Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Are they the lemmings]

[Cacique]

There is a bar for sale currently on the Buy and Sell forum. At the least, you might learn a few things by discussing the sale with the owner:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=90285

[jkelly80]

Ci-bo-la!
Bumpity bump!

I don't know what wholesale/retail prices are like in RoK, but I've worked in bars/restaurants for over 8 years Stateside and I know that the food markup is something like 15%, whereas alcohol is around 3-400%. Also, the reason most bars (rather than other food joints) fail is usually insurance costs, market saturation, and infighting between owners--the markup usually takes care of most other things. Great thing about alcohol (especially hard liquor) is that it takes a long long time for your inventory to go bad--that's a plus. This thread seems a little dead, but this is one of my dreams as well Stateside, so I can talk about it forever.

PS If you do open a bar, please put the Bailey's in the fridge--it contains dairy proteins. I've only seen about three places do this in all my years of working and drinking.

[endofthewor1d]

hi jkelly80.
thanks for the bump. i've been stateside for over a month now, so i haven't been logging into dave's all that much lately. since i've been here, i've found a few books on the subject on half.com. they've all been pretty good. they would all be of even more use for you than they will be for me, as they take for granted that the bar their readers want to open will be in the u.s. and they cover a lot of the legal ins and outs. the four titles i've found are as follows:
1. running a bar for dummies
2. start your own bar and tavern *
3. start and run a money-making bar
4. the upstart guide to owning and managing a bar or tavern

* in addition to 'start your own bar and tavern' i bought 'start your own bar and club', thinking it might be different. it was the same book with a different title.

i'm halfway through the last of these. i've still got another month to go here in the states before i head off to korea again. if anyone knows of some other titles that might be of any help to me, now would be the perfect time to let me know.

good luck jkelly80.

[michaelmichael]

Back in the states I was part owner of a bar, and managed 2 nightclubs. Before I started the 1st venture I had little experience. I had some experience in organizing large scale parties like the Love Parade and Burning Man related stuff. Funny enough, I bought the book "'start your own bar and tavern" before opening the bar. It has some technical things that are of some value. Though, most of what you read in there can be learned by working in a bar for a month. My inspiration came from being a bar/club patron for many years. This is an advantage in that you know what customers want, and you have an idea of what you think a cool atmosphere would be.

The flipside, or reality, is that the job can be very, very demanding. If it's busy, well life is grand. You work your ass off and go home late. Very late. If it's slow, yeah you can chill with the custi's and have a laugh, but you're not making money. It sounds capitalistic, but it's 1/2 of the whole objective. Gotta pay your bills. These were my financial priorities when I opened:

1. Rent and legal fees.
2. Alchohol COGS
3. Labor Wages

You must have all three of these in order to operate. Pay your rent. Have a suitable amnt of liquor inventory on hand, and always, always pay your employees. They basically handle your cash (liquor is cash too). Typically in Korea, bar employees make nothing compared to the States. I think most get a bit above minimun which i think is 4,000/hr.

Oh, the other half of the business is remembering to think about your purpose. If you have a theme to your place, stick with it and sell it as that. Don't just open and expect people to come, they don't. You need to find ways of marketing yourself. To do that you need to have a product, spend time developing that. Anwyways, I think bar/club owners sometimes fail because financial pressure (+/-) tend to blind them of their purpose, to provide entertainment. Don't ever lose sight of that.

In the states, the margin on alchohol sales i believe to be a bit greater than Korea. Also, the inventory for top shelf and well drinks is higher in the States. I seldom see people here request call drinks (i.e. brand name), unless it's whiskey or scotch. Most drinks here are well. You make your greatest margin on well drinks. Since alchohol from the well has the lowest cogs.
In the US, a well bottle of vodka was $4. Typical profit was about $100 net.

COGS alchohol: 21-25%.
cogs fOOD: 30-38%

Korean bars usually serve 1 oz shots in cocktails. from a 750ml expect 24 shots or less. in the us, or atleast my bars, we did 1.5 oz shots. usually got about 15 or so (need to check the old spreadsheets). First 6$ well cocktail or two, pays for the bottle. 3-4 for a call liquor.

Also, watch how many drinks you give away. If you give away a beer that is W2500 on your menu but ony costs you W2000, you are actually losing W2500, not W2000. Always let your employees give away or comp drinks to customers. Most bars keep track of this. I allowed 2 per employee. I typically didn't allow them to drink, except one before or after. You have to have a limit. Not just for the money, but well....you know. Granted this was a club atmosphere in which the intensity is a bit higher. You will see the best way to run your place. But it's easier to have set guidelines from the beginning.

Oh and dont forget about inventory. You should always have an idea about how much you are going through. After a certain point you can measure how much is being made on each bottle and understand where your investment money is going. Should be done once weekly or biweekly. Bottles are spit and recorded in ten parts. Half a bottle is .5, couple of shots left, .1, and so on.

Anyways, sorry to ramble on, can't think of anything else to write. Hope this is a little helpful.

[endofthewor1d]

hey michaelmichael.
thanks for that reply. how do you know so much about the bar biz here in korea? did you leave the bar business in the states to come here?

[IlIlNine]

The end of the world is cool name for a bar and all..

But in all seriousness - it's got too many syllables! 2 MAX!

How many bars do you know with a > 2 syllable count? Not many!

[Optimus Prime]

[Hyeon Een]

[jkelly80]

One of my favorite bars and (bar name) in Chicago is called the Hungry Brain.

[chotaerang]

What bar concept do you reckon would work outside of Itaewon?

[Koreadays]