Be the toast of the town, the life of the party--and a successful entrepreneur? Yep. You can have it all when you open a bar. 

Friends, laughter, celebrations, entertainment--fun! These are the things that might come to your mind when you think about owning your own bar as you imagine rooms filled with friendly conversation, music and people enjoying themselves. If you're thinking of opening a sports bar, you might envision an exciting game on big-screen TVs with everyone cheering and having a great time. Owning a bar sounds like the perfect life to many potential entrepreneurs, but it's not always fun and games behind the scenes.

Owning your own bar/club can mean long hours, meticulous attention to detail, giving up vacations and weekends, and sometimes dealing with unruly customers. But if you have a clear vision, do your homework and learn the ins and outs of the business, it can also translate into a rewarding and financially successful enterprise.

The Stats

Although people still gather to socialize in bars, just as they have for hundreds of years, other factors have come into play for the industry as well. Problems with driving while intoxicated have changed the drinking patterns of people in United States. The growing concern with health and fitness toward the end of the 20th century took its toll on the bar industry. Keeping tabs on this industry requires a look at the alcoholic beverage industry as a whole--what people buy in the store doesn't differ much from what they buy in a bar. The distilled spirits industry generates around $100 billion in U.S. economic activity annually, according to the Distilled Spirits Council, a national trade association. 

You have some pretty tough competition out there. But you're not just competing with the other bars in your area these days. You're competing with every entertainment option from which your customers can choose.

What You Can Expect

Successful new bars can be in the black within the first six months, and they can go on to recover their initial investment within three to five years. However, like many new businesses, the statistics for bars aren't in favor of the startup. Why do they fail? The first reason is they didn't have enough capital to keep the business going. The second reason is a lack of knowledge about the business.

From a personal perspective, you need to ask yourself if you're really the type of person who wants to own and run a bar. Of course, you don't have to run it if you own it, but you'd better make sure you have a team of good, trustworthy managers working for you if you plan to be "hands off." In the beginning, you will probably have to be greatly involved whether you plan to be an active owner or not. If you're the kind of person who would rather deal with paperwork or sit in an office where you don't have to talk to people, this business is not for you. You will need to be out there talking to people and shaking hands. Getting to know your patrons, even if it's just to say "Hi," can go a long way for your customer service.

Another thing you should consider is the time commitment and hours of operation. If you're an early riser, you might not enjoy having to work until 3 or 4 a.m. at your bar. If you have a family, you need to discuss how owning a bar will affect them. Many days you will have to be at your bar from the time you wake up--say, around 10 or 11 a.m.--to the time you go to sleep--say, around 4 or 5 a.m. As you can see, this could take its toll on your family life. Eventually, you'll probably be able to have a saner schedule, once your managers and staff are well-trained, but it may take six months to a year to reach that point. If this could cause problems for you or your family, you may want to reconsider the idea of owning a bar.

If we haven't scared you away yet and you're ready to go for the bottle-in-the-sky dream, read on!

What's Your Bar Type?

Before you get started on the actual nuts and bolts of creating your dream bar, you have to decide what kind of establishment you'd like to own. Let's take a trip through the various kinds of bars--from neighborhood bar to large-scale club--and see which one is right for you.

