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!

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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.

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Reinventing your night club comes out of necessity most times rather then choice. You may find that the times have made you obsolete, or you opened up wrong to begin with, and you need to breathe new life into an existing night club business.

You will find as time goes by that the night club business is unforgiving, and sometimes reinventing yourself is the only means of survival.

Like any other mistakes someone makes in the night club business, they more then not, cost you a lot of money. I used to tell people that didn’t want to pay for my consulting services, if you only make ten mistakes, which is pretty good really, and each of those mistakes cost you five thousand dollars, that’s fifty thousand dollars! It was much cheaper for them to retain my services.

Anyway,there are times that some people go to open up a new night club, and didn’t do it right. The opening fails. They try and try, throwing good money after bad, to no avail. This is an example for reinventing your night club.

Also, there are times that someone didn’t keep up with the times, and have let there club go. New competition has come in and has killed them.

Sometimes, there is no easy out here. What the hell else are you going to do? Really, you have two choices. Make a quick sale, or try reinventing your night club. Become something new and exciting, again.

You know this takes cash, right?

Reinventing your night club gives you a new lease on life. It’s just like a new night club just opened! And everyone knows how great that is. everyone wants to go to the new night club! Everyone! You become the kid in town. How great is that!!

The good news is you have most of the costly expenses already thee. You know, the electric, plumbing, bathrooms, etc. Basically, you are going to do a face lift. But even remodeling is expensive. So be prepared.

You don’t want to leave anything familiar here. It has to be changed!! If you don’t do this, you just threw away you last shot. Remember that. Change the wall covering, put up some walls, a new bar or extend the one you have to make it look different, and if your sound and lighting systems are out dated or not up to par, add what you need to make it right!

If you skimp and don’t change it completely, it’s not going to work! Do you hear me? Do you understand? OK?

When you are reinventing your night club, you not only have to take care of the interior, but don’t forget the exterior. Yes, that’s right. Do you want it to look like the same old place? I don’t think so. Like I said before, if you do things half ass’d, it will come back to haunt you.

So, before you do all these changes, did you change who you are? You didn’t! C’mon! When reinventing your night club, you have to have a customer base you are targeting.
Reinventing your night club is just like you would when starting a night club.

Nothing changes here. Who is your target market? What do you provide better then everyone else? If you don’t know these things, read the rest of this web site. You have to do your homework. Remember homework?

Take you time and do it right. Do yourself that favor. Make it an event!!

Make sure that you place teaser advertisement well in advance of your opening. Create hype!! Make your advertisement do what it is supposed to do. Pack them in. It has to be bigger then life!

Now, you are the new guy on the block again. Reinventing your night club does work. Just don’t make the same mistakes again. Mistakes are OK. As long as you learned from them.

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The reasons night clubs fail is probably the most talked about subject, besides promotions.

Everyone, of course, will give you their opinion. But the truth of the matter is that it’s really not that complicated. More common sense then anything.

If I could number these, making the number one being the most important, I would put them all in the number one slot. As they are all different, there are all equally important.

So, don’t make light of these. If you do them all right, you will probably be very successful. If you do even one of them wrong, you will probably fail.

Furthermore, you have to be able to last! You have to have enough money to operate as usual for at least a year, or more. You see, some things just take time. You may open, and it may take a bit for you to catch on.

If you are on a budget to spend X amount of dollars, and something happens which requires more money, and you don’t have access to more money, you got problems before you even open. Get it.

Do you need to adhere to your budget? You bet you ass! But are things going to happen beyond your control that may require more money? Oh ya.

So don’t go in on a shoe string. You also need capital to keep you going for awile too. How much you say? Like the whole subject of night clubs. It depends. I don’t know what your operational costs are going to be. Generally speaking, have enough working capital to pay the bills for one year or more.

I’m sure you have seen a franchised restaurant not do well. Maybe it took awhile to catch on, or is in a new location that the city isn’t used to yet. Whatever the reason, you just can’t believe it. You know that this particular place always does well.

But do they close it after two months? No! They have the success of all the other restaurants to keep this one a float. In other words, they have working capital. Without it, they would close.

