LIFE AFTER FLAIR – Owning a bar (Part IV)

Updated: July 1, 2005

When we first started writing articles for Flair Bar we fully intended to write articles every month to update the Hangout’s progress and to educate others on our progress. We have learned a lot and lost lots of sleep. But after one year (yep… can you believe ONE YEAR has passed!) we are on a great forward path and our bar is doing really well.

I have to thank my business partner Ed Hibbert for his tireless efforts and unwavering attention to detail. I want to thank my employees. They are all hard workers and take ownership in the Hangout. HIRE WELL MANAGE LESS. That is so true.

Our staff is growing steadily. After a period of staggering growth, almost 600% in 11 months, we have been happy to slow down to stabilize the operational side of the bar. We are taking the time to expand the staff and focus on service. We respect the abilities of our bartenders and staff and do not overstaffe each shift. Our bar staff makes good money and works damn hard. I have a great respect for all of them. I am proud to be able to hire everyone of them and I will work hard at making sure The Hangout will remain a lucrative and fun place to work.

We have the luxury with increasing cash flow to now get upgraded equipment and we are able hire additional services that we couldn’t afford in the beginning. You get what you pay for and that is true anywhere. We are able to invest in more expensive better equipment that will more than pay for itself and be much more reliable in the LONG TERM. That was a problem when we first opened. We had to respect the smallness of the business and get monthly solutions to problems. Now we can permenantly fix problems and not band-aid them.

We have also noticed that some things you spend valuable time on should best be done by someone else. We have begun to micro-manage less and start to macro-manage more. Another owner of a successful group of bar and grills in the area told me to stop managing the bar and start managing my business. In other words, get someone to deal with the day to day operations of the business when you can afford to delegate the tasks to someone else that can do the job. You have to trust people to do the job responsibly and on time. You have to put a system of checks and balances in to make sure this happens. Then… you run the business. Make sure the machine is running to it’s highest levels. Keep looking at the big picture and look ahead. Pay attention to details in the business but let your employees handle the business inside the four walls day to day. Make sure the system allows them to run it effectively and empowers them to make key calls. Allow them to grow, learn, and make mistakes. Then help them learn and get better at their job. Trust them.

Unless you are acting as the bank and loaning money for a return on your investment you are going to have to work the business. You have to do is build in a redundant system of back-ups into your business. Whether it is a bar or a corner market. The mark of a great business is one that can perpetuate itself year after year despite who owns it, runs it, or works in it. Yes sometimes it will do better than others due to the talent working the business at that time. But it will never go belly up.

All this business 101 B.S. is pretty dry BUT IMPORTANT. Ed and I have broken our asses to build this business. We have to ensure this thing runs and succeeds NO MATTER WHAT. Say something happened to me and I could no longer work. I have a responsibility to my family to provide for them, not to mention my responsibility to Ed. If something happened to him I want to make sure while he is down nothing can hurt the business. He would have security in his absence. Security he can pass on to anyone. That is why I am trying to put some of my spare time into writing a complete Standard Operating Procedures Manual. Everyone who knows me knows that to put me in front of a computer screen for hours is torture for me.

Now back to the bar! We are doing great. We are up to six bartenders, two barbacks, two cooks, three cocktailers, one head of security and eight doormen working various nights. Ed still bartends two nights a week. We have great employees. We poached most of them from other bars. Their hearts are in this. We still don’t have security cameras in the bar. Mostly because we trust them completely. We will get cameras to deal with possible liability issues soon though. They are insurance for all of us.

We are installing new equipment and upgrades everyday. We are in the process of completing a 1600 square foot patio in the front of our building. This is a huge upgrade to the old look of our building front. It has taken months to get the zoning and work done. I just finished work on the drink/cocktail rails and bar. The feel of the bar will be a tiki feel without the palm roof top. We had an existing awning in the center we are using to cover the center area and the bar. The rest is open air with patio tables and umbrellas. It is an eye catcher when it is busy outside. I expect it to get very busy outside. It is Florida and everyone loves to hangout outside on the patio bar when you create the right vibe. The decor and foliage outside should really set off our bar as you approach it.

