How to Open a Cocktail Bar

Decided to open a cocktail bar on your own? What you should think about when creating a project. Where to look for space? Franchises, ready-made business and other points that we have tried to summarize in this article.

Cocktail bars are becoming increasingly popular in the catering industry. Coffee shops, restaurants have become bored, and visitors want something definitely new. More and more often entrepreneurs are deciding to open exactly cocktail bars with unusual interior, new drinks, providing a completely new institution. Opening a bar has a number of important steps, which we will talk about below.

Concept

Cocktail bars are establishments with a unique concept. As a rule, they emphasize a particular group of drinks, especially cocktails. You should be clear on the concept, what you will serve, which key drink displays your bar. Visitors come to the bar not only for the drinks they love, but also for the atmosphere and the friendly bartender. In cocktail bars, bartenders tell heartwarming stories and maintain the overall atmosphere of the place in parallel with their drinks. It is important to decide what you are creating and for whom? You open a mono-brand institution or develop a franchising project.

Audience. After choosing a concept, the search for space should boldly implement the promotion of your bar in social networks. They should know about you in the city and look forward to your opening. Keeping Facebook and Instagram is essential, because that is where your target audience is concentrated. You can also connect Tiktok, as this network is gaining momentum and has a younger target audience.

On the day of the opening it is advisable to have a certain party to celebrate the opening, treat cocktails, have promotions and good discounts. You have to establish yourself so that visitors will then recommend you.

Room for a cocktail bar

Selecting a space is a key issue in opening a cocktail bar. When selecting a space, you should consider such features:
Analyze the traffic, busyness of the location.
Study the location in terms of competition.

Analysis of the preferences of visitors

Coming to the premises, you should have a clear plan, the concept of your bar. You must have an idea of your product, because the landlord will not wait for the creation of your logo and branding. You have chosen the premises, started the renovation work and promotion of your business.
How to open a cocktail bar? It is desirable to place the bar on the first floor of a non-residential building. Such an option was not found? No problem, you can find a basement room and beat the entrance to the bar quite creatively, which will emphasize your uniqueness. Pay attention to the technical part: serviceable water supply, sewerage and uninterrupted operation of the power supply. Predominantly examine the room for the location of seats for guests and the total capacity. The main thing in a bar is to ensure the comfort and atmosphere of the visitors.
The concept is created, the room is selected – time for scrupulous repair work. At this stage, it is important to find proven contractors through an architectural firm, it gives a certain guarantee. The contractor comprehensively collects stylistic moments of the interior and the technical part of the work.
Electric equipment for a cocktail bar includes: a blender designed to whip drinks; a mixer designed to make milkshakes with a lush foam.
Necessary refrigeration equipment is: ice maker, refrigerator and ice crusher. Wine cellars are also used for storing wine.
Clearly monitor the quality of repair work can be problematic for the novice entrepreneur. So, due to the lack of proper monitoring, a significant amount of money is lost. There are a lot of companies that monitor the process of repair work in the complex.

Personnel

Cocktail bar needs a professional staff that knows the basics of etiquette and service features. At the initial stage of work in the bar will need: a bartender, barback, manager, waiters, security.
The necessary qualities of staff: stress resistance, the observance of etiquette, respect for confidentiality, friendliness. It is noteworthy that a uniform is required for bar staff, which once again will indicate your professionalism.
In the field of catering is a pressing problem of staff turnover. Set a decent wage and comfortable working conditions, encourage your employees. It is not unimportant to build a system of motivation: staff training, a system of rewards and punishments for employees, and training sessions.