interview

I have grown up in a family that has a strong background in the nightlife industry.  Everywhere from restaurants, to bars and clubs, I have been fortunate enough to watch them start up and grow into successful business.  When I came to Orlando for college I noticed the great potential bars and clubs had being in a town with the second biggest college population.  However, after attending these clubs and knowing people in the management for these UCF hotspots, I quickly realized that it was a very different environment then down in south Florida where I am from.

I knew that if I really wanted to open a bar here in Orlando, it would only be beneficial to me to try and talk to these managers or owners to get as much information as possible.  I was fortunate enough that my best friends was good friends with an ex-manager of one of the hottest college bars here which was “Scoop.”  He helped me set up an informal meeting so I can try and get the most information possible.  A lot of questions I had he couldn’t give me 100% answers but he did give me enough to help me a lot with thinking about numbers and potentials these bars can have.

I met with Giuseppe Ribaudo, who was a manager at scoop for 2 years.  He quit to focus more on school however the information he had for me was more than helpful.  My questions where aimed in two directions; How to Start up, and Keeping it running. 

Start Up:

There is a lot that goes into starting a bar or club.  It can be very expensive on your start up costs.  First I proceeded to asking him which is the first thing I should take care of when wanting to start up a club. Giuseppe told me the liquor license is the most important because that is your business.  With out that license you would not be allowed to serve alcohol.  He also explained the exact license I need, how much it is, and also gave me a couple brokerage firms that help finance these licenses.  Upon learning this I knew one of my first big expenses would be the liquor license which varies from 250k-300k. 

Secondly I began to ask about location to get a general idea on how much I would be looking at per month for rent.  He had told me the plaza his bar was in charged $15 per square foot a year.  Though I'm sure the prices vary from plaza to plaza this helped me understand that I was looking anywhere from $6,000-$10,000 a month depending on how big I decide my place will be.  Unfortunately those were the only numbers he knew or could give me so I was unable to get ideas how much utilities and insurance would cost me.

I then began to ask about staff. How much people I'm looking to hire and how much there rates go.  All the college bars here do not pay there bartenders.  According to Giuseppe they work only off of tips.  The only people who are paid wages are Security, bar-back staff (cleaners and stockers,) Castodial crew.  Managers are paid salaries and he was paid 35k a year.  This helped give me ideas for how much im looking to have to pay my employees which really was beneficial to know.  He explained to me the best person to hire as a manger for college seen clubs is someone who is business oriented and works well with people.  The manager is responsible for working with promoters to get people in the doors.  Also you must hire bartenders that are involved with Greek life in college there fore they can help bring in many people due to all the networking sororities and fraternities partake in.

How it Runs:

Unfortunately Giuseppe could not give me exact numbers that scoop made but he gave me a good idea.  The biggest marketing strategy for college bars in Orlando are cheap and or free drinks.  However there is a profitable strategy to having free drink specials.  A lot of bars here will have free drinks until midnight which attracts big crowds.  During the hours prior to midnight the bars make money off of cover charges, at ten dollars a head.  From twelve to two a.m. drinks are priced from $3-6.  Giuseppe told me people spend a lot on drinks around midnight because they have been drinking for free and people spend a lot when they drink.

So, with this information the only way to really estimate the companies profits it is imperative you understand how big the bar must be and how many people come out to these bars.  One thing I have learned from attending many of these clubs and talking with Giuseppe is, the more room you have the better off you will be.  Giuseppe told me these bars average anywhere from $500-1000 students about 4 nights a week.  With simple calculations just based off of cover charges at ten dollars a head I have calculated along with Giuseppe approval that these bars clearly one million dollars gross revenue a year

            We rapped up the quick interview with him giving me some tips before I open my club.  Giuseppe told me the biggest downfalls of these local college clubs is the owners become to relaxed.  Even though the bars here still make a lot of money, they are not reaching there maximum potential for income due to poor management and re-investing the money back into the bars.  Sadly enough it is apparent that you can open a place with music and drinks and with the right promotion team have busy nights.  However Giuseppe told me that the trick is to invest your money into your establishment and always keep it up to date and running well and you will be able to make a lot of money due to the massive population of college kids in the UCF area that all want to go out and experience the partying of college.