Business Ops

[trevmdurant]

Hi all,

Just wondered about your thoughts on opening a bar in LOS.

Is it worth it for a start? On my last visit, I met several UK expats who had opened up beer bars and go-go bars and they said it was the best thing they ever did - but I suppose they are bound to say that!

Any info on location, costs, legalities and the like would be good...

If it really is a s**t idea, just say so too.....!

Thanks.

[RamdomChances]

On your next trip see if they are still here!!

Seriously a succsesful bar is the exeption rather than the rule.

[IamMaiC]

Uh oh your gonna have some expats wanting to know if they can interview the bargirls for you!!!

[Khun Jean]

I know an owner of a bar in Pat Pong personally many years.

These are a few things that can/will happen.

My take on this:

If you want to run a bar and be profitable i guess you need a good theme, stick to it, be special, stay around ALL the time, entertain your customers personally, don't fool around with the girls, try not to be drunk every night, depending the area calculate a fine sum for the boys in brown and some other boys you run into, don't be upset when you can open one day on 18:00 then next on 16:00 and the next on 20:00 depending on the whims of higher placed individuals (this is also for the night closing times. 12, 01, 02, 01 again...), can stand drunken guests who think they are cheated with the bill (probably right, employee trying to make a few extra baht). Have a good DJ who wants to play for the customers and not only for himself, put the volume a little bit lower than all the other bars, etc, etc...

Oh yeah, and have some nice girls people can watch. And please don't be angry when they don't show up all the time, it will make them scared and they will cry and they never come back, taking her best friend with her.....

There are probably another 1000 things you have to deal with, but if you are an experienced bar owner already you know that ofcourse.

It can be done, but it is a tough job.

If you leave "office" for a day bad things can already happen.

But i think it wont be the best thing you ever did.

[Sunbelt Asia]

I would sit tight till we know more about the midnight closings. Wouldn't start a bar as for one you simply cannot get the proper license now. If you acquire an existing bar with a share purchase, it can be transferred. Of course due diligence has to be performed as well.

Any info on location, costs, legalities and the like would be good...

Where would you like to be... what city?

www.sunbeltasia.com

[trevmdurant]

Sunbelt,

to be completely predictable, I was thinking Pattaya....

[terdsak_12]

Give it a try, maybe something that caters to the local expats as opposed to tourists, don't go for a stupid square beer bar though!!

I think a lot depends on your personality, I've met some bar owners with the personalitiy of a dead chicken, didn't do his buiness much good.

[pluto_manibo]

If it really is a s**t idea, just say so too.....!

IT IS! I can't believe people still fall for that........ Why don't you try something new to offer the community, and something legal.....

[monty]

It's possible to run a succesfull bar in Thailand, even in Pattaya...

However, almost every succesful owner has been in the bar/pub business(and succesfully so) long before they came to Thailand or at least they were very savvy and succesful self employed people before they got here!

This is a very high competitive line of work...

And certainly not healthy..

[PeaceBlondie]

You might want to reconsider, and open an icicle shop in Alaska, or sell space heaters in Singapore.

[Heng]

Open a bar and use it as a front for laundering money. One of your biggest advantages is that business here is so cash based that you'd probably go unnoticed for years (and you'd hopefully get out before then).

[penelope]

You might want to reconsider, and open an icicle shop in Alaska, or sell space heaters in Singapore.

or a sand shop in the desert

[Sunbelt Asia]

to be completely predictable, I was thinking Pattaya....

In Pattaya, if you are looking to start a bar that has girls in it. Don't expect to make money for at least one year. Have at least 2 years cash reserve in the bank. I'm talking about a bar not a beer bar.

Odds are if it’s a beer bar, look at that as a hobby and not a moneymaking business. Simply too much competition and you cannot set yourself apart from the other bars.

On a bar why it takes a business a year to make a profit? What brings customers to the bar is girls. Without girls no customers. The girls will hang out for a couple days then move on. The relatives and friends of your employees is the pipeline to get new talent. It’s simply a brutal circle at first till you get some business and it picks up.

Of course acquiring an existing business open for a number of years has a big advantage as it’s gone thru having few girls and customers in the first months.

Solution you might think if you are doing a startup is pay the girls 15,000 per month to attract girls. However then most are not motivated to talk to the guys and just go thru the motions. They are happy with the 15k. That’s why some require to get the 15K they need to do so many lady drinks and barfines but if their are few customers, they'll leave as well. What a vicious circle.

Once you get it right like the Polo, Peppermint, Tony's then it’s like a printing press. But the key is to have the capital to back you till you do or better yet acquire one of the good bars and simply expand that to greater heights. On an existing bar, expect to pay 2.5 times EBITD. Do your due diligence on looking at receipts showing how much beer and liquor they bought. Then do the math to find out the gross sales. You already know their other expenses. You’ll find many more ways to confirm the numbers. Think like a taxman investigating if they are paying the proper taxes. Most do not. Even without audited financials, you will get a good idea if the numbers add up. Its takes homework and time but your successful odds are considerably higher of acquiring an existing business than starting one up and going thru the circle of few customers and girls. If you do start a bar, have reserve capital.

Successful bar owners almost always tell me, the same when I asked them "Why they were successful".... they gave the customer want they wanted. These points were... girls, had a good manager that communicated with customers and they could trust, theme nights, promos as way to give back to the customer and say " Thank you”, music, lighting was not too dark and not too bright, made people feel like it’s their home.

You take over a successful bar; you’ll learn how they do this and get training by the current owner. Starting a bar, you simply better know before you start up.

www.sunbeltasia.com