of your place with a write up, we would be glad to post it here at no charge to you. It’s like free advertising!

But please don’t take a look and just copy it. You see, what will work in one community may not work in another. For example, You may not build a Las Vegas style night club in Macon Georgia. It may not work. Get it. The pictures from other clubs are just that. Pictures of what someone else has done.

Size of you night club has much to do with it also. You just can’t cram in ideas from other night clubs into a five thousand square foot club! It has to work for you. Nightclub pics are fun to look at. Just like it’s fun to look at pictures of new exotic homes. But it may not be right for you.

Many of the pictures you see on the internet are from very expensive night clubs in major cities. Does this type of night club make sense in your area? Do you have the population to build something that costs a million dollars and ever dream of getting your money back?

As I have said before, everything is relevant.

You have to build a night club that is suited for your area. And one that has the potential to get a return on your investment. Oh ya, they’re neat. But do they make money?

Night club pictures are a guide. Just like this web site. There is not one answer. This business has many variables. Night club pictures are to still your imagination.

And for a little joy, we can look at the real fancy ones to.

I would love to post for my viewers normal night club pictures. Not just the night club pictures of multimillion dollar night clubs. You know, the average night club, in the average town. Let’s face it, that’s what most of us are doing.

Remember, there is not a how to book in this industry that is the final answer. No one teaches this. There are always variables and everyone handles variables in a different manner. Use the night club pictures to stir your imagination, and listen to you gut feeling. It’s usually right.

Click Here

for a large variety of night club pictures from all around the country.

And for the coolest interior pictures, you have got to see this. CLICK HERE

Night club pictures are a great guide for the design of night clubs.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Orchid Lounge, Quaker Steak & Lube, Cain, Aqua, Cielo, Magoo’s, Egypt, Marquee, Ghost Bar, Mist, Rumors, Crobar, Suede,Tangerines, Capital, Box Seats, Martini’s, Mulligan’s, The Metropolitan, The Beach, Cigar Bar, Sky Bar, Whiskey Bar, Tonic, Cheerleaders, BJ’s,Cruzans, Wild Things, Players, Salty Dog, Rumors, 8 Balls, Choices, The Office, The Roadhouse, After Life, Club Envy, Chills, Pulse.


Get More Nightclub names below – cool club names and club names ideas.

Need more Ideas? I have accumulated well over 900! names for you, signup now and you can have them all for free!

Do I register only to get the list of nightclub name ideas? A name will not make my club successful!

You are right! The name is important, but finding a good name is just a start! Having a bar or a nightclub requires much more than just a name. If you signup now I will also send you my newsletter with tips and advices that will get you started and save you money, preventing you from doing costly mistakes!

As a registered member you also get access to some exclusive content like:
- How to find investors
- How to hire a good nightclub manager
- Important management tips
And much more!

Signup now to get access to exclusive content + My tips & advices newsletter + My extensive list of 900 name ideas!

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Buying a bar with no money may seem impossible, but it’s not. No Money Down? It’s possible!

I get thousands of people every month on my site and many email me and ask me the question that could possibly change their life and fulfill their dream. The question is, “ where can I get the money to start my own bar/restaurant/nightclub”?

Many send me emails that are very descriptive, and tell me about their ideas and their plans. And many of these emails I can see that a lot of thought was put into them. These ideas weren’t just thought up in a couple of minutes. These plans and ideas took some thought, and time to put together in their mind. I am proud of you.

So this new guide of mine is an overview, and is going to try and get you the chance of making your dreams a reality. Read this slowly and take in what I am explaining you, ok?

Let’s start. Of course, having the cash to get started is of course the easiest way to get started. But like many, including myself, when you have a dream alive in your heart, it is very difficult to get it out of your mind. But you know that if wait until you actually have the cash to build your dream, it may take forever, and you want it now, or at least in the foreseeable future.

These ideas are risks. They are a gamble. But in many cases, that’s all you will lose is your time, and maybe a little money. As I go on to explain these options, you must understand that this is “YOUR SHOT”. A chance for you to get into this industry, so you can build and grow. So you will have to put in the time. Not forty hours, but maybe seventy hours, eighty hours or even a hundred hours, to build this dream.

