Successful Bar owners

[georgegeorgia]

As I have wandered around Pattaya the last few months I popped into many beer bars that seem to be successful mostly because of the owners hard work it seemed eg his personality and able to interact with all types of people 

 

i was even in bars when farang customers would stop by to ask the thai staff when the farang owner would be in,then they would  come back then they said.

 

I came to the conclusion I could never own / run a bar in Thailand ,admittedly I dont have that extrovert personality,

 

Ironically late Dad did have that personality, where he could walk into a room full of people  he didnt know and come back 15 minutes later he would be friends with them all calling them by their first names , he was the shop steward at his work , he knew everyone ,and when he passed away over 1000 people attended his funeral,people my Mother didnt even know existed, however strangely I just dont have that sort of personality , Im not a people type person.

 

The successful beer bars I visited had bar owners who were good actors I guess I could say , knowing and remembering people by their first name , remembering what they told you last time , listening to people , even going as far as keeping secrets eg One customer asked the bar owner what another regular customer worked as in Pattaya,the bar owner said he didnt know,but then retriteted and said he knew but would have to kill you to tell you.,so in ither words he found a fun way to tell other customers he can keep a secret and doesnt blabber about his customers.

 

also the most successful dont talk shit about their customers to their Thai staff,you msy think thats not inmportant but it is,you can always see when Thai staff dont have respect for a regular customer,talk down to them etc ,it means because the owner has bad mouthed the farang customer to them or in front of them but is nice to the customers face.

 

Hard work more then ever plays a part,I remember one guy in a Aussie pub in pattaya was working something like 11am toearly hours of the morning,lets call him Danny,he was woring more harder and longer than he ever has.

 

to be continued 

 

 

[Spidey]

1 hour ago, georgegeorgia said:

The successful beer bars I visited had bar owners who were good actors I guess

Yep, good actors at pretending that they have a successful bar. Most bars in Pattaya are leaking money. The very few successful ones are where the owners have several bars, Scooters, Retox, Nightwish Group etc.. Own a little beer bar in Pattaya? I couldn't afford it!

 

The people making real profits are the Thai landowners charging exorbitant rents.

[BestB]

17 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Yep, good actors at pretending that they have a successful bar. Most bars in Pattaya are leaking money. The very few successful ones are where the owners have several bars, Scooters, Retox, Nightwish Group etc.. Own a little beer bar in Pattaya? I couldn't afford it!

 

The people making real profits are the Thai landowners charging exorbitant rents.

How did you arrive at conclusion that they acting or leaking money? 

 

Whatever made you think ones you mentioned are making money ?

 

would really love to know 

[Spidey]

53 minutes ago, BestB said:

How did you arrive at conclusion that they acting or leaking money? 

 

Whatever made you think ones you mentioned are making money ?

 

would really love to know 

Talking to bar owners. Was talking to 2 last night, one just setting up, English guy and one in the game for years and never made a profit.

You can also tell by the number that are closing/up for sale. Can think of one bar with a really good USP that's been doing well for years but has been up for sale for most of this year.

[BestB]

2 hours ago, Spidey said:

Talking to bar owners. Was talking to 2 last night, one just setting up, English guy and one in the game for years and never made a profit.

You can also tell by the number that are closing/up for sale. Can think of one bar with a really good USP that's been doing well for years but has been up for sale for most of this year.

I see, so the 2 that you spoke to were honest and genuine while all others lie? And one that lost money speaks for everyone else and knows what others make or made ?

[Spidey]

11 minutes ago, BestB said:

I see, so the 2 that you spoke to were honest and genuine while all others lie? And one that lost money speaks for everyone else and knows what others make or made ?

They weren't speaking to me I was earwigging on their conversation.

 

Another guide is footfall. Over the last couple of years I have seen a major decline in footfall in bars. To be successful, bars need a USP. Not many bars have this. All too many farangs come over here on holiday, sit in bars and fancy the lifestyle, move over here and buy a bar. They have no previous experience and quickly get eaten up in the cut throat world of running bars in Pattaya.

 

One thing Pattaya doesn't breed is success. If you, by some miracle, are successful, your landlord will immediately jack the rent up and your competitors will go all out to bring you down.

 

You would be surprised how many owners will grass their competitors up to the police, even pay them to put a competitor out of business.