So, you are in the same position. What if this happens to you? In your gut, you know that you have a success on your hands, but you don’t have the working capital to keep you going. So what happens? Yes, you got it, you close. Don’t let this happen to you. If you don’t have enough money, wait till you do. Reasons night clubs fail has a lot to do with money. So be patient and do it right.

Will the market bare it, right club in the wrong place, and having more money then brains.

Are you opening a night club in a town that is saturated with night clubs? Are their enough people in your area to support a new night club? Are there enough people in the age group and type of clientle you want to attract? So, will the market bare it?

You need to know your market. This is another example of reasons night clubs fail. You also need to get the demographics for your area, to see if you even have a customer base! Night clubs are like any other business. They have a targeted customer they want to attract. Do you? And is there a need, and enough of them?

Also, do you have the right night club, in the wrong place? Is your night club off the beaten path? Is it out of the way? Are you in the right area? Did you build a night club that’s great for LA, but not for Boston? Is it just not right for your area? These are questions only you can answer. Don’t let this simple fix be one of your reasons night clubs fail.

And of course, the old more money then brains scenerio. Yes, that’s right. It’s not a typo. This does actually happens.

Over doing it, does not make you successful. If you put a million dollars in to a premier location, in an averaged sized town, where the average night club costs two hundred thousand dollars, it will take you years to ever pay it off. And, you premier location will kill you in operating costs. If your ego needs fed this bad, you have other issue’s you need to take care of before you start building. I’ll bet you never thought that having too much money would be on the list of reasons night clubs fail.

If you are not a creative person, get help. Do your road trips to get ideas, like we talked about on other pages. Talk to a designer for some ideas, throw it around with friends to get their thoughts. Just don’t copy your competition!

You know what I mean. You go to some places, and you just feel comfortable. And some places you don’t.

Room size plays a big part in this. Now I have to tell you, a large night club ball room is impressive. But,it takes a hell of a lot of people to fill. You can have four or five hundred people in there, and look DEAD!

You need to create a comfortable space. Some nooks and crannys, stuff on the wall and hanging from the ceiling. And don’t build just one large ballroom with twenty foot ceilings. Your customers have to feel all warm and fuzzy. And you need to create this. People not feeling comfortable is another in the list of reasons night clubs fail.

If you are an owner and manage the night club yourself, then you have to deal with yourself. If you are going to hire a manager, like I keep saying, do your homework. There are very few GOOD night club managers out there these days. And you better pay the money, and get one!

I love to see the ads for a night club looking to hire a manager. They want one year experience and pay twenty five thousand dollars a year. You are tripping over dollars to save pennies. Get a professional. This person will make you money, not cost you money.

They need to be able to attract good employees, train well, watch your money and inventory, create fun and excitement, and above all, treat your customers well. Like the old adage, you get what you pay for. Never a truer statement. If you want to talk about reasons night clubs fail, this is sure one of them.

To get a full understanding of reasons night clubs fail, start at the beginning of this site and read it all.

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Your Nightclub Venue Will Determine Your Success!

Your nightclub venue will determine your success. I promise you. Even after all these years have gone by, the general public, along with some people getting into the nightclub business, still has the misconception that anyone can do it. This is 2008 and I can’t believe the small minds out there. If this is you, you need to read this!

You don’t really think that you just offer cheap drinks in a large room with a sound system works do you? Well not if you live in a normal city. Maybe if you live in a small town where there is nothing there. You might have a shot.

But realistically, opening a nightclub is not as easy as it looks. And before you buy your beer coolers, you need to get a good dose of reality and think about a nightclub venue that will work for the long term. What are you going to do? Sell cheap draft beer, and do wet t-shirt contests? You are kidding me, right?

So many of these clubs struggle, have trouble with the law, fights, and threats of having their license suspended, to say the least. And their longevity is limited. You want to last for some time to come, right?

Your venue is more then your design. It’s more then your promotions. It’s completely who you are! It is what you have planned to entertain your guests. It is the policies you put into place, security handles problems, it’s the draw that keeps your guests coming back.

Your nightclub venue, or bar venue for that matter, is who you are and what you portray to the masses. It is what makes you different. It is the sole reason that customers will come to you instead of your competition, as you do things operationally, and entertainment wise, different and better then anyone else.

