The rotation of clubs in the capital's market is impressive: out of almost a hundred nightclubs, about one fifth of them are closed and reopened annually. The annual market turnover, according to rough estimates, is in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. True, at the same time, it practically does not increase: the avalanche-like growth occurred in the three post-crisis years.
The average volume of investments required for the full-fledged operation of a nightclub in Moscow is estimated by experts at 500 thousand dollars, the profitability is 20-50%. Interestingly, the profitability of such establishments is often in no way related to the volume of investments: a club built for $ 50,000 may turn out to be super successful, and one in which a million is invested will quickly burn out.
How to choose a room?
In most cases, it is the right choice of location that determines the success of a nightclub or disco. A fashionable metropolitan club, designed for the middle and upper class, must be located in the city center, within the Garden Ring, and for simpler, democratic establishments, the city outskirts are quite suitable (their visitors are often residents of neighboring houses). And one more important condition - it should be convenient to reach youth clubs not only by ground transport, but also by metro.
When choosing a room from the list, the first floors of residential buildings should be excluded from the very beginning. If the local authorities allow you to place a noisy nightclub there (which, for example, is impossible in Moscow), then the indignant tenants will never let you work normally. And even if your soundproofing is perfect, there will probably be a couple or two of active grandmothers who can ruin any party by simply calling a police squad several times. Therefore, from the very beginning, you should focus on free-standing non-residential buildings.
The room itself must meet a number of criteria: have a sufficiently large area (experts advise making the main ballroom at least 250 sq. M in size) and high ceilings suitable for hanging light and sound equipment (from 4 m).
In the early 90s, an interesting trend was observed: former or still operating houses and palaces of culture, foyers of cinemas and concert halls were actively used to organize clubs and discos. Until they were all taken apart. But in the regions, you can still find similar buildings vegetating without an owner. From the mid-90s, the former workshops of non-operating factories began to be actively rebuilt. Their main advantage is a large area at quite reasonable prices (in Moscow - from $ 200 per 1 sq. M). Such options, in contrast to building from scratch, require much lower costs: all you have to do is dismantle machines or old chairs, equip a locker room and a bar, develop a modern design, and most importantly, install light and sound equipment. For a small or closed (for casual visitors) club, a basement is fine.
As practice shows, five years ago it was relatively easy to find a room in Moscow. But now it is already a serious problem holding back the development of the club business.
As for the interior decoration, then there are no general recipes. You can spend 2 thousand dollars per 1 sq. m, creating an ultra-modern design, but no one will come to you, but you can limit yourself to just a hundred dollars per square meter, and the club will always be sold out. The fact is that such establishments primarily sell their own atmosphere, and only in addition to it are the interior, dishes, drinks, etc. For example, a fashionable (and, by the way, economical, allowing not to buy expensive furniture) trend of recent years is the use of rough wood.
Before starting organizational and construction work, it is necessary to draw up a competent project. And here you cannot do without professionals. And you need to start with the development of a general concept. This will allow you to avoid unnecessary costs, constant miscalculations and alterations, which greatly increase the estimate. In addition, experts will analyze the location you have chosen to see if its location matches the chosen concept. They will also help you get a list of all permits required for the normal operation of the club. Consultants typically charge between $ 2,000 and $ 5,000 for their services.
But the organizational functions may well be entrusted to the main club person who will be responsible for the entire concept of the establishment (and not just for its program, as many still mistakenly believe) - the promoter.
Head club man
According to many experts, 80% of the success or failure of any entertainment establishment depends on the promoter.
And in fact, most of the closings of clubs (and this is not so rare) is due precisely to the unprofessionalism of the administrator. The specialty "promoter" cannot be obtained in any institute, it can be learned only in the process of work.
The main task of a promoter is to attract visitors. To do this, he must clearly direct the activities of the institution in line with the developed concept. According to Andrey Fomin (a well-known Moscow promoter and showman, founder of the annual Night Life Award ceremony, which determines the best nightclubs of the year), it is the promoter who is responsible for the concept of the club, from the musical style to the organization of special parties. And the main task of this person is to create a holiday every evening.
