Attempting to open up a nightclub..any advice?

[allewis08]

I want to open up a nightclub, and I would genuinely appriciate all the advice I can get.

[VEDER]

Advice? Your going to need it with what your trying to do...

Let's just say it's significantly more risky and hard to start and maintain than a restaurant.

Your staff, including promoters, security, bar, waitress, entertainment, management will be 50 - 100 for a small sized dance nightclub most of them being promoters.

You will need acts, musicians, dancers etc - this does not include staff.

Caberet, liquor and other permits.

A venue and thousands of equipment like sound, light, furniture, decor, effectors - most of which will cost almost the cost of the venue - not to mention most you won't even own - rentals.

A large and dedicated network of promoters - this will be life line of your customers.

An of course loans and loans from where ever you can get it.

If your seeking advice on a forum about this, you are not ready at all... Get into the club business in one way or another before doing anything...

[christopherboucher]

It all depends. Where is the nightclub?

What city? What's your marketing strategy. Thats the most important thing. I consulted for Nightclubs in NYC and Miami, so let me know.

[Aggie99]

well it is not as difficult as veder attempts to explain, thats just confusing to me and i'm sure to you as well. first thing you need to do is find atleast one partner if not two to spread the financial burden. then you come up with a business plan and budget, and save and or raise atleast half of your budget, banks and investors tend to be more willing to invest if some of the money is coming out of yours and your partners pockets. then find a building to renevate or construct a building. you kind of have to do what veder says but one step at a time.and 50 to 100 management is rediculous you won't even need that many employees for a good sized club if your smart that would just cause over spending on your employees, say you have a good sized club in a big city with maybe 5 rooms each with a different theme you will have 2 bouncers in each room and 2 outside controlling the id'ing and everything and you wont need many waitresses if you have enough bars ppl wil be dancing you will only want waitresses in rooms with tables around the bar otherwise the ppl will simply use the bar you wouldnt want live bands every night maybe 3 times a month the rest of the time you use a dj which you could hire for full time work at your club just relax and take things one step at a time and you will be fine

[ideamaned]

I know some folks whose son opened up a small nightclub. He convinced his affluent parents to back him. It took them forever to open. There were problems with L & I. There were problems over and over again with getting competent contractors. Finally they opened and it appeared they were doing it right with promoters and PR. It was a hip, happening place. Right after they opened, another restaurant/club operator offered them a huge sum to sell it to him. That was their golden moment, and they let it pass. After that, things just went down.

The manager was totally ripping them off. (And he was a thug, so they were afraid to bring in the police.) The son grew tired of the business. The long hours wore down his enthusiasm quickly. And the wrong crowd began showing up - the kind that just hang and don't buy drinks.

There were fights, gunfire, on an on-going basis.

The neighborhood revolted against their business and took steps to close them down.

There were lawsuits.

And by this point the club had become a bit of a nightmare for this family.

Ultimately they sold the business for about what they invested in it and provided a large amount of seller financing. The new owners took more than year to renovate and open! And they are absolutely failing. Meanwhile, they are having difficulty paying their note to my friends.

My recommendation for you is to get in the business as a manager first and learn all you can. Then if you still want to go for it, begin preparing to make your move.

Good luck with it

[nate89]

The night clubs in Edinburgh where i live are organized in such a way that there is a land lord who owns the building, the facilities, and supplies the staff. He then rents the building, facilities and staff to essentially a promoter who organizes either a one off theme night like a beach party or a recurring night. So basically for a set fee the promoter has full use of the club for the night, and then he makes his money by promoting it to pull in the large crowds.

If you were to set up some agreement along these lines with a nightclub before starting one yourself, it may act as a very valuable learning curve with really quite minimal risk.

[natashpro]

night clubs are tough. i had a friend who tried some and even though they had peaks of cash flow, there were many other problems to deal with, including dirty business.

[GSD]

#1 As yourself WHY?

If it's because it 'could be fun', please do not do it.
Read the E-Myth for more on that.

Nightclubs...I'm thinking... snakes, vipers, back stabbing, fights, working nights I want to be relaxing... but that's just me.


#2 if this is your PASSION and a viable business opportunity - My advice is to hire an experience night club manager and give them equity shares that vest over time. Make sure they earn them and you spell out what needs to be done to get it done.


#3 Do your homework too. Just because you hire someone with experience does not mean you can just sit back. Go online and find all teh nasty dirty secrets about teh nightclub business. Learn from others' mistakes.


Good Luck

Sam Goodman
me-2-b.com
People you can count on

[notlaw]

x2 on veder's comment, minus the 50 - 100 person staff? not sure where that came from, unless you're opening a theme park.

another thing, prepare yourself for potential lawsuits and fines. In the province of new brunswick, you're fined $1000 for every under age person you let in the club. Also there are other fines associated with fire code, letting too many people in, etc.

[godswillbedone]

Make something unique about it
and make it suitable for everyone- maybie put on religious themed evenings- just because most people are religious, don't mean we don't like to party lol :P

[Jordanyu74]

what location?

[veronicagoldy]

The best way is to work in the industry and see first hand the trials and tribulations of the business.

[BusinessAdviser]

Just do it right. Don't hire college kids to bartend, because they'll give out free drinks. That's one of the only ways a bar can lose money.

[TylerBakerllc]

Ditto businessadviser on this one!

Not every nightclub needs a staff of 50-100... Its not like you will be competing with Adam Goldstein with the first club that you open... I would take baby steps and get a feel for the industry first. And by feel for the industry, I mean from an owners perspective. Even being a manager does not prepare you for the problems you will face as an owner.

[TylerBakerllc]

Nonetheless, A nightclub or bar can be very profitable. I would go for it if you have the resources.