club business plans

Question:
I'm putting together a business plan for a small sports bar. I was wondering if anyone had any advice for a small pub start-up? I will be offering pubfare but the main draw will be beer of course. Are there any good sites or books out there for small sports pub start-ups??

Answer:
I'm putting together a business plan for a small sports bar. I was wondering - if anyone had any advice for a small pub start-up? - I will be offering pubfare but the main draw will be beer of course. Are - there any good sites or books out there for small sports pub start-ups??

Some thoughts as a former employee and longtime aficionado:

the cost of vents required for deep fryers and grills is very very high - some places don't invest those $$ or select a location that already has the required equipment. Bite the bullet, people want wings and french fries and decent burgers.

be on-premises virtually all the time. Your employees will rip you off if you aren't.

take the food seriously. Too many places don't, and they tend to be the ones that close. This is particularly important if you want to be busy anytime other than Super Bowl Sunday.

listen to your customers. If they want blue cheese for the wings but you think its too expensive, you still need to get blue cheese.

don't try to be a sports bar if you're not willing to make sure every seat in the house has a great view of a tv, and most of the bar should be watching a tv that's bigger and better than what they have at home.

Sponsoring adult softball teams/leagues is the best way to stay busy through the spring/summer. Open a patio if at all possible.

Get barstools that have backs no backs=discomfort=going home earlier and spending less than otherwise.

be constantly on the lookout for good new staff. Your opening night team will be good because you'll have the most time to find them and they'll be excited to be part of a new bar. It will go downhill after that, especially if you're in a small population center without a lot of turnover

Don't be too dark and dingy let in some light and have some spots where people can read the paper. And supply those newspapers.

organize things for customers - a golf tournament, roadtrips to sporting events, shuttles to local sports events, whatever - they all help build community and keep people coming back.

As you've been told, FOOD is far more important then most startups think. PAY CLOSE attention to the quality and variety of your menu. While burgers and wings are fine, they quickly become boring to anyone who visits your establishment more then twice. MIX IT UP, do daily specials, repeat customer promotions, etc. QUALITY QUALITY QUALITY.

You didn't tell us where (regionally) you were planning on opening, this may get you more detailed suggestions for your startup. Also, what kind of floor plan are you planning ? (Stand Alone facility, strip mall, Inside Mall, etc.) and what kind of space are you considering (3000 sq. ft small, 6000 sq. ft Medium, 12 to 25K large ?).

I've opened 8 sports themed facilities all over Arizona, each one had individual nuances that made them successful.

A few general pieces of advice I could offer would be as follows..: 1.) Make it a place that you would enjoy visiting, but DON'T make it your personal Living room. (Example, place TV's where they're comfortable to watch from any seat in the house, but don't INSIST that every TV show only the games that you prefer, stock a healthy inventory of libations, but don't just promote Jaeger because it's YOUR favorite). Remember, it's your business, but it's not your house. Accept feedback, suggestions, and criticism from your customers, for without them you are closed.

2.) Promote teams other then your locals. In Arizona you have the SUNS, Cardinals, Coyotes, and Diamond Backs. People generally tend to quasi root for the local teams (even if they won't publicly admit it lol), so there is very little need to promote them. Try to additionally identify your establishment as a fan base for a non local team (or 2 if your sq. ft is big enough), like the Packers, Vikings, Raiders, Knicks, Celtics, Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Wild, Islanders, Bruins, etc. you get the idea). That way you make your place a destination for a fan base that may be neglected in your market, since most will always be promoting the local clubs. My best luck out here has been promoting the Packers, Vikings, Celtics, Knicks, Wild, Islanders, Braves, & A's. (Packer fans are incredible, 75K people in GreenBay, yet it seems like 1 Million Fans nation wide. lol)

3.) Subscribe to ALL the sporting venues. A big mistake I've seen others make is to underestimate the value of a complete sports programming subscription. EVERYONE has FOOTBALL, MOST have BASKETBALL & Hockey, SOME have baseball, FEW HAVE GOLF, TENNIS, etc. Make yourself standout, if you position yourself in the market as the ONE place that has EVERY game, EVERY night in EVERY sport imaginable (black out rules apply), then you'll tend to get the true sports enthusiasts into your place. While you don't have to show WORLD SOCCER on the big screens every night, you may find yourself in the unique position to offer it, and there on out the folks who requested it will always think of your place as the place to go. So subscribe to all the sports packages you can to get the out of venue games, and oddity sports.

4.) BATHROOMS BATHROOMS BATHROOMS. A H U G E mistake that some startups make is to ignore or skimp on the bathrooms in general. Make them BIG, CLEAN, and Interesting. Use the BEST quality fixtures you can afford, lots of sinks, matching decor to the rest of the facility. While this may seem kind of silly, bathrooms tend to leave a LASTING impression on your patrons (Especially the women). If your rest rooms are dirty, that will be the impression of the entire facility regardless of how clean and bright the rest is.

Ok. I could go on and on, but along with the other suggestions that I've seen other folks make you should have a pretty good capsule of information to start putting together your business plan. If you haven't already done so, you may want to invest in a business plan creation software package to help you. I've had the best luck with business plan pro (2003 is the latest that I've used).

If you have any specific questions regarding your startup please don't hesitate to email me directly (or better yet post it here so that others may benefit as well).

The Very Best of Luck to you on your venture (You'll NEED IT, it's a great biz, but not for the feint of heart lol)

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