According to Garry Chaglasyan, one of the most eminent Russian promoters (organizer of the XIII club), “in the West, a club is only a room in which every night a new promoter throws his own party. In Russia, however, they simply do not understand how rap can be played on Tuesday, trip-hop on Thursday, and progressive house on Saturday. Now in our clubs the owner is often a manager, an art director, and a promoter all rolled into one, and this does not help business at all."
Club orientation
According to statistics, up to 70% of the profits are brought to the club by regular visitors. Therefore, at the first stage of developing the concept, it is necessary to determine who your institution will be designed for: “golden” youth or adolescents from the suburbs, respectable businessmen or rockers, representatives of sexual minorities or straight people. The interior, music, drinks, prices and even the level of service entirely depend on the target audience.
The main visitors to the nightlife are young people under 35 years old. But she also differs in age, wealth, hobbies, outlook on life. Conventionally, all clubs can be divided into three main categories: expensive, democratic youth (more like discos) and narrowly thematic. The latter usually differ in musical directions: jazz, rock, pop, etc. There are also clubs for women, gays, etc. When planning to open a nightclub, you should bear in mind that if you try to do something alien to yourself (for example, a convinced straight person wants to start a gay club), then it is difficult to hope for success.
Golden youth
Working with bohemians and "golden" youth, the most tempting visitors to expensive clubs, is the hardest thing. In addition, the creation of such establishments has its own specifics. Unlike the opening of elite restaurants, where big money is spent on repairs, interior decoration, and the purchase of expensive furniture and dishes, a nightclub for "golden" boys and girls does not require special financial investments. This statement is perfectly confirmed by the success of the Jazz Cafe, which opened in 1998, a club organized by the Yugoslav promoter Sinis Lazarevic, who has extensive experience in promoting such establishments in Belgrade and Italian cities. The organizers of the "Jazz Cafe" saved a lot on repairs, furniture and equipment, and the advertising expense item was generally omitted. They focused all their attention on creating an atmosphere of mystery, bohemianism, exclusivity and elitism around the establishment.
The second example is the XIII club. According to its promoter Garry Chaglasyan, “comfort, novelty, striving for unobtrusive luxury and decadence, as well as a dynamically changing atmosphere, when one evening is not the same, is important for our visitors.” In such clubs, it is not customary to take money for entry, and the profit comes only from the bar. The prices are appropriate: a cup of coffee - $ 10, cocktails - from $ 50. The basic principle of such a club is this: I bought, for example, a bottle of tequila for $ 20, and sold it in bulk for 400. With a large number of sold bottles, the profit may turn out to be huge. The average visitor to such places spends $ 100-200 per night. only with a hundred clients (this is the average number of visitors to one party), the institution helps out 10–20 thousand dollars.
An interesting feature of expensive clubs is their short life (no more than two years). When the place is "boring", the owner simply closes the club to open it in a new location and under a new name. Another option: the club is closed for reconstruction, and then reopens in the same place (usually this happens precisely because of the lack of premises). True, he will most likely never repeat the previous success.
But the establishments tailored according to the principle of elitism have one significant drawback - a small number of potential customers, especially in the provinces. And in Moscow, the target audience of expensive clubs, according to some estimates, does not exceed 5 thousand people.
Noisy place
Democratic youth clubs have the widest target audience. According to experts, in Moscow alone there are about 100 thousand people, mostly from 15 to 25 years old, i.e. schoolchildren and students. Usually they are not inclined to purchase a drink at the bar, so the admission fee is charged. Its ceiling is 150 rubles. This money is the main income of youth clubs.
And here such subtleties as the personality of the promoter and enhanced face control at the entrance no longer matter. The success of a large-format establishment depends on lighting and musical equipment, the size and capacity of the premises, and most importantly, on the volume of advertising. If the music sounds loud, the lighting equipment sparkles brightly, the entrance fee is around 50-60 rubles, and invitation flyers with advertisements are distributed on the streets, then the influx of visitors is guaranteed. Some, of course, are ready to leave 100 rubles in your bar, but you need to come to terms with the fact that the main dose of alcohol enters the body of customers even before the doors of the club.