As you need to find a way to get started, one way is to look in your area, or close vicinity, for a place that you know of that is having financial difficulties. Or maybe a place that is run down. Maybe you know of someone that has been in the business for many years and they are just burnt out, and they want out desperately. This is an opportunity. Check out these places one by one. They don’t have to be exactly what you want, but a place to start. A place that you feel that has potential. What is the location like? How is the neighborhood it is in? Is the place decent size so that you can accommodate enough people to make some money? And then there is the parking. Parking is one of the most important things you have to have.

If it is hard to get parking, or the parking is far away, you will have problems drawing people to your place. No one wants that issue when they go out, and usually avoid places that it is difficult to park.

The object in you search for these places is to find someone that is disgruntled about their situation. They are just disgusted. They want out badly, and they have probably already have tried to sell their place, with no luck. The reasons that they couldn’t sell their place may be evident.

Maybe they wanted too much money for their business? Maybe the place is in bad condition, of has no convenient parking? Maybe, it is a bad location? Maybe, just maybe, they don’t see the potential that you do? Maybe someone is sitting on a place that could come alive again with the right insight, hard work, and a personality! And maybe, that person is you!

There is an old saying, “desperate people do desperate things”. And when people are desperate to get out of the business they are in, they may be persuaded to make a deal that makes you the “new owner”. Do you understand what I am saying here? If not, read this part over again, ok?

These people want someone to take this burden off their shoulders. They have given up for one reason or another. And some got into it, like you want to and thought to themselves all this work isn’t worth it to them. You see, everyone thinks that if you build it, they will come. Not true! And many think this industry is so easy, only for them to find out, it isn’t. They just want out.

You also need to consider this too. Are you ready for a lot of hard work? So now, you have located a place that you feel has potential. What do you do? Well, you are going to approach the owner with a very bad deal for them, or so it seems, and a very good deal for you. The offer you make them has to be on your terms. You are not dealing here on prime property. You are taking a gamble that you can make this work. And although you may say to yourself, “they will never take this deal”, I am here to tell you that may just do that. It just depends on how desperate they are.

For example, you have found the place you are considering. So do your homework and find out what ever you can about the place and the owner. Walk in the place as a customer and look around. Be specific when looking around. What kind of work will the place need to give it life again? Maybe just paint, decorating, and some new lighting. Or maybe, it’s too much work as it is falling apart. Does the air conditioning work? Are the bathrooms in decent shape and functional? See what I mean?

If you don’t know anything about this kind of stuff, bring along someone that does. They will be able to see things that you don’t see, and explain to you about what it would take to repair. Ask them not to say anything while you are there, and speak with them when you leave.

After you have done your homework, contact the owner and ask if they are for sale? If so, make an appointment to meet with them in private. Not when they are working in their place. You will get interrupted too much. Explain that you don’t have the money to purchase, but just enough to make some improvements to get started.

Don’t tip your hand! If you tell them your ideas, they may steal them from you and do it themselves. But tell them you are willing to make them a good deal if they are willing to carry it (finance it). Here is where you have to make a sweet deal for them. It has to be so tempting for them that they will sit and listen seriously. Why are you giving them a good deal? Because you have to give something to get something. You have no money and you want someone to give you their place, and trust you for the money!

Now the options you do have, have a lot to do with the liquor laws in your State. Check those out with you State. I have a page on my site that will bring you to the laws of your State. You see, each State is different in what they allow and what they don’t. What are they all different, I have no idea, but they are.

The lease: Depending on your State laws, you may be able to lease the business from the owner. Offer them a monthly amount of money that is tempting enough for them to walk away, but not enough where you won’t be able to afford it. On top of leasing the premises, remember you are paying him this to lease the business, and depending on if they actually own the building or not, you will also have to pay rent also. They want to walk away, you know this. But it has to be tempting but not where you don’t make any money.

