I want to buy a pub - am I mad??

canneyj

Do you think we'd be crazy to take over a pub now? I feel like the Irish pub will always be around even though the sector has taken a hammering lately. I know I'd put everything into it but am I being really naive with pubs closing down everywhere!

All opinions greatly appreciated.

Verbal_Kint

people are staying home and having dinner parties and students are drinking in flats and going straight to clubs. if you open a pub that offers little more than a good pint you will be in trouble. you need to establish a reputation for good music and this takes a lot of time, get the girls in with a good cocktail menu and the lads will follow after 9pm, have a big screen for sports before 9pm, music is needed each and every weekend to pull in the punters but if you really want to make a success of your pub these days you need to offer really good food for about E12 of the quality you would find in a decent restaurant but the days of having a reputation for a good pint of guinness getting you enough business to survive is gone.

And if you plan to work there yourself rather than go into it with a group of investors you dont realise the sheer amount of work that is needed. It is a stressful 16 hour a day 7 days a week job! Dont be fooled by going into your local and having the owner leaning over the counter looking relaxed and having a chat with the regulars, he is a ball of nerves at the back of it, overworked and exhausted.

If you set it up in your local area the gaa will hit you up for sponsorship and if you dont cough up they wont drink there and in the smaller areas if you lose the football crowd you lose most of the drinkers.

you will fall out with people. there is no way around this. people expect you to give them free drinks whenever this is a little significent event in their lives.

you refuse the wrong drunk beer things can turn nasty and dangerous quickly and if you dont have someone on the door earning close to a full time wage then its you who has to deal with it.

people who you are not comfortable lending money to will ask you for a loan because everyone thinks publicans are wealthy and if you refuse you are a tight bollox.

your livlihood depends on the whims of the local community and they wont let you forget it!

if you have a beer or two too many yourself and make a spectacle of yourself it will be the talk of the parish.

people who will smile to your face and be regulars would rob the fillings out of your teeth just as quickly.

there are groups of people and you cant offend one of them or the whole group will find another watering hole.

its not all fun and games to run a pub and these days you need to make your pub into more or less a sitting room for the punters.

food (proper dinner), entertainment (bands, pool table, poker nights, NO DART BOARD, karokee if you dont want to keep the old irish charm), an enclosed smoking area these days can make or break a pub, and during the day depending on what type of pub you are running either a good looking girl or a chatty barman (a skill that seems to be long lost).

i grew up in a country pub and worked there from the time i was knee high and i can tell you it is one of the hardest jobs to run a small pub you will ever do.

Verbal_Kint

like you said, pubs are closing down everywhere.

Tar.Aldarion

Pretty mad.

Verbal_Kint

not mad man, everything there is fact and if you ask any small publican they will all say the same thing.

Tar.Aldarion

Referring to the plan to buy a pub in this climate my friend.

BnA

It is something I have pained over myself for years. If my wife had any remote interest in it at all, I would have bought one years ago.

What bugs me is that I see so many pubs run badly. (I am talking about country pubs here. I think city pubs are a different type of business altogether)

All you have to do in a country pub is,

be nice to your customers. (You don't have to fall over them. Just be nice)
Keep the place clean. (loos especially)
If you have a bit of a crowd in, throw out a few plates of sandwiches or chips and everyone will think you are great.
Do NOT drink in your own pub. Or at the very least, if you are going to have a pint, take the night off and sit outside the counter and do it. But never ever ever drink behind the counter.
Throw a few quid to the loacl Gaa/Soccer/Rugby/ICA/Tiddleywinks club when they come knocking. The members are your customers, it just has to be done.

It really pains me to see so many rural pubs run so badly. So many people buy pubs with a romantic notion of standing behind the bar, swigging a few pints and lording over their kingdom from behind the counter. I am not saying that running a pub is not hard work, it definately is, but the principles behind it are so easy and yet so many people get it wrong.

Our local publican for example. What a twat. The Bridge club used to come in every Monday night to play bridge and he cleared them. They play in the parish hall now. Now, I'd be the first to admit, they would spend buggerall. Out of the 30 or 40 players, only 5 or 6 might hand around for a drink afterwards. But so what. His pub was freggin empty anyway. What did it cost him to turn on the lights for them. I would do the opposite to him. Instead of freggin' them out, I'd give them free Tea & Coffee. Because your Bridge players on a Monday Night, will be your Vodka and Soda Water drinkers on a Saturday night (with their husbands drinking pints) if you treat them right.

Anyway, to get back to the OP's query.... In my completly unqualified opinion, during the boom times, pubs were probably one of the most overpriced businesses/buildings you could get. But with them closing down now and a lot of them being sold for good value, I think it might be a good time to get into the business.

I would just say, have a good look at why you are doing it and be honest with yourself. Have you romantic notions are have you a good business idea.....?

Dazzler88

canneyj wrote: »

Do you think we'd be crazy to take over a pub now?

your def not mad.There is no better time to be in the pub trade.My local pub is packed every weekend and one of the busiest nights in now a wednesday night(Dole Day).People drink way more in a recession.it all depends on location and where your going to get the capital.Banks wont lend money these days.Best of luck with it.:D

canneyj

Thanks a million for all the advice. You've given me loads to think about. Huge decision. :eek:

patwicklow

i agree with most of the above and say go for it if i had the money in the morning id buy a pub after being in the trade for over 20 years and got made redundant in 06. it depresses me to see some of the pubs that are being run
some have not a clue about the service that sould be offered.all it is now is just grab grab . by the way did you get a pub after if you did hope its going well.

btard

A restaraunt would be a quicker way to destroy your finances and health. Seriously though, if you have that type of money you should be getting out of this ****hole while you still can. Emigrate and give your family a chance to have a life.

mattfinucane

If you can answer these question with a 'yes' then it's worth exploring:

-- Do you know your market and who you will be targeting?
-- Have you done your research and are you certain you will be able to attract punters?
-- What will make your pub different and more attractive than the local competition?

