Stueyb

Hi peeps,

Im after a bit of advice here, and im just mulling ideas over. Basically I was chatting to someone and they were joking that a local nightclub has been shut down for years was becoming a strip joint. It isn't. I know that much.

Basically in the town we have too many chavs. For example you cant find anywhere to drink that is not either

a) full of chavs, wearing their Kappa uniforms and spoiling for a fight
b) Doesnt look like the rovers return on a bad day.

Basically turning this club near the city centre into a tasteful, clean late night drinking hole with a good door policy (no jeans/trakies/sportswear but bouncers who are real people if u catch my drift.) Alongside this some good, but not so loud that you cant talk (if u see) entertainment.

So my questions:

a) just some general advice
b) what is involved (generally)
c) How can I test the "reality" before investing in it ? Ie will I get the clientel ?

Any advice / thoughts welcome

FASTER MIKE!!

well i think you've got the right idea, but no jeans is probably a bad idea as they are quite trendy at the mo, think you want to stop the old football casual look, ie no stone island ,la coste and no rockport boots etc. theres a club where i live and they have this policy and it seems to work, though it is'nt the bigest of clubs, so that might be part of the reason that it works. i also think its down to the type of music that you play, as it can attract a certen type of person

mike

yoza

My first question would be why did it shut down in the first place.

Is the building for sale or lease?

Was the license revoked, or did it expire?

What capital would you need to get the building and interior to the required level?

What would you think your returns would be upon completion ?

You cant pick and choose your clientel, you maybe able to influence their dress, but thats all.

And you cant pick and choose you doorstaff agency, you get what your given.

Stueyb

yoza,

some interesting questions there matey.

As for the lease/sale question - what I know. This place went bankrupt after it was raided for drugs and its licence was revoked. Has stood derilict for approximatly 8 years. Currently the council are handing out grants left right and centre to get the town on its feet again.

As for the return on investment, I have no idea. I cant find any metrics/way to gauge it at the moment. Currently its only "inquisitive" phase

As for building costs, the outside is fine but the internals will probabily be a gut and refurb, ie at least £200,000.

As for Doorstaff, Im sure I could hire my own. I dont want the usual meatheads that work the door (no offence to bouncers on here, but most round here are not good)

The way im planning on keeping out the chavs btw, is to price drinks accordingly if u see.

As I say im only enquiring.

I could probabily grab together enough to get it running and finance it for a year before "requiring" profits.

Scooby96

I considered something like this years ago, a club or pub possibly in the UK or abroad.....

Try looking through Daltons for venues - I saw one nightclub in SE London on the market for 3M

PM me and I'll try and get some details on auction houses that deal in such buildings.

I reckon unless you have substantial capital of your own most banks won't touch it with a barge pole, just MHO.

ps What do you base the refitting estimate on - are you in the know on such things or is it a wild guess?? I initially estimated my shop re-fitting costs to be c3k, got a quote this week for 9.5k!!!!

pps Chavs have money too!

ppps Get your door staff licenced - or at least get their applications in for licensing

Leslie

Ask Peter Kay, he'll have some good tips for you

Les

Reffro

Just so you understand, unless you have a verifiable successful track record in the nightclub industry, there is no way a bank is going to fund a new nightclub. They are absolutely hated by banks, mainly because they are usually only ever successful in the short-term, and significant lending will usually require at least a 5 year payback, by which time many clubs are out of business.

The only way usually to fund a club was that either the property of the club was freehold, or you offered other additional property as full security for the loan, and even then they'll want you to have significant experience in nightclub management.

what would scooby do

Chap - send me a PM about your plans etc - I own a nightclub !

what would scooby do

True - but nightclubs tend to get funding from Breweries.

Depends on quality and location of the club

You install an experienced bar/club manager who is one of the licencees


Stuey - if you install your own security you will ne in a world of doo-doo, you need to bring ing fully licenced staff.

It took us over 3 years to put together a business plan that worked both for us and the local population.

If you think that £200k will sort the whole project out then you personally will be looking to stump up between £50k and £80l of your own money. Plus the brewery will have you sign personal guarantees on stock and the loan.

If it goes **** up you will loose your home etc

Return on investment ? - look at the risks above, and be happy to know a properly run club will pay your investment back in 1st year, 2nd year you clear loans, 3 year you can by a ferrari and dress like Peter Stringfellow

Stueyb

Hi guys, sorry for the late replies but ive been fixing some borked drive arrays this morning

Basically, I think its "doable". I was just chatting with some people the other day about it and they said "id never drink in the port, its full of chavs etc etc" Now hopefully this would appeal to this type of person. There is also plenty of car parking as it backs onto a huge carpark. Always a plus.

As for the £200K, that is *purely* a guestimate but dont forget that this place has stood empty/damp for 8 or so years, so it will be a total gut job I expect. Thats not taking into account stock, wages etc etc.

This club is pretty small and I imagined it would be fairly "hip" inside but more an upmarket weatherspoons, with live music, good prices and keeping the "rough" element at bay as much as poss.

Competition wise, in the same stree there is

A weatherspoons.
A bar called crude cafe, but it always seems empty and too hip for its own good.
2 pubs (spit and sawdust type with barmaids that look like shreks offspring that do either a) live rock - V loud or b) cariokie )
An off licence

My unique selling points:

* Good atmosphere with good beer and company(upmarket beers/unique beers, not crap stuff)
* Subdued entertainment, the type of place where you can actually talk to people but still have some good entertainment in the background.

* Lots of car parking space.

* Good eye candy behind the bar

* Hopefully open till late to cater for the people that want to go out and have a few beers but dont want loud dance music surrounded by scals who want to fight.

