Best Posts in Thread: restro bars how many is enough?

Hi, if what i hear is true the black pearl is about to open again, ill leave it to the new owner to tell his story. Starting from Robinson,s heading towards Bacong their is 11 foreign owned places to eat and drink before the city limits , how many is enough and how many think they can survive ,as i see it the person that owns the building is the one making the money and if i owned such a sight i would lease to an expat and sit back and watch him work 14 hours a day in order to make ends meet.

 

I was in one of those many restos one day having lunch and the foreigner and his Filipino partners accountant were discussing the finances. I couldn't help but overhear. I think the foreigner was a good manager but not a good businessman. Evidently they didn't have much of an agreement beside who put up how much and how the profits were divided. The foreigner was spending most days there managing the place basically for nothing...except to make sure he didn't lose his initial investment. He was basically slave labor held hostage by his investment. It really brought home to me that you don't want your first experience in a business partnership or in any business to be in the Philippines.

 

The pearl has been leased, the Garcia's Bld still for rent...

 

Depending on how well it does I think its up a few things and not just competition.

1. Renting. Price MUST be reasonable for the location. A small place on the highway is NOT worth 20k peso's generally. Lots of newer business's leasing their place are being killed on rent alone. The owner just cares about rent for a few months and not at all about being fair or having a longterm tenant they don't drive out of business by insane rent.

2. Do you have a good landlord? Is your landlord looking to drive you out of business if you seem to hit the jackpot to takeover the business and steal your idea?

3. Are you strict on your staff on interacting with customers and engaging customers? A customer should never just walk in and look around w/o being engaged. If the gals are sitting behind the counter on their cell phones and this happens and they don't fix it.... fire them.

Then of course all the normal things such as if the food is good, prices are fair both ways, is the food the same thing of the same quality everywhere else, etc etc etc.

I tend to think #1 is the real killer. Its hard for an average place to pull 20kish in rent plus electricity, then wages per law, and other basic expenses in the monthly profit margin and expect to come out ahead.

 

I agree 110% with what Dustin says about the "next" tenant of the Pearl. Their previous staff ran their former business like a "Date in Asia" internet wh*re house, scammed customers on their bills and had about as much interest in servicing the customers as an employee of COCO Amigo's.
That being said I leased a property next to the Pearl from Natasha for 2 years and never had a problem with her. Pay your rent and utilities and for the most part you are left alone. There were failures at the Pearl before as Dave said.... but the Frenchies survived close to 4 years there and never starved.
Lets hope the new tenants learned from their previous venue and don't repeat the mistakes that caused that failure. I wish them all the luck in the world as the rent is high, the place has a bit of bad karma surrounding it and the business is a struggle even if you provide the best of the best...
It will be interesting to see N and T lock horns lol.

 

Your count is probably correct, but it is like a basketball score, changes a lot from quarter to quarter. Many transition in, and fall out of business.

One of the problems is most resto-bar owners do not work the full 14 hours at the establishment. They make work diligently in the off hours, but if there is no management on site, then your most experienced waitress or cook, or bartender is most likely the decision maker on site, with nothing more than a low paying job at risk, and little management training in their background, mistakes will happen. That is why you will see complaints about almost all aspects of the resto-bars here. Good management is important to survival, hands on survival in most cases is necessary here, even family extension manage does not work here many times, as has been witnessed around town.

Some times the ownership of a resto-bar if not thoroughly thought out and is just an extension of a hobby of drinking, just with more friends present. Sometimes profits, and longevity are second thoughts but not in all cases. I am not sure many have a business plan or a market niche goal, other that to try to duplicate one of the others with their friends present. There have also been glowing reports about some of the rest0bars here. Defining your market niche and what you goal is can help longevity of any business.

Luckily business is a very competitive, so the weak die out, and new will come along. It is survival of the best managed that we see for more than a couple of quarters here. Just enjoy the opportunities that present themselves here in resto-bars, and do not get to attached to any one as you never know how long it will last. I though one of ones in San Miguel was great... but something caused it closing. Not my problem... Next !!!

 

You make your bed, you must lay on it. Homework is the key word here, Lay it on the Line as to how it should work, No Agreement? "Keep your Wallet in your Pocket" We can all make our own success or failure based on the before meeting rather than the After. Holding meetings like you mention is Like closing the Stable Door after the Horse has Bolted.
JMHO but...............

 

As I see it, its all about location. If there are a dozen or more resto-bars in the area that I like to hang out, (just using myself for an example) then I shall most often go to the few that have convenient locations, for me. That means they are close to where I live, close to where I like to socialize, or somewhere on the road I usually travel. Thus, there are some fine places in and around Dumaguete that I will never get to.

Second to location is peer pressure. If a good friend or a group of friends want to meet at a place I do not usually go to, then I shall go there due to the peer influence.

So with Black Pearl, it is too far out off my beaten track and most of my friends have given up on the place for other venues. It's possible I will never go there, But, if they can lure enough of my friends in there then I shall surely join them there one day.

EDIT: Third, but just as important, is food quality, food choices, prices, service and consistency. Getting the customer is only the first step. Keeping him is just as important.