Knowing how to set goals that will drive your business forward, and then managing your efforts to reach those goals, is a sure way to give your bar a strategic advantage over the competition, and set yourself up for levels of success that you never thought were possible.
You will often hear that people eat first with their eyes, and today, when many of your potential guests are going to come into contact with your brand digitally before ever coming in the door, it is more important than ever that you have high-quality photos of your food and drinks that drive guests into your door.
Too often in our industry, owners and managers fail to consider the impact of their behavior on the overall culture of their bar. In any business, but especially in our industry where the culture of our business is directly related to the guest experience, the mindset of ownership and management is critical for success.
Guests come to bars for all sorts of reasons. Almost counterintuitively the reason guests come into your establishment is not for food or drinks. If someone just wanted to eat chips and drink a few beers, they could do it a lot easier and cheaper sitting at home. So what drives your guests? Once you determine why they come in, you can create an avatar that combined with your culture will create marketing magic.
Cocktail menus came into their own in the last few decades with the boom in interest in craft cocktails. Where cocktail lists were once the domain of high-end bars, now guests at even the smallest rural dive bars are looking for a cocktail list. That means every bar needs a cocktail menu, and it needs to be designed to drive profits.
Review sites have a grip on bar marketing. Most potential patrons do research before they go to a bar, and they are more likely to view review sites than your social media. How your bar is presented on review sites is key to attracting new customers and your bar’s online visibility.
Food-based happy hours are a way to drive guests to your bar without cutting into your bar sales. For many bars, food is used as a way to sell drinks. Statistically, guests who eat food while at a bar stay about an hour longer. That means that food is a great way to increase your beverage sales. By using time-specific food promotions you can keep the higher margins on your drinks while increasing guest satisfaction and length of stay without decreasing your cocktail margins.
For most aspiring bar owners looking to get into the bar business, whether they are looking to purchase a neighborhood bar, sports bar, wine bar, or gastropub, purchasing an established bar is the easiest, cheapest, and often smartest way to become a bar owner. Not only are you buying all of the used equipment you need at once, but you are also purchasing what is hopefully a successful bar concept in a great location and with a solid customer base.
For many bar owners, one of the most difficult tasks is determining what price to charge for cocktails. This guide will walk you through a methodology that you can use to maximize your bar profits through your pricing, ensuring that you can hit the margins you need. Without a repeatable, standardized approach to pricing, you are only guessing, which means leaving money on the table.
Running a thriving bar business demands more than just great drinks and a welcoming atmosphere; it hinges on having an exceptional bar manager. There is no way you can spend your time working on your bar unless you have a manager in place to handle the day-to-day operations. The process of hiring and training a bar manager can significantly impact the success of your establishment.
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