Here, as in the first case, expensive design is not required, the main part of the costs falls on the purchase of sound and lighting equipment of the corresponding power. As for the monthly expenses, here the main share falls on the payment of invited DJs (DJ): from $ 50 to $ 150 per evening. Unless, of course, this is a star who can earn up to $ 500 per show.
The main thing in managing such establishments is to adhere to a flexible pricing policy. On weekends, there are many more people who want to relax and have fun, so the maximum admission fee should be set on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, after a hectic weekend, the influx subsides, and most clubs either arrange a day off or make admission free. Experts say that the profitability of an establishment operating according to this scheme is at the level of 20-50%.
Unconventional profits
In the largest cities of the world, specialized gay clubs are actively opening and promoting. The first such establishment in Moscow began its work in 1995, and today there are already five of them. According to experts, clients annually leave up to $ 1 million in cash in the capital's gay clubs.
According to statistics, 7% of the population prefer to have sexual relations with people of the same gender. Another 20% practice bisexual relationships. All of them, as a rule, lead an active lifestyle and are quite curious by nature. To find a suitable partner, relax and just chat, these citizens often visit nightlife. It has also been noticed that among people with a non-traditional sexual orientation, a fairly large percentage of people are wealthy, which makes them interesting clients for the sharks of the "night" business. In addition, the atmosphere of freedom, fun, permanent celebration and carnival prevailing in gay clubs attracts up to 50% of straight visitors there. Some owners of such establishments try to artificially filter visitors by gender, charging the entrance price for women twice as much as for men. However, in practice, this does not stop anyone.
Despite the fact that the sequence of steps for opening such a club is generally traditional, it also has its own subtleties. The main requirement: to manage the club, you need to look for an administrator who is included in the circle of potential clients and who knows the “specifics of the genre”. To the expenses of paying for DJs are added expenses for the performance of strippers, carrying out drag shows and equipment of the so-called dark rooms - places where visitors can retire.
Organizing a striptease is not a cheap pleasure. Show "with a name" ", men's ballet, etc. work on a fixed payment basis: from $ 400-800 per performance. The upper bar depends on the popularity of the invited team. The owners of the club dictate the conditions for singles. Typically, they are paid between $ 50 and $ 150 to exit. In the early days of such an establishment, the influx of visitors is guaranteed, since people with gay orientation like to visit new places. And your main task is to keep them.
Light + sound
It is impossible for an inexperienced person to independently select and install lighting and sound equipment suitable for the club format. When choosing, specialists are guided by such parameters as the area, the shape of the perimeter, the height of the ceilings, as well as the location of the tables, stage and bar counter; the style of music that will sound in the club is of particular importance.
When creating high-quality light and sound in an institution with the size of the main ballroom of 150-200 sq. m it is quite possible to keep within 15 thousand dollars, of which two-thirds will be for light, and one-third for sound (lighting devices are more expensive, and it is more difficult to install them).
If the ceiling height is limited to four meters, you can save on the purchase of equipment: devices illuminating a maximum of 4 m are almost a third cheaper than more powerful ones that can "overcome" 8 m. If your club plans to perform various kinds of show groups, then the stage will require a special lighting. For the full operation of the entire lighting system, you need to pay attention first of all to the number of hours of uninterrupted operation of the lamps.
If the club provides for the performance of both "live" musicians and DJs, the power of 7–8 kW will be enough. The minimum set of equipment in this case includes 2 broadband acoustic systems, 2 two-way, 4 low-frequency ones, a crossover (controller), a processing unit (equalizers, compressors) and a place for DJ equipment (console, "turntable"). Experts do not advise (especially where there is "live" sound) to install its digital sources: full sound reproduction is possible only on analog equipment.
According to Nikolay Hovhannisyan, director of X-Light, the installation of light and sound equipment should be carried out at the stage of rough work. However, many customers start selecting it after all the main work has been completed, which is fundamentally wrong. Moreover, even well-known and expensive clubs suffer from such hindsight.
