I've been given a job in a field I know nothing about

May 6, 2015 7:35 AM

A family connection has coopted me to do a job I know nothing about, namely, running a cocktail bar. How do I make this a success?

A few days ago a cousin of mine, who owns a cocktail bar, fired the guy who was running it.

She hinted that I should take over. I took the hint, and put myself forward (perhaps rashly). Now there's no getting out of it.

So what do I do? How do I get people through the door every evening?

Details, in no particular order:

(a) The premises are A-OK. Spotlessly new and well-designed. Good location in an affluent neighborhood.

(b) The cocktail waiter is OK. Not Tom Cruise to look at, but he does his job.

(c) Many years ago I worked bar jobs but I've never managed a bar before.

(d) The owners want to make the place a jazz-themed bar. Like at least one live performance a week. I've suggested we could get comedians in as well, but for some reason they're not keen. How do I persuade them otherwise?

(e) A large part of my job will be social media stuff. So far the people they've tried have proved useless at this. How can I make a difference here, if at all possible?

Suggestions?

Thanks for any input

posted by Pechorin to Work & Money (22 answers total)

Your bosses are not well organized. Make this playtime business for them as fun as possible, they are soon to lose their investment.

Have fun while it lasts. Don't turn into an alcoholic. Make sure the staff doesn't steal. Do NOT try to get in comedians or make other changes your bosses do not want. They sound clueless and this "opportunity" will end soon enough when the business fails. Don't become someone they can blame when that happens.
posted by jbenben at 7:54 AM on May 6, 2015 [10 favorites]

You can post special cocktail "recipes" to social media, showing off your "mixology", if that's the kind of bar it is. That way you have unique content every time that stays on-theme. With beautiful pictures, those are appealing posts.

I dislike both the jazz and the comedy ideas (to me a bar's purpose is defeated if I can't have conversations with people; I go to comedy shows I'm interested in, but I would never tolerate having to be be quiet while I'm out having drinks with friends because some rando's on the stage, ditto live music) but I'm interested to see what other people here think.
posted by fingersandtoes at 8:02 AM on May 6, 2015 [6 favorites]

Also.... I think the Jazz theme is difficult. You maybe might turn it around if you can prove the Jazz theme doesn't have appeal and the bosses agree.

Or maybe it does have appeal where you are? What is the owner's target demographic?

I like Lounge, not Jazz. Maybe you can sneak in something hipper as a theme? Lounge really isn't that hip, tho.

I'm assuming these people want a fun place for themselves and their friends to hang out in, so keep that in mind as you navigate.

Keep you eye on the POS System and the inventory. Do the books every week.

Enjoy the experience, but don't sweat it. Good luck.
posted by jbenben at 8:02 AM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

The question is a little light on the details of what the owners are going for with this bar, but from what you've said (cocktails, affluent neighborhood, occasional jazz) it sounds like they're going for a very specific kind of vibe. A comedian will fly directly in the face of that vibe in just about every possible way. This is not a fight you will win, and even if it were it is not a fight you would want to win.

If they are going for the kind of bar that it sounds like they are, the place will live or die on two things: A. how much you can make it look and feel like a speakeasy, and B. how good their cocktails are, or at least how good people think they are, which is basically the same thing. Your social media strategy should be focused on your 'unique, innovative spins on classic cocktails' or some such nonsense. Lots of shots of good-looking Manhattans against distressed wood or tile. Play up the jazz bar speakeasy angle. Your ideal clientele will probably be rich white people who think that they're in Boardwalk Empire; the more that you can feed that illusion the better you'll do.

(That's assuming that this is a very specific type of bar; I may be completely wrong about that though).
posted by Itaxpica at 8:06 AM on May 6, 2015 [13 favorites]

The most successful bars I am familiar seem to accept a low profit margin per drink and count on steady volume for profitability. I doubt you have control over pricing but expensive cocktail bars go out of business pretty quickly unless perfectly located near another attraction, such as theater or a sports stadium. Once visited, people lose interest in fancy cocktail bars pretty quickly and move on to the next--expensive cocktails aren't enough to draw people back. High volume bars create their own ambiance. I would invest in lots of tables and chairs to accommodate all of the customers!
posted by waving at 8:06 AM on May 6, 2015

Watch many episodes of "Bar Rescue" and "Restaurant Impossible"?