So before you are thinking about buying tables and chairs, think of what you are building.
Your nightclub venue will guide you to your design and everything else that comes with it.

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Are nightclubs staying alive? For the most part they don’t. Many close down after a couple of years because of failures to plan.Plan what you say? Plan for many things, but we’ll go over a couple of major ones here.

Initial investment and fixed costs can be a real problem. As I stated in another article, some people have more money then brains. It’s not that they are dumb people, but ego gets in the way many times, and they fail to admit reality that all these costs have to paid back, along with getting a return on your investment.

Too many operators believe that what they are building, no matter what the cost, will draw crowds forever. Not necessarily true. In addition, they will obtain a leased site, sometimes with not enough or no parking, go figure, that is too expensive lease wise, or too expensive to build out. If the numbers don’t work, don’t build it. Period.

So once the newness wears off, and the crowd dwindles a little, you have to be able to pay your fixed costs. Plus, you are in business to make money right? So it needs to make a profit also.These are not long term properties in many cases. Even if you do well, you will always be investing in different looks every couple of years, add new technology, and investments in staying ahead of your competitors. Lease and build right, and you will make money before you start.

Their nightclubs staying alive seems to be all that’s on their minds. Too many operators in addition seem to build places too large for what the demographic, and their environment is. They have this huge club of which they have to fill. They may have three hundred people in there, but the club looks dead. That’s a no no.

Which brings us to days of operation. Let’s face it, the majority of the money made in this industry in done on Friday and Saturday nights. Period. That’s the reality. And that’s when you fill your nightclub. But, on those nights, they are only open for what, five hours? And out of those five hours, you only make real money two of those five hours.

So what to do, what to do. Sure, they open additional nights. Why not? And they should if they can draw it. But, you will find that many locations can get a Wednesday or Thursday to be successful, but generally not both. If you can get a good four days, your are doing well. However, you will find in order to get that extra day, the operators are doing specials! So they give away their profit to get heads in the door, but when it’s all over, there is no profit dollars, or very little.

Then there are those that live by the premise that “if you don’t open, you can’t make money”. Ok, that’s stupid. You should never, I mean never, open a club up unless you can fill it seventy five percent full. Because there is nothing worse then people going around town and telling everyone your club is “dead”.

In addition, you will find profitability, I mean profitability, will be in smaller towns. Their lease and real estate prices are lower, build out costs will be lower, you probably have little competition, if any, with a captive audience. Larger cities many times are just ego driven, and not profit driven. Common sense has to prevail when investing this kind of money.
Let’s move on to the demographic, the venue in which they choose to make money. If you’re in this business to make money, why would you want to build a nightclub for a 21-15 crowd? In order for nightclubs staying alive, like I said, have to make a profit. Why would you want to draw a crowd that has ten or twenty dollars in their pocket, are known for fights, community disruption, and are the most fickled group you can draw?

They flow with the wind. Who ever opens up next, they are going. Please don’t think for one second there is loyalty in this industry. You will draw a few years of this age group, and that’s it. Anyone older has grown out of this music, and these clubs are stuck in the 80′s with blinding light shows and pounding music that you can barely hear yourself.

Why wouldn’t you open for a little older crowd? They are out of school, have jobs, and are more mature. Look at the demographics. And look around yourself. What’s going on in this world. Look at people getting married later in life. Look at the divorce rate out there. There are many many people out there that want a place to go and have fun. Like I have said in other articles, it’s about boy meets girl, and fun.

These people have money in their pocket. They want to have fun and meet people. They are young enough to want to find a love and have fun. They are not as fickled as the younger crowd. And look at the age group you can draw from. How about 25 or 30 to 40 or 45. That’s a lot of years of people to draw from. And what a mix. It’s just perfect. Not too young and not too old, but want to meet people and have money!

Plus, they bring to your place gatherings of people from the office, family in from out of town, bachelor parties, etc. Did I say they have money?

They want to dance to requests. They don’t want to hear rap, or very little of it. They want to be entertained. Not hear what sounds like one long song for the entire night. This makes sense. It is a fact that operators in this industry say that a 25-40 age group drives this industry and is profitable.

Is this always to be true? Of course not. There are always exceptions. You may find in a town you are in, the demographic for youth is high, say 21-30 and they pack your place, four days a week, and spend money. I’m happy for you.

