Expert Advice on Hospitality Topics

Bar Management Tips: How You Can Extract More From Your Customers

Posted by John Cammalleri on Wed, Jul, 20, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing
 

Getting the Most From Your PatronsBar Management

The patron walks in with $20. When the well is dry, he or she will go home (or possibly procure more) but how do you make sure you get as much of that $20 as possible? Consider the following:
  • Value-add! It might cost you a buck to make a bourbon and coke and it might cost you two bucks to make a burger. Why not offer your drinkers a cut-price deal on that burger during a certain time of the night: buy two drinks, get a free burger to go with it. You're not making any money on that burger, but you are ensuring that the customer will stay in your bar while they eat it - and probably a little longer. Heck, they might even order a side of deep-fried mushrooms to go along with it.
  • Make it easier to stay than go. If your staff is asking people, "Should I get you the bill?" instead of, "How about a round of coffees?" you're only giving your customers an excuse to hit the road.
  • Keep the TV interesting. A big error many establishments make is that they leave a TV on but don't pay any attention to what's on it. Keep an eye on your screens and keep an even bigger eye on the TV Guide, to make sure that, if at all possible, you're giving your patrons a reason to stay: "Ooh, ER is on! Maybe I'll have another...
  • Read the crowd. On any given night, your entire customer base can change radically. If you look around and find that there are a lot of young people in the place, adapt to suit that audience. Run a one-off special on tequila shots or shooters or turn on the dance-floor lights. Likewise, if a sports crowd comes in unexpected­ly, get them into the swing of things by adapting to suit their needs.
  • Give valued employees the power to make executive decisions. There's nothing worse, as a customer, than being told, "I don't know, the manager isn't here until later tonight..." Make sure you always have people on staff who can handle a situation and even veer away from the way things normally run, if common sense dictates it. Trust your people to make the right move.
  • Cut down on your "no" answers. You might stock Diet Coke, but what about Diet 7-Up? What about veggie burgers? What about fresh-squeezed orange juice? There might not be a whole lot of demand for these products, but if you don't have them when they're asked for, you're giving your customers an excuse not to return, even if they don't make a big deal about it at the time. Don't sink money into something that won't sell, but don't go the other way and reduce what you can sell.
  • Merchandise sells! A funky logo doesn't just make your venue more appealing; it sells, too. Research shows that the McDonald's logo is more recognizable to children than the cross symbol of Christianity; so it stands to reason that you could profit nicely from a logo that is "cool" enough for people to wear. T-shirts, golf shirts, baseball caps, key chains, lighters and souvenir glasses - take a tip from the Hard Rock Cafe: if sold well, merchandise can be a bigger earner than alcohol.

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: Bar staff, NightClub Management, bar business, profit, Bar Management, Increasing Profits

Making the Most of Your Liquor: Extracting an Extra Ounce of Profit

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Mon, Jul, 18, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing
 

Upsizing is EssentialSaving on every ounce of alcohol

When you go to the movies, quite often you can buy a double-sized popcorn for only $0.75 more than the $3.50 regular size. This would seem to be an astonishing bonus for the customer, so why does the cinema operator push this "up-sizing" so hard? Quite simply, because they're selling about $0.04 worth of popcorn for that extra $0.75. That second portion might not bring as large a profit margin as the first, but it's still profit. Your drinks run the same way - if you can get another buck out of a customer selling a drink that costs you $0.45 to prepare, it's worth doing.

  • Consider the cost per ounce of your well spirits. Let's assume you're using El Cheapo brand tequila at a base cost of $7.54 a liter. That would mean that an ounce of that spirit is costing your establishment $0.22, while a more-expensive brand of tequila, let's say Cuervo for the sake of this example, might come at a base cost of $14 per liter, or $0.41 per shot. Common thinking might lead you to say that by using the cheaper tequila you're saving yourself $0.19 on every drink sold. But, if you consider the alternative of up-selling the more expensive spirit for an extra $0.80 or so, you're actually making an extra $0.61 profit on every up-sized drink.