The Management Agreement: Depending on your State laws, you may be able to enter into a management agreement where you operate, manage, and promote the place as you see fit for a certain amount of time and reap what ever percentage of profits you both agree on. This gives you a start but whatever changes you want to make, are probably going to cost you the money. If you get the seller excited, they might split the costs with you.

The Purchase: Depending on your State laws, you may be able to make a deal where you purchase for no, or little money down, depending on the seller’s circumstance, and pay him a monthly mortgage payment. Generally, the seller won’t want to carry the financing for a lengthy time period, but you may be able to go ten years, and at the end of ten years you pay the seller off. In a ten-year period, you should be able to save and or secure financing by then.

These are all generalizations. But I have laid out the premise for you to get into the business with little or no money down. You will need to get an attorney to look over and draw you up a contract.

The ideal behind these “deals” is to get into a business for the least amount as possible. And if things don’t work out, make sure you have an escape clause whereas you are not liable for anything if the deal doesn’t work out. In other words, this is a gamble for the seller and yourself. You both are gambling. Finding a desperate seller may get you your own place.

But there is really so much more. As I have explained in my web site, educating yourself is the key to becoming successful. You have to know how the laws work, and you have to know to know how to operate a business like this. You have taxes, insurance, employees, and the list goes on.

And you can’t make a deal with someone if you don’t know how all this works. You have to know what the going price of businesses such as this are so you can establish the worth of the place you are trying to acquire.

You need to read all the pages on my web site so you can consider all the different things in this business. But my site is generalizations on many topics. You still have to learn the business, so you have to work in it and learn. Take classes in business management at a local college if you can.

No one would try to own or manage a business that they new nothing about. No One! So why do people think that in this business, it requires no training or education? It’s a foolish thought.

The successes of the deals you make to get started are going to be based on how much you know. So learn it well, and you will be successful. This little guide is to show you that the possibilities are there. You don’t have to have a lot money to get started. You can live the American dream and start form nothing, but it requires work, and education.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Aaaaahhh! The Pour! Pouring drinks, a part of bartending basics, is a subject talked about for endless hours by every bar owner and manager for years. Let’s put this to bed once and for all, OK.

Let’s face it, pouring drinks is where you make your money! A subject not to be taken lightly. But bartending basics are often misunderstood.

Hand in hand with the actual pour, is the bartender. I know you all are shaking your heads. First lets take the bartender.

The bartender is responsible for many things behind the bar. But for this article, we are going to talk about the pour,and bartending basics.

I love when a customer comes to the bar and asks for, let’s say a rum and coke. The customer will say “I’ll have a rum and coke, and make it a good one”. This aggravates me to death. Another cheap skate.

Your reply should be one of two answers. First, “All my drinks are good”. That usually shuts them up. Or, you say ” did you want a double?” Ninety nine times out of a hundred, they will say no.

You as a bartender, are not doing the customer a favor by pouring them a strong drink! Let me repeat that. You are not doing the customer a favor by pouring them a strong drink! Not to mention you are stealing from the owner. Yes, stealing!

Many bartenders think that if you pour a stronger drink for a customer, that you will receive a larger tip. WRONG! I’m not sure who taught these people about bartending basics, but they are way off base.

Generally, a person knows their tolerance for alcohol. And they don’t want to choke on the first sip either. If you over pour, that person is going to get drunk faster then they normally do. Who does this benefit???

Bartending basics will tell you that pouring a standard drink allows this customer to stay around longer and socialize. Instead of having three drinks, they will be there for five or six. If the customer leaves after the second or third, you lost the sales, and profits, for the other two or three drinks! Nothing like throwing money away.

If you don’t believe this, you need to get out of the bar business! Pouring drinks is not your strong suit. Neither is common sense!

You mission is to make you drinks in accordance with the owners wishes, keep their area clean, and don’t make them wait for the next one. Getting them drunk does no one any good.

Ideally, finding a good bartending school to learn bartending basics is the smartest thing to do. Or learn by a seasoned pro. I know a few people who have actually made a good career being a bartender, not to mention a good, consistent living.
Bartending College Online

will guide you and teach you how to be a professional bartender, and learn some bartending basics. Don’t learn from wanna b’s and know it all’s. Learn from professionals like this. And, if you don’t live in their area, they have an online course! So what are you waiting for? Bartending basics need to be taught well, or you will be just an average bartender.