Are nightclubs staying alive? Many are not and don’t last three years. The ones that do it right are companies like the Cordish Companies. They invest and operate top notch venues with large investments that cater to people and provide real customer service, and fun.

So take a look at what you are doing, before you do it. Look around at what’s going on. People want to have fun. And most people don’t know how, but sure want to be a part of it. Spend your time creating fun, not doing drink specials. If you are the place to go and you create fun, you will always get full price, and they will be willing to pay it.

If you truly want your night club to stay alive you’ll have to know how to manage it.

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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.

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Hiring a night club manager is probably the most important thing a night club owner can do. Especially, if the night club owner doesn’t have a clue what they are doing. Which happens more then you think.

The thing that amazes me is that instead of an owner paying top dollar for a good manager, they usually run an add that says “minimum of one year experience”. This is a joke right!!

Let me understand this correctly. The night club owner is hiring a night club manager, to insure everything from soup to nuts is taken care of, and also make him a huge profit. And he wants all this done from someone with a year experience? And you know as well as I do why. It’s because he don’t want to pay! Yes, most night club employers are cheap. And Stupid!

If you are the employer hiring a night club manager, listen up. Do you remember the old adage. “You get what you pay for”. Remember that. You know, everything in this world of ours is relevant. If you have any understanding at all of the night club business, you have to know that that a person with one year experience doesn’t belong being a night club manager. No wonder you are always hiring a night club manager.

No offense to the employee, but the bottom line is this person belongs as an assistant. This person needs a manager to mentor them. If you are having a problem getting a qualified manager, you better find a way to attract them. And that means money! Hiring a night club manager, a professional, will make you money. He will cost you at first, but will pay high dividends in the end.

You know, there aren’t many people in this field anymore. If you can find a good one, you better pay up. Did you really think it is even worth hiring a person with one year experience?

Maybe you have never experienced what a professional can do for your business. Have you read this web site at all? Most owners are like the the people who want to become managers in this business. They have no clue themselves what they are doing, let alone the person with a year of experience.

You need to advertise for this position. You need to find a person that gas been in the food and beverage for awhile. Not someone who has been in every industry know to man, and then decide they want to be a night club manager.

Not the local bar fly that can tell you everything you are doing wrong, because, they know! Know what. Remember, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one!

Not the bartender, nor the DJ, but someone who has diligently learned, and has stayed in the night club business, and has the qualifications to be just that. A night club manager.

I know, I know, you are saying I can’t afford to hire a good manager. No, you can’t afford not to. Otherwise, you won’t be there too long.
Maybe you should start at the beginning before you start hiring a night club manager.

The best one is the ad that says a company wants to hire a nightclub manager, explains all the duties and responsibilities, and at the end says that this person must have one year experience. Are they kidding. If you have a lot of money tied up in a nightclub, you better be getting someone with more then a year under their belt.

Newbie’s do have a place. In small towns and in very small clubs, with oversight. And they will learn as they go.

Why would you do that? They say to themselves that we are only going to pay thirty thousand dollars. And for that the company will not only work them to death, but who they hire don’t have the experience to manage.

So, they fire them, and start all over again. For the cost of that kind of turnover, not to mention the headaches and aggravation, it would of been more responsible to pay the money for a pro. And I’m talking about some major companies.

The question I have is “who hired the idiots that are making this decision to hire in this fashion”. That’s the person I want to fire!

And don’t be paranoid when you hire a person. Check their references and criminal record. That’s all!! What is the reason for the driving record check and the credit report check?? You can’t possibly believe that if you have speeding violations and haven’t paid you bills on time that the person is wreckless and going to steal from you. Do you?

You mean to tell me you have never made a mistake in your life? You mean to tell me that you have never had a bad circumstance ever happen to you? Give me a break. How would you like to be know for these bad qualities when you know you are a good person?

I know a guy who was a great manager. He experienced some health problems and because of that lost his job. His credit rating suffered, of course. He was a pro. Great references. Every time he applied for a job, they asked to pull a credit report. As you may surmise, he could,’t get hired.

Now what in the would does a credit report have to do with his abilities to perform his job?? So keep an open mind when you are hiring. No one is perfect. Don’t worry so much about him stealing, worry about your bartenders.

