Expert Advice on Hospitality Topics

New bar managers, especially those who have never owned a business before, often find the process of caring for money matters quite daunting. There are a number of ways to make the process easier:

• Keep excellent records. Staying organized and holding on to all receipts is crucial. Invest in a filing cabinet and make sure to file all your receipts in a simple method that makes sense to you. Ideally, you want to be able to find any financial paper within minutes.

• Set aside a time and place for money matters. Each day, you should spend time considering the financial side of business. You should look at and file receipts, make payments, tally profits and debts, etc. This will make staying organized a habit. It will also prevent a buildup of financial matters that seems insurmountable.

• Consider an accountant. An accountant can help you by showing up once a week or once a month to help you complete your financial statements. Hiring an accounting service will mean an additional bill to pay, however. You will also want to go over the accountant's work on your own, to see how the financial side of things works. In general, it is a mistake to leave the entire financial management of your operation to another person. If you hire an accountant, stay involved in the financial work of your bar. An accountant, however, can be handy in the beginning, when you are just starting to learn the ropes.

• Get tax help. One place you will want help is in taxes. Tax laws are so complex that you will likely miss write-offs and other items if you do them yourself (unless, of course, you are a pro at doing taxes for business).

• Consider financial software. There are many titles out there that are made especially for small businesses, and they make managing money very easy. You can use the software to print checks, keep track of profits and debts, and you can even scan receipts right into virtual file folders—all without bulky filing cabinets. If you know your way around a computer, financial software can help make taking care of profits a snap. Here are a few well-known and relatively inexpensive financial-software suites designed for small businesses:

◊ Sage 50 Complete Accounting is easy-to-use and comes with screen-level security and automatic accounting checks that give you confidence in the integrity of your information. Plus, it's installed on computers that you control locally.

◊ Intuit Quickbooks Pro. The most popular version of America's #1 small business financial software helps you save time and get more organized. New features show you exactly where your business stands and save you time so you can focus on your business.

◊ AccountEdge is powerful small business accounting software for Mac and Windows.Sales and purchases, inventory, payroll, time billing and contact management just scratch the surface of what AccountEdge can do for your small business.

◊ Bookkeeper provides you with the accounting functionality you need to easily manage your business finances. From check writing, payroll and credit card processing, to billing, invoicing, tax preparation, reporting and more, Bookkeeper eliminates the hassles of day to day bookkeeping and frees up your valuable time so you can focus on growing your business.

• Have a backup plan in case you suddenly can't use your cash registers. Power failures and sudden mechanical problems can cost you a lot of money and always seem to occur at the worst time. Keep paper receipts and a calculator or small manual register under the bar so that staff can continue to serve customers, no matter what.

This article is an excerpt from the The Professional Bar & Beverage Managers Handbook: How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful Bar, Tavern and Nightclub, authored by Douglas Robert Brown, published by Atlantic Publishing Group. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company
Amazon.com

Your market and competitor research will likely reveal that most bars that are successful pay a lot of attention to customers. In fact, great service is one of the surest ways of drawing repeat customers. To draw more patrons to your bar on a regular basis, you do not have to spend a lot of money. However, you do have to think like a customer; you will likely notice a few things that need to change at your establishment:

• Waiting lines. If there's a line outside the door, all it takes is a little creativity to either bring the line inside or disguise it on the outside. Remember, those people waiting outside are probably thirsty and they'd be more than happy to do their waiting in a courtyard area, at a temporary bar, or in a cordoned-off outside area where drinking is permitted. Of those who are prepared to brave the line, most will do so gladly if they know they can be inside within 30 minutes. Also, it's simple to change waiting-time perceptions by making that wait a little more comfortable or entertaining.

• Parking can be a big hassle in many venues. If there tends to be a traffic jam outside your venue, consider installing a valet service on busy nights or posting a staff member outside to direct patrons to parking around the back or down the road. Signs pointing to parking areas also help.

• Offer creative extras. Whether it is free hand massages, glow sticks, or a live band outside, making the outside dazzling will make people all the more eager to see the inside of the bar.

• Think about your TV screens and sound system in relation to your waiting area. Can waiting people catch a glimpse of the big game? Can they hear the music inside? These things will keep a waiting person keen on staying around, whereas a blank brick wall and a disinterested bouncer isn't inviting to anyone.

• Keep clientele informed. If there's a wait for a table, set up an electronic sign indicating how long their expected wait will be. Add to this anything you can think of that will make their wait more entertaining—sports scores, trivia questions, coming events. It might be a little more work, but if you can keep just five people from leaving, it'll be worth it. 

• Freebies and incentives. Offer your waiting patrons a little something extra and they won't just "not mind" waiting, they'll do so gladly. Coupons to be used on a later date are a good option.

• Create a waiting area if you know that there tends to be a wait to get into the bar. This can include comfy chairs or an outside patio where customers can wait and sit. This is a great way to make sure that customers do not get tired and leave.

• It doesn't have to be expensive. Giving your waiting customers something to do doesn't have to be expensive, high-tech, or take up your employees' valuable time. Consider offering free reading material in your waiting area or even Internet access.

• Act first. A long wait doesn't seem quite so long when a staff member keeps you informed on how long your table will take. Don't wait for the customer to ask you; go out and tell the customer.

• Make your bar irresistible. Why will some bar patrons wait forty-five minutes to get into a bar instead of giving up and going elsewhere? They have a sense of urgency to get inside. Whether you are offering a hot live act, celebrities, or some other enticement, make sure it is worth the wait

• Offer free appetizers to waiting patrons. A tray with a nice selection of different foods from your menu can actually be a great advertisement and may even generate increased food sales.

• Supply your customers with pagers. Offering waiting customers a pager to notify them when their table is ready is a great alternative to the usual "public address" announcement or a yell over the crowd. When a table becomes available, your host simply dials the waiting customer's number, and wherever they are in the building (or outside), they know that their table is ready. 

• Build suspense. If it appears as though there is something really exciting going on in your bar, people will be willing to wait to get inside.

• Make sure waits are fair. Patrons who have been waiting for a whilewill get rightfully angry if it appears as though the staff are letting in people who are paying extra or who are simply "flirtier." Make sure that your security staff respect the queue and try to get everyone inside in an orderly and fair manner.

• Keep your customers informed. Be honest. If there'll be a half-hour wait, don't tell them it will be a fifteen-minute wait and hope they don't walk out. Similarly, ensure your staff keeps them updated on the wait so they know they haven't been forgotten. Small things like this make a big difference in the eyes of a waiting customer.

Customers are your mainstay in the bar business. If you treat them better than other bars would, you are ensured repeat business. Customers love to feel like VIPs, and the more patrons you make feel like this, the more business you will have. Share these tips with your staff to ensure they treat every customer as through he or she were a star.

This article is an excerpt from the The Professional Bar & Beverage Managers Handbook: How to Open and Operate a Financially Successful Bar, Tavern and Nightclub, authored by Douglas Robert Brown, published by Atlantic Publishing Group. This excerpt has been reprinted with permission of the publisher. To purchase this book go to:

Atlantic Publishing Company
Amazon.com

The nightclub business can be a rough. With a plentitude of competing venues, and with customer tastes in constant flux, the average half-life of a bar or nightclub is all too brief. Survival can depend on your ability to stay ahead of the curve and be in tune with your customers’ ever-changing demands. In short, you need to be constantly aware of what’s in  and what’s not in order to remain vital. Here is a brief compendium, in three parts, of some of the emerging and continuing trends in the industry, just a few things to look out for in 2012 and beyond: