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If your restaurant has a liquor license, then your bar is where a large portion of your profits are made. Alcohol offers many benefits over food, including being easier to manage while having a high profit margin.
Of course, not all bars make as much money as they can, and in many cases can make much more by making a few small changes. You don’t need a large bar, or even one stocked with every liquor known to man to make more money. Consider these fairly easy ways to increase sales.
Add a Bar Tab Option
Allowing customers to open a tab while their drinking is somewhat of a touchy subject with some restaurant owners, especially those that have been burned in the past by customers that slipped out and didn’t pay the bill.
While you do have that risk in offering bar tabs, there are several benefits to doing so, all of which will increase your profit.
First, when a customer has a tab, they usually will order more drinks than they will if they have to pay every time, especially if they are using a credit card. Also, it’s convenient to be able to order drinks while at the table, and then have that tab transferred to a check without the customer having to do anything. It just makes it more convenient for the customer. Unless you have had a problem in the past with people skipping on the bill, it doesn’t make sense not to allow bar tabs.
Revamp Your Happy Hour
Don’t just run a poorly thought out happy hour offering cheap domestic drafts and watered down well drinks; make your happy hour something that people seek out because you offer something they can’t get elsewhere.
Instead of just quick prepared bar food for happy hour, let it be a preview of what diners can expect if they dine in your restaurant. Create smaller portions of your most popular items, and offer discounts for top drinks as well. Remember that it’s difficult to cut into your profits on drinks, and even if you do, the point of happy hour is to get people in the door. Rarely will a happy hour attendee buy one low profit drink and never come back.
If you have the type of restaurant that warrants it, consider contests, trivia, or live music during happy hour, all of which make a fun experience for groups. Larger groups of people that are out to have a good time typically spend more money. If they have fun, they’ll be back, and regular happy hour guests quickly turn into dinner guests.
Hire Good Bartenders
The ideal bartender is friendly, fast, and efficient, while also making good drinks and a sale. While it may seem like a job anyone can do, it’s actually difficult to do well, which is why skilled bartenders can make good money.
When hiring bartenders, look for experience, and pay them well. A bartender that is serious about his or her job is also much less likely to give free rounds to friends.
Make Sure Your Customers Don’t Have to Wait
If a customer is sitting at the bar without a drink in hand, you’re losing money. If you’ve got a bar full of customer without a drink because the lone bartender is backed up, you’re losing a lot of money that you won’t get back. Not only that, a customer that has to wait a long time for a drink is likely to choose another bar next time, which means you’ve lost even more money over time. You can probably see a recurring theme here.
The easiest way to avoid this is to have enough staff to handle the crowd. It can be difficult to determine how busy you’ll be, but paying an extra bartender is almost always the smart financial move over letting customers sit at your bar empty handed, especially on a Friday or Saturday night.
Find Local Producers
Produce is not the only product you can find locally. With local producers of beer, liquor, and even wine popping up in every major city around the country, it should be fairly easy to partner with a local distiller to create local drinks that make your bar special. Most companies are happy to work with restaurants, and you can even charge customers a premium over high quality national brands.
Elevate Your Draft Menu
The craft brewing industry has exploded in recent years, so if you’ve still got a small selection of inexpensive domestic drafts as your beer menu, you’re behind the times.
With specialty restaurants offering dozens of draft beers, there is stiff competition to keep your draft selection fully stocked. Draft beer is inexpensive, easy to pour, and fast to provide compared to mixed drinks and specialty cocktails. It’s also popular with a wide variety of drinkers, so if you have limited space at the bar, an extra tap or two is a better investment than almost anything else.
Offer Samples
No, you don’t have to offer samples of mixed drinks or wine, but if you have an extensive draft list or a local whisky or two, offering a small tasting to customers on the fence can sometimes push them to order. Offering samples is also seen as good customer service, and can increase tips, as well as the customer return rate.
You don’t need to post a sign on the bar, and you shouldn’t offer samples to every guest that comes in (who’s going to turn down a free sample at the bar?), but simply train your staff to be able to spot if someone may be on the fence about a particular beer and offer a sample.
Develop Interesting Cocktail Combinations
Many people are going to come into the bar and get the same thing no matter what, and that’s fine. Some, however, would be delighted to try a rhubarb mojito, and they’ll pay a premium for it. This is especially true in a more upscale restaurant where your food prices are a bit higher than average. It can be easy to add a few dollars to a drink this way.
Just make sure that if you’re charging a premium for a drink that it is worth the cost; otherwise you’ll get a bad reputation for expensive, lousy drinks.
Create Delicious Alcohol Free Drinks
If you’re wondering what kind of person goes to a bar and orders a non-alcoholic beverage, you may be surprised to learn that it’s not all that uncommon. There are plenty of reasons customers have for not drinking, and while the reason doesn’t matter, you still want them as a customer. Frozen non-alcoholic daiquiris, rich chocolate drinks, or even a decent array of bottled beverages will make a non-drinker much more likely to visit your place over another.
Consider a Sommelier
If you have a casual restaurant, a sommelier may be overkill, but in a more upscale place, having an expert come to the table in a crisp white chef coat and help them order wine will increase sales tremendously.
Conclusion
Restaurants can make a lot of money if done right, but the real money is behind the bar. You have to know how to find it, however. By following a few simple tips and tricks, you can increase bar sales tremendously, which maximizes overall profits in your restaurant.