Hi all,
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??
thanx

--

"steve" wrote in message news:38f6e$3fd916b8$40ebcfa9$28226@allthenewsgrou ps.com...
Hi all,
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??
thanx

--

Some thoughts as a former employee and longtime afficienado:

- 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 centre 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.

Good luck...I'd love to see updates on your plans...

(ShaneOttawa) wrote:


Some thoughts as a former employee and longtime afficienado:

- the cost of vents
- be on-premises virtually
- take the food seriously.
- listen to your customers.
- don't try to be a sports bar
- Sponsoring adult softball teams/leagues
- Get barstools that have backs.
- be constantly on the lookout for
- Don't be too dark and dingy...l
- organize things for customers
Good luck...I'd love to see updates on your plans...

All excellent suggestions...but the one that is the most important.

Have FIVE times the amount of money that you "think" you need to start up the
business. If you have 100,000............you really need a half million!

Good luck in your new venture....hard work will pay off every time.

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)

John A. Irwin
CEO Cayman Corp.
(BarTails, Ugly Johns, Metro Sportz Bar, Santa Monica Yaht Club, Cholla
Bay Beach Club)



steve wrote:
Hi all,
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??
thanx

--

In article , "John A. Irwin"
wrote:
-snipped-
2.) Promote teams other then your locals.
(snipped)
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)

That's because cheese spreads, John!
-Barb (embarrassed at our loser Vikings! But just watch the U of MN
women's hoops shooters!)
--
-Barb
12-28-03: Tourtiere picture added to my site: www.jamlady.eboard.com
Also a picture of my Baba Authorized struhadlo for making halushky
"If you're ever in a jam, here I am."