Opening a night club

[RussianMV]

Hello, I am 19 years old and I am interested in opening a night club in Brooklyn, I will have to wait two years as I am not 21 years old yet due to New York liquor licensing requirements. I have $300,000 set aside to begin, but am unsure of how to begin. I have some questions.

- First thing, how do I start AT ALL? What is the first thing I need to do with this money?

- Is $300,000 cash good to begin with?

- How do I go about the legal process of this? Do I hire a lawyer or must I do this all myself? The legal process seems confusing, or will I understand it as I begin doing it?

- What about taxes? What taxes should I expect to pay in New York City owning a night club serving alcohol?

I may think of more questions but I will leave these for now. I am new to the American legal processes and regulations on business and alcohol and food and everything so bear with me.

[Encrypted]

First off, how the hell does a 19 year old come up with 300k? lol
Second, I used to work for a restaurant that poured a million dollars into fixing up a building before they opened.. that doesn't include the one or two million they paid for the lot to begin with. I don't think $300k will get you very far.. unless you were to rent the building out to begin with.

[Southern_Lenders]

Night Clubs are a terrible investment. Do a google search on "Starting a night club". You'll be lucky to last 10yrs.

[Encrypted]

Night Clubs are a terrible investment. Do a google search on "Starting a night club". You'll be lucky to last 10yrs.

Actually that's debatable. There's a club/bar that just opened 2 years ago in my hometown and it's already "the place to be".. they already expanded to a neighbouring city.

[RussianMV]

First off, how the hell does a 19 year old come up with 300k? lol
Second, I used to work for a restaurant that poured a million dollars into fixing up a building before they opened.. that doesn't include the one or two million they paid for the lot to begin with. I don't think $300k will get you very far.. unless you were to rent the building out to begin with.

I got the money from my family.

If I rent at first, saved, and then invested would that be better than buying the building to begin? But if I rent will that mean I can not install things like lights and a new interior such as walls and flooring?

[Bohlman]

Hello, I am 19 years old and I am interested in opening a night club in Brooklyn, I will have to wait two years as I am not 21 years old yet due to New York liquor licensing requirements. I have $300,000 set aside to begin, but am unsure of how to begin. I have some questions.

- First thing, how do I start AT ALL? What is the first thing I need to do with this money?

- Is $300,000 cash good to begin with?

- How do I go about the legal process of this? Do I hire a lawyer or must I do this all myself? The legal process seems confusing, or will I understand it as I begin doing it?

- What about taxes? What taxes should I expect to pay in New York City owning a night club serving alcohol?

I may think of more questions but I will leave these for now. I am new to the American legal processes and regulations on business and alcohol and food and everything so bear with me.

You are still pretty young. You may want to get some experience under your belt. Go work for a nightclub and understand what the business is all about. You may find it to be a terrible idea, or realize this is something you want to do. It will help you understand the business inside and out.

Just a thought to think about.

[Encrypted]

Those types of things would have to be discussed with the property owner.

[RussianMV]

You are still pretty young. You may want to get some experience under your belt. Go work for a nightclub and understand what the business is all about. You may find it to be a terrible idea, or realize this is something you want to do. It will help you understand the business inside and out.

Just a thought to think about.

I have spent time around the culture and it is definitely something I would like to get into. But would working there really give me knowledge of it? Because bartending and waiting on people is not something I would think would give me knowledge of it other than how people behave and dealing with someone who is drunk. Not arguing with you, just wondering if it would give me the experience that is really necessary or not. I would not have much say in how the club runs, where money will be spent, etc.

[Encrypted]

I have spent time around the culture and it is definitely something I would like to get into. But would working there really give me knowledge of it? Because bartending and waiting on people is not something I would think would give me knowledge of it other than how people behave and dealing with someone who is drunk. Not arguing with you, just wondering if it would give me the experience that is really necessary or not. I would not have much say in how the club runs, where money will be spent, etc.

Honestly, yes.. any experience you can get helps. I worked in food prep and as a busser at a few restaurants and after a few months I felt completely capable of managing the place.