Edited September 10, 2018 by Spidey

[MJKT2014]

Been a long time since I felt the need to visit Pattaya bars, but I found in my day the best managers were the ones who minded their own business, kept a low profile and didn't pester the punters - they were just pimping after all and punters preferred to do their own window shopping without hassle or feedback. Something that Thai managers are to this day much better at than the foreign ones.

[Ks45672]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

How did you arrive at conclusion that they acting or leaking money? 

 

Whatever made you think ones you mentioned are making money ?

 

would really love to know 

If you think back a decade  ago, bars in lively areas were usually full on weekends and a good crowd even on weeknights.... 

Go out now and bars that used to be packed are empty or more staff than customers.... 

In 2010 you had to wait 5 or 6 games to play the winner on the pool table  and now its like a ghost town..... 

 

 

 

[BestB]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

They weren't speaking to me I was earwigging on their conversation.

 

Another guide is footfall. Over the last couple of years I have seen a major decline in footfall in bars. To be successful, bars need a USP. Not many bars have this. All too many farangs come over here on holiday, sit in bars and fancy the lifestyle, move over here and buy a bar. They have no previous experience and quickly get eaten up in the cut throat world of running bars in Pattaya.

 

One thing Pattaya doesn't breed is success. If you, by some miracle, are successful, your landlord will immediately jack the rent up and your competitors will go all out to bring you down.

 

You would be surprised how many owners will grass their competitors up to the police, even pay them to put a competitor out of business.

Again you are doing nothing more than speculating without much proof or reason , you nod also deflecting from your original comment claiming bar owners are lying and name dropping a few claiming they make money.

 

no one said that each and every bar opened makes money , however need to factor in how many are owned by people who have experience or business sense or both.

 

jusy because some place looks busy it does not mean they are making money. You can have bar full with 100 people drinking 1 bar and a bar with only 20 drinking 10 each.

 

some operate a pure cash flow model ie sell for cost with maybe 1 baht mark up . Bar always full, Monet always flowing , net profit close to zero, but looks great from outside , great books with huge daily totals and bank account deposits.

 

running bar is a very hard business , twice as hard in Thailand . One does not need to have huge tv screens or young pretty girls to make healthy profit. Oz bar on Pattaya tai is a perfect example of that. No AC, on main intersection , dust, smell , hot. Crappy interior, ugly old girls and guy makes money 

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, BestB said:

Again you are doing nothing more than speculating without much proof or reason , you nod also deflecting from your original comment claiming bar owners are lying and name dropping a few claiming they make money.

 

no one said that each and every bar opened makes money , however need to factor in how many are owned by people who have experience or business sense or both.

 

jusy because some place looks busy it does not mean they are making money. You can have bar full with 100 people drinking 1 bar and a bar with only 20 drinking 10 each.

 

some operate a pure cash flow model ie sell for cost with maybe 1 baht mark up . Bar always full, Monet always flowing , net profit close to zero, but looks great from outside , great books with huge daily totals and bank account deposits.

 

running bar is a very hard business , twice as hard in Thailand . One does not need to have huge tv screens or young pretty girls to make healthy profit. Oz bar on Pattaya tai is a perfect example of that. No AC, on main intersection , dust, smell , hot. Crappy interior, ugly old girls and guy makes money 

All of which is complete nonsense, of course.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

All of which is complete nonsense, of course.

No doubt because an expert like you overheard 2 bar owners talking ?

[Spidey]

Just now, BestB said:

No doubt because an expert like you overheard 2 bar owners talking ?

I gave a lot more reasons than that to justify my comment. All valid ones. I also know several bar owners.

Unlike you who spews a load of bilge to try and pick holes in other peoples posts.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

I gave a lot more reasons than that to justify my comment. All valid ones. I also know several bar owners.

Unlike you who spews a load of bilge to try and pick holes in other peoples posts.

Well now you really are an expert , not only you overheard 2 talking but also know a few?

[Spidey]

Just now, BestB said:

Well now you really are an expert , not only you overheard 2 talking but also know a few?

I never claimed to be an expert, that's the word you used in a pathetic attempt at being abusive.

[BestB]

Just now, Spidey said:

I never claimed to be an expert, that's the word you used in a pathetic attempt at being abusive.

You right , you never said you were , you only making posts with claims of an expert because you overheard 2 bar owners and know a few?

