Leasing a bar..

clio_16v

I'm taking over the lease of a bar in the next 2 months and I have some questions.

Is there some "hard and fast" rules as to how much you should pay in rent? i.e. your rent should never be more than 8% of turnover? I've heard that figure thrown around before.

Similar question with regards to staff costs to turnover...
Any thoughts on ways of reducing overheads? I know you need Sky to show matches etc but the cost is quite frankly disgusting. I've never owned / leased a bar before so any advice will be helpful

kflynn

Hey,

You don't actually need Sky, you can get Greek Nova. Much lower cost and shows all the matches.

With regards to other costs if you hire a person that has been on the dole for (I think) 1 year, you don't have to pay PRSI.

Best of luck with it!

clio_16v

I dont think I'll be hiring anyone anytime soon as i have good staff in there. I was more looking for advice on the nitty gritty numbers. Is there any good resources I could consult?

Currently the bar is doing fine. All bills are being paid and are up to date including ESB / Gas / suppliers / Council rates and theres a small bit left over after wages. I just want to make it more profitable and need help in that dept

jupiler_beer

Manage your stock taking
Ordering of stock, work with suppliers for cheaper prices
Closing off area's when not in use
Foreign sat as previous mentioned, cheaper plus extra games that Sky don't have
Look at novelty nights (think outside the box), music, catering for parties - your location and clientèle
Order change from carparks / vending machine operators - banks charge for this service
Do you have cleaners, can these tasks be incorporated to the bar staff

best of luck with your venture

clio_16v

There are cleaners which will probably be the first to go. I'm gonna get staff to adhere to a cleaning rota which will have those tasks. I must look into the foreign satellite idea too.

Thanks for the help, I'll try to update on my progress

RATM

clio_16v wrote: »

There are cleaners which will probably be the first to go. I'm gonna get staff to adhere to a cleaning rota which will have those tasks. I must look into the foreign satellite idea too.

Thanks for the help, I'll try to update on my progress

Consider keeping the cleaner on, at least part time. Having worked in pubs a fair bit in the past with no cleaners I always reckoned the staff never had it as clean as it could be, sweeping and mopping floors at 2am is a job that gets done rushed. And forget about the tables being polished ! Seriously without a dedicated cleaner the jacks will suffer and not having them spotless with running hot water is one of the biggest complaints of Irish pub customers.

jupiler_beer

RATM wrote: »

Consider keeping the cleaner on, at least part time. Having worked in pubs a fair bit in the past with no cleaners I always reckoned the staff never had it as clean as it could be, sweeping and mopping floors at 2am is a job that gets done rushed. And forget about the tables being polished ! Seriously without a dedicated cleaner the jacks will suffer and not having them spotless with running hot water is one of the biggest complaints of Irish pub customers.

All the op has to do is monitor how they carry out any cleaning and ensure any cleaning is carried out to a standard the op sets.

Agree it has to be to a high standard, poorly maintained toilets always begs the question; how clean is the rest of the establishment. Would recommend putting in place weekly and monthly cleaning activities for inside / outside the bar (toilets included), which can be carried out in the quiet periods.

Hate cleaning logs left in toilets for the public to see, i believe these should be kept for staff viewing only.

clio_16v

RATM wrote: »

Consider keeping the cleaner on, at least part time. Having worked in pubs a fair bit in the past with no cleaners I always reckoned the staff never had it as clean as it could be, sweeping and mopping floors at 2am is a job that gets done rushed. And forget about the tables being polished ! Seriously without a dedicated cleaner the jacks will suffer and not having them spotless with running hot water is one of the biggest complaints of Irish pub customers.

The cleaners aren't up to standard to be honest and dont justify the money we spend. I'm just gonna keep on top of the staff to make sure they adhere to the cleaning rota I'm putting in place.

To be honest, the business is running fine for the most part but I just need to try to get the place more profitable

RATM

clio_16v wrote: »

The cleaners aren't up to standard to be honest and dont justify the money we spend. I'm just gonna keep on top of the staff to make sure they adhere to the cleaning rota I'm putting in place.

To be honest, the business is running fine for the most part but I just need to try to get the place more profitable

For sure it is workable so long as you keep on top of the staff to actually do the cleaning. But I emphasize keeping on top of them and making it such a routine that they don't even think about not doing it. Having them sign a slot in the rota to confirm they have done it will also help but you'll still have to check if its actually been done

Also make sure to include on the rota bigger jobs every 4-6 weeks such as cleaning out the shelves on the fridges, dusting cobwebs in the corners. Its amazing how many pubs have a centimetre thick layer of dust on top of their TV and all the customers are staring straight at it- it makes them wonder how clean the glasswasher is.

Getting a good cleaner can be a bonus and I know they're hard to find. But I once worked in a pub with a cleaner who was brilliant not just in terms of cleaning but also chatting to customers in the morning and keeping them entertained while she worked. A good few of the morning customers chose the pub over others down the street because they knew she was good craic.

She was the real center of any party and the publican knew he had struck gold when she held her daughters 21st in the pub, all her mates did likewise soon after and we had about 15 nights of taking €2k-3k just on 21sts over the course of a year- in other words the cleaner more than paid for herself by the business that came in the door. From there the pub got a reputation of throwing a good 21st and the word spread and we held loads more.

jupiler_beer

clio_16v wrote: »

I'm taking over the lease of a bar in the next 2 months and I have some questions.

Is there some "hard and fast" rules as to how much you should pay in rent? i.e. your rent should never be more than 8% of turnover? I've heard that figure thrown around before.

Similar question with regards to staff costs to turnover...
Any thoughts on ways of reducing overheads? I know you need Sky to show matches etc but the cost is quite frankly disgusting. I've never owned / leased a bar before so any advice will be helpful

Op can you give us a idea
a) location...city / town / rural.
b) type of business... drink only or food & drink
c) peak business days / hours

the above will help paint a picture of your business thus might be able to get a few more ideas

clio_16v

jupiler_beer wrote: »

Op can you give us a idea
a) location...city / town / rural.
b) type of business... drink only or food & drink
c) peak business days / hours

the above will help paint a picture of your business thus might be able to get a few more ideas

Town of 20,000 people. Clientele is mostly regulars / locals. Drink only, no food. Consistent crowd during the week, although small enough numbers. Generally ok on Friday, Saturday is busy / hit and miss, Sunday is generally crazy