Karaoke Forums

Anybody here been a bar owner before?

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Yes, I am. Question?

Nope, totally open thread about it.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

, ripman. Anyone else? I was gonna say me too, but I don’t think owning a mini-bar at home is in the same category.

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To be fortunate enough to derive an income from a source as fulfilling as karaoke music has got to be as close to heaven as we can get here on earth!

Rip????? Sometimes I wonder.....

Well, to ask a question from another thread that was never answered by an actual bar owner, what percentage of the till do you budget for entertainment--in other words, how much would a host have to bring in to be paid $150/night or $200?

You could ask that question of 10 different bar owners and get 10 different answers but here is my answer

You need to consider ALL of your expenses. I'll use my past bar for an example.
We were open mon-sat from 2pm until 3am. No food, just beer and liquor.

Per month, not including beer and liquor

Rent - 2500
Utilities (lights, water, gas, trash, phone) 1600
Insurance (liability, theft & damage, loss of livelihood, Dram Shop) 2100
Licenses (including ASAP, BMI, SESAC, and vending permits for the pool tables, jukebox, etc.) 250
Labor (including all payroll taxes, SS, insurance, etc) 4000
Misc burden cost 3000

so take 13,450
x 12 months 161,400
/ 52 weeks 3,104
/6 days per week 518 cost per day

then there is liquor, you want the cost to be 30% or less, but that is not always possible.

So let say you ring $1,000 on monday.


...............................w/o KJ........with KJ @ $150
ring out.....................1,000.............1,300
sales tax (12%)........- 120.............- 156
liquor cost (30%)......- 300..............- 390
general expense........- 518..............- 518

Total Profit/loss..............62 +...............86 +

so at a minimum I would need to increase my ring out by $300 to cover the cost of having a KJ.

My bar was different, we did karaoke 6 nights a week, from 9p - 3a. I paid the KJ/DJ $150 on mon-thur and $175 on friday & saturday. I owned all of the equipment, lights, music and karaoke. The only thing the KJ needed to provide was themselves.

I would say that you overpaid the KJ/DJ if all he did was show up. A lot of KJ's don't make that much when they own their own equipment and music, and have to setup and teardown. However, IF the KJ/DJ was a great host he would be worth it. Another point is most of us do our shows for 3 or 4 hours and not 6. Six hours is a lllooonnnngggg time.

Was the pay a little high? Not in my mind. They were friends and we all worked together for another karaoke company that only paid us $75 and we had to do the load in/out. Of course that was almost 15 years ago. They did a great job at bringing the customers in and keeping them there. Our Monday night ring outs were more then most of the other foodless bars in our area would ring on Friday or Saturday.

We became known as a "service persons" bar. Employees of the casinos, bars/resturants and the Ford & GM plants would come to my place.

Please move to Redmond, WA, open another bar, and hire me then.

-Chris

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-Chris

Small bar I've been doing lately pays me $175 for 4 hours on Saturday night. I told them if I started bringing people in, I would want $200. They agreed. I know they've been bringing in over $1800 on nights when I'm there. This is a pretty small bar. They've had to have another host on nights when I'm not available. Patrons have told me they are dead when they are there.

A week ago I went to Burlington to hang with friends. Nice good size bar with a good dance floor and a decent sound system. DJ comes in with his laptop, turns it on and plugs into the system, plays for 4 hours, shuts down his laptop and leaves. Everything else belongs to the bar. He gets paid $250. Now there is the dream job! No wear and tear on the back or the equipment, no cost other than the laptop. 4 hour investment instead of 5 or 6. I think he is over paid and the kicker is, he wasn't all that great.

I know a host or two who became owners, just wondered if anyone went the other way.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

he's a DJ, for some reason owners think they are worth more than KJ's.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Different skill sets..

Just a kj? =blah for non-singers and some singers

+ skills as a good dj?= better

+ skills as a VJ?= awesome!

3-for-1 pays better and IS a helluva lot more FUN, but requires more skillz yo!

wow.....thanks John.....
i feel great right now. wish i could be better than a lousy KJ.

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Paradigm Karaoke, The New Standard.......Shift Happens

Naw, I'm not comparing the two in any way. This could happen to a host as well. Point being, no set up, no tear down. His/her or the bar's stuff. Hmmm, wouldn't that be Lonnie?


Also, on my way to Burlington, I drove past the bar I do a few gigs at. The place had two cars. When I'm there at that time, usually at least 25 cars to start with.

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KingBing Entertainment C'mon Up! I have a song for you!!! [font=MS Sans Serif][/font]

Hahaha! Sorry Paradigm..but WE ALL KNOW you're one of the BEST DJS on this forum