  • Offer your customers a discount to spend more than they planned. This works in other areas, too. Turning a single into a double for an additional dollar, or selling half-price burgers with every shot of a specific brand of spirit, brings you more money per order, while bringing your customers added value. Your profit margin might not be as high, but you'll be extracting more money from your customers than they might otherwise have spent - a definite win-win.

  • Up-selling. Most bar customers will bring out more money than they initially want to spend -just in case - especially those that don't have easy access to it through ATM machines and credit cards, so it's imperative that your staff don't let those customers walk out the door having spent less than they planned. Incentives for up-selling are commonplace in the theater and fast-food industries, so why not offer your staff an incentive to up-sell and watch your better staff earn a few extra dollars while earning you hundreds?

  • Incentives. For example, if a member of your staff engages someone in conversation and discovers they're looking for somewhere to hold a private function, birthday party, girls' night out - any large gathering of people - there's certainly no harm in making it worth their while to bring that prospective client to you. Twenty dollars here, $50 there - even a percentage of the bar take - if you offer the incentives, you'll be surprised how far people will go to bring you new business.

 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: NightClub Management, bar business, Bar drinks, Bar Management, Liquor cost, alcohol cost

Pricing Your Drinks: The Need for a Structured Approach

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Wed, Jul, 13, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
pricing drinksBy Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing
 

Structuring a Price List

 

Guesswork just won't do in today's corporate world. Figuring that if your scotch costs you $14 a bottle you can sell a shot for $3, is just a little hit-and-miss when you take in all the other potential costs, like rent, insurance and wages, that your establishment has to cover over the course of a month. It's possible you might be able to charge less than $3, but it's also possible you should be charging way more. Take these factors into account when making your next price list adjustment:

  • Market positioning. Take a look around at what your competitors are charging. Figure out if you need to undercut them or match their level. Does your establishment give added value enough to increase your prices and still draw a good crowd? Are you a level above them in terms of services and product? Are you evenly matched? Are you looking for a more "low rent" crowd? Price accordingly.
  • The competition. They're not always right, but if they've been around a while, your direct competitors probably have a good gauge of what your local customers are prepared to pay for a drink. Take the time to look around and take particular note of any specials they offer on certain nights.
  • Customer demographics. Are your patrons blue-collar workers? Are they white-collar? Do they have families to get home to or are they likely to stay all night and spend every penny? Are they young adults or senior citizens? These all impact what you can charge without losing clientele, and you should have the information already from your market research.
  • Embrace simplicity. It's far better for your customers and staff to have to deal with a simple pricing structure as opposed to forcing them to break their brains over an intricate maze of differently priced products. Set across- the-board levels of prices; for example, well spirits might cost $3, middle-shelf $3.50 and top-shelf $4. Of course there's always going to be the occasional variation, but for the most part, a three-tiered system gives you flexibility in pricing without your staff continually needing to check a price list or hand out handfuls of change.
  • Include tax in your pricing. There's nothing worse than getting $0.84 change from a five- dollar bill on every drink you buy and getting home with a pocket full of silver and copper. If you're going to set your prices at a round level, include the tax in that price so you can use price levels to your advantage. If your alcohol tax rate is 10 percent, the non-tax price for a shot that costs your patrons $3.50 would be $3.18 ($3.18 plus tax of $0.32 equals $3.49). Let your accountant do the math, not your bar staff. Sales tax is a complicated matter that varies dramatically from state to state. Prior to estab­lishing the net price inclusive of tax, discuss the issue with your accountant and state Department of Revenue. Don't find out later in a five-year audit that you've been calculating the tax incorrectly.

