Everyone that starts a business wants to make some profit and grow the business successfully. But not a lot of businesses achieve this, that is why you will find businesses that have closed shop and moved on. When it comes to starting a pub business for the first time, what will make such a business grow and become profitable is knowing the tips and tricks of running the business.
If you research about businesses that grew from the scratch and became successful, you will realize that the founders adopted some tips and tricks that kept them in the game from year to year. If indeed you are starting a pub for the first time, here are some tips ad tricks you must know if you want the business to be successful.
20 Tips and Tricks for Running a Pub for the First Time
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Enforce Discipline
Basically, the first step when it comes to the success of a pub business is to ensure that every employee carries out their job functions as clearly stipulated in the JD and employee’s handbook. One of the major challenges of building a successful business is lack of discipline. You would realize that when discipline is not enforced at the early stage of building your pub, your employees tend to handle assigned tasks with levity.
In order to effectively grow your pub business, when any of your staff members breach the company policies or display any form of indiscipline, you have to issue them a query, suspension or even a termination of their appointment. It will help stem/put to end bad blood or bad culture in your organization.
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Impose Team Spirit
Another effective management tip you need to adopt if you want to build a successful pub business from scratch is to engender team spirit amongst all your employees; every member of the workforce should be able to work as one. The acronym TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) truly fits into the basic requirement for effectively managing any business successfully.
Just make sure you encourage any activity that will promote team spirit in your pub business from the onset so that in the long run, it will become part of your company’s corporate culture.
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Organize and Display Your Liquor Bottles Aesthetically
Please note that the arrangement of the liquor bottles behind the bar is a primary attribute of effective pub organization and management. Displaying your bottles in an aesthetically pleasing way is just as crucial as displaying them in a way that is easily accessible to the bartender.
Some pubs in the United Kingdom illuminate their liquor bottles because the sight of glowing bottles tends to be quite pleasing to consumers. Lit bottles of liquor may attract a customer’s attention and entice them to purchase “top shelf” drinks that are expensive liquors.
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Enforce Accountability Across Board
Another strategy you would need if you are running a pub business for the first time is to ensure that you enforce accountability across the board in your company. Make it clear that everybody including you, is expected to be accountable to the whole team.
Nobody should be expected to do things and just get away with it. If any employee is running late to work or won’t be able to make it to work on time, they should make it a point of duty to call their supervisor or manager and inform him/her, on time.
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Study Successful Pubs
Another important tip and trick that you must not ignore if you are running a pub for the first time is to study successful pubs in and around your location. It is a fact that the principle of success can be copied and implemented.
When studying these successful pubs in your city, ensure that you take note of what is making them stay ahead of their competitors and then implement it when you start your own pub. With that, to a larger extent, you can be rest assured that your pub business will be successful.
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Leverage on Computerized Order Entry System
Making use of a computerized order entry system for your pub might be expensive for starters, but it is just the way to go if you have plans of welcoming loads of customers. A popular pub may receive hundreds of drink orders in a single evening. Note that keeping up with these orders can be very challenging unless there is a stipulated system by which orders are entered and filled by the bartender.
Most pubs in the United Kingdom leverage a computerized order entry system that displays the drinks that need to be made. Nonetheless, a computerized system is not always a necessity. Penning down drink orders on order sheets and placing these on an order carousel is a cost-effective way to make sure your customers get their drinks immediately without having to wait for the skies to fall.
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Design and Organize Your Pub for Efficiency
Have it in mind that a well-organized pub runs more efficiently, and customers will be able to sense this. When your pub is well organized, your customers will get their drinks in a more timely fashion. Also, you are less likely to waste money on purchasing liquor and other products that you don’t need.
A well – designed pub can increase sales by surprising and exciting customers. Thoughtfully laying out the liquor bottles can also increase your bartenders’ efficiency and prevent bottle breakage. Although the best pub design varies from case to case, there are a few universal principles that you can follow while laying out the bottles on your pub.
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Hire Qualified Workers
Another tip you would need if you are running a pub business for the first time is to ensure that you hire qualified workers. The truth is that if you have qualified employees manning various positions in your new pub, you will find it easier to manage them; they will know what is expected of them. With that, you can be rest assured that you have a pub business that will grow and become profitable within the shortest time frame.
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Adopt International Best Practices
When it comes to building a successful pub business, there are international best practices to follow. So, if you want to start a pub business for the first time that will be termed successfully across various standards, then you must ensure that you adopt international best practices. You can always review journals or publications that will bring you up to speed.
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Carter for a Wide Range of Customers
Another important tip that you should adopt if you are looking towards starting a pub for the first time is to make sure that your pub carters for a wide range of customers with different drinking preferences. When it comes to options, there are some people who don’t drink popular beer but craft beer et al.
Interestingly, there is a huge opportunity to target an underserved market, whether it is gluten-free eaters, vegans, or people with dairy issues. All you need to do is to make sure you have items on the menu that can appeal to all and sundry. Just make sure you carry out research on different gluten-free beers and explore cocktails with natural ingredients.
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Operate Open Door Policy
Another tip that you need to adopt if you are starting a pub business for the first time is to operate open door policy; you should keep your doors open for suggestions from members of your team (your employees) and your clients.