• Neighborhood bar. Conceptually, the neighborhood bar is still an American version of the English pub. You'll find them everywhere in the United States. If you own this kind of place, you can expect to know many of your regular customers. As on the TV show "Cheers," you may find yourself taking phone messages for customers or cashing their paychecks. It's because of the friendly "home away from home" atmosphere that neighborhood bars are successful. Some of these pubs open as early as 6 a.m., and they sometimes close earlier than other bars--depending on the clientele. This type of bar is perfect for small-scale entertainment options, such as darts, pool tables, video games and jukeboxes.
• Across the country, this is probably the most popular type of bar you'll find. There are a lot of neighborhoods out there, but you might find that there is room for one more in your area. According to the experts we interviewed, the startup cost for this kind of bar ranges widely, depending on the size and concept, but mostly on location. You can buy an existing neighborhood bar in a small town for $20,000, or you can spend a million dollars building a brand-new one in a big city. Not coincidentally, the amount of revenue these businesses produce varies greatly, depending on your bar's location and capacity.
• Sports bar. Depending on the establishment's capacity, sports bars can be a specific version of the neighborhood tavern, or they can take on a life as big as a club. You may have the latter in mind, but your market research may point to the former. It's important to do your homework!
• Generally, sports bars offer some kind of menu options, such as sandwiches, burgers, pizza, sandwiches and appetizers. Since the main attraction is sporting events, sports bars have televisions in view of every seat, sometimes all tuned to different channels. Audio and video technology comes into play, with some owners spending a large percentage of their revenue on keeping up with the latest in technology--from satellites to big-screen TVs. As with neighborhood bars, startup costs and revenue potential vary widely, depending on the size, concept and location.
• Brewpub or beer bar. Studies have shown that although consumers are drinking less alcohol, their tastes are becoming more discriminating. As a result, microbrews are more and more popular. In a brewpub, you can brew your own beer right on the premises. In a beer bar, you can offer a large selection of different types of beer, including microbrews produced elsewhere. It's often easier to get a liquor license for a brewpub or beer bar than a full-scale liquor license, since you don't need a fully stocked liquor bar.
• Most brewpubs only sell their own beer options on tap (draft beer), with a few selections of bottled beer options, too. Since you're creating your own product in a brewpub, you also have the ability to control what you make and sell--from quality to quantity. The startup costs of a brewpub can be quite high--from $100,000 to $1 million--because of the brewing equipment you need to have. If you produce a popular beer, you have the opportunity to grow into a very successful operation.
• Beer bars tend to have lower startup costs, which can often mean obtaining a less expensive, fixed-price license from your state government. Beer bar startup costs range from about $20,000 to $100,000, depending on size and location. The revenue potential depends on the geographical location and drinking trends in the community.
• Specialty bar. Specialty bars, which concentrate on one type of libation, from wine to martinis, or theme, like cigar bars, are gaining popularity. Although some specialty bars focus on only one drink category, there must be a wide variety available within the genre. Take martinis: They have become very popular due to the variety they offer. The traditional martini still has a solid appeal if made with quality vodkas and gins, but other mixes, like sour apple martinis, have expanded the martini-drinking base, especially among women. But even with their increased popularity, martinis are still looking up at wine.
• Beyond the traditional glass or bottle with a nice dinner, for many, wine is the drink of choice. In fact, women order wine more often than any other alcoholic beverage. Wine bars offer guests the opportunity to taste a variety of different kinds of wine and the ability to learn more about their qualities.
• Specialty bars tend to stay small and intimate in size and are located in more sophisticated neighborhoods. The costs and revenues you can expect to find when opening a specialty bar depend mostly on the type of product you serve and your location.
• Club. Like the neighborhood bar, nightclubs can take on a number of different personalities. You can open a small cocktail lounge with a jukebox or a tinkling piano in the corner. A medium-sized club might look like a neighborhood bar during the lunchtime hours, then spring to life with a popular band at night. Or if you have a big enough budget, your club might be a large dance club where the most fashionable people and hippest celebrities hang out every weekend
•  Whichever path you take, you must be prepared to spend a great deal of time and money on promotion to create your "buzz." Clubs can make plenty of money if they're managed properly. Most successful clubs draw on a city population of 500,000 or more. If you're in a small town or suburb, you may not have the customer base to open a large dance club. Market research is key.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com

By Scott Gerber

Learn to succeed with investors--from a guy who failed.

Shortly after my college graduation, a few friends and I started a new media company. Within a few weeks we fleshed out the concept, wrote a business plan and set out to seek financing. With a little hustle, I managed to get us a meeting with a well-known investment firm to discuss the opportunity. Even though our business had yet to bring in a single dollar, and none of us had ever been the CEO of coffee shop let alone a multi-million dollar enterprise, we were all confident that we had a sure thing on our hands. After all, our financial projections forecasted gross revenues of $200 million. What investor could say no to that?