Our current largest problem is parking. We are busier than this building ever was before. We need another acre of parking on a semi busy night not to mention when we get slammed. If you are looking for a bar GET A LOT OF PARKING! We have tried to spin it into a good thing. Imagine you drive by a bar that is so busy that people are parking blocks away. Great visual.

Lessons I have learned in the past year. There are so many! Some of these don’t apply to business, just life in

Get into business with low overhead. When you get busy you will increase expenses but what you save is cash in your pocket.
If the deal gets weird… walk! There are better deals out there.
CASH FLOW-CASH FLOW-CASH FLOW
A good accountant is worth more that they charge.

Get a big easy to read sign – Keep it simple. Make the logo cool and fancy. Make the sign visable!
Grow fast but don’t lose control.Build a business system.
Get plenty of parking.
Location is important… but advertising is more important!
Be a big fish in a small pond.
Get loans or lines of credit before you need them.
Business credit cards help you a ton. Get one with points. You will earn a lot of them! Perks…
Learn about business accounting and tax advantages. We are probably not doing enough of this but our accountant helps educate us and is there when we have stupid questions.
If you get a ‘Pod’ type exterior storage unit, Get a much bigger one than you need… you will need the extra space.
Clean the bathrooms like crazy! Get scent releasing canisters to mist out nice scents in the bathrooms automatically. People will tell everyone about your bathrooms! Look at McDonalds. Everyone knows there bathrooms are clean on a road trip and that’s where you stopRegulars are great marketers. Treat them like the resource they are.
Build your bar’s reputation and guard it.
Learn about public relations and get free press every chance you get. It is more valuable than advertising and it’s free!!!
Find out which of your regulars are in construction and ask their advice. They will save you money when you need repairs.
Bars that are open during the day must have a strong day shift bartender. They will anchor your staff, prepare for evening business fluctuations, and check in stock as a manager. Not to mention act as a personal secretary taking messages and screening phone calls. Our day bartender is our ROCK and is golden!!! We love her!

Do something different every night. Activities and entertainment keep the bar from getting boring. It’s expensive at first but the crowd will grow if you promote it.
Sound and lighting is VERY important in every bar. Set your levels and types strategically. It will define your night and crowd.
Dealing with government rules and regulations is a pain in the ass but very necessary. Make friends in every government office and you will save yourself lots of time and trouble. You will also be able to get questions answered easily and not make mistakes you might pay for later.
Ready…Fire…Aim works pretty damn good.
Make lots of mistakes once. Learn and go on.
Look at as many credit card processing companies as you can. The right processing company can save you big money with better service than more expensive ones.
Your electric bill will be HUGE. Get used to big numbers from the utilities companies.
You will run out of stuff or things will break down at the worst times. Learn to be creative, improvise, and get used to it.

Key employees will get sick or have a REAL personal emergency on the day you need them most.
Get great equipment for the staff set it up efficiently. They will use it to make YOU money.
Keep a good medical kit in the office next to a BIG bottle of pain reliever.
Embrace technology.
First thing you do in a bartender interview is set up the test tubes for a pour test. That ends the bullshit fast. NEXT!
A good bouncer is very valuable. They do more than check I.D.’s if they are good.
NTN works to put money in the bar. Suprised the shit out of me how much. It makes the bartender’s job boring sometimes though.
Pay for the GOOD, big fog machine.
Club lights break ALL THE TIME. Get used to it.
DJ’s come and go. A good emcee (M.C.) is worth every cent you pay them. Get rid of the bad ones fast.
Never let anyone tell you how to run the bar. Use your experience and build something you KNOW will do well. Evaluate and listen to their ‘suggestions’ and remember your the one that is in the business making the decisions.
One of your greatest advantages as a business is you can react quickly in a local market to out manuver larger competition. Their barge is big and is hard to stop. They can’t turn and change direction as quickly as you. They are a battleship to your PT boat. This advantage is HUGE. They have to go through channels and meeting and memos and computer reprogramming …….. to make a change. You have already made ten business moves in the time it takes them to make 1.