There are "How to run a ???" books for just about everything. Don't discount library research.
posted by SemiSalt at 8:18 AM on May 6, 2015 [8 favorites]

Social media stuff:

Update Twitter DAILY or more, and Facebook nearly daily. Use them to advertise events and drink specials. Tweet at or otherwise link to other local businesses; for example if there is a nearby theater, you could tweet "Going to the @LocalBand show @NearbyVenue? Stop in after for our new #BullshitFancyCocktail!" Hold Twitter contests - ie once you get to 100 RTs you will randomly choose someone to win a free drink or some such. PHOTOS PHOTOS PHOTOS. Have any musicians/performers promote the performance at the bar on their own social media accounts. Also consider Instagram for photos of drinks and dishes.

The most beneficial thing you can do will be to look at other bars' successful social media presences and slavishly imitate them.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:44 AM on May 6, 2015 [7 favorites]

First advice, if there's a menu, just have it in HTML on the website rather than as a PDF or something people have to download (depending on browser).
posted by Muttoneer at 8:47 AM on May 6, 2015 [7 favorites]

Have they verified/claimed the bar's Google Plus page? Is it built out with logo/cover pictures and interior pictures? Posting and getting reviews helps local search.
posted by Sophont at 8:50 AM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Ah, I almost forgot: for Twitter, you REALLY WANT to get and use TweetDeck. It will allow you to queue posts to go out whenever you want, and to track tags and search terms that may be of use to you. For example you might use it to track the names of your town and your neighborhood, which would let you RT or tweet at people saying "what should I do in Town today" or "we're having a show in Neighborhood, come see us!" You could also use it to follow search terms related to fancy cocktails, again good for RTing.

Basically, the point of all this is to engage with and cultivate attention from as many individual accounts as possible, and hope that one of those accounts will turn out to be a Social Media Influencer TM who will expose your content to a much wider audience.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:57 AM on May 6, 2015 [8 favorites]

A friend who owns a restaurant started a successful jazz night that extended his hours one night a week and here's what he did. Firstly, he specialized in jazz guitar. He's a fan and knew that was a thing missing in the marketplace. He alternated between a few local jazz guitarists that were more than happy to help promote. With their mailing lists he assembled a reasonable pool to send email updates to.
He also understood that jazz skews older so the musician played sets that went no later than 10:00. Since he was a restaurant he'd also offer the jazz crowd tasting menus, but maybe you could offer drink specials? Wine tastings? Once it became a regular thing he had a pool of regulars that came.

As jazz skews older, I'd work with the artists to get email lists of their followers. Not everyone is active on twitter.
posted by readery at 9:00 AM on May 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

Oh boy, the owners do sound a bit laissez-faire. Don't be too hard on yourself, if they're hiring someone with minimal experience, you're not the (only) one being rash.

Your distributors can help with promotion by running an event. Just make sure it fits with the theme of your bar. Sometimes the reps will have some bar management experience, and can serve as consultants (this varies based on location). Of course, their primary role is to sell you stuff, so always have that in the back of your mind.

Always pay attention to your costs: your fancy cocktail menu that draws people in doesn't do you any good if you loose money on every drink when that's your primary revenue source. And balance the menu for time as well: if you want high volume or if your staff isn't experienced, then a menu where everything is overly complicated to make will cause long wait times. Easy prep cocktails can be talked up just as much.

Check out other local bars, you don't want to be way off on pricing or duplicate an already saturated market. Get a feel for what draws people in your area out, and put a fresh spin on it.If you're not already known to your new gig, go in incognito and check it out.

Especially if you're in a larger market, build relationships with the local industry personnel. The highend waiter you gave an industry discount will remember you fondly when he's asked for recommendations about where to grab a drink/listen to jazz.