I love to train a new person and teach them about pouring drinks, and bartending basics. Also, they have no bad habits to break, not a know it all, and eager to learn and please. After hiring a new bartender, the best thing to do I have found is to give them an empty bottle of liquor, show them how to hold it by the neck of the bottle, not the base.

Also, give them a jigger for pouring drinks. For those of you who don’t know what that is, I have added this picture. It looks like an hour glass. This is bartending basics! And it works.

This is two sided and comes in different sizes. It may hold a measurement of say, one ounce on one side and half ounce on the other side. But the sizes will vary in accordance of what your needs are.

So, the next thing you need to provide is the pourer. The pourer comes many ways of which we will describe in just a minute.

Now, show your new bartender how they should be pouring drinks. Now this is a little hard to explain in words. but basically, if they pracice this at home, they will become fast, won’t shake and spill your liquor all over the place, and they will become confident. It’s part of bartending basics.

Remember, after you pour the liquor in the jigger, you return the jigger upside down on your bar mat so the liquor drains out. No, it doesn’t need washed. The only time you will rinse these out will be when you pour a heavy, syrup type alcohol, like Kahlua, or Creme de Menthe, or something like that.

Now some people use a shot glass when pouring drinks. This is bartending basics taught by inexperienced people. The problem being is the sizes they come in. Some bar owners buy a shot glass for the look. Therefore, a bartender may pour a drink by pouring to the top of the glass where in fact the line on the glass is the measurement. It creates problems. If you only go to the line, customers feel they have been short shotted. Trying to explain they did in fact get a full shot, but it’s only to the line, will be like talking to a wall. Believe me!

You are far better off using a jigger rather then a shot glass when pouring drinks. This is bartending basics rule number one.

Now let’s talk about the infamous automatic pourer.

You will find many opinions on the subject, but I’m telling you, these are the best things since sliced bread!

And when you use these, it becomes easier to watch your bartenders. This is great bartending basics at work. You see, you can be talking with someone, and watching the bar(like your supposed to be doing) and if you see a bartender tip that bottle upside down more then once, there are not pouring a standard drink! So when you walk over and the bartender just made a rum and coke and that bottled tipped more then once, they are over pouring. (I call it stealing!)

For those of you not familiar with the way the work, it’s pretty simple. You tip the bottle to pour and it automatically shuts off. In order to get any more liquor out of it, you have to bring the bottle back down, and tip it up again.

Let’s say your bartender over pours a drink that costs you seventy cents a one ounce shot. Let’s say they over pour by a quarter of an ounce,(boy, if that’s all it was)that means that every time a drink is poured, you lose seventeen and a half cents per drink!

So now let’s say that you have a night club that does five hundred people in a night. Say they only drink three drinks each. That’s fifteen hundred drinks in the course of the night. So that means the over pouring will cost you two hundred sixty two dollars and fifty cents! Per Night! And that’s only if they over pour a quarter of an ounce! What if it was more!!

Now are you gettin my drift? These pourers are invaluable. Some people will tell you they don’t work right, or they are not accurate. Bull____!

These automatic pourers work well for pouring drinks and are reliable. But like anything in life, you get what you pay for. If you decide to buy a generic pourer at a third of the price of the major manufacturers, they may not work that well. Spend the money and get the good stuff! After, it’s your money!

As far as maintenance goes, they are like everything else in life, including your self, it needs maintained. You need to wash the pourers once a week in warm soapy water, then rinsed. Sure, once in awhile, one will go bad, but not often. And look at the money it saves you.

These will pay for themselves from you savings in less then a week. Not bad!
And let me clear up some confusion on how to use these pourers. I received an email from a viewer that worked in a large nightclub holding 2500 guests per night. Below is what he wrote:

May I ask what bartenders who are using Accu-Pours are supposed to do when a drink calls for 1/2 ounce or 3/4 ounce? And, similar to your example with bartenders pouring into a shot glass, how do bartenders know how full to fill a jigger? And, what about how extremely slow jiggers are. My venue does 2,500 people per night. I can’t be losing revenue because bartenders are forced to use a jigger.