 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: bar business, Bar drinks, Bar Management, Liquor cost, alcohol cost, drink recipe

The Bottom Line: Reducing Costs & Increasing Profits

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Mon, Jul, 11, 2011 @ 11:07 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing
 

Part 2 of 2: Protecting Your ProfitsIncrease Liquor profits

 
Your profit margin, like that of any business, is fragile at best. You can sit down with a calculator and try to calculate the exact percentage you'd like to see on each drink. But in practice, a little splash too much here and there can see you falling perilously close to a loss. Follow these rules and you'll be that much more likely to see your bottom line behind the bar match that of your balance sheet estimations.
  • Watch what your staff pours. Regularly measure what they consider an ounce. If just one bartender overpours 40 shots a night by 25 percent, you've given away ten drinks for nothing. This kind of waste can get very expensive, especially if you have a large bar staff and they're all pouring more than 40 drinks per night.
  • Have your staff keep all the liquor in the glass. Many staff members get lazy as the night wears on, and inevitably they'll start taking shortcuts. One shortcut many take is to line up three or four glasses and pour one after the other in a straight line without raising the head of the bottle. While this may save them a second or two, it also pours a lot of your product directly onto the bar surface, not to mention down the sides of the glasses that your customers are about to put in their hands. It also means your customers are far less likely to get what they've paid for. Don't let it happen.
  • There are alternatives to free-pouring. While free-pouring certainly is more stylish and perhaps faster than measured pouring, it is also definitely far from accurate. As bar staff generally tend to err on the side of caution, they usually pour too much rather than too little. Control-pour spouts, such as Posi-Pour spouts, are a little more expensive than the usual free-pour, but they give a far more accurate pour without the need for clunky overhead systems or sophisticated electronics - and at much the same speed as free-pourers. 
  • Liquor control system. If you really want to keep an eye on your outgoings, a liquor inventory control system may be your answer. The price of setting these systems up, and maintaining them, can be significant. Then again, you get what you pay for. 
 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: Bar inventory, managing liquor inventory cost, bar business, profit, Bar Management, alcohol cost, bar control, controling costs

The Bottom Line: Reducing Costs & Increasing Profits

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Wed, Jul, 06, 2011 @ 09:07 AM
Cutting liquor costsBy Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing
 

Part 1 of 2: The Profits

 
What does each drink cost you?
Without profits, you're out of business, but so many managers see profits as what the owners worry about. Your job is as much to grow profits as to sustain them, so consider putting a little elbow grease into the growth of your establishment by learning about the nickel and dime stuff. A good bar operator needs to wear a number of hats, but the four most important are that of promoter, psychologist, host and accountant. This isn't to say that you need to be of professional standard in all four areas, but you do need a working knowledge of each area, so that you can fine-tune those aspects of your business. On the accounting side of things, you need to be able to assess what every piece of your business costs. Also, as your spirits and liqueurs are a very large segment of your inventory, you should learn exactly how much each and every drink you sell actually costs you. Follow these exercises and you'll be able to assess exactly which drinks bring you the highest profit margin and which drinks could use a price increase.
  • Cost per ounce. There is 33.8 ounces in a liter, so if you're paying $15 a liter for a certain spirit, simply dividing that amount by 33.8 will bring you the beverage's ounce cost (in this case, $0.44). If your bottle size is 750ml, then divide the bottle cost by 25.35 to get the ounce cost. Likewise, dividing a 500ml bottle by 16.9 will give you that product's ounce cost.
  • Total beverage cost. When calculating what it costs you to provide a mixed drink to a customer, simply figure out the ounce cost of each item in the drink. A half-shot means adding half the ounce cost of that shot, whereas a double shot would mean doubling the ounce cost. Make sure to include every aspect of the drink, such as mixers, dashes of cordial and garnishes. The total of each of these ounce costs will be your "beverage cost" for that drink.
  • Cost percentage.  When you're investing in inventory, you want to know that you're getting a good return on your money and the best way to figure out your percentage return is to estimate your cost percentage for each drink you sell. Simply divide your ounce cost (or bottle cost) by the sale price you've set for that item and then multiply that number by 100. The total will tell you exactly what percentage of the final drink price you are spending on the purchase of its raw contents. The lower the number, the more profit you're making.
  • Gross profit margin. To figure out each item's gross profit, simply deduct the cost price from the sale price. To figure out your gross profit margin, take the gross profit, divide it by the sales price and multiply it by 100. The figure remaining is your gross profit margin. You may well find it varies greatly from beverage to beverage. This will tell you which items have a high enough profit margin to push on your customers and which items are just making up the numbers.

