Many people say buying a bar is an easy and fun business to get into. After all, your job will be to provide a place for people to get together and enjoy themselves, right? Well, bars are actually one of the riskiest businesses to get involved in. The reason for this is because the bar business is highly competitive and relies on trends in the area to attract people. As a buying a bar lawyer has seen, many owners have a hard time keeping up consistent growth beyond the buzz factor of opening.
Competition for the bar industry is high, so you will not only be competing with those nearby, but large chains that offer both liquor and food. Bar establishments that offer liquor only can struggle with profit. Bars that are located in dense, urban areas can remain strong but suburban bars can struggle more. The absence of a kitchen can increase the risk of losing customers that are hungry and end up leaving because they need to go somewhere else. Serving liquor is generally more profitable than just serving food, but not having a kitchen or offering to-go packaged snacks or meals means that less profit is made overall.
Whether you offer food or not, if you do not have a liquor license then you will not have your main source of revenue. Not having a liquor license means that your access to this industry halts. So you have to make sure that the existing owner’s license is transferred to you during the buying process. The liquor licenses in major cities and highly concentrated areas have gotten more difficult to obtain, which drives the value of these licenses up. In some states, they only offer a set amount of licenses, and once these are gone, no more is replenished.
If you are going to be involved in the day-to-day operations of your bar business, you have to be prepared for road bumps. Most bars are open until the very early morning hours, and at least five to six days a week. With so many hours of operation, you will need to be properly staffed. And not only must you have staff scheduled for the duration of these open hours, they need to be friendly, honest, and hard-working. To protect your business and best interests, it helps to work with lawyers when purchasing and running your bar according to our friends at Silverman Law Office, PLLC.
Another challenge to the bar industry is controlling inventory. For instance, your staff may over-pour for customers a little bit here and there, but eventually that amount is going to add up. It can be tempting for employees that lack Integrity to pocket your cash or offer too many free drinks because they are not worried about the consequences it could have on your profit. The bar restaurant industry is also known for having fairly high turnover rates, so you may have to replace staff within short notice.