Empty Pubs
Ignorance is bliss, stupidity is wonderful!
The next person who tells me they want to think about having an empty pub or a thriving pub then I shall scream from the highest point my phrase of the year ‘Ignorance is bliss, stupidity is wonderful’! Why do you have to think about the reason for not having a lively, busy pub? Are you working to some master plan that even Warren Buffet could not decipher?
At least 3 people who I know have said to me with all sincerity that looking at a new marketing strategy to overcome a empty pub needs careful consideration. Yes they believe that sticking with the present marketing strategy which has produced a completely empty pub is the way to go.
Some see it as a slight to their personality to consider a challenge to their opinion as some sort of neutering process. An attack on their business acumen and a threat to their command of best business practices. New ideas are to be looked at with suspicion. Crying in their beer at the lack of customers becomes a soothing exercise that should not be ignored as they tempt new owners with the joy of a lack of ‘good will’ and the joy of a over ambitious business rate and over priced beer order which is tantamount to being bashed and being told they should be happy that they are bashed.
The pub industry is dying and the pool of silly people wanting the challenge of running a ‘boozer’ becomes ever smaller. Why would anyone with their mind intact take on a business that has no prospect, with bills that make no sense?
There is a way out but it takes some clear thinking and truth. Do not say that you ‘re taking more than you are. It is simple to work out what figure you have from the amount of people in your pub. If 10 people are drinking 5 pints of lager in a evening then once you know the price all you have to do is multiply the relevant figures. It is not rocket science!
If there is one person in the pub on a Thursday night and you have to think about changing your marketing strategy then welcome to the mad house because you’re insane! It should not have got to this stage in which you are re-evaluating your marketing strategy. It didn’t work in the beginning and it ain’t working now.
OK you may see yourself as the next Donald Trump looking to change the premises into a nursing home or a block of flats. Well in the meantime why not try something new to earn some money now? What do you have to lose? Pub poker is very cheap and easy to run. Quiz nights are even more simpler. Promotion cannot be easier it just need the will and the effort to do something wonderful. Yes passion means loving what you do. If you do not love what you do then it wont work.
Like I said running a empty pub is just lazy and unforgivable. It is not down to smoking or drugs or TV it is down to YOU! Art in the pub, music for everyone, safety is paramount, being pleasant is so under-rated.
The government will have to cut taxes for the pub beer price, but, so will tied pub companies. Charging more than the local wholesaler is a crime. So get your head out of your as* and stop thinking about it.
Empty Pub - another failed strategy