Seconding buoys in the hood about the cocktail waiter. Knowledgeable and personable staff can help build repeat customer base, especially while you get some of the superficial stuff sorted out.

In social media, refer to local events nearby, lots of photos of new features or old favorites, promote upcoming specials or events, cross-promote with nearby businesses, and encourage your friends and happy guests to promote you as well with rewards/giveaways. You can make it official (like a rewards program) or if your staff has enough experience/you trust them have them hand out a freebie every so often (here's a sample of our great new app). If done well, a freebie from the staff feels a lot more special than a standard promotion (although it can get out of hand with inexperienced staff or staff that doesn't care about the business like you do, so hold off on this until you get a good grasp on what you're dealing with). Bonus if the freebie is photogenic and gets your customers to tweet/post about it. I had three separate friends/coworkers try out a new bar on a holiday weekend after they saw my post of a pretty drink I got when an order was accidentally duplicated. The post didn't drag anyone out of their homes, but it directed their attention when they were headed out (oh, I know, let's try that new place, the apps/drinks/ambience look so good). They're all regulars now who torture me with lovely pictures now that I've moved.
posted by ghost phoneme at 9:40 AM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

Read the bar's Yelp and Google reviews. What do they say? If there are a lot of reviews, take any consistent critiques to heart.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:45 AM on May 6, 2015 [8 favorites]

Pay attention to regulars. The bar we go to every week honestly isn't very good, but our waiter always chats with us and makes sure our food is made well--if not, he doesn't charge us for it. That makes up for a lot of other mistakes.
posted by chaiminda at 9:50 AM on May 6, 2015 [4 favorites]

On the social media thing, advertising drink specials is illegal in many places - so tread carefully and make sure you understand the relevant laws in your area. Also, in some states there are state certifications that you should have to manage a facility that serves alcohol. So make sure you are even legal to have the job, as sounds like the owners might not be that well informed themselves.
posted by COD at 10:00 AM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Are the owners people with years of restaurant/bar industry experience, or are they just people who had some money and thought that opening a bar would be fun?

If the former, why did they hire you? Surely they must know people who have the bar management skills you lack, so if you've got the job then something else is going on behind the scenes. If the latter... well, enjoy this while you can, because it won't be around long. Keep your resume updated and I hope that you didn't leave a good job to take this one.

As for suggestions or ideas, here are a few things that come to mind. I'll leave the social media and marketing stuff to others, and focus on the business/management side of things:

Comedy clubs and jazz bars are two very different places. I avoid bars that have live music, because I want to hang out with my friends, not listen to a band play. When I want to hear a band, I go to a live music venue. Same with comedy - if I want comedy, I'll go to a comedy club.

Your employees will steal from you. Not all of them, but a few. Some overtly, like taking money from the till, and some covertly, like pouring extra shots for their friends and not charging them. You need to be friendly with your staff, but you are NOT their friend. If you try to be friends you'll be taken advantage of, usually by the people doing the stealing. Trust me, they're pros at this and know all the angles and tricks, and will know that you don't have a clue.

If they don't already exist, establish beverage controls. You need to know and track exactly how many shots you sell from a bottle of liquor and how many glasses from a bottle of wine. If your staff are just pouring whatever they want, you're pouring money down the drain. Your alcohol sales reps should be able to help you here. Track this through your POS, and make sure the staff know that you're doing this. Everywhere I worked the bar managers got a report at the beginning of the day that went over the sales from the previous night, and then counted inventory. If we had sold X number of vodka shots, there should be Y number of vodka bottles left, etc. If we sold X Cosmos, then there should be Y of whatever it is that goes in a Cosmo. And if not, why not. Finding that out and keeping tabs will be your job.

Do the math and find out how much each drink actually costs you, so you can see if your prices are correct. Same with the menu items if you serve food. At one place I worked at the owner tracked her utility bills for a year, then divided that total by how many customers she served that year, and added that number into each item on the menu. So every plate that went out had a few cents in the price that covered her utilities. You need to be thinking like this. How much do glasses cost? How much to replace them? How about plates and silverware? Linens? You need to know those numbers so you can know when they're going off track. Who do you order these things from? When do you order them?