As for the question of security, I just wouldnt want to be strong armed by some local "firm" to put their meatheads on the door.



WWSD - Ill mail you later matey with some stuff

EddScott

Can't really help you mate but the start of your post made me think you were local. Club local to me has just been re-opened and guess what the theme is

Stueyb

nakid layyydees by any chance

Prince Popeye

'The way im planning on keeping out the chavs btw, is to price drinks accordingly if u see.'

If you keep out the Chavs you wont have a business left. They're the ones who buy the overpriced VK Ice and will pay anything on the door to get to the Chavettes.

And as said before no jean policy means you'll be turning away at least half of you're clients.

Stueyb

Nat21, yu may have a point there, but as I did mention, im just looking into it so to speak. All the ideas are fluid and can change.

Its just something I think could work.

GU5

Why not make it as attractive to the Chavs as possible, then you'll make a few quid from them , but more importaintly you'll know where they're drinking so you can avoid the place!!

Freak

Ive been djing in clubs for years- its not as easy as it looks running a place.
Rule 1- get women in the club
If you get the women in the blokes will follow.

Its chav culture at the mo im afraid.
- and as for no jeans, that was fine a couple of years ago, but not any more.
A few years back it was no admission without a collar and trousers- now due to the change in fashions, torn jeans and t shirts are accpeptabe with smart trainers.

Going for classy clientelle only works if there are enough classy people in the town in the first place.

It is possible to strike a healthy balance between the two- dont forget chavs/beer boys do drink a lot hence more $.

Oh, and if you need a professional dj, or some more advice drop me a PM-

astraboy

One way of influencing who your customers are will be your music policy.
Drum & Bass, garage = Blingers
RnB, Hip hop = wanabee gangstas
Hardcore, hardhouse = candy ravers
olskool house, funky house = people watchers and smart dressers.
Personally, if I was going to open a place for a discerning crowd, I would go for funky house nights. The people who go to them are not fighters, gangstas or blingers, and the women are usually tastier
Over 21s only, funky house all night long and a bit of persistance and you might have a chance...
astraboy.

matt85

Personally if you are going to do this i would do the exact opposite as to what you are thinking.

I would unashamedly target Chavs. Why? Let me explain....

Your typical male Chav isnt bothered about tasteful deco, a DJ playing 'cool music' or, indeed, a place full of ordinary people. A Chav wants to listen to DJ Sammy and any other cheesy **** that may be about at the time. All they care about is pulling Chavettes and getting pissed. An average Chav drinks 8 bottles at £3.00 each rather than some ordinary bloke out with his girlfriend who may have 3 bottles and his Mrs has 2 glasses of wine. You can see who you will make the most money out of. You wil save money on the deco (as above, Chavs arent bothered), the DJ's (as above) and they will obviously drink more. Also add into the equation that Chavs are creatures of habit and will go every Friday/Saturday night without fail. Also what may be worth considering is filling the place up with Chavettes early to attract the Chavs. Maybe something along the lines of free drinks to girls before 10.30. This will bring everybody in really early so unlike most clubs that dont pick up until 11.30 ish your club is already bouncing at 10. 30. Ergo, you have an extra hour of a heaving bar which (on hours of 10-2) is 25% that other places miss out on and by bringing in loads more people early you have just increased your profits quite considerably. A place my mate worked at used to operate a similar scheme and it was extremely successful.

Obviously with Chavs you will get fighting and may need more doorstaff but every Chav club near me adheres to pretty much what i have just outlined and they are heaving every night.

The thing is with 'trendy' clubs is that you have to adapt to stay 'trendy' wheras Chavs never change, and if they do its awfully predicatble (ie lacoste is soooo last year and Burberry is now the in thing )

A Chav place is certainly not my night out of choice but if there are a sh*tload of Chavs on your doorstep you would be a fool not to want their money. Perhaps if the place was big enough you could maybe have one floor chav, one floor cool/funky as a compromise. Some places near me do that and it does appear to work. Or even chav night/ cool night.

Just some thoughts really

Best of luck.

Scuba

The basics...


1. Build a reputation, always get the punters coming back
2. keep tight policy on rules i.e.dress or over 21s etc
3. Drink prices and entrance fee (don't put them to high!)
4. Hire promotors to bring in some sort of good dj every couple of months
5. Interior of club..try to make it different than others



Also I believe theres some sort of club/pub tax for late (3am) businesses...ask the council

unclebuck

Waste of time. You wouldn't enjoy it. Move on.....

ajm

Did you not enjoy your period of club management in good 'ole Bristol then UB?

unclebuck

Yes. But it was a different world then - Back in the good ol' days when everyone drank mineral water, danced madly and loved each other. If you know what I mean..

There was still a lot of heavy s**t behind the scenes though, and good 'connections' to watch over you were an essential part of life.

God knows what it must be like these days.

UB

ajm

Ah the good ole days! *goes all starry eyed*

unclebuck

The only alcohol comsumed was massively overpriced bottles of watery Mexican beer served with a twist of Lime in the neck. hmmmm... lush... lol. You'd need to down about 20 of those to get even slightly pissed.

UB

Freak

ebeneezergoode Mr buck??
Got any salmon?

unclebuck

Nah... ebeneezwazcrap!!! We were more on the 'hardcore' tip I did have the pleasure of mixing The Shamen on a couple of occasions live, before they 'sold out'.

UB

simo

Sol I think u mean UB Accccidddd!!!

simon

sti-04!!

LOL !!

aaahhh the happy hardcore days, even hearing the 'old cd's brings a tear to my eye