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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: moon_glue]
#7559555 - 10/25/07 02:53 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
moon_glue said:the guy Adamn you talked about, i think i met him a few months ago in a hotel after Uprise.
Naaa.. this is a duo (lounge/downtemp electronic) from the UK. A dude and a chick that call themselves "A Man Called Adam", named after an old Sammy Davis movie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Man_Called_Adam
I was picking them up to take them to starscape when we killed some time at my place in Baltimore. I went to make a liquor run for them and some friends. As I walked up to my place I fell on the stoop and shattered most of the booze. All that survived were my 40's of OE. heh
I also got arrested while driving DJ Suv (part of Reprazent) around Baltimore killing time before starscape. That's a long story... one he probably won't forget.
Edited by BrAiN (10/25/07 03:04 PM)
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BIGSWANG
oakridge gang, beotch




Registered: 02/18/02
Posts: 19,397
Loc: Iwishanigga woods
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7559560 - 10/25/07 02:54 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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you can make exactly 1 million dollars
-------------------- Admin Edit: Your signiture is inappropriate and has been removed. Do not harass other members in your signiture. Also refrain from posting links to scat pornography. If I see anything like that here again, you will be banned.
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: moon_glue]
#7559593 - 10/25/07 03:01 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
moon_glue said: p.s. fuck georgetown. so dissapointing.
Remember.. I'm also talking hypothetically anyways.
Adams morgan wouldnt be a bad spot, or capitol hill....I'd prefer a place with just a lot of pedestrian traffic where you don't have to worry about getting shot.
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oso
man


Registered: 09/27/06
Posts: 158
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BIGSWANG]
#7559636 - 10/25/07 03:10 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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It's diff in every state, but bars/rests don't get wholesale discounts for liquor here, they pay more(in taxes) per bottle. Beer/wine you can. I understand licenses are limited in the north, so idk, here its 2k$ to apply, then some other shit from the state and county all less than 10k total, but that doesnt help you. After setup(incl bar setup) your biggest expenses will be labor(doormen, bouncers, dancers?, bussers, servers, and then boh) I don't have any experience in large operations, but for that kind of investment, I would have to guess you would need to bring in something between 5-15k a night to come near breaking even, and you wouldnt make a clear profit for months. Not to discourage you, but thats a big thing with a lot of risk, you should buy a small bar first to learn some shit about it. First hand experience can't be taught
-------------------- "When tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign foe." James Madison
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: oso]
#7559654 - 10/25/07 03:14 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I remember hearing a while back that in Baltimore (just as an example) that a liquor license was almost a quarter million dollars. I'm not sure if they were exaggerating or not.
It wouldn't suprise me... the city is FLOOOODDED with bars. Drinking is the national pasttime in Bmore especially with so many schools. I believe the city a while back to decided to cut off any NEW liquor licenses because of this. If you wanted one you had to wait until someone who already had one either transferred it to you or went out of business and let other fight for it.
That would explain such a high cost of the license.. supply and demand.
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Tangerines




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Posts: 17,918
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7559673 - 10/25/07 03:19 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I did not mean ON campus. my bad, I meant right off campus. Depends on the type of bar anyways. some get the fratty guys while others have a more laid back/cool crowd. All about what music you play there and the general vibe you set up.
and yea osu is only near the ghetto, but no ghettos come to the bars right around cmapus. venture a few streets away though and the scene drasticly changes.
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: Tangerines]
#7559688 - 10/25/07 03:23 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Ohio? Isn't that whole state a ghetto? hehe.
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oso
man


Registered: 09/27/06
Posts: 158
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: Tangerines]
#7559702 - 10/25/07 03:28 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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One of my friends owned a bar next to a college and he was fined 6500$ one night cause ale showed up and some underage people had gotten in. He got mad and turned it in a coffee shop that also sold beer/wine and some liquor since he already had the licenses. He also owned two larger bars in the city and said that one never made that much cause that crowd never spent that much and would come in already drunk. It makes more selling 4$ coffee and muffins.
-------------------- "When tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign foe." James Madison
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moon_glue
Orwell's Post9/11 Era