 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: bar business, alcohol cost, Increasing Profits, Reducing Costs, Reducing Liquor Costs, inventory control

A Successful Bar Begins With a Quality Staff

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Wed, Jun, 15, 2011 @ 10:06 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing


Part 1: Recruiting a Security Staff

securityKnowing when and how to recruit security staff is an important part of any popular bar operation. Should you hire your own or deal with a security firm? If you hire your own people, what rules do you set for them? How do you avoid getting sued if someone is removed forcibly? Many venues utilize outside security firms to provide security on busy nights, and most do so as a means of simplifying their security needs and reducing liability issues. But an outside contractor doesn't always make things easier:
  • Outside contractors. This means you don't need to concern yourself with compensation, holidays, sick days, wages, etc. However, it also means that your level of control over the standard and selection of those who work at your venue is reduced. Also, with security firms costing more per hour than individual contractors or staff, your bottom line can suffer. Consider hiring one or two of your own staff who you can use on regularly busy nights and filling in any gaps with contractors that may come up.
  • In-house employees. While harder to find, train, and do background checks on, they are usually more loyal and tend to stay longer than contractors. If you want to have complete control over how your security behaves, how they deal with customers and their loyalty to the company, there can be no better way to work than to simply employ the best people you can find.
  • Security personnel. Hiring security and calling them independent contractors to avoid liability and payroll taxes is a tactic some bar operators employ to make the process simpler and cheaper. But this can bring more problems than it solves. If your security "contractor" does injure someone when removing him or her from the premises, are you confident that your "contractor" won't claim she is an employee? Do you need that kind of a fight?
  • Rules. Security guards need ironclad rules of engagement that dictate what they can and cannot do. Ensure that rules are in place that every security employee knows and signs. So, if there is a liability problem down the road, you can point out that your rules were broken and that you were not in any way negligent in your duty of care to the client.
  • ALWAYS do a background check on your potential security staff. It may cost a little and extend the hiring process, but if you don't want a 300-pound cocaine addict to be throwing your customers around a back alley, you'll want to make sure you're not hiring any 300-pound cocaine addicts.
  • Attorney involvement. Talk to your lawyer about drawing up any and all papers you'll need to ensure that your organization is completely covered and doing everything it can to ensure your security staff behave responsibly. Spending a hundred bucks today on legal fees can save you thousands down the road. Similarly, check with your insurance company to confirm your legal liability responsibilities to your security staff.
  • Subcontracting security staff is a legitimate means of filling a need. This works if you really don't have the time to micromanage your security concerns, or to fill in during times when your regular staff is unavailable or inadequate in number. You can subcontract individuals as long as you give them a Form 1099 for any cash paid over the $600 mark; this will, in turn, keep your workers' compensation bill down.
  • Equip your security staff for their job. Spotting fake IDs isn't always easy. If you have 200 people waiting to go through your door, your security staff can't spend five minutes with every person, but there are tools available that can help. An electronic ID-checking unit will read the magnetic strip on any state driver license, verify that the license is valid, and display the holder's exact age - not to mention point out if the document is a fake or has been tampered with. These systems are small, inexpensive to purchase and limit the chance that your staff will let in an underage drinker. Talk to Intelli-Check (www.intellicheck.com) by calling 800 444-9542.

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: Bar inventory, NightClub Management, bar business, Bar Management, Nightclub Consulting, opening a bar, bar control, Control, inventory control

Inventory Control: Safeguarding Against Theft

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Wed, Jun, 08, 2011 @ 09:06 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing


Part 2: Common Excuses for Theft

TheftWhy do they do it? Your bar is a good place to work; you're a decent boss - you pay above-average wages - why does your staff feel the need to break the law? Put simply, human nature is to take something for nothing when the chance arises. An informed bar manager is in a far better position to fight losses from theft.