I couldn’t reply to this person as they filled out one of my survey forms, of which I don’t ask for an email address. I use this form to survey you, my guests, to see what type of information you would like to read about and don’t ask for personal information. If you would like to ask a question that is not too lengthy, please use my contact page, or click on “contact” on any of my pages.

Now to answer his questions. Automatic pourers are great for what they do. But none are perfect and are going to work in all circumstances. To answer the first part of this, when you pour something less then a shot, of whatever ounce you use, the pourer will pour freely until you reach the point of shut off. So you can pour less by free hand or by using a jigger.

Let’s say that in your club you consider a shot to be one ounce. So you purchase one ounce automatic pourers. If you have a need to pour a half of a shot, in this case a half ounce, you can do it in one of two ways. You can free pour it, or you use the other side of your jigger. So you already have one ounce jiggers on hand as that is the size if the shot you pour. But when you flip the jigger around, it is half the size of the other side. In this case, the jigger is a one ounce measure on one side and a half ounce measure on the other side.

Now, as far as a drizzle, or three quarters of a shot, this has to be done by free pouring. This really is no problem in the grand scheme of things.

As a whole, these pourers, in my opinion will save you money, and your customers will get a drink the way it is supposed to taste.

Let me put it this way. In the bar and nightclub business you are making your money from two sources. One, is the cover charge. If you have a turnstyle installed, you will not lose one red cent. The second way, is from the sales of booze. And when you do your numbers at the end of the week and your booze cost are in line, you have no problems. Yes, when you work your percentages and they come out right, that doesn’t mean it accounts for every drop, but it’s close enough.

But if your costs don’t come out right at the end of the week, you have lost money. Not a good place to be! And free pouring can get you there. It’s your money, and life is full of choices, so you need to make the right choice for you and your club. But bartending basics will help you to be profitable.

As you can see from the example pictures above, they come in a few styles. The ones pictured above are from a company called
Precision Pours.

And no, I don’t make any money mentioning their product.

These are just a few thought on bartending basics. To learn more, you need to stop over and see George, at the Authenic Bartender site.

He has lots to show you and teach you.

Also, I’ve added a survey form that I would sure appreciate it if you would take a minute and fill out. It asks some basic questions like, what topics would you like address or go into more detail about, how big is your club, what kind of music do you play, etc. This information helps me to continue to offer the best information in this industry. Thanks for stopping by bartending basics.

Bartending basics is just another part of Night Club Management. So click here for more information.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!

Bartender theft is a huge topic that people inquire about. Even by the thieves themselves. Sound funny? Well, if you watch a crime show and they show you how to catch a criminal, what if a criminal is watching? It’s like going to school and finding out what not to do and what to watch out for. Get it?

This business breeds thieves. Really!

First and foremost, if you catch bartender theft, press charges. Most owners don’t. If the thief is willing to take something of yours, which is money, then you need to take something of theirs, money for fines, embarrassment, and their inability to ever work in this industry again. Do that enough times and you won’t get thieves working for you. If there is no consequence, you will always have bartender theft.

And if you are one of those thieves reading this, you will get caught, and I hope someone presses charges.

On the other side of the coin, if you as an owner hire a manager that really doesn’t know what they are doing, or what to look for, or if you are the owner that is managing also, and you really don’t have experience, half of the bartender theft responsibility is yours!

I always tell my staff that everything in this place is mine! If you take a stir straw without asking, I’ll fire you! If you ask me, I’ll probably just give you what you need. Sometimes a staff member is having a party at home and want some bar napkins, or straws, or even want to borrow some pourers. Ask me, and let me know, that’s one thing. Take these things without asking, that’s stealing.

Another interesting fact in bartender theft is the shear amout of theft varies from different parts of the country. Really!

You go to some cities, and you will find that the people who actually tend bar are all thieves. And they believe this is the way to tend bar. After all, everyone does it. Right? They have never been taught the correct way to tend bar, possess no self pride, no self esteem, and are completely useless.