We'd be rich. All we needed to do was raise a small amount of capital--$15 million.

I remember thinking, "How hard could it be?" We were obviously, naive, foolish and delusional.

There was one small problem with our plan. None of us had any idea how to pitch an investor. So I did what any clueless entrepreneurial upstart would do: Google searched "how to pitch an investor".

Nothing that I read online could have prepared me for what was to come. We would quickly find out that our presentation was doomed before we ever set foot into the meeting. In reality, it was doomed before we started writing the business plan.

At the beginning of the meeting one of the investors asked me to hand him a one-page executive summary review. I hadn't prepared a summary, so I handed him the first 11 pages out of the binder encasing my 95-page business plan. Strike one.

Less than four slides into my 32-slide presentation, the second investor interrupted me and said, "OK. Stop. I get it. You definitely don't need $15 million."

Defending our business plan, I overconfidently replied: "It can't be done for less."

"Really? It can't be done, huh?" he responded with a smirk masking a hint of laughter. Strike two.

Both of the investors then proceeded to hit us with a barrage of questions:

"How much money have you personally put into your business? Anywhere near $15 million?"

"Why should I pay a bunch of twenty-somethings with no track record $100,000 executive salaries?"

"How much revenue has the business produced to date?"

"Why should I give you $15 million when the company hasn't even made $15?"

"How can you possibly substantiate gross revenues of $200 million in year three?"

"Why are you trying to produce, market and distribute 10 products at the same time before you see if a single one sells at all?"

The questions went on and on. None of our answers were favorable. Strike three.

As you might have guessed, I didn't walk out of that meeting with a $15 million check. I later realized, however, that this was one of the greatest educational experiences of my young career. I learned more about real-world fundraising in 30 minutes than many entrepreneurs learn in a lifetime. To this day, whenever I pitch investors for capital, I always remember these six hard-learned lessons:

1. Less is always more. 

An elevator pitch is vital. Verbose presentations and lengthy explanations will not impress investors, and most likely will turn them off. Present your business in a manner that's short, sweet and to the point. Investors need to be confident that your business will attract and retain customers. If they don't grasp your concept in a short time span, they may presume that customers won't understand it either.

2. Never hypothesize. Execute, execute, execute. 

Inspire confidence with facts, not fiction. Most investors seek out low-risk businesses with proven managers that are as close to guarantees as possible. A company with cash flow, a track record and real-world experience has a better chance of getting investors than a business plan forecasting large returns. Find ways to test your business's viability on a shoestring budget, and turn your idea into a functional business before you seek investment.

3. Leave the hockey sticks on the ice.

Excite investors about your big picture, but be reasonable and responsible. Avoid hockey stick projections. Respectable investors will not take you seriously if you present them with nonsensical financial graphs that claim your company's revenues will grow from $100,000 to $50 million in three years. Show investors that you have a grasp on reality with three versions of financial projections: best case, moderate case and worst case. Base each of these models on facts, past and present performance data, industry and competitor analyses and a series of well-thought-out, defendable assumptions.

4. Learn to love discount stores.

Being cheap is chic. In an age where spending is out of control, you'll need to prove that you are a fiscally responsible manager who knows how to get the most out of a buck. Give yourself wiggle room in your operations and marketing budgets, but avoid being excessive. Never ask for a large salary or big-budget perks. Investors want you to be in a position where everything is on the line.

5. Rome wasn't built in a day. Your business won't be either. 

Investors are wary of funding over-eager businesses that seem destined to bite off more than they can chew. Before asking for millions of dollars to fund 50 divisions and hundreds of product lines, prove how well you can create, manage and fulfill demand for a single product. Demonstrate that your business can crawl before you say it can walk. Perfect your marketing tactics, sales strategies and operational procedures. Investors appreciate companies with sustainable step-and-repeat business models that are poised for exponential growth. Remember, even Google's success is based on a single product.

