Did you know that about 60% of all new bar businesses dissolve in the first year, and only about 20% survive their fifth year? That’s an astonishingly low number for a business area that most people consider lucrative and easy to jump into. But don’t let the figure discourage you. If most people tend to fail, it just means you’ll have fewer competitors once you go past the hard trial period. To get started on the right foot, let’s look at some of the most common mistakes that bar owners make.
Poor Staff Management
If you don’t have management skills, it’s time to learn some before opening your own bar. Staff management is, contrary to popular belief, a very important aspect of a successful bar business. Your staff needs to be well-trained so that they know how to greet customers, hold a conversation with them, and ultimately upsell them different products. A popular bar is usually just a bar without rude staff. Your staff also needs to feel happy and valued at work for them to stick with you in the long run.
Poor Menu Choices
What drives a person to a particular bar? It could be the atmosphere. But one important factor is the food and drink. You need a well-developed menu to compete with dozens of bars in the same area. And it’s not just the quality of the drinks, it’s the price as well. Make sure your drinks are good and they are reasonably priced. A good place to order custom-made drinks is a company called Foodiq because they have the research facility to properly test your recipe before mass production.
Not Keeping Up with the Trends
The tourism and restaurant industries don’t stay stagnant for long. They are constantly changing to adapt to customers’ new tastes and demands. If you are not quick to catch the trend, your bar will grow obsolete soon enough. Keeping up with the trend can mean updating your menu to reflect the hottest drink people are crazy about or redecorating your interior periodically to arrive at a layout that your customers love the most.
Not Enough Marketing Efforts
Not all business owners are good marketers. But the problem is, if potential customers are not aware of the existence of your business, they will not buy anything from you no matter how good your product may be. After having come up with the perfect location, a perfect menu, as well as everything else, it’s time to focus on extensive marketing to reach out to as many potential customers as possible. Offering discounts on your opening day is a popular good marketing tactic.
Above are some mistakes that many failed business owners make when running a bar. Make sure you study the market well and learn from others’ mistakes so that you won’t make the same yourself. Your chance of success will be greatly improved.