Installation usually takes 10-15% of the cost of the equipment, and in time it takes a week. The main lighting devices that no club can do without: the so-called. "Central" (1, 5-2 thousand.dollars) with many effects, fixed to the ceiling; scanners ($ 500-1500); rotating heads (from $ 700); stroboscopes ($ 70-250); UV lamps ($ 20); smoke machine (light rays are most clearly visible in the generated smoke - from $ 80); mirror ball for disco music ($ 40-100); lasers (from 2 thousand dollars). And once you get rich, you can buy bubble machines or artificial snow generators ($ 500-1000).
Now only in Moscow there are about a hundred companies specializing in the supply of light and sound equipment. When buying a large batch of equipment, you can count on a discount of up to 10-15% of the total cost. For verified customers who regularly paid for the first purchases, supplier companies can offer a form of payment in installments without interest.
Foundations of success
The admission price is only a visible part of the iceberg of the club's profits. The main money, however, not in democratic establishments, is made at the work of the bar, because the mark-up on drinks can go up to 200-300%. But people are willing to pay for the opportunity to "hang out" and listen to music.
Today, many beer companies provide bar equipment for bottling it for an unlimited free rental in exchange for the fact that you will only buy beer from them. As a result, you can save a lot on buying a piece of bar equipment.
Now the average bill in a nightclub bar is $ 10-50 per person. per night this is from 1 to 5 thousand dollars of income, it all depends on the audience. The main person in the bar is, of course, the bartender, he largely influences the profitability of the establishment. In the absence of the owner, the bartender can sell drinks, cigarettes, chips and beer nuts from under the floor. The result is the owner's lost profit. Another way to harm the owner is a wrongly punched check. This problem is solved by installing a video camera and the merciless dismissal of all unscrupulous employees.
Additional revenue can be gained by attracting a sponsor: when alcohol and cigarette advertising is banned on television, many manufacturers direct their advertising budgets to point-of-sale advertising, where it is still allowed. Sponsorship can range from several tens to 100 thousand dollars per party.
For clubs playing "live" music, the problem of inviting musicians remains very urgent. Beginner bands are very cheap to perform, with $ 150 for a party. But there are very few standing ones among them, and bad music will simply scare away the audience. The situation may be saved by inviting the stars. True, they will have to pay up to $ 10,000 for a performance, but all the expenses will certainly pay off: for example, an entrance ticket for a star to the popular Moscow club "16 tons" costs $ 15–20, and the club accommodates 600–670 people. But in the provinces, the performance of a promoted group will cost 1, 5-2 times more.
One of the main points for any club is a reliable security system, because visitors can be very different. Some establishments prefer to create security structures on their own. But it is more profitable to invite professionals, besides, their work is not as expensive as it might seem ($ 2–5 per hour, and 5–6 people for the night is quite enough). The tasks of security include not only protecting the premises and all visitors of the club from external intrusions, but maintaining order in the hall, identifying drug traffickers and "neutralizing" them.
Promotion stages
One of the most important stages after the opening of a club is "promotion", which usually takes from one to several months. Its specificity again depends on the direction of the institution. If your main audience is student youth, then advertising campaigns should be carried out in institutes, places of "get-togethers", underground passages (in the capital, the passage under Pushkin Square is used for this purpose). One of the most popular types of promotion is the distribution of flyers (printing such a mini-flyer will cost $ 40 per 1,000 rubles).pcs.), giving their owners all kinds of discounts on certain days. As a rule, distributors receive a percentage for each flyer used for its intended purpose, but the main incentive for them is free admission, especially if the ticket price is high. Also, advertising on popular music radio stations is quite effective (but also significantly costly).
However, all experts unanimously argue that in terms of efficiency nothing can compare with advertising "word of mouth". Youth word of mouth will instantly spread all the information about the new establishment.
In order to be able to quickly find you in the darkness of Moscow streets, order an advertising sign shining in all colors. In this regard, neon is the most popular, a running meter of which in a specialized advertising workshop costs $ 10-40. so everyone knows).
