For most people spending a night in a bar is all about fun, good company and the odd drink or two. How often do you actually think about what goes on behind the scenes in your favorite bar, to make hanging out there such a great experience? The drinks don’t just magically appear and the owners don’t automatically just know what keeps their customers entertained. A lot of hard work and effort goes into running a bar.
From ordering inventory and keeping on top of finances, to customer research and hiring the right, staff, it takes a top quality combination to create a popular and profitable bar. We’re going to take a look at what might just be going on behind the scenes while you’re sipping on that cocktail.
Expert inventory ordering and budgeting
As with any business it’s vital that a bar’s budget is monitored and managed effectively. There is a high prospect of failure in what is a competitive industry. If a bar owner doesn’t have tight control of their inventory and budget they stand more of a chance of seeing their business go under.
There’s a good chance that the bar you drink in is being run with the help of software produced by experts like Orca Inventory and Ordering, providers of top quality inventory tracking software. The founders and management team at Orca have over twenty years of experience in the restaurant and bar industry between them.
They know how vital it is for bars to be able to monitor their stock in real time and control purchasing and invoicing. They realize the value of efficient budget monitoring and control. That’s why they created a software package that automates the processes involved and makes it far easier for the bar owner to consistently have your favorite wine available.
What else don’t you see?
One of the biggest jobs that bar owners and managers undertake is the hiring of efficient bar staff. Great staff are a massive asset to a bar. They are amongst the biggest reasons that customers return over and over again. You may see a bar advertised online and think it looks great. If you have a night out there and the bar staff are as happy go lucky as Kanye West then you may not want to return. Bar tenders need to have certain skills and it’s the bar manager or owners job to hire people who have these skills. That’s not all; there are plenty of other tasks awaiting the owner of manager of a bar:
- Conducting customer research to help decide on ambience and theme.
- Providing entertainment if customers want it.
- Conducting ongoing marketing to attract new customers.
Just remember when you next go out for drinks with friends; bars aren’t all about fun for everyone. For bar owners they are a very serious business and plenty of hard work and effort is required to keep a bar operating at a profit.
I can only imagine how much work it is behind the scenes. Thanks for the insight 🙂
My friend is a bartender at a pretty big local bar and I hear some crazy stories. Liquor is a very ‘wanted’ commodity in the business and hard to track without great surveillance and trustworthy employees!
It takes a lot of work to run a bar! I was a bartender for a while and it is crazy what happens in a bar sometimes.
I worked in a bar/restaurant in college. It sure does take a lot of work to keep it going.
I bet there is so much time and energy that goes into running a bar. Thanks for this reminder!
I have a friend that owns a bar and I know how hard it is to keep up on it. A lot of work!
My cousin just opened a bar. I will pass this article on to him for helpful tips.
I watch a lot of those bar and restaurant based shows. I am always so surprised at what it takes to keep one going successfully.