If you hire a bean counter, that is all they want to do, is sit in the office, and show you twelve different ways to show you how you are doing financially on their new software. These people have no idea how to manage people or a business.

And neither are managers, or can handle confrontation. You have to be a strong manager, and well rounded. These people are non confrontational. And this business is all about confrontation at one extreme or another. Is it possible to have the skills of a DJ and an accountant, and also have the skills to manage a bar or nightclub? Sure. But I would guess they would be few and far between.

These two types are opposites generally. One is going to want to spend, spend spend for the good of the party. The other doesn’t know what a party is and is going to want to cut, cut, cut. No middle ground. One will generally be overly outgoing, and the other awful quiet.

Hiring a night club manager, that’s good, will change your life, and they will make you money. That’s why we are here right? To make money!

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The ideal goal. To last! Nightclub longevity is like the number one goal! Let’s face it, if you can’t last the test of time, what do have? Many nightclub owners do not. They are always looking at just today.

Nightclub owners generally don’t keep with the times. Even under their nose, in their own community, things and people are changing, but they fail to change. It is a proven fact that most people don’t like change.

Instead of being afraid of change, you should embrace it. Why? Because it’s one of the only things that is constant, and that you can depend on. It’s going to happen. Like it or not. So you better start to cozy up to change. You’ll find it can be your best friend.

You see, as the world turns, change is evident. Without changing, we cannot survive in the night club business, or any other business for that matter. Now this does not have to be painful at all. Just always be aware. I don’t mean to jump on every new trend coming down the pike, but just pay attention to the world around you.

Just look at what changes have transpired in the past twenty years in the nightclub business. So realize that if you started your own night club twenty years ago, you would not be the same nightclub today. Right? Now does this make sense? Good!

Some people like to keep up with their menu, new and different drinks, the atmosphere of their night club, employee uniforms, and many other things on an ongoing basis. As things start to change, they like to keep up with it.

Their customers notice the change too. And they like it. The old standards are still on the menu but with a couple of new additions. The music gets changed just a little to accommodate some of the customers that have been requesting some different things, a big screen tv is added, etc.

You see what I mean? Little by little the night club changes ever so slightly. people view it as a good thing. It’s not the same old place, with the same old stuff. This is a good thing! You change with the times, it isn’t hard on your budget, and it allows you to continue to be the number one place to be. You are always delighting your customer. You are giving them a reason all the time to continue coming back.

You are changing to insure your nightclub longevity, and to insure profits. After all, that’s why we’re here. Money!

What good is it to keep things the way you started it, and the way you like it. If it starts losing you money, it can be too late. It is all up to you!

I know updating the interior can be expensive. Just do it a little at a time. Figure it in to you budget. Keep the customers wondering what is coming next. You have to remember, there is no guarantee that a new place isn’t going to open and become your competition.

So do you want to compete as an old out dated place, or do you want to give the new place a run for their money? Again, it’s your decision!

The other way is to insure your night club longevity is to create change all at once. The best time frame for this is a two year stint. You see, we as humans are fickeled and get bored easy. You can go two years without any real changes. Sometimes up to three years depending on your business and competition.

If you don’t, the place gets stale. It’s the same old place. It’s the same old format. Hell, would you want to go to the night club that never changes?

This also is a nice way to produce change because it creates a buzz. Customers get excited about what is going to be new and different. And people like new and different. It also gives your place a shot in the arm. New vitality. You are going to have a new grand opening!

Grand openings give people an excuse to make it a special night out for themselves. You even get to see people you haven’t seen in some time. It gives you a new lease on nightclub life. It creates a buzz again, and it crushes the competition.

So you see, both ways of doing things are right! It just depends on the individual. It accomplishes the exact same thing.

But it is imperative that you accomplish this so you have nightclub longevity. You want to be around, don’t you? Or you can just be one of those nightclubs that closed a couple years ago.

And like I have been teaching, it’s not just one thing, like a
promotion

you have been wanting to do, to see you through. This won’t be enough, believe me.

So let’s learn to embrace change. Change will make you money. Insure your nightclub longevity and create change.

Your nightclub longevity also depends on management skills. So start at the beginning.

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