  • Greed. Theft isn't always about needing a little
    something extra to pay the bills; some employees
    just plain old enjoy beating the system. The
    thrill of getting a sneaky ten bucks is far more
    important to these people than the actual dollar
    value.
  • Rationalizing criminal behavior. "I didn't think
    it was hurting anybody," is a terrible excuse, but
    you'll hear it again and again. A little fiddle here
    and there is seen, in some employees' minds, as not doing anyone any harm.
  • Tip boosting. Some employees feel that if a customer isn't doing his or her part by leaving a reasonable tip, then turnabouts is fair play. Tips make up a significant part of any bartender's pay, and when the tips are low, they try to make up the difference in other ways.
  • Resentment. People don't always take orders, or discipline, well and sometimes members of staff who feel "picked on" will strike out by "getting even" with the manager or the venue that they feel has wronged them.
  • "It was there." Human beings can be impulsive creatures, and sometimes leaving the opportunity for a staff member to defraud the system is all the person in question needs to kick into action: "I don't know what came over me!"
 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: inventory managers, liquor theft, managing liquor inventory cost, bar business, Bar Management, bar control

Inventory Control: Safeguarding Against Theft

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Mon, Jun, 06, 2011 @ 09:06 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing


Part 1: Scams to Watch For
inventory control
Employees can very easily fall into a habit  their employers, and if you're not careful, you can be caught out for thousands of dollars, not to mention disgruntled customers. Keep an eye out for these 14 favorites:


  • The substitute. An employee buys his own bottle of a fast-moving spirit, brings it in at the start of the shift, and over the course of the night substitutes his own for the bar's bottle. Every time he sells a shot of this product, he then simply pockets the money, thus earning a large profit on his own alcohol while your stock stands still. While these people are not thieving your stock per se, they're thieving your business, so ensure you stamp or mark all of your spirit and liqueur bottles; check the empties regularly, and keep employee bags away from the bar and stockroom areas.
  • The short-pour. Your bartender short-pours every shot of a particular fast-selling spirit by between 25 and 50 percent, keeps note of how many shots she's sold from the bottle and when she's sold the number of shots that usually come from the bottle, she pockets the money from the remaining shots. Make sure that you check register receipts against the bottles used, and if possible, you use a computer-controlled pouring system, to take the opportunity to scam out of the employee's hands.
  • The "00."   Some registers can be opened with the press of just one button or from entering in a total of $0.00. Unbeknownst to some bar operators, this is the number-one means of rip-offs by staff. A customer buys a beer and gives the bartender a fiver. "Keep the change," says the customer as he walks off, so the employee hits the "register open" button, puts in the five-dollar bill and takes out five dollars in coins and singles for his or her pocket or tip jar. How do you avoid this scam? Remove that button. Your cash register provider can do this with no problem at all, and if a customer needs change in the future, your bartender simply asks him to wait for another sale to take place. Or even better, provide change machines.
