Opening A Bar – Is It As Simple As Serving Alcohol?
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When you’re thinking about opening a bar, it’s likely that the thoughts you have in mind are standing behind the bar, serving some regulars and having a chat with the customers each day as you serve them drinks. While this is going to be a part of the job that you can enjoy, there’s a little bit more that you need to think about, especially if the draught beer you’re going to be serving is from one particular brewery. Alternatively, you may be serving your own brewed beer. If this is the case, make sure that you’re using the best brewing software because in this day and age, it takes a lot more to make a beer that tastes good and will sell because of the plethora of beers already on the market.
There’s likely to be many other establishments close by that sell alcohol, so you need to create a selling point to get people to come into your bar in the first place. A great way of doing this is by offering them something for free. For example, many bars choose to offer their customers a happy hour (or two), which is where the drinks are cheaper than usual. This will get the customers through the door and make them more likely to stay for some drinks after happy hour has finished. Some bars even opt for a night of free pool or snooker for their customers, and this can be a great way of luring people into your bar.
You also need to remember that any staff you employ to serve on the bar will need to be over the age of 18 as it’s illegal for underage members of staff to serve alcohol to the public. You will also need to ensure that your staff are trained in serving alcohol too. This will entail making sure that they know the measures they should be pouring, and also making sure they know what to do if a customer who has had too much to drink is causing some trouble. Having the ability to ask customers to leave if needed, and also being able to get people to finish their drinks at closing time takes someone that’s not going to shy away from the task. Dealing with inebriated people can be difficult at the best of times.
You will also need to enforce the under 25 rule in your bar. While it’s legal to drink alcohol from the age of 18 (in the UK), if someone looks under the age of 25, they should be asked to provide ID before being served any form of alcohol (unless of course, they are a regular that has been ID’d before and you know they are over age). If you’re caught serving alcohol to minors you could face hefty fines and even prison time.It can be hard opening a bar, but if you play by the rules listed above and keep everything above board then you shouldn’t have any problems. Enjoy your new career and business!