The funny part about bartender theft, when explained to them the errors of their ways, and explain that it is an honor to serve people, and customer service is job 1, they look at you like you just fell off the turnip truck!

If you have a staff like this, fire them all! Start over and bring a new class of people to your business. Is it a pain in the ass? Yes. But it is worth it form a service stand point, and a financial one. And remember, you get what you pay for. If you are a cheap employer, you deserve what you get.

So let’s get started. The oldest, easiest, and the place most bartender theft starts first is the ring up. They will wait on a customer, and say that a bartender orders a bottle of beer. They will serve the beer, take the money for the beer, and ring up a soda or a draft beer, which is cheaper. When no one is looking, or at the end of the night, they will take what they have stolen. Easy right. Bartender theft is as bad as you let it be.

Another easy way of bartender theft is just the giveaway. They don’t take your money, as such, but they take the product. Generally it’s their friends who tend to frequent your place, especially when you’re not around, at least at first. After awhile, it doesn’t matter, as they will do it while you are there. Their friends will order a drink, and they will just give them the drink and won’t ring it up. As time progresses, more friends, and potential dates will receive the bulk of their giveaways.

Now this type of bartender theft will work in one of two ways. They will just give the drinks away, or they will give the drinks away and their friends will tip them huge. But huge will still be a fraction of what they would of actually owed.

Operating a bar or night club requires hands on work. You have to be there! Your place will operate better and you will be able to control bartender theft.

Similar to above, a bartender will start a tab for the customer, pour them drinks all night long and only actually charge them for a couple of drinks. This way, if they are questioned, they an prove they have been ringing up the drinks.

Another form of bartender theft is the void. Silly right? But they do it. The bartender will actually ring up the complete sales on a tab for the entire night. Then, they will void the entire tab when the customer leaves. If they are questioned, they will say the customer decided to pay in cash, or they walked out their tab.

These are just a few of the ways that is bartender theft. The only way to stop or really limit this is to be there. I mean really be there. Not off doing your books, putting stock away, etc, etc, etc. Get it? If you are going to manage a bar, you better be prepared to be there. Bartender theft will put you in the poor house. If you are going to be an absentee manager or owner, bartender theft will grow and put you out of business.

I will be adding some of the more cunning ways of bartender theft that will be coming soon.

Thirteen Ways to Prevent Theft Behind the Bar
by Robert Plotkin

For new restaurateurs, the bar is one of the most vulnerable areas to theft. This is particularly true if you have a booming bar business and a strong bartender. You might not feel the pain of constant theft and skimming, such as a free drink to the bartender’s friends here and there, or stealing from the cash register.

Complicating the matter is that sometimes the most dangerous bartenders exhibiting bartender theft are the best and brightest. Behind the bar is a place where individual talent and charm can be measured in hard cash, and a common and woeful tale is the stellar bartender with a huge following of customers, who is caught stealing from the owners. In that case, even an honest but average bartender might not be able to match the end-of-the-night profits turned in by the thief. Nevertheless, your bar should be a cash cow in your operation, and you should reap every penny of profit that you earn. You are always better off hiring for attitude (and honesty) and training for skill.

Have you heard of the term “shrinkage”? To the uninitiated, it may sound harmless, but just the thought of it is enough to make seasoned beverage managers wince and bar owners shudder. Shrinkage — or the liquor that is lost due to waste, spillage and bartender theft — can chew up 20 percent to 30 percent of the bottom line. Bevinco (a liquor inventory control service, with 100 franchises throughout the United States and Canada) auditors have determined that the average shrinkage is actually 23 percent on liquor and draft beer, about 10 percent on wine and 2 percent on bottled beer. That’s a lot of money. It could mean your profits for the year, particularly in a startup enterprise. Eliminating bartender theft, shrinkage, can mean the difference between financial success and failure.