  • Bogus breakage. Oops! A full vodka bottle hits the floor and the bar loses, big time. But did it really hit the floor? You might have a breakage bucket in which your staff are to put any broken bottles to show that they actually broke, but how do you know that the contents weren't poured into a hip flask beforehand? Or worse, that the contents were sold and the proceeds pocketed? The answer is simple: start a "you break it, you pay for it" rule. Of course, you don't need to enforce this rule if you don't think people are taking advantage, but it will stop the thieves.
  • Wasted waste. 'The beer lines were a little gassy today." Well, that might explain the two gallons of beer waste in the drip trays - but does it really? Pocketing the money for a draft beer and pouring a glass of water into the drip tray is an age-old scam and very hard to detect. Make sure your staff keep measurements of any beer waste and keep track of who wastes what. In time, any trends should become apparent, and even if certain staff members aren't crooked, you'll be able to tell very easily if they need lessons at pouring beer.
  • The backhander. Your security staff might not feel that taking ten bucks to let someone into the front of the line is wrong, but at the end of the night, when the person who paid that ten bucks has to go home because she's out of cash, it's your potential bottom line that suffers. To combat this, simply ask someone you know to go to the door and offer a kickback to jump the line. If the kickback is accepted, you need a new security guard.
  • The over-charger. Your bartender either rings up a price higher than what you've set for a drink or charges regular prices but rings up "Happy Hour" prices, pocketing the difference. To combat this, ensure that cash register tapes are changed at the end of every shift and the bartender explains any "Happy Hour" discounts. Likewise, ensure that all drink prices are posted clearly for your customers so that they can identify an overcharge.
  • The over-pourer. This bartender simply pours more than he or she needs to and hopes for a hefty tip. Keep an eye on your inventory, and this one should be easy to spot.
  • Rounding up rounds. Bartenders tally up a round of drinks as a "total price," rather than as separate items. This makes it easier to inflate that price without it being noticed by the customers. They then pocket the difference when they ring it up. To combat this possibility, keep drink prices clearly posted behind the bar or on table menus.
  • The "soft" scam. Your bartender simply neglects to charge for the mixer component of a drink, thus peeling a small bonus for every mixed drink he or she sells. This should be easy to spot if you check register ribbons, but if you don't, your staff can make a fortune.
  • The "padded" tab. When your customers run a tab, the bartender pencils in an inflated total, takes the money from the customer, then later erases it, replacing it with a correct total.
    Removing pencils from behind the bar and telling your staff that they must use pens is the best way to fight this one.
  • The substituted cash register tape. This ingenious little plan involves the bartender leasing a cash register just like yours and bringing in his or her own prepared cash register tape, substituting it for the real tape and pocketing the cash difference. Essentially, if you keep bartenders from "Z"ing their own tapes, you'll prevent this from being possible.
  • The refund. This is a simple, small-time scam where the bartender claims that a discrepancy in his or her takings was refunded to a customer for money lost in faulty vending machines or gaming equipment. Have any customer seeking a refund fill in a small claim form, with phone number and ID details included, and this shouldn't be an issue. Most customers won't mind doing this if they have a legitimate refund claim.
  • The jigger switch. The bartender brings in his or her own shot glass that seems identical to your normal barware, but is actually smaller. After several short measures, the bartender can start pocketing money without the inventory showing a shortage. Fight this by clearly marking your pouring measures and doing regular checks of your bar equipment.