Running a bar is a lot of work, and I think you might have gotten in over your head. I also have a sneaking suspicion that you're being set up to fail, or are working for people with more money than sense. I've been in both positions, so hopefully you'll get some valuable experience out of this that you can take to the next job.

posted by ralan at 10:18 AM on May 6, 2015 [11 favorites]

Use the Internet. Google How to Manage a Bar, and any other terms that occur to you. Do you know how to administer the bar's software? Important. Do you know how to do the bookkeeping? Important. Every week, pick up every local event calendar, newspaper with events listings, etc. You'll see what the competition is doing, who's playing what and where, and read their classifieds.

Pay close attention to ralan's comments.

It's a business. It's all important stuff and you can't neglect any of it.
- Sales/ Marketing
- Finance/ Bookkeeping
- Operations - making sure the bathrooms are clean, supplies ordered, building is working
- Inventory
- Human Resources
- Regulatory Compliance
- Insurance
posted by theora55 at 10:28 AM on May 6, 2015 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Thank you, I appreciate your advice immensely. Many of the angles you've mentioned I'd never even thought about. I'm going to suck at this job, at least at first. But maybe a little less now that I know what the critical points are.

I should mention that although my question may have made out my bosses to be amateurs, they are not. They've made a ton of money in the bar business. It's a mystery to me why they think I would fit in with their new venture, but I'll just have to trust their instinct.

Thanks again!
posted by Pechorin at 12:08 PM on May 6, 2015 [2 favorites]

Depending on your level of experience with and interest in social media, you may want to consider hiring someone for a few hours a week to do only that. I know about a million smart young underemployed people in various media disciplines who would jump at the chance and take it very seriously as a stepping stone in their careers.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:09 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: "They've made a ton of money in the bar business."

Hi! This doesn't always mean what you think it does. You have to see it at work from the inside. You will, shortly. There could be a million things going on behind the scenes that I won't speculate about. You have not mentioned the details of your management role, so my current guess is they have some other way to do books & inventory & they think you have the right demeanor and look to liaison with the public. Or something like that. I can think of good and bad reasons to have someone green in your role. Doesn't matter, like I said, enjoy it for what it is.

I wanted to mention something about managing your sleep schedule.... Take vitamins and get something like meditation + exercise on a regular basis going in your life.

When I said "don't become an alcoholic," what I meant was don't use chemicals (liquid or otherwise :)) to relax and fall asleep at 2am or 4 am, or whenever. I know you think this is not a big deal, or that you are a "night person," but I swear to you the habits you cultivate now will matter.

The easiest way to flame out in the nightlife game is to cultivate poor self-care habits, so take care of yourself!
posted by jbenben at 12:26 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

They've made a ton of money in the bar business. It's a mystery to me why they think I would fit in with their new venture, but I'll just have to trust their instinct.

Thank goodness! Ideally either they can then provide you with some mentorship, or give you access to it. Assuming their other ventures are local (and they're still active in them), you may be able to shadow someone at a more established business to get some of the background stuff under your belt and a sense of the established norms in your area.
posted by ghost phoneme at 12:35 PM on May 6, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Update:

"my current guess is they have some other way to do books & inventory & they think you have the right demeanor and look to liaison with the public"

After further conversations, your guess turns out to be correct!

Somebody else will be making sure nobody's stealing etc. My intended role is more to do with wearing smart suits while smiling a lot and attempting to charm various people.

As to your (jbenben's) concern that I might be the unwitting front guy for an illicit operation, I appreciate your shrewdness. However I'm confident that's not the case. It seems to be more a question of their feeling their age, and wanting a younger person to do some of the stuff they would otherwise have to do themselves.

Again, many thanks for everyone's kind and insightful advice. It is a real help.
posted by Pechorin at 5:41 AM on May 7, 2015 [2 favorites]