6. Choose not to be the smartest person in the room. 

Know what you know, know what you don't know and find the people who know what you don't know. Build a team of credible experts. The smartest leaders in the world are those who surround themselves with smarter people. Investors are funding a management team as much as they are investing in a great business concept.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com

By Nina Kaufman

I have a small courier business. My only concern is if I have a accident and get sued, how can I protect myself so that my personal assets won't be taken away? What are my options? What's the best way?

There are two important steps you can take to protect your personal assets when starting a company. First, make sure you are operating as a corporation or a limited liability company. A local attorney and an accountant can help you work out which form will be best for you. 

• Once you form your business entity, make sure you follow all the steps that allow you to keep that limited liability "shield" in place: annual minutes, separating business from personal bank accounts and so on. 
• Second, make sure you have the right kinds of insurance in adequate amounts for your kind of business. Some business insurance policies provide legal defense coverage if you get sued and that will be vital to ensuring that you can keep operating the business without bankrupting it to pay the legal fees and a judgment. A qualified insurance professional can be an important part of your advisory team. 

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com

By: J. D. Roth

Consider this quick step-by-step guide to put your bill paying and personal financial management on autopilot.

I'll confess: More than once, I've been late to pay a bill simply because it slipped my mind. I've tried several methods to solve this problem. I used to pay my bills on the day they arrived, which was effective despite being a pain in the neck. But over the past few years, I've embraced the joys of automation. It's given me a little extra free time and eliminated the possibility of late payments.

Although there's no one right way to automate your finances--each person's financial infrastructure is different--the following arrangement is close to ideal.

• First thing's first: If you have access to an employer-based retirement plan, use it. Set some money aside automatically from each paycheck to save for the future. Ideally, that should be 10 to 15 percent of your income. At the very least, contribute enough to get the full employer match. This isn't free money, but it's darn close.
• While you're advising HR to boost your retirement contributions, tell them to start automatically depositing your paycheck to your savings account.
• Most folks use a checking account as their default money management hub, but I think it makes more sense to use a savings account. (It's part of the whole "pay yourself first" philosophy.) If your local community bank or credit union offers good rates, open a savings account there. Otherwise, use a site like Bankrate.com or Money-Rates.com to find an online, high-interest savings account.
• Next, set up electronic bill pay for every standing obligation you have: cable, internet, gas, electric, sewer, trash, rent, mortgage and so on. In some cases, you may even get a discount for setting up automatic bill pay. (I get $2 off my auto insurance each month because I pay electronically.) It may take a couple of hours to set up all of your automatic payments, but then you don't have to worry about them again for months--or years.

How to Automate

Reclaim your mailbox.

Use OptOutPrescreen.com to put insurance and credit card offers on hold for five years--or forever. Cancel other junk mail through DMAchoice.org.

Computerize your checkbook. 

Quicken or a simple spreadsheet can make things easier, but many folks swear by free online money-management tools like Mint.com and Yodlee.com.

Use targeted savings.

Most people save for several big goals at once: buying a new home, sending a kid to college, taking a trip to Thailand. Instead, open a savings account for each goal and automatically transfer money from your main account each month.

• Don't forget to schedule monthly contributions to your Roth IRA or other investment account. Even if you have a 401(k) or 403(b) through work, it's always good to save more. Most major investment companies (like Vanguard and Fidelity) make it easy to set up regular, monthly contributions. If you don't yet have a Roth IRA, it's easy to get started using discount brokers like ShareBuilder.

Now that you've automated most of your financial necessities, it's time to give yourself an allowance. Schedule a monthly transfer from your savings account to your checking account. The amount is up to you, but it should be enough to cover the bills you can't automate, routine expenses (such as gas and groceries) and, of course, a little something for fun.

This basic framework can decrease some of the drudge work of money management while also reducing human error. (You'll be less likely to miss a payment simply because you forgot to send a check.) Be careful, though. Automation isn't a "set it and forget it" process. The goal is to create a system where you're doing the right things by default and making your life more convenient. But you still need to pay attention. Always review your bills and statements to be certain nothing fishy is going on. 

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com