How to Build a Sports Bar

Are you tired of spending your hard earned money in a sports bar? Have you always had the dream of building your own sports bar? If you love sports and people who love sports, building a sports bar is a Possible Dream. Understanding your Target Market is easy because you know people who enjoy the camaraderie of a sports bar. Getting a handle on your Start Up Costs will be easy when you follow my tips. Setting up your Operations properly will get you on the fast track to success with your sports bar. And a great Marketing plan will assure you of Building the Best Sports Bar anywhere.

Instructions

1. 

   TARGET MARKET: You have an excellent product and a plan to build the winning sports bar of your dreams, so don't skip this step. Understanding how many other sports bar fans with the disposable income to frequent your bar are in your neighborhood can be the difference between the Best Sports Bar in town and the Quietest Sports Bar in town. Don't get too caught up in the immediate area yet, the will be a variety of locations for your sports bar within a comfortable commuting distance. For a good start, research the demographics of no less than 100 miles. You might be surprised when you discover what neighborhood actually has the prime sports bar customers that you are looking for. The local Chamber of Commerce and the SBA are great researching tools that you can utilize for this research. You will also need to do research on the existing bars in your 100 mile radius. Be sure to keep detailed notes on your potential competition as this is a key part of the next three steps. Gather, gather, gather you can never have too much information on your sport bar target market.

2. 

   START UP COSTS: Building a Sports Bar is a full time overtime required job, so now that you have a better understanding of the who and where, it's time to crunch some very important numbers. Accounting for ever cent before the first cent is spent is the key to budgeting and operating your sports bar in the black as soon as possible. You will need a pen and a piece of paper or your favorite spreadsheet program and the time to build a detailed list including these categories. Formation, Construction, Equipment, Deposits, Inventory, Recruitment & Training, Marketing and Insurance. Under the Formation column you will need to list, Incorporation Fees, Legal Fees, Licensing Fees and any professional Fees that will need to be paid before opening. The Construction column will vary depending on your scenario. New Construction, Leasehold Improvements or Upgrades are a possibility depending on your perfect location. Any costs incurred for any expenses incurred that are permanent to the location need to be included in the construction column. The Equipment Column will include all items purchased for the operation of your sports bar that is not considered consumables. Deposits are self explanatory but they need to be listed as they are an asset to your books. The Inventory column can be a great way to start your inventory control system. You will even need to list kitchen items if you are planing a full service kitchen. Recruitment and Training is an important column that can even include uniform purchases. These employees will represent you so choose wisely. You wouldn't normally see Marketing as a start up cost but your opening blow out should be included here. Insurance is also an ongoing expense but in some cases it need to be prepaid so be sure to include it in your sports bar Start Up Budget.

3. 

   OPERATIONS: You've done your homework and set and followed your budget so now you are well on your way to opening The Best Sports Bar. Operating it is going to be the fun part right? Well, getting your operations procedures down on paper and followed completely will help you make sure that it is Fun. You've gathered all of your trained professional sports bar employees (or like most, your best friends), come up with a good schedule, an opening team, a closing team, a bar register , a waitress register, a kitchen inventory system and a bar inventory system but talking about and writing about and following a system can be the difference between success and failure in the bar business. So, do sit down and write or have someone write an operations manual for you, so if employee A socks employee B in the mouth everyone already knows what you are going to do. That may be a flip example, maybe you could think about the inventory controls and pricing that you have established and know that "free drinks" and or sales that are not rung up will effect your sports bar bottom line.

4. 

   MARKETING: It's a Sports Bar, it's name represents it, your signs may even say it but Marketing is a part of every new business, even established businesses have to continue to market to grow and be successful. Just like Christmas is to retailers, every Sports Bar needs it's Superbowl or Stanley Cup or World Series, to be the best in town. Preparing to have huge no holds barred events is a great way to market your Sports Bar. You may not get daily traffic from the patrons who attend these Events but you will be at the top of their lists when they do want a Sports Bar Environment. Preparing, Scheduling Producing a Great Energy Level and Give aways, contests and entertainment will put your sports bar at the top of everyone's list. Marketing Budget can be set and promotional ideas can grow. You may even be able to get local sports celebrities to attend, remember most sports teams support a certain charity, you could offer to donate a portion of the proceeds of your event to their favorite charity to get additional advertising for your sports bar.