Many entrepreneurs who open neighborhood bars try to follow a course others have followed. In other words, business hopefuls play a form of follow the leader by using predetermined marketing methods. The assumption is that the other guy has been around for a while and knows how to construct a bar business model. Well, you know what they say about the word “assume.” Chances are, you will follow the other guy right into a marketing approach that your true target customers will not respond to.
Most books or courses on current business models for the bar industry, or any other company, teaches entrepreneurs about economic uncertainty and market changeability. So what should you do? These books and courses suggest that you theorize about how to reach your target customer and go through a trial and error period to determine which bar marketing ideas work best before beginning to build your business model. However, this is decidedly a “hit and miss” process and you may miss more than you hit.
Taking all this into consideration, any current bar owner you follow or any theorized plans you carefully carry out are no more than blind hopes that your building process will be victorious, no matter how haphazard the methods. The truth is that your best chance for success is to build your business model on the foundation of solid bar marketing strategy. A fully developed strategy will provide the strongest foundation possible and will insure your business model stands firm once it is complete.
The best approach to constructing success is an excellent bar marketing plan, which serves as the cement which you use to produce your business model foundation. In order to support your company, your bar marketing plan must utilize every resource available and convince ideal customers that your bar is the obvious choice for their constant patronage. Realizing there are budget restraints, some resources include social media, bar events, VIP offers, personable staff members, bar atmosphere, creativeness and other plans, many of which are free-of-charge.
With your bar marketing plan and strategy in place, you can see the two have created the foundation on which company success will stand.
Answer the following questions to determine whether you see how important your method to building a marketing strategy is and whether you understand how to develop your approach fully, using all the resources included in your bar marketing plan.
1. What aspects of owning your own bar are you passionate about?
2. How does being the owner serve a higher purpose for you and your
customers?
3. What innovative ideas can you bring to your bar business that benefits ideal customers in ways that your competitors will never think of?
4. What dominant personality trait do you have that ideal customers will associate with your bar?
5. Who are your ideal customers and what is it about them that make them ideal?
6. Can you write a 10-word core message that explains your goals and excites your ideal customers?
7. How will your ideal customers become aware of your bar?
8. How will your ideal customers come to trust your bar as the place to go?
9. What are the revenue sources that you can tap to grow your bar business?
10. Can you describe the perfect customer experience to everyone in your organization and have him or her follow your instructions to create that experience for each customer?
11. What resource gaps and constraints do you need to overcome to
achieve your bar marketing plan and strategy?
12. What partnerships do you need to create in order to achieve your
bar marketing strategy?
13. What would be the results of using your bar marketing strategy (or business model) to run your bar?
