How to Be a Bar Manager
Understand the business., Know your market., Stay within budget., Obey local laws and regulations., Be an innovator., Keep up with technology.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Understand the business.
Part of being an effective bar manager is having a full understanding of the business.
Knowing what it takes for a bar to be successful will help you best direct your staff, menu, bar function, and focus your efforts overall.
Even though you are technically a manager you should be ready to understand how every thing in the bar business comes together.Understand each role that your staff plays.
Be ready to work late or long hours.
Learning more about the theme or direction of the bar can help.
Have an active hand in creating and maintaining any menus.
Learn what your customers want and try to meet those needs.
Knowing business functions such as ordering, inventory, cash register operation, bookkeeping and marketing will be essential to your success as a manager. -
Step 2: Know your market.
If you don't understand your potential customers, there is a good chance they will never visit your bar.
You will also need to learn more about your local competition and how best to pull in customers that would otherwise go elsewhere.
Spend some time learning more about your local market in order to increase the number of customers and better meet their needs.Visit other bars in the area to see what they are doing.
Try to offer things they don't.
Understand which part of the public you are catering too.
Decorate and price your bar to meet the needs of that demographic.
Always think about things that can make your bar stand out to customers. , Although you might not directly own the bar, running it as if you did is a good attitude to adopt.
You will need to strictly stay within any budget you have been given, try to lower operating costs when possible, and maybe even create a budget yourself.
Try to reduce waste in order to reduce operating costs.
You can have your bartenders use standard measuring tools to prevent over-pouring.
Ask for any budgets to be made clear to you and have them fully explained. , Bars are required to follow many laws and regulations due to the legal restrictions that are attached to alcohol.
As a manager of a bar you will need to be fully aware of local laws and regulations, taking care that your bar is always operating under these legal requirements.
Failure to abide by these laws can result in fines, lost profits, legal actions, or even the closing of the bar.Laws will vary between locations.
Serving alcohol to anyone underage will have serious legal repercussions.
Some states will have laws that dictate what types of alcohol your bar can serve and when. , Even if things are going well it's important that you keep things feeling interesting and fresh for your customers.
Keeping things moving can also prevent you and your staff from becoming too complacent, which can result in your service and standards to fall in quality over time.
As a manager, you should always strive to improve or develop your bar.Think of new ways to promote your bar.
Come up with signature or themed drinks.
Think about offering daily specials. , Businesses these days are making great use of new technology.
While you may feel confident using a computer, certain technologies may require more specialized knowledge.
Staying up to date can also help you gain the advantage over competitors by adapting time and cost saving technology before they do.A general knowledge of computer software such as spreadsheets should be had.
New point of service or TAB systems will require you to have an understanding of how to work with them.
You may need to know how security equipment works. -
Step 3: Stay within budget.
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Step 4: Obey local laws and regulations.
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Step 5: Be an innovator.
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Step 6: Keep up with technology.
Detailed Guide
Part of being an effective bar manager is having a full understanding of the business.
Knowing what it takes for a bar to be successful will help you best direct your staff, menu, bar function, and focus your efforts overall.
Even though you are technically a manager you should be ready to understand how every thing in the bar business comes together.Understand each role that your staff plays.
Be ready to work late or long hours.
Learning more about the theme or direction of the bar can help.
Have an active hand in creating and maintaining any menus.
Learn what your customers want and try to meet those needs.
Knowing business functions such as ordering, inventory, cash register operation, bookkeeping and marketing will be essential to your success as a manager.
If you don't understand your potential customers, there is a good chance they will never visit your bar.
You will also need to learn more about your local competition and how best to pull in customers that would otherwise go elsewhere.
Spend some time learning more about your local market in order to increase the number of customers and better meet their needs.Visit other bars in the area to see what they are doing.
Try to offer things they don't.
Understand which part of the public you are catering too.
Decorate and price your bar to meet the needs of that demographic.
Always think about things that can make your bar stand out to customers. , Although you might not directly own the bar, running it as if you did is a good attitude to adopt.
You will need to strictly stay within any budget you have been given, try to lower operating costs when possible, and maybe even create a budget yourself.
Try to reduce waste in order to reduce operating costs.
You can have your bartenders use standard measuring tools to prevent over-pouring.
Ask for any budgets to be made clear to you and have them fully explained. , Bars are required to follow many laws and regulations due to the legal restrictions that are attached to alcohol.
As a manager of a bar you will need to be fully aware of local laws and regulations, taking care that your bar is always operating under these legal requirements.
Failure to abide by these laws can result in fines, lost profits, legal actions, or even the closing of the bar.Laws will vary between locations.
Serving alcohol to anyone underage will have serious legal repercussions.
Some states will have laws that dictate what types of alcohol your bar can serve and when. , Even if things are going well it's important that you keep things feeling interesting and fresh for your customers.
Keeping things moving can also prevent you and your staff from becoming too complacent, which can result in your service and standards to fall in quality over time.
As a manager, you should always strive to improve or develop your bar.Think of new ways to promote your bar.
Come up with signature or themed drinks.
Think about offering daily specials. , Businesses these days are making great use of new technology.
While you may feel confident using a computer, certain technologies may require more specialized knowledge.
Staying up to date can also help you gain the advantage over competitors by adapting time and cost saving technology before they do.A general knowledge of computer software such as spreadsheets should be had.
New point of service or TAB systems will require you to have an understanding of how to work with them.
You may need to know how security equipment works.
About the Author
Nicole Hughes
Committed to making practical skills accessible and understandable for everyone.
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