Best of luck with it.

Ashlinggnilsia

Ya I think its a good idea but only if, you get creative about it, people like to try new places but if you don't make em feel comfortable, relaxed and like its a nice place to go they will come again, and try to offer something others can't! But I don't think you should open it if you just plan to open it and sit back and hope everything goes well, make it different, nice place to be and it will be a good idea!! People will go back if there is a good atmosphere, but the thing is you can't buy atmosphere and fit it in next to the new chairs yano?

DublinWriter

canneyj wrote: »

I know I'd put everything into it but am I being really naive with pubs closing down everywhere!

Totally naive. Work out the projected earnings for the average country pub and you'll see it's not worth it.

Fifteen years ago my ambition was always to open up a second hand book shop. First thing I did was ask as many book shop owners I knew what the business was like, and it was bad then.

It's always a bad idea to get into a business that you're too emotionally involved with.

mattfinucane

I know there are two sides to starting a business. One is the passion and excitement that you have and these two, along with hard work that you enjoy doing will surely guarantee success. The other is the heartbreaking side when things are tough and didn't turn out quite like you expected.

I wish I could tell you it was good all the time but you have to be able to survive a rollercoaster journey. I don't want to piss all over your dreams before you even get your foot in the door but be sure that you can control your cashflow and bring punters in the door.

Take this from someone who has been in the same boat as you and has landed on their ass twice so far.

Best of luck with it.

drver1

why buy a pub? rent or lease it!

goat2

canneyj wrote: »

Do you think we'd be crazy to take over a pub now? I feel like the Irish pub will always be around even though the sector has taken a hammering lately. I know I'd put everything into it but am I being really naive with pubs closing down everywhere!

All opinions greatly appreciated.

truth is there are so many out of work and being laid off with no end in sight, no help from those running the country to create jobs, there will be alot of time on their hands to have a drink, and meet up with others in pubs, as they will be bored at home without company, and if there are others at home out of work also they will need to get away from each other, i see the pubs in this town, they are doing a roaring trade at 11 in the day,

hinault

canneyj wrote: »

Do you think we'd be crazy to take over a pub now? I feel like the Irish pub will always be around even though the sector has taken a hammering lately. I know I'd put everything into it but am I being really naive with pubs closing down everywhere!

All opinions greatly appreciated.

As others have said - pubs are closing down.

However.

In the right location, a pub can be successful if it has a regular steady clientele.

Several things spring to mind :

1.Would you work in the pub or would you hire staff/manager to run the pub?

2.There are two sets of costs to consider

(a) : capital costs of actually buying the pub (pub itself, fixtures and fittings).
(b) : expense of running a pub (stock/wages/ultility bills/local authority bills/your time and effort).

Both sets of costs have to be funded from turnover : you need to generate sufficient turnover to repay the loans and to run the business.

I wish you luck.

stepbar

A friend of mine (the extended family) has opened a pub in the last 3 months (Ruairi Maguires for the plug!). They're doing well, so it really depends on the location in question.

hinault

stepbar wrote: »

A friend of mine (the extended family) has opened a pub in the last 3 months (Ruairi Maguires for the plug!). They're doing well, so it really depends on the location in question.

I know one person who bought a pub in Maynooth : doing well too.

So there are viable pubs out there.

stepbar

hinault wrote: »

I know one person who bought a pub in Maynooth : doing well too.

So there are viable pubs out there.

As I've said it depends on location. The incumbent pubs in the area are the Eagle, the Dundrum House and Winters. No 4 is their pub. Considering Dundrum is a big enough place it was a no brainer for them to open No 4. Back in the day when I used to live in Dundrum (9 years ago), there was only 2 pubs (the first 2) and both were (and still are) sh1te.

Skylined

Sell pints for 2.50
they will come, alot of groups of people who previously spent almost whole weekends in pubs now see what a waste of money it is, if it was cheaper they would come in their masses

Security to stop things getting out of hand
Keep the costs down.

I propose you run my local

Also a guy from Donegal today got away with running a shebeen in his back shed for about 7 years, he doesn't accept money, people bring their own. They couldn't stop him.

You should consider this, if you like the pub atmosphere and craic, you could try it out in a shed and just don't sell alcohol, just drink it.
You'd learn a good deal for free

JohnThomas09

Skylined wrote: »

Sell pints for 2.50
they will come, alot of groups of people who previously spent almost whole weekends in pubs now see what a waste of money it is, if it was cheaper they would come in their masses

Security to stop things getting out of hand
Keep the costs down.

I know a fella who done exactly that recently in the North West.He sold the cheapest pints in town.He started to get a rough crowd that were only there for two reasons:Cheap Drink and to cause trouble.After six weeks he put the price back up to the normal,the rough crowd left and his former crowd had gone in the 6 weeks.There nobody in the place now.

The kind of people who want cheap drink aren't the crowd any Pub wants.I know a pub who recently invested 4millon in a major revention.Its gets nothing but the best crowd and the drink is expensive in it but its still packed every weekend.It has the best acts.Aslan were there last week.