[akula]

Hello, I am 19 years old and I am interested in opening a night club in Brooklyn, I will have to wait two years as I am not 21 years old yet due to New York liquor licensing requirements. I have $300,000 set aside to begin, but am unsure of how to begin. I have some questions.

- First thing, how do I start AT ALL? What is the first thing I need to do with this money?

- Is $300,000 cash good to begin with?

- How do I go about the legal process of this? Do I hire a lawyer or must I do this all myself? The legal process seems confusing, or will I understand it as I begin doing it?

- What about taxes? What taxes should I expect to pay in New York City owning a night club serving alcohol?

I may think of more questions but I will leave these for now. I am new to the American legal processes and regulations on business and alcohol and food and everything so bear with me.

it's not a good opportunity
and anyway, if you have 300k, you don't need to start a business..neither would i recommend you start one
you have college, frat parties, broads and travel to look forward to
working 24/7 on some venture would not fit into your plans
buy positively geared real estate instead...you have enough money for like 5-10 deposits
you are in the states, some RE markets are way undervalued at the moment

[JKansas]

Yes working gives you experience. Your questions are pretty basic and mean you need to do a lot of research on your own. I would suggest working security, spefically as a doorman if you can. You will see first hand how the money flows and the risks and dangers club owners face(examples: MIP, fights, assault charges against bouncer's breaking up fights, security, trespassing, shrinkage, etc...) . In my experience "clubs" come and go. You need to invest wisely, set yourself apart, and know when to fold/change it up. Here some bar's change every couple years and keep the same owners. That cash could be spread a long ways although I don't know what a lease in NYC costs. A decent size club in KS rents for between 8 and 12K a month. Most peole charging you that much will let you do yoru own remodeling.

First things first I would take some classes if I were you. Also consider other investors and locations. Learn the culture and croud your going after and crunch the numbers, is it profitable? Can you attack the tourism croud to keep fresh business coming in? I never know where to go in a new city unless I have friends there. There is a reason such a high percentage of clubs fail. I think if you are a serious entrepreneur not just wanting to say "I have a night club in Brooklyn" then your chances are already better than the stats. If you educate yoruself and learn how to stretch a budget I think your chances will become even better. A lot of people on here seem to hate business plans, but I think you really need one. Look them up and work hard to develop one. By the time you are done you will answer most of yoru questions and have a great start with better odds of success.

Also, i've seen two types of club owners here. The patron and the manager. Be a manager. It's great to enjoy your successes from time to time, but the guys in there every weekend with their entourage giving out drinks and shots seems to fail the fastest. The guys who are in there every night selling their club and making it better tend to make the most out of the least. This is just in my experience. I worked as a doorman for three years.

[RussianMV]

it's not a good opportunity
and anyway, if you have 300k, you don't need to start a business..neither would i recommend you start one
you have college, frat parties, broads and travel to look forward to
working 24/7 on some venture would not fit into your plans
buy positively geared real estate instead...you have enough money for like 5-10 deposits
you are in the states, some RE markets are way undervalued at the moment

Interesting. I would prefer a night club, but this real estate seems like it can make a lot of money.

[RussianMV]

Yes working gives you experience. Your questions are pretty basic and mean you need to do a lot of research on your own. I would suggest working security, spefically as a doorman if you can. You will see first hand how the money flows and the risks and dangers club owners face(examples: MIP, fights, assault charges against bouncer's breaking up fights, security, trespassing, shrinkage, etc...) . In my experience "clubs" come and go. You need to invest wisely, set yourself apart, and know when to fold/change it up. Here some bar's change every couple years and keep the same owners. That cash could be spread a long ways although I don't know what a lease in NYC costs. A decent size club in KS rents for between 8 and 12K a month. Most peole charging you that much will let you do yoru own remodeling.