Registered: 01/20/07
Posts: 2,264
Loc: Earth, today...
Last seen: 8 years, 10 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7559813 - 10/25/07 04:10 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
BrAiN said: Oh psssht. I'm 4500 sq ft is big but not that big. I don't want to overchange for a bunch of huge acts.. just want to play local bands and give them a chance... maybe charge 10 bucks at the door at most to pay them.
There's nothing wrong with wanting to run a bar in Georgetown. And I don't care about being "underground". To be honest I'm kind of sick of that term. I just want to run a place where ppl can have a good time. And I'd rather do it legit and get all my insurance and permits in order.
I'm not into underground raves any more.
And who cares if it's in Georgetown. Just because it's not some dingy hole in the wall club in the ghetto where only the "cool people" know where it is doesn't make it any less of a fun place. Those places end up getting all trendy eventually anyways. What am I supposed to do.. try to live my dream of owning a place like this and making a living by putting in a place where LESS people can find it? This isn't the mid 90's anymore where a bunch of E tards with glowsticks run around from checkpoint to checkpoint to get directions to evade the cops.
As long as it's affordable, the people you work with are laid and you're not invaded by the frat scene, and the music is good.. who cares if it's in Georgetown. It's closed minded just to think because it's in this trendy area that it's a "sell out" club.
cause we don't need another money hungry venue in the dc area. and yes you will have to be money hungry venue to pay permits, insurance, ect and still maintain a decent sound system, clean space, and other bills. 10 dollars at the door is a joke.
and fuck georgetown, try charlottesville. georgetown/dc allready has Ibiza, Fur, 5, 9:30, ect. Get a spot for cheaper in charlottesville. you'l be within an hours drive of ALOT MORE colleges for students with ALOT LESS choices in clubs. not to mention everything will be alot cheaper. if you could find a spot in charllottesvill just for a one off party, do you have any idea how big it would be?
think about how much competetion you would have in D.C. Now compare it with charllotesville and see how many universerties are within an hours drive :
Virginia Commonwealth U Richmond University CVCC Randolf Macon Lynchburg College Liberty Universty UVA just to name a few
enough said. central virginia could be an epicenter for any culture in virginia. DC has enough going on, the market is saturated.
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Groomies
Ghost



Registered: 08/16/07
Posts: 1,119
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7559830 - 10/25/07 04:15 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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a club can make 25K a night in alcohol with about 900 people. i know this cause i've done it many times
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: moon_glue]
#7559872 - 10/25/07 04:28 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I've got no interest in Charlotsville or in doing one off parties. I'm talking about making a living by owning a business working in an area I love. If I'm not going to have fun doing it and be where I want to be.. why bother?
There's always room for shit in DC. There are always clubs going in and out of business. Some stay in business forever like 930.. some open up and fall flat on their faces. As long as you're in a nice pedestrian heavy area, you'll be fine.
I'm not money hungry. I'd only be doing it if I were financially secure enough to begin with. You keep getting into all these ethical arguments and I'm just talking about opening a modest neighborhood-type place. If I open a place it's going to be in DC no matter what... either gtown, the morgan, cap hill, dupont, etc. Personally I would never charge anything at the door .. I'd let any bands decide their own price and make sure some of that does to the staff that helps with the sound/maintence. That's how most bars work in dc that all my friends throw parties at. They just pick a bar that normally doesn't charge a cover... get the dj's they want and make flyers. They charge at the door and they money goes to them for the DJ's. The bar just take bars sales.
Plus.. I'd like to have a place there also just to do other stuff.. expand the building to maybe have a record shop (vinyl and cd's), internet cafe, maybe some clothes designed by local people... kinda of like how Yoshietoshi used to be. They're problem was they just sold stuff that was TOO trendy... fuckin 30 bucks for a Lithium tshirt.. I don't think so.
I think as long as you have a good plan, some good managementskills, etc... you'll never be MONEY HUNGRY GRUBBY or whatever as long as you're in it mostly to have fun and not to make a million bucks. You say it's impossible. I say it isn't
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: Groomies]
#7559875 - 10/25/07 04:29 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Groomies said: a club can make 25K a night in alcohol with about 900 people. i know this cause i've done it many times
You were a nightclub manager? owner? bartender?
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Groomies
Ghost



