Category: SEO

Taking your dream of owning a bar or a local pub from a dream to reality requires a passion for the drinks and food trade and the ability to create an environment that people love. Being able to master the art of becoming a landlord takes dedication to your craft and a desire to want to engage with customers to keep them frequenting your premises.

After all, a pub or a bar is built on repeat business and you are in charge of creating a sanctuary for people to go to enjoy themselves and get away from the world for just a little while.

In an increasingly competitive market, do you think you have what it takes to create a successful brand in this sector?

Enthusiasm.

If you aren’t enjoying what you do, then chances are this will show in your business. Taking on a pub or a bar requires you to be passionate about what you do to help you create a successful business that wants to strive to make a success of.

If you don’t enjoy it, chances are you let things slip and undo all your hard work. So ask yourself, how much do you want this? Can you deal with working with people under the influence of alcohol on a daily basis? Will you be able to dedicate the hours it takes to run a business that is open pretty much every day of the year and at a lot of unsociable hours too?

Eye for Detail.

What kind of establishment are you looking to run? Knowing what vision you have for your new venture and the look and style will go a long way in being able to bring that to life.

Creating your signature style is essential to attract the right clientele to your premises. Following that look through from Contract Furniture specifically for this type of venture. Right up to the type of glassware you use, dishes and cutlery if you are serving food, and into the flooring bathrooms and much more.

People want a place they can connect to, whether it is a local corner pub, trendy upmarket bar or a specialty venue concentrating in a particular area such as a gin bar.

Research, Research, Research

Make sure you look into everything in detail before forging ahead with your new venture. Making sure you have the correct licenses for the business you are starting as well as looking into costs associated with running a bar or a pub. The cost of drinks, equipment, staffing, and utilities are all big factors that determine how you can set your prices so that people will come and drink with you and still be able to make a profit.

Look at your location, demand for what you are offering and what your competition is in the area.

Run the costs carefully and make sure you are happy with how much you can expect to make and if it will be feasible in the long term to take on a project of this magnitude.

As a business owner, you aim to make as much money as you can so that your business can keep running and so that you will hopefully be left with a profit. This means that you may look for ways that you can reduce the amount of money that you spend. When you are looking at ways you can save money, you should make sure that it does not compromise the quality and integrity of your business. Here are a few ways that you can save money without cutting corners:

Outsource work

Outsourcing is a great way to save money because it reduces the amount of staff that you need to hire. Sometimes small businesses do not have enough money or work to justify hiring one person for a specific job. That is where outsourcing helps because it allows you outsource work to qualified contractors when you need to. You can do this with things such as accounting and finance, and IT support.

It can also allow the staff that you already have to get on with other work that needs to be completed so that there is no need to keep them on for more hours then you have accounted for. 

Make your premises energy efficient

Energy bills can be a big part of the cost of running a business, so if you can find a way to make the cost of running your business premises lower, you will be able to save some money. For example, you could do big jobs like getting spray foam insulation so that your premises retains heat and you don’t have to spend as much money keeping your employees warm. This may cost you more in the short term but will save you money in the long run. You could also do smaller jobs like replacing light bulbs with led bulbs or ensuring your employees turn off switches when something isn’t in use. Even small changes will help to save your business some money.

Use social media for marketing

Social media is a great way to market and advertise your business. On most social media platforms, you can sign up for free and start building an audience. You can post content in the hope that it will be shared or pay for a sponsored advertisement that will share your post with a broader number of people within your target audience. This can work out much cheaper than traditional forms of marketing and advertisements like posters and professional videos, so is an excellent option for a smaller business, but is also very useful for bigger companies as well.

Negotiate

If you work with any type of supplier, try and negotiate with them. If you are buying bulk quantities and you are a regular customer, they may consider a discount as they will want to keep the regular business. The supplier wants to stay in business as much as you do. There is no harm in asking for a discount because the worst answer you can get is no, and anything else is a saving.

Brand awareness is a straightforward concept. If people are aware of your brand, then the likelihood of gaining customers increases. When someone knows that your company exists, they’re way more likely to contact you if they need what you provide. This leads to the question; how can you spread brand awareness? 

Realistically, there are lots of different things you can do. However, some cost a lot more than others. While you want to spread as much awareness as possible, you must be conscious of how much money you spend. So, you’ll be over the moon to know that there are plenty of low-budget (and minimal effort) ways to increase brand awareness. Here are three to help you get started: 

Branded Clothing

Make your employees wear branded clothing when they’re at work. Instantly, you increase brand awareness by getting your logo out there into the public eye. The beauty of this idea is that you can make some really nice personalised hoodies that your team can wear when they’re on lunch – or just out away from work. Here, they spread brand awareness by showing off your logo, displaying contact details, etc. Everyone that sees them will see your brand – it’s so effortless. Nobody has to do anything other than walk around as normal. The only costs involved are the initial ones when manufacturing the hoodies. You could even hand these out as free gifts to customers, so they can advertise your company for you!

Signage

That’s right, something as simple as a sign can help you spread loads of brand awareness. Upgrade the signage outside your business premises so more people are forced to stop and take a look. An impressive sign will turn heads, which means more consumers become aware that your brand exists. In a world where you’re probably sandwiched between loads of other businesses, it’s hard to stand out. Big and bold signs allow you to do this, and with very few costs involved at all. 

Social Media Hashtags

Of course, social media is the most powerful tool when it comes to brand awareness. The reach you have on various social platforms is ridiculous. However, you can improve things by utilising social media hashtags. Hashtags are basically keywords that people can search for. They go into Twitter or Instagram and search for specific phrases or words. Then, they’re presented with all the posts that use these hashtags. Already, you can see how this will spread more brand awareness. If you use hashtags in your posts, then you open your business up to all the users that also use those hashtags or the ones that are searching for them. Without them, your post would probably only be seen by your followers. Just make sure you choose hashtags that relate to your business, target market, and the post itself. For example, if you were to tweet about social media marketing, then use hashtags like #socialmediamarketing #digitalmarketing, and so on. Also, one last note, don’t overdo it with your hashtags. You can use more than one, but there’s a point where you go from effective to too many. 

All of these ideas are very cheap ways for you to spread brand awareness. The last one doesn’t cost a penny, but the other two only include initial costs to pay for the sign or clothing. Hardly any effort is involved either, which makes these ideas perfect for small businesses without much time to dedicate to marketing.