Theft alone is an insidious source of losses. Opportunities are rife for theft behind a bar. Bartenders are often working without direct supervision. They steal from the bar and its customers because it’s easily accomplished, hard to detect, and extremely difficult to prevent on an ongoing basis. The temptations posed by constantly handling large sums of cash and dealing with a liquid inventory can often prove overwhelming. At some point, most bartenders contemplate stealing cash, giving out free drinks, or any one of a multitude of transgressions. Effectively limiting internal theft behind the majority of bars is no easy task, and eliminating it is unrealistic.

But it’s essential to formulate and put in place an operational strategy to contain the problem. To that end, here are practical recommendations on how to reduce your vulnerability to theft. . . . auditors have determined that the average shrinkage is actually 23 percent on liquor and draft beer, about 10 percent on wine and 2 percent on bottled beer.

1. Prohibit Bartenders From Checking-Out Their Cash at the End of a Shift

In many operations, bartenders are required to reconcile their cash drawers. This entails using the cash in the drawer to compile the bar’s opening bank for the following shift, and to itemize the remaining cash proceeds onto a deposit slip. If the bartenders are stealing, the checkout process provides them with an ideal opportunity to safely remove stolen funds secretly deposited into the register’s cash drawer during the course of their shift. Taking this responsibility away from the employees, bartenders will be forced to either pull the money out of the cash drawer during the shift or opt not to use the register as a place for their stolen funds.

2. Create Tip Jar Procedures

The bartenders’ tip jar should be placed well away from the operation’s cash register or POS (point-of-sale system). If the tip jar is placed right next to the register, it is far too easy for bartenders to divert stolen funds away from the register and into the tip jar. In addition, bartenders should be prohibited from making change out of their tip jar or taking currency from the tip jar and exchanging it for larger denominations out of the cash drawer. If the bartenders are stealing from the business and using the cash drawer for the stolen funds, they can easily retrieve the money from the register under the pretense of making change. For example, a bartender could take 20 $1 bills out of the tip jar, deposit the currency into the register, but instead of taking out a $20 bill in exchange, he or she could remove four $20 bills, withdrawing $60 of stolen funds.

3. Don’t Allow Bartenders to Participate in the Physical Inventory Process

The process of auditing the bar’s physical inventory is solely a management function. Bartenders who are stealing can use their participation in the physical inventory process to alter the recorded data so that it offsets theft. This can be accomplished by overstating the amount of liquor inventory on hand at the end of the month. Overstating the amount of liquor on hand will essentially have the same effect as if the theft never occurred.

4. Create a Perpetual Inventory System

The perpetual inventory system tracks the changes in the liquor room’s inventory. You can monitor against internal theft by comparing the last entry on a product’s perpetual inventory sheet with the number of bottles in the liquor room. The more inventories you store in the liquor room, the more reasons you have to adopt a perpetual system.

5. Require Managerial Approval of ‘Comp’ Sheet Entries

Bartenders should receive management approval before preparing the customer’s complimentary drink. This policy is intended to stop them from claiming, after the fact, that a drink was given away with management’s consent, when in reality the drink was sold and the proceeds of the sale were pocketed.

6. Strictly Enforce a ‘No Sale’ Policy

One of the more uncomplicated methods of bartender theft involves a bartender selling a drink and depositing the proceeds into the register using the “no sale” feature. Unless someone is watching the LCD (liquid crystal display), the act usually goes unnoticed. Since the sale wasn’t rung into the register, the bartender need only remove the stolen proceeds from the cash drawer when safe to do so. The best preventive measure against this type of theft is to restrict the use of the “no sale” key. One technique to deterring theft through use of the “no sale” key is to provide the bartenders with an alternative source for making change. A small, inexpensive container or even a cabinet drawer will suffice. By providing a separate source for making change behind the bar, the bartenders will no longer have a legitimate reason for accessing the cash drawer with the “no sale” key every time someone needs change. This will make it slightly more challenging to steal unrecorded sales and depositing the funds in the cash drawer without entering any sales data.