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com

Topics: liquor inventory, Bar inventory, liquor theft, bar business, Bar Management, bar control, inventory counting, inventory control

A Successful Bar Begins With a Quality Staff

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Thu, May, 26, 2011 @ 09:05 AM
By Chris Parry
Atlantic Publishing

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Part 1: Hiring the Best Possible Staff

Finding the Right People

A successful bar operation depends on people more than anything--the people coming into your bar and the people behind it. How you treat your staff, how you find them, how you train them and how they work are keys factor in hospitality success. Many bar managers find that one of the most difficult tasks in their job is finding the right people to join their staff. If you want the best possible employees (and you shouldn't want anything less), these rules might assist you in your search:

  • Headhunt. If you want simply to fill a handful of roster slots with physically able bodies, classified ads may be a fine option. Classified ads will certainly bring you applicants. However, the best hospitality people are generally not unemployed; they're already working for your competition. Take a look around the better local establish­ments. If you see someone worth headhunting, make him or her an offer.
  • Ask your existing staff. They can be a great source of new staff; they usually know plenty of industry colleagues that would be a nice fit in your bar, and though you don't want to form "cliques," a personal reference from someone you respect sure as heck beats a cattle call.
  • Offer a finder's fee.  If someone working for you brings in a new employee that stays with you past a probationary period, a $75 bonus will get your existing people thinking hard about staffing possibilities.
  • Keep applications on file! If someone walks in the door and asks for a job when none has been advertised, you can bet they already know and like your establishment and truly want to work there. Motivated souls such as these make prime pickings, so don't disregard their applications - keep them and get in touch when you need to.
  • Time is money. Don't waste too much of it by interviewing everyone who applies to you. If an applicant isn't to your initial liking, thank him or her for the application and move on to someone who is.
  • The need to earn. It's traditionally thought that the more stabilizing factors there are in a person's life, such as being a student, having a mortgage or being married with children, the less likely that person will be to leave suddenly or jeopardize his or her job through tardiness.
  • What are you looking for exactly? Different roles require different skills. While not every position requires abundant experience, every position does require a mix of stability, intelli­gence, personality, honesty and a willingness to work. If an inexperienced applicant shows these qualities, look past any lack of skills and make an investment in a quality human being with training.
  • Every employee is a reflection of your corporate personality. It's important that employees view every customer as a potential friend, not an irritation. Certain people can light up a room with a smile, and if you can find two or three of those people, your customers will be back.
  • Never interview an applicant who has just made his or her application. Let him or her show enthusiasm when you call about an interview at a later date. If the applicant can't make it or doesn't show up, you're better off without.
  • Ask the right questions. If you want to be sure you have all the information you require from each person, put together a list of questions in advance. This will allow you to get comfortable, focus on the answers and stay on target.
  • Don't be afraid to ask for a demonstration. If a prospective bartender has trouble uncorking a bottle of wine or mixing a good martini, it's better that you find out ahead of time.

How Do You Test for Honesty

Dishonest employees are not always going to make themselves obvious. Sometimes the person with the biggest smile has something even bigger to hide. When hiring your staff, how can you go about discovering who is to be trusted and who should be shown the doors?

  • Background check. This might seem a draconian tactic to determine if your potential employees are who they say they are. You can run a check on your prospective staff online through an outfit like US Search (www.ussearch.com), who will take the person's details and run a check on credentials for only $59.95 - $99.95 for a criminal background check. The results of these searches can, in most cases, be e-mailed to you within 24 hours, with full details taking up to seven days.
  • References. Thorough checking of all references is a must, especially for a person interviewing for a position of trust. Call every company listed on the employee's resume and be sure to ask the correct questions: Why did the person leave? How long was she there? What position did he hold? Would the company gladly take him back if given the opportunity?
  • Credit check. If prospective employees will be in a position where they're exposed to a large amount of money, it may be prudent to run a credit check before you employ them.
  • Sometimes the simplest approach is the best. Why not just ask potential employees if they've ever taken something that wasn't theirs? Watch their body language when you ask the question. Do they blush? Do they avert their eyes? Do they fidget? Do they nod their head, as they say "no"?

 

 

 

 

This article is an excerpt from the Food Service Professional Guide to Bar & Beverage Operation, authored by Chris Parry, published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company 
Amazon.com


Topics: Bar staff, bar business, Bar Management, bar control

Human Resources and Owning your Bar

Posted by Nick Kaoukis on Thu, Apr, 14, 2011 @ 13:04 PM

ARE YOU REALLY READY TO OWN AND OPERATETO OWN AND OPERATE A BAR

 

Part 3:Bar working

HUMAN RESOURCES

Human resources is the single most important function in the bar business, yet remains the overlooked, misunderstood, and taken for granted. If the bar manager is responsible for the hiring of staff, then he must have the ability to hire the right kind of people. He must know where to get them, what to look for on an application, and what questions to ask during the interview.  It is necessary to describe what the specific job requires. For example: Bartenders must have the ability to give attention and recognition (the primary reason a customer returns to a particular bar—it’s not the drink!); they must be willing to take direction (the more experienced the bartender, for example, the harder it is to break them of their habits of doing things “their way”); and most importantly they must have a personality! They have to look alive, happy, and think of themselves as “show people,” constantly entertaining.

They must be honest and never succumb to the temptation of drinking while they work. A bar manager who drinks while on shift, or allows his bartenders to imbibe with customers, is not professional and doesn’t know what he’s doing (potential for law suits, uncontrolled environment, no workers comp protection if injured on the job, etc.). He is inviting problems. No job I know of allows workers to drink beverage alcohol while working.

