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Get a different food truck to show up each weekend
Bars around Lake Tahoe have food trucks.
Trivia nights? Market through Facebook/local resources depending on what city to let people know what’s happening - 4/5 person teams, no entry fee (people will buy food and drinks if you schedule it around dinner time), prize could be a voucher for money off on their next visit and a picture on the wall - people love having their name/picture on the wall and will come back/bring their friends.
Based on the description is sounds like a more laid back, casual atmosphere, maybe some live music from aspiring bands in the area? (Warning for live music, my advice to be to keep it quieter rather than louder, I love live music but can’t stand when I can’t talk to the people I came with).
Also maybe some theme nights, would definitely check out a bar if they were doing a jazz night, etc., but it would definitely depend on the demographic of the area
Strippers
Definitely agree with talking to customers. And use what you’ve got available Google gives you a daily popular time tracker. Saturday seems telling. One observation, it seems your bar with great coffee can’t figure out if it’s a bar or a breakfast cafe (seems breakfast/coffee is winning). Doesn’t appear to have much of a lunch scene. Realize these may be relative. Can you find ways to increase breakfast ticket prices? Are there ways to get Saturday afternoons/evenings to compare to the breakfast crowd?
From reviews—sounds like service is hit or miss, and perhaps that has to do with the lull periods?
Regarding request for fake reviews, Google can probably very easily verify those, and probably punishes for it. Avoid that.
How long have they had it for? Did they start it or did they buy it? Has it ever done well? If so, what changed? Do they own the property or rent?
And what's their opportunity cost? IOW, if they weren't running a bar, what else could they do? How much would they make? And would it have a positive impact on their lifestyle (eg, better hours, less stress).
It could lead to a hard conversation but they may be better off 1) selling everything and getting a job, or 2) selling the business and renting the space out to the new owner if they own it (and also getting a job), or 3) pivoting to a completely different business for which there is a greater need in the neighborhood (eg, grocery store, salon, etc...) as long as the necessary investment is within their means, they have enough knowledge to run it, and the expected profits and lifestyle are an improvement over their current state.
Good luck!
Don’t know whether it’s an error by Google but it appears that mornings are the busiest, and many comments are about their coffee. Is that what they’re geared for, or do they think it’s a bar? Don’t know what kind of breakfast and the manner of breakfast in Slovenia, but there are really good videos of Jacques Pepin on youtube teaching you how to do a world class omelette. There are so many low hanging fruit in the breakfast scene to develop really good technique. If your parents have the energy to run this place 7 days a week, they can definitely become amazing breakfast cooks.
Otherwise strip bars are recession-proof.
Feel like alot of these are US specific. What are the people / culture like there? What does the average person look for when they go out? What are the meals like (is there a certain meal in the day larger than others, certain one drinks are usually served for, etc.)? Plenty of other questions down this line but bottom line is learn the customer...think a few people mentioned this point as well
Consider fronting for the Mafia?
Ok consulting nerd warning. Here’s how I would think of it in terms of top line. I don’t know enough about how a bar runs to have anything worthwhile to say on costs.
1. Awareness - how many people know you exist?
2. Conversion - how many come in the door? Why and why not?
3. Loyalty - how many come back? Why and why not?
4. Margin - how much do they spend each visit and are they buying the right (higher margin) products?
Then I would brainstorm tactics to address each of the above (lots of great ideas in this thread...social media, happy hours, trivia nights, loyalty programs...) as well as open questions and how you might answer them (customer surveys, inventory assessment, etc.)
Map them on a 2x2 (let’s be honest, is there any problem that can’t be solved with a 2x2?) of impact vs. resources (money and time).
Start knocking out the high impact low resource ones and start planning for the high impact high resource ones.
I realize this is a vast oversimplification, but maybe a helpful framework. Good luck to your family!
Make it cool
Happy hour ideas like flip night (toss a coin and offer a free drink if they get it right) will attract more people too if you want to play the volume game. Allow people to bring food in from outside if you don't already serve food
Ask Jake Taffer from Bar Rescue to pay you a visit and see if you can get on the show. Worth a shot!
The majority of bars he touches fail. He’s a joke. Would avoid.
Lot of reviews are complementing your guys coffee, literally no one of the reviews talk about your liquor. Think about that. Selling alcohol is costly and that competing bar is going to make extremely difficult. Think of a coffee pivot - buy a nice second hand cappuccino machine from here and have it delivered there
OP, Being a non-US person and having worked in the F&B industry I understand the review situation. Usually in non-western countries, you only review if something is not good/working. If the place is good, its 'supposed' to be good!
1. Have your loyal customers write up a review. They'll do it being friends with your parents or incentivize it with like '1 coffee' or '1 beer'.
2. Trivia is a good option too.
3. Not sure about the food truck in suburbs.
4. Analyze your clientele. If Millennials, trivia n food truck would work. If mixed with further ages population, add some sort of sports flavor to it.
Try to create a differentiated attraction... what about something like a barcade? Trivia nights fit right in with that, and people stay longer when there’s more to do!
Consider client rotation vs higher $/client
Specialize in rare/unique to get drinks. We found a small bar in Japan, just a few seats but they had all kinds of Japanese/unique whiskeys and a really cool vibe.
What are the demographics of the area? What are the car and foot traffic numbers by the place like. Mold the bar to the demographics of the area. Serve good, limited foods aimed at locals. Have a signature drink specifically tied to the area. Have volunteer entertainment aimed to the tastes of the neighborhood. Trivia might be good for a younger crowd but karaoke might be good for an older crowd. Once the bar has been tailored to the local market , get flyers with discount coupons put under doors and mailboxes for the neighborhood. If you can get a State of the art POS system and tightly manage food and liquor costs. Free puts are likely killing you. Every drink needs to be measured. Watch any help for under rings and pocketing cash
Jon Taffer’s Bar Rescue summed up in a single post!
Come on OP...of it is in Slovenia just have an Anze Kopitar look alike as the bartender.
Cocktail classes! Wine tastings! Cheap but SO fun and you can get a nice margin
Rent and staff are the key costs to get right. Seriously consider renegotiating rent — if landlord has few options, you will prevail. On staff, unless your parents have been very attentive and very lucky, you will find that you are over-staffed. As with all service businesses, peak loading is the issue driving staff and half of your staff costs are zero productivity except at peak times. Find ways to shave the peak workload. Observe what’s happening at peak and ask, “which of these activities could conceivably be done at another time when my staff is idle”. You may also decide you need to change the services being offered to control staff costs — what are the most time consuming things you do, and are customers really paying for them? Final word — it is nearly impossible to control these things unless an owner is working onsite every hour of the day. I have owned six retail locations that struggled with this issue. Small retail is a labor of love by the owner. If your parents aren’t into it anymore, you have only one option: sell it now, sell it yesterday, sell it while it’s still possible for someone to see their own future in it. If it is not sellable, close it now, close it yesterday, close it before you have racked up debts to the landlord and vendors, etc.
What is utilization of those 8 seats like throughout the day/week? For instance, your approach will be fairly different if the seats are constantly filled during the major times most people go to bars versus if the seats are almost never fully filled.
Make it a pop up bar, will cost money to start but should pay off if done well!