7. Require Bartenders to Verify Cash Drawer Count

Bartenders should be required to verify the amount of money used to comprise the bar register’s opening bank. This practice will prevent the bartenders from claiming that their opening bank was either over or under the prescribed dollar amount to explain a cash shortage or overage in the register. Periodically place an extra $10 bill in the bartender’s bank and see if the person informs you of the cash overage. It is a good way to verify if the bartender is counting his bank prior to the shift, and measure the person’s degree of integrity.

8. Enforce POS (Point-of-Sale) System or Cash Register Procedures

The cash drawer should always remain closed between transactions. Bartender theft will happen by allowing the drawer to remain ajar will completely negate the primary control function of the register. While bartenders should have access to the key that turns the register on, they should not have access to the keys that activate the “z” (end of shift summary) reading function. The LCD should face the public in a way that anyone seated at the bar can observe what is being entered into the system. The area around the POS or register should remain clear of clutter, such as books, manuals, or stacks of paper. Clutter can be used to hide money, used drink tickets or a ledger system for keeping track of how much stolen money has been deposited in the drawer.

9. Safeguard All POS Passwords

Ensure that all management passwords are kept safe and secure from the bartenders. This will prevent bartenders from being able to open reports and learn their shift sales. This is usually not done by management. They don’t have a swipe card to use on their POS ans give management passwords only. Of course all the staff looks on as the manager on duty punches in their passwords. A real easy way for bartender theft to get out of control.

10. Take an Immediate ‘Z’ Reading After ‘Last Call’

At the conclusion of “last call,” the manager on duty should immediately take the “z” reading of the register or run a sales report of the POS and pull the cash drawer out of the machine. (As suggested above, a “z” reading is the end-of-the-shift or day report from a POS or cash register; i.e., “z” is the last letter of the alphabet. Some folks will also refer to a mid shift “z” reading, when running a summary report in the middle of a shift. See below.) If the bartenders are stealing and using the cash register drawer for stolen funds, this procedure will force them to withdraw the money during the shift while there are still people milling about instead of the relative privacy of closing.

11. Do Not Allow Bartenders to Overpour or Underpour

Bartenders should be expressly forbidden from purposely over pouring or under pouring the liquor portion in a customer’s drink. Likewise, bartenders should be directed not to “top-pour” liquor or “ghost” the alcoholic portion in a blended drink. Both of these techniques are used by bartenders to steal by under pouring the alcohol in a series of drinks. Over pouring or under pouring becomes a non issue if “precision-pour” control spouts are used, or a liquor control system is incorporated into the beverage program.

12. Take Mid shift ‘Z’ Readings

If a bartender is suspected of stealing and using the POS or register’s cash drawer as a place for stolen funds, the manager on duty can either confirm or deny those suspicions by taking a midshift “z” reading. At some point in the shift, the manager should clear the register by taking a “z” reading or run a sales report on the POS and replace the cash drawer with a new bank. If the bartender has deposited unaccounted funds into the register for safe keeping, the cash drawer count will be “over” when compared with the cash register’s sales totals. One important element of the strategy is to periodically conduct two mid shift readings during the course of a night. This will prevent you from being predictable. The bartenders will never be certain which nights you’ll take two readings, making it riskier to use the cash drawer for stolen proceeds.

13. Document Theft and Terminate the Thief

You need to send a message loud and clear to your staff that theft will not be tolerated. While you might not want to pursue criminal action against a bartender for embezzlement or a similar crime, documented theft is solid grounds for termination. A mere wrist slap does nothing to discourage others from putting their hands in the till.

Sound like overstating the obvious? Well, consider the plight of one general manager of a midsized chain, who had to ax his best bartender with great reluctance. As you know, or will learn, the personality behind the bar can have a significant effect on bar revenues. It’s tough to let go of a superstar; however, as much money as he or she brings into the place, the upshot is that person is stealing from you. Don’t give him or her a second chance. If you permit the bartender theft in order to keep someone with other abilities you want to keep, you need to know, it will only get worse as people in general are just greedy.

Best Wishes

Bartender theft is all part of Night Club Management, so visit here too.

Did you find this post helpful? Want to get an update on new posts?
Just enter your email below to get my newsletter with all the latest news and information everyone in the bars and nightclub industry must read!