[OneMoreFarang]

Nice girls are important for business. I don't think there is any bar with lots of nice girls which is not successful. But the problem for the owners is obviously to keep them or to make sure there are always new nice girls available.

[moontang]

I have heard them say nothing brings them in like the freelancers....

[Spidey]

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

Nice girls are important for business. I don't think there is any bar with lots of nice girls which is not successful. But the problem for the owners is obviously to keep them or to make sure there are always new nice girls available.

It's the biggest problem for bar owners now. As you say a bar stands or falls on it's girls. It's getting more and more difficult to recruit decent girls and even more difficult to keep them.

 

More and more bars are surviving with the majority of girls being sie lie girls (freelancers). The bars can't afford to pay these girls a salary so they have no loyalty to the bar, they start and finish their day when it suits them and flit from bar to bar.

[BestB]

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Nice girls are important for business. I don't think there is any bar with lots of nice girls which is not successful. But the problem for the owners is obviously to keep them or to make sure there are always new nice girls available.

All depends on business model and it’s target customer base.

 

Triangle bar does not have any girls but sells beer at 7-11 prices.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

Are you still here?

Why would I go anywhere? Always fun to read expert opinions from the bar stool on the matters that they have no clue or experience?

 

Please carry on 

[OneMoreFarang]

2 minutes ago, Spidey said:

8 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Nice girls are important for business. I don't think there is any bar with lots of nice girls which is not successful. But the problem for the owners is obviously to keep them or to make sure there are always new nice girls available.

It's the biggest problem for bar owners now. As you say a bar stands or falls on it's girls. It's getting more and more difficult to recruit decent girls and even more difficult to keep them.

 

More and more bars are surviving with the majority of girls being sie lie girls (freelancers). The bars can't afford to pay these girls a salary so they have no loyalty to the bar, they start and finish their day when it suits them and flit from bar to bar.

I agree.

 

And it is also the reason why many bars, at least in Bangkok, hire coyote girls. Because these girls come from an agency. If some of them stop or move somewhere else it's the job of the agency to get new girls.

Lots of owners and customers don't really like more to pay more, because obviously the agency wants to make money.

But it's a lot better for the bars to have a couple of expensive girls compared to no girls.

[BestB]

6 minutes ago, Spidey said:

It's the biggest problem for bar owners now. As you say a bar stands or falls on it's girls. It's getting more and more difficult to recruit decent girls and even more difficult to keep them.

 

More and more bars are surviving with the majority of girls being sie lie girls (freelancers). The bars can't afford to pay these girls a salary so they have no loyalty to the bar, they start and finish their day when it suits them and flit from bar to bar.

Is that what you also overheard or girls told you so ????

[CharlieH]

Some bickering removed.

[BestB]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I agree.

 

And it is also the reason why many bars, at least in Bangkok, hire coyote girls. Because these girls come from an agency. If some of them stop or move somewhere else it's the job of the agency to get new girls.

Lots of owners and customers don't really like more to pay more, because obviously the agency wants to make money.

But it's a lot better for the bars to have a couple of expensive girls compared to no girls.

Agency girls a minimum 1000 baht per day salary 

[OneMoreFarang]

4 minutes ago, BestB said:

All depends on business model and it’s target customer base.

 

Triangle bar does not have any girls but sells beer at 7-11 prices.

And how exactly does a bar make money with 7/11 prices?

[Spidey]

2 minutes ago, BestB said:

Why would I go anywhere? Always fun to read expert opinions from the bar stool on the matters that they have no clue or experience?

 

Please carry on 

You mean that you derive your pleasure from trolling people.

[BestB]

4 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And how exactly does a bar make money with 7/11 prices?

They do not , precisely the point which I explained earlier.

 

cash flow model, always have money turning over just no profit .

 

San Mig is 44 baht in 7-11, they sell 90 baht buy one, get one free, ie 45 baht per bottle .

Edited September 10, 2018 by BestB

[BestB]

Just now, Spidey said:

You mean that you derive your pleasure from trolling people.

No I mean unlike bar stool experts not only I have owned one for 8 years in Thailand but have been in business for 22 years.

[Spidey]

Just now, BestB said:

No I mean unlike bar stool experts not only I have owned one for 8 years in Thailand but have been in business for 22 years.

In Pattaya? Which bar?

[BestB]

1 minute ago, Spidey said:

In Pattaya? Which bar?

Too expansive for you, I do not sell beers for 50 baht