Think and PLAN three months ahead.
Get a good planner or a PDA. Learn to use it effectively. Don’t rely on your memory. You will be too busy to remember everything.
If you don’t know about an area of business, just do whatever it takes to get started and find the answers as you go and adjust. (unless there is a yearly contract or something like that… even then sometimes you just have to go for it and pray!)
Vending/video games/pool tables/ dart games/GOLDEN TEE/MEGA-TOUCH pays BIG time!Your best regulars are some of your biggest alcoholics unfortunately
Don’t ever forget that you legally sell a drug.
Consumable products RULE! (all drinks and food fit this catagory… cool. Thanks Ray Croc)
SHOTS are the best impulse buy.
Make time to read books.
Read small business books. Robert Kiosaki, I hope I spelled that right, (Rich Dad – Poor Dad guy) wrote a book called The Cash Flow Quadrant. READ IT. You will ‘get it’.

Advertising is an investment, NOT an expense. Learn how to get the largest RETURN on YOUR INVESTMENT.
Adverisers are in the publishing/media business. They don’t know crap about advertising or marketing/ promotions for the most part. Get help from someone else or read books. Don’t listen to them for advice!
ACTION-ACTION-ACTION… pursue goals in BABY steps. You will be MILES towards goals before you realize it!
There are lots of people out there with money to invest if you take the time to look.
There are lots of bars for sale if you take the time to look. Have you ever had a cool bar you went to that was sold and kept on running?
Owners of businesses will finance the sale of their own bar. It’s a numbers game.
Make time for yourself and family first. Always. You can recover if you make a mistake in business. Families have a harder time recovering from mistakes made. Your family will be there longer than the business in almost all cases. A well built business will make more family time available. Family will help you build the business. Balance is KEY. It took me ten months to find mine. I work everyday at keeping it.

Stay in decent physical shape. People view you differently, you get more work done, you can use the down time, and you feel better about yourself.
Never forget this is a business, not a party.
We are in the poeple business, not the drinks business.
Have fun. What’s the point otherwise?
Managing people well is a BITCH for a friendly person.
Be strict. It’s ok to run a tight ship.
Empower your employees and try to always back them up. Especially in front of a guest.
Talk to them later in private if they made a decision you didn’t agree with. (I’m sorry for learning this slowly guys. I know I’m a hard ass. I’m trying to learn more diplomacy and tact.Thanks for yor patience. I truely love and respect you all. Now get your ass back on the bar, put the cigarette down and quit reading this! Do it later when your shift is over!)

Well, that was all over the place. That’s what happens when you try to write an article while 10,000 interruptions come your way during the business day. This is something you get used to. My cook is walking by the office right now giving me shit and making ‘farty’ noises trying to distract me. Dick! :-( I think that last fart was real…

I hope you can read this jumbled mess and understand after all this owning a business is awesome. The day you stop trading time for money is very empowering. Make the decision and GO FOR IT. (time for a golf analogy) For some that will mean taking a driver out on a 340 yard par 4 and going for the green. Go for eagle. If you miss you can recover with the short game. You will probably get a par but you gave eagle a try. Others will take out a 3 iron, hit it 200 yards, and give themselves a 140 yard short iron to the middle of the green. Guaranteed par and a possible birdie. Whatever your game, if you don’t tee it up you don’t get a chance at either do you? Are you ready to take control of your future? Are you ready to be in charge and make some very hard decisions? There is no such thing as failure… there are only results. If you don’t achieve the desired result, learn and change your approach until you get the desired result without quitting. Do you get that concept? Ever seen a baby who can’t walk because they gave up? Everyone is fearless until we ‘grow up’ and learn the word “failure”.

A very good friend and mentor of mine said once “The bottom line IS the bottom line”. This is almost true. BUT…you have to remain human and look beyond the bottom line and factor in people, personalties, and personal judgement. Never become a machine. You can’t apply numbers to people. And, as I said, we are in the people business.

On a more personal note to some good friends of mine in Vegas. Rick, Mike… go get your bar. Do it. Don’t wait. Set up the systems, oversee it, and show everyone what you can do. You guys are great bartenders. You will be great bar owners. Tony… get out the cash flow game and play FOR REAL. Go get a business set up. Whatever you choose to do your desire and knowledge will make you a success. Take the first step. You will be afraid at first but the awesome feeling of being in the B. and I. quadrant will squash that quickly.

To everyone else who has ever wanted to own your own bar or any other business… sorry to be corny but JUST DO IT ! ! !