businesses succeed. You can find out what your local and state governments can do to help your business by contacting your local and state chamber of commerce and asking about assistance available to new businesses, especially new bars. Even some programs that do not offer money directly can help your initial finances by reducing the amount of money you need to spend on specific items; such as employee training, for example.
Savings and assets/personal finances. Many people opening a new business will use personal money such as savings or assets in order to get the business going. This tends to ensure that you will get into less debt and can help so that you do not have to pay as much interest. On the other hand, when you use your own money, you do risk your own wealth. If you are beginning a business with someone else, you must take steps to ensure that your own personal investment is well protected through a legal contract or other legal document.
audience that does not have a choice. The bar may be located near a hotel, where a transient population ensures that someone will always peek in. The bar may also be the only one within a particular area, making it the obvious choice. In contrast, in your research you will likely find great bars that are half-deserted.
Their location in out-of-the way spots likely dooms them, even if they have great business plans and super service and offers.
You can learn a lot from this; namely, that you need a great location in order to succeed. Before you buy a location for your bar, consider some traits of a great bar location:
Pedestrian traffic. A bar location that sees plenty of pedestrian traffic, such as downtown areas or theater districts, is great, since passersby are more likely to peek into an establishment, while drivers are likely to speed by, intent on their destination. Walkers are more easily turned into customers than drivers.
Near other businesses and places of work. People may want to drop in after work for a quick drink. If your bar is in the middle of nowhere, people will need to work much harder to find it—and so are more likely to go elsewhere. A location on a well-traveled route is ideal; a main road from a big factory, for example.
Near other entertainment. People will often drop in for a drink either before or after some other entertainment. If your bar is near a stadium, theater, or some other place where people go to enjoy themselves, it is more likely that your establishment may become a place to meet before a night out or a place to enjoy a nightcap. This is exactly what you want, as it means that your location itself is generating customers.
Visible. Tiny bars in alleyways may sometimes get business, but most people looking for a spot to have a beer or glass of wine are more likely to be curious about the attractive bar that they see. Face it, most
of us are visual creatures. A visible bar advertises itself, especially if it is also on a route that sees plenty of traffic.
Evening traffic. If your bar’s location is very busy in the morning but less busy in the afternoons and evenings, you may be setting yourself up for trouble. You want a location that is lively during the hours that you expect most of your business. Not only will this help ensure a steady flow of people who will enter your bar, but a lively evening place is simply more inviting to many customers than a single bar open among closed stores and businesses.
Parking. If your customers will be traveling to get to your bar, then you will need to provide them with some place to park their cars.
Affordable. You need to be able to pay for your location and still make a profit. Unfortunately, many prime areas for business are very expensive (precisely because they are prime). However, you do need to keep price in mind. If your operating expenses are larger than your profits, you will find yourself in financial trouble.
Available. In most cities and towns, there are specific rules about where alcohol can and cannot be sold. Before you purchase or lease any place for your bar, check zoning regulations at your local city hall to ensure that you can operate a bar business at the location.
Choose your location carefully, as it can help ensure a successful bar—or it can make running a successful bar more frustrating and difficult. If you have a choice, try to make your location work for you, not against you.
Of course, this is all assuming that you have some choice about your location.
What if you have no choice about location because you have already purchased or leased a spot? You can try to make the most of your location by advertising and marketing more heavily. In an era when most people have cars, you may be
able to lure customers, but if your location is truly terrible, you may need to offer incentives in order to attract customers. You may also need to change your strategy and start targeting the customers who are available in your area.
In the end, though, a bad location will work against you. If your location seems to be costing you profits, you have to seriously think about moving. You may also want to either set up a different business, one that caters to the location.
Whatever you decide to do, make sure that the bar and the bar’s location are working together for the best profit.