The ultimate success or failure of your bar will be determined by those you hire. How well they do their job with cash and product, the frame of mind they are in when doing their job, and how they directly interact and impress each customer they serve directly affects your bar’s sales, profitability, and the length of time you will stay on as the bar manager.

Do you have a bartender’s manual, cocktail server’s manual, bar back manual, orientation manual, training manuals for all positions, etc., that describes exactly how you want everything done? Do you have the writing skills to create these manuals if need be? Have you documented your house rules about eating, smoking, free drinks, break privileges, payday, schedule posting, dating, using the company telephone, cell phone policy, personal belongings, accidents on the job, switching shifts, cashing checks, when to be at work, serving minors, serving visibly intoxicated people, gambling, holidays, illegal drugs on the property, “to-go” drinks, being on the property when off duty, etc.? You must paint a picture for everyone to follow so that your policies are consistent and there is no misinterpretation. Every rule you could possibly make has to be documented, so you can say, “It’s in the book!”

How do you train your new hires and how do you continue training and motivating the entire staff? A bar manager should be constantly testing the entire bar staff for compliance with house recipes, glassware, garnishes and knowledge about new products and promotions.Do you evaluate your employees’ performance on 180 day intervals? Do you document an employee’s disciplinary problems and retain a copy for the personnel file with a timeframe for improvement? There are so many lawsuits these days over seemingly insignificant problems that it behooves a bar manager to do everything within his power to support his and his company’s position in court. You must have the documentation to do so. Do not become lackadaisical when terminating an employee. You must use a termination form and fill it out

Handling a termination correctly requires knowledge and experience. Many states are “employee at will,” meaning you don’t have to have a reason to fire someone. But this is being challenged nationwide, and you don’t want to be the test case for your state. Therefore—document, document, document! And always have a witness present when you are terminating someone.

You should know whether or not your employees should be allowed access to their personnel file and what they can and cannot see in their file. Do you ask medical questions about your employees? When? During the interview? (No, that’s against the law.) What about the I-9? Are there more forms that can be used to determine identity and eligibility to work besides a driver’s license and social security card? No? Are you sure? Check columns A, B, and C on the back of that form.

What information should you have in the employee’s personnel file to successfully fight an unjustified claim for unemployment compensation? In the event of an injury, do you fill out an injury report for workers’ compensation and send it to your insurance carrier within seven days? 

Do you understand the laws pertaining to the Bureau of Alcohol in your state? Do you understand why it is illegal to “marry” liquor, or why you can’t refill an empty liquor bottle with any other substance? What about the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act)? What does it state? And ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and USERRA (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act)? Do you know the laws pertaining to reporting tips, sexual harassment, the Equal Pay Act, the Tip Credit Law, and Overtime Pay Rate for Tipped Employees?

“You have to know all of the laws that pertain to the business you own and are managing. Otherwise, it can be very costly and it could land you in big legal trouble.”If you are in a state that takes a tip credit (paying less than minimum wage), have you informed your employee at the time of hire why you are taking the tip credit and what their rights are as a result? You’re breaking the law if you don’t. If you are paying less than minimum wage (taking the tip credit), do you ever penalize your employees financially for a missing check, a walk-out, being $20 short in the register, the cost of a uniform, etc.? (Nope—it’s against the law!) Can you deduct anything for meals, or the service charge for a tipped charge? Check with your state, as it varies nationally.

You get my point—there is so much to know and be aware of. As a manager, one of the most important rules is: Don’t do anything that gets your owner/business sued. So you must

WHICHEVER YOU CHOOSE TO USE, HAVING STAFF FOLLOW GUIDELINES FROM A BARTENDER’S MANUAL WILL HELP MAKE SERVICE UNIFORM.

Know the laws that pertain to the business you are managing. Otherwise, it could be very costly and land you in big trouble.Now that we have scratched the surface of human resources in the bar business and put forth some questions for you to look into, you should have a better understanding of how much there is to know—and we’ve just begun!

Topics: bartending schools, bar business, Bar Management

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