Owning a bar is a popular opportunity for many prospective entrepreneurs, and can be rewarding in a number of ways. If you have ever considered giving the idea a try for yourself, then it’s worth taking a deeper look at the duties you will be required to fulfil…
#1 – Creating and maintaining a great atmosphere
All bars need to have an atmosphere of some sort, whether it’s refined elegance, relaxed and casual, or a focus on fun, excitement, and partying the night away. As the owner, your role will be to establish your desired atmosphere and then work backwards to turn it into a reality by selecting the right decor, music, furniture, menu, lighting, and much more besides.
#2 – Managing all aspects of the event schedule
Bars tend to thrive off special events, be they one-off music events, quiz nights, or just the standard daily happy hour. You will need to decide the concepts of these events, manage their planning and organizing, arrange sufficient staff cover, and make sure that each individual event is promoted in a way that is sure to draw the crowds.
#3 – Stock management
Perhaps the most fundamental rule of running a bar is that if a customer orders something from the menu, it will immediately be served to them – and to deliver on this expectation means that effective stock management will be an important part of your working life. You will need to monitor all the beverages you serve with the help of a tank level sensor to ensure you have an adequate supply of each individual drink that you serve, and make sure that replacements are ordered when things are running low. If you intend to serve food, then the ordering, storage, and disposal will also fall under your remit, and you will need to ensure disposable items – such as napkins – are also readily available as required.
#4 – Staff recruitment, training, and support
Bar work is often seen as “casual” work, which means that the turnover rate can be very high. To try and counter this, many bars tend to have to operate in a perpetual hiring state – which means posting job adverts, interviewing prospective candidates, and processing the paperwork related to new hires. You will also be required to consult with your existing staff, create rotas that ensure that the bar will be fully staffed, organizing ongoing training, and ensure that all guidelines regarding the sale of alcohol are met.
#5 – Budgeting and financial administration
It is an undeniable fact that the bar business can be tough and the failure rate of such establishments can be concerningly high. However, good financial administration and effective budgeting – that finds a balance between investing in developments that will attract new customers and ensuring costs are kept reasonable – will likely dominate a significant amount of your time.
So could running a bar be the right entrepreneurial choice for you?
Bar ownership is not an easy choice but, then again, few businesses are. If you find the idea of the above enticing, and have a strong vision for the kind of bar you wish to create, then keeping this option open and researching further could well prove to be the best
Entrepreneurial choice you can make.
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