With that in place, you will be able to get suggestions that will help you manage your business effectively. Please note that you are not expected to use all the suggestions you receive. What is expected from you is to screen and vet the suggestions and only make use of the ones that suit your business or style of management.
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Attend Related Refresher Courses
To be on top of your game in terms of successfully managing a pub business, you should be able to attend refresher courses on management. This would to a very large extent expose you to things you need to do to effectively manage your business and things you need to avoid. When you surf online, you would get information on available management seminars and short courses organized by top-notch Business management schools.
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When the Need Arise, Hire Consultants
Although it might be expensive hiring consultants to help you build a successful pub business when you are just starting out, but when the need arises, it will do your new pub business a whole lot of good if you go out of your way to hire consultants. The truth is that in order to build a successful pub business, you would at a point need the services and advise of seasoned consultants. It is one way to put excellent management touches in running your pub business.
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Reward Excellence
Another tip you must adopt in your pub business is to reward excellence. If you want to get people to carry out the assigned tasks with an open heart and pay attention to details, ensure that you reward excellence; it is one management tip that you need to adopt if indeed you want to build a successful pub business.
Rewarding excellence might not be massive and expensive. It could be recognizing an employee, celebrating an employee, or giving out tokens in form of appreciation to an employee that goes the extra mile to get things done for the organization.
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Have Regular Meetings with Your Workers
Having regular meetings with your workers is yet another tip you would need if you want to build a successful pub business. Part of what you need to do is to ensure that you create time for office meetings; a time where challenges, feedbacks, projections, and relevant issues are discussed. The meetings could be daily, once in a week, twice a week, or once in a month. The bottom line is that there should be consistent meetings in your organization.
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Craft a Clear-Cut Vision Statement
In an actual sense, a business cannot be successful if there is no clear–cut vision statement and besides, you will agree that no one can effectively manage what is not clearly defined. One of the tips you would need if you want to build a successful pub business is to craft a clear–cut vision statement for the business.
Crafting a clear – cut vision statement for your pub business and ensuring that all your employees buy into it is the basic foundation of effectively managing your pub business successfully. Just make sure the vision is not just written and placed in strategic places in your pub, but let it be in the heart of your employees.
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Work with a Common Goal
Ensuring that every member of your workforce works with a common goal is yet another effective management technique or tip that you need to adopt if you want to build a successful pub business. As the manager and leader, you should work together with your staff to set a common goal for the business if indeed you want it to succeed.
Just ensure that the goal you set is easy to understand and interpret. For instance, you could set a goal to become the number one pub in the whole of your city. The rule of thumb here is to set a goal that is measurable, achievable, realistic and time based.
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Your Pub Must Be Well-Equipped and Stocked
You are expected to have a wide range of glassware, mixing glasses, bar napkins, straws and stirrers, cocktail shakers and strainers, liquor pourers, cocktail mixes, and garnishes in your pub. Also, note that glasses used for different cocktails must be well organized so that a bartender can easily get the glass needed for a particular drink.
Highball glasses and old fashioned glasses are usually stacked next to one another, as these are the most common beverage glasses. Wine and martini glasses can be arranged from inverted racks beneath bar shelves, this is because it keeps them safely out of the way so they will not be accidentally broken.
Two very important tools that help in creating an efficient and streamlined pub operation experience are a jigger and a shaker. Jiggers are bartender tools used to measure out shots of liquor. Note that a lot of bartenders prefer to have several jiggers at hand so that a clean one is always available.
Shakers are also used to make chilled beverages. Have it in mind that the best shakers come with straining attachments so that the drink can be poured into a glass without the ice. Separate strainers should be made available which can be placed inside the rim of a glass to keep the ice out of a drink.
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Make Use of Effective Inventory System and Avoid Overcrowded Storeroom
Another tip that you need if you are just starting a pub business is to avoid crowding your storage room and to ensure that you make use of an effective inventory system. The fact is that coupled with liquor, wine and beer, there are probably a lot of other supplies you need to store.
Note that even towels and toilet paper stock can start taking over if you let it. As much as possible, always strive to keep your other supplies separate from your drink inventory. This will help prevent employees from coming in and moving a few bottles here and there or throw items on the shelves.
Once it is actually time to take inventory, it is advisable you experiment with different methods to find the one that works best for you. Note that a lot of people prefer that inventory becomes a solitary event in order to prevent mistakes. Others use a team approach where one person calls out the name of the liquor and another person reports back with a number. However, always know and stick with what works best for you and your pub.
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Put Systems and Processes in Place That Make Your Business Run on Autopilot
Lastly, another tip that you should implement if you are starting your pub for the first time is to ensure that you have plans in place to make the business run on autopilot. When a business runs on autopilot, it means that the business needs little or no supervision in other to achieve results.
But before you can attain this height, you would need to deliberately document all the processes involved in the day to day running of the business. As a matter of fact, there might be a need to hire experts to help you put systems and processes in place that will make your pub business run on autopilot. The truth is that running a pub business on autopilot is one of the best tips when it comes to building a successful pub business.
In conclusion,
No new pub business becomes successful if effective management systems are not put in place. The above tips and tricks can be adopted by anyone who is starting a new pub business or any other business no matter the industry that your business belongs to. These are tips that have been proven to deliver excellent results year in year out and it can work for your pub business as well.