5 Important Lessons That Owning a Nightclub Taught Me About Business
The nightlife industry is like no other.
Owning a nightclub is a completely different game than any other business.
You have to deal with fights and security concerns, people getting too intoxicated (including staff), theft, trying to make as much in sales while only being open a few hours a week, along a bunch of other challenges.
I was one of the owners at 441 Main in Winnipeg. Over the (almost) 5 years we were open, we won nightclub of the year twice and were the city’s premier nightlife destination.
Needless to say, I learnt a lot about business in my time at 441 Main.
In this blog post, I want to share the 5 most important lessons I learned over my time owning a nightclub.
You need to pick your partners carefully.
When you start a business, you are either deciding to do it by yourself, or with others. The difference between a good business partner, and a bad one, will likely also decide whether your business succeeds or fails.
That is especially true in nightclubs.
People won’t attend your nightclub if they don’t want to support your business partner.
If your business partner doesn’t help populate your club, it’s much harder.
If you have disagreements, it can be a living hell.
Prior to picking your business partner, figure out where they will benefit your business.
Do they have any technical skills?
Will they help with marketing?
Are they good with numbers?
Do they have the funding?
Are they good operators?
Do they have enemies?
All of these questions matter.
You need to pick your business partners extremely wisely because if you don’t, you will likely fail.
Every week is different.
This is especially true in nightclubs, but relevant to any business.
In nightclubs, everything affects whether you will be busy that weekend or not.
Is it a holiday?
Who’s birthday is it this weekend?
Is it hot outside? If so, you better have A/C
Are people going out of town that weekend?
Are there any big events, games or concerts in the city?
How is the weather? Snowstorms might mean people stay in.
Did anyone get stabbed at any club last weekend? If so, people may not come out.
In nightclubs, you have to do parties based on the holidays and any other events that are happening. Otherwise, you will likely struggle.
That means that every single week is different from the last. The same can be true in any business.
What happens week to week is typically different, and that will affect what you do on a day-to-day basis.
You have to be ready for anything.
You will have challenges, and you need to be capable of coming up with solutions.
Knowing the right people matters.
If you know the right people when you work in nightlife, you will be able to populate your club. The right people mean the difference between doing $10,000 in sales and $20,000 in sales.
Knowing the right people is extremely valuable.
It could also mean that you have popular athletes or celebrities that come to your nightclub. When they come out, you know a good demographic will usually follow.
This matters in other businesses as well because you want popular people to support your product, or service, and share it with others.
Influencers are the best example.
If an influencer shares your product for free, because you know them, you might save thousands of dollars in upfront expenses, and gain thousands of dollars in the long run
Knowing the right people, and being well-networked, could be the difference between success or failure.
Kindness goes a long way.
A lot of people over-complicate what good customer service is. Before I owned a club, I was a VIP host, and a club promoter, worked in sales, and did numerous other jobs that require good customer service skills.
Good customer service is not hard if you are kind. Kindness goes a long way because so many people are not kind, so your kindness makes you memorable.
The people you were kind to will tell their friends, they’ll want to support you, and they’ll come back.
Kindness is the key to good customer service in any business, and it will help you tremendously.
Your business will fluctuate.
Sometimes business will be good, and sometimes it will be bad. That’s just the nature of business and life.
You have to be ready for both because it will take you on an emotional, and financial roller coaster.
When times are good, save up, create a nest egg, and plan for when times are bad. You may have to hold out for a few weeks, or months, while you figure out how to make a comeback.
That is ridiculously true in nightclubs. As I said before, every week is different.
Plan ahead and be ready for fluctuations.
Oh! And try not to let it affect your personal life.
Conclusion.
Every business will teach you important lessons. Nightclubs are a little different than most businesses though.
When you open a nightclub, you have to be aware that a good lifespan is 5 years. Most successful ones last between 3-5 years (in my city).
That means that you go through all the stages of a business, in a very quick amount of time.
Because of this life cycle, I learned a lot from owning a business, in a very short amount of time. The best part though, was the amazing memories I made, and the people I met.
Thanks for reading!
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