Registered: 08/16/07
Posts: 1,119
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7560527 - 10/25/07 07:58 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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i used to be a promoter. my group take 10% of the money the club makes in alcohol
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: Groomies]
#7560563 - 10/25/07 08:09 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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what i hate is the way the clubs work in LA. There are SO many bands that the supply is more than the demand asks for
So when clubs ask bands to play the bands are so desperate the bands have to garuntee that they'll sell X number of tickets and PAY the club the difference in the ticket cost if they sell LESS tickets.
Sounds stupid if you ask me.. but I guess that's what happens in a market like LA.. when they supply is so high that the equilibrium becomes NEGATIVE
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JonnyOnTheSpot
Sober Surfer


Registered: 01/27/02
Posts: 11,527
Loc: North Carolina
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7561175 - 10/25/07 10:45 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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a friend and i are preparing to do something similar to what you're talking about. we're going to open a music venue in a medium sized city/college town and according to all the numbers we've put together it should be pretty profitable once it gets going.
it's a city with 35,000 college students and not a single place for live music, except for a shitty hotel bar that has crap jambands and is packed, with a five dollar cover, every weekend. it's going to be impossible for us to lose money i think because people are hungry for what we're going to offer them. for us, the only hold up is finding a suitable space to rent. we want it in a very specific part of town so we're waiting patiently for that place to open up. we had one place that was absolutely perfect, but it got rented out from under our noses by some douche bag who wants to turn it into a cooking supply store...
we're of course going to lease a space rather than buy property. other then the obvious expenses like that though it's actually cheaper then you might imagine to get it going. for instance, you said you thought a liquor license was 250k? in the state i'm talking about it's something like 5k. pretty big difference. we've figured out that in order to break even every month, factoring in all the overhead, lease, insurance etc, that we'd only have to sell 40 pints a night. of course on a big show night it's going to be more like 400-500 beers according to friends of mine that run clubs/bars. another way to cut costs is buying some of your equipment used. it's surprisingly easy to find too. you can get coolers, walk in fridges, and furniture all used. just look around on the internet. we won't even have to buy the PA/lights right away because this promoter we've talked to wants to get on board and run all that for for a % of profits. there's plenty of ways to make it happen.
i'm really excited about the whole thing though. once we get it going we're going to work the bar and use the tips to prop us up while things start going well, and we'll have a couple gimmicky sort of nights at first, like a mug night and a poker night, and that will be very helpful in the beginning. the end result though is a successful regional music venue for break out bands.
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Phishe
Lysergic Bliss



Registered: 01/21/06
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: JonnyOnTheSpot]
#7561208 - 10/25/07 10:55 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Doesn't toadie own a bar?
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
Last seen: 2 years, 5 months
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: JonnyOnTheSpot]
#7562035 - 10/26/07 07:41 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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I actually did more research. I think my friend WAS exaggerating. A liquor license for a small 200-499 capacity nightclub venture is only 3500ish per year.
I wonder how much liability insurance will cost.
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
Loc: Chocolate City
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7562040 - 10/26/07 07:44 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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The one thing I don't understand is how I keep reading that it takes 6-12 months for a bar to start making money.
I don't understand how this is possible. I mean.. if you can pack a bar when it first opens (which is likely) and have the same amount of money streaming in when you first open as when you've been open for 12 months... what's so special about the 12 month milestone that makes you more money? Maybe you have some loans that will probably have been paid off after 12 months.. but that's the only reason why I can see a bar would make more money 12 months after opening rather than when it first opens.
The only other reason I could see is if it takes a while to build up a customer base... This shouldn't be a problem if you're in a trendy part of town with high pedestrian traffic. Most people that walk around these parents love trying new things anyways. Most urban trendy areas if you're right on "the strip" you SHOULD be able to start packing your place almost immediately.
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Scarfmeister
Thrill Seeker
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: BrAiN]
#7562522 - 10/26/07 10:36 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Because it takes about a year before you have earned enough to cover the expenses of opening the bar. Your not actually making money until you have made more than you put in.
-------------------- -------------------- We're the lowest of the low, the scum of the fucking earth!
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BrAiN
Art Fag

Registered: 03/01/01
Posts: 6,875
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Re: how much money can you make owning a bar? [Re: Scarfmeister]
#7563054 - 10/26/07 12:11 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Ahhhh.. like furniture, remodeling, buying all the machines you need and shit?
I was just thinking about monthly expenses like insurance, lease or mortgage, monthly cost of goods sold.
I totally forgot not everything is a MONTHLY payment.
Of course.. everything you need to BUY up front I'd think can just be covered as a part of the loan.
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