First things first I would take some classes if I were you. Also consider other investors and locations. Learn the culture and croud your going after and crunch the numbers, is it profitable? Can you attack the tourism croud to keep fresh business coming in? I never know where to go in a new city unless I have friends there. There is a reason such a high percentage of clubs fail. I think if you are a serious entrepreneur not just wanting to say "I have a night club in Brooklyn" then your chances are already better than the stats. If you educate yoruself and learn how to stretch a budget I think your chances will become even better. A lot of people on here seem to hate business plans, but I think you really need one. Look them up and work hard to develop one. By the time you are done you will answer most of yoru questions and have a great start with better odds of success.

Also, i've seen two types of club owners here. The patron and the manager. Be a manager. It's great to enjoy your successes from time to time, but the guys in there every weekend with their entourage giving out drinks and shots seems to fail the fastest. The guys who are in there every night selling their club and making it better tend to make the most out of the least. This is just in my experience. I worked as a doorman for three years.

Thank you very much for your response and clearing it up. After hearing about this real estate business, real estate is the best plan for right now. Perhaps when I make the money I will buy a night club and fulfill the dream. My dad seems to be very knowledgable on the subject of real estate, and being around the nightlife culture myself I know many up and coming neighborhoods that would make beautiful investments. I definitely will have a business plan, my parents are loaning me much money and my dad will make sure the plan is outlined in great detail. He is good with finance and I am good with sweet talking people.

[Carlos™]

I have spent time around the culture and it is definitely something I would like to get into. But would working there really give me knowledge of it? Because bartending and waiting on people is not something I would think would give me knowledge of it other than how people behave and dealing with someone who is drunk. Not arguing with you, just wondering if it would give me the experience that is really necessary or not. I would not have much say in how the club runs, where money will be spent, etc.

Sorely mistaken there, my friend. Most bars and restaurants require you to have previous experience bartending, and waiting. The thing is, running a night club is harder than you think. For example, a club that's in my area has been in business for 20 years, it used to be the most legendary club in san mateo. Now its a struggling nightclub - trying to make even. They expanded their club size, but even THAT didn't even solve the 'traffic' problem. Two weeks since the grand opening of the new area - they couldn't bring in more people than the opening did. There isn't consistent traffic to the club.

You need upper management experience, too. You need to know how to handle people because if you dont few things could happen:

- talking back at you.
- stealing your cash. Yes, the profit that goes to the club and you.
- inexperienced nightclub employees typically don't know what they're doing.

And most of the time, the inexperienced ones are the ones that don't know how to make a sale from the front door, don't know how to wait tables, don't know how to bartend (YES! BARTEND!) - and this means bad customer feedback - crappy food, crappy drinks, crappy mixes, etc. They don't know how to manage money, they don't know this and that. I've seen all this first hand.

Yes working gives you experience. Your questions are pretty basic and mean you need to do a lot of research on your own. I would suggest working security, spefically as a doorman if you can. You will see first hand how the money flows and the risks and dangers club owners face(examples: MIP, fights, assault charges against bouncer's breaking up fights, security, trespassing, shrinkage, etc...) . In my experience "clubs" come and go. You need to invest wisely, set yourself apart, and know when to fold/change it up. Here some bar's change every couple years and keep the same owners. That cash could be spread a long ways although I don't know what a lease in NYC costs. A decent size club in KS rents for between 8 and 12K a month. Most peole charging you that much will let you do yoru own remodeling.

I echo this sentiment, too. I've seen and hear a lot of bad things about the club that I mentioned earlier. For example, there were guns at the club, one even rammed over another guy....

Finally, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

The bars, the pubs, the nighclubs in downtown mountain view is always booming even in down economy. San Jose is another example of location - location - location, a few clubs come and go just as bad as small towned ones. San Francisco has clubs ALWAYS packed, no matter what day it is.

[akula]

Interesting. I would prefer a night club, but this real estate seems like it can make a lot of money.

that's right...I am a licenced financial planner, and as a professional I would suggest that investing in a nighclub is probably not a suitable investment option for a person with your profile (i.e. a student etc).

there are more suitable alternatives

udachi!!