Of the many businesses that I have developed and grown by far the ones I am most affectionate towards are the pub & bars.
I have a genuine passion for the sector, as both an operator and a consumer, and because of my many years doing this, I have an explicit understanding of the value of the pub in a community, of the opportunity that these venues hold for society to have spaces that they can go to outside of their home or workplace to be able to be free of the day to day roles that they are tied to (parent, husband, wife, sibling, college, boss, etc..) to actually be themselves and to be free to surround themselves with likeminded people who they can bond with, chew the fat with and even disagree with.
The pub has an essential place in our society and my true obsession is to create those spaces that work well to deliver a seamless opportunity for people to be themselves and part of a community.
In my 20+ years setting up owning and operating my award-winning venues (and spending countless hours in other people’s venues) this is what I have learnt…
1. Why?
The key to successful pubs is to understand what your personal drivers are, why you want to operate a pub. For me it is a passion, I am driven to create exceptional experiences and venues for people, and I know that I am extremely good at it which obviously adds to my satisfaction.
2. Location
To understand the limitations and opportunities of the physical location and venue and to understand therefore that this is the key to knowing who your customers could be.
Ultimately though this leads to an understanding that whatever the limitations or opportunities are a successful pub must be tailored to the community of customers it chooses to attract.
3. Dream customers
To identify dream ideal customers and to know that that market exists (determined by step 2).
Great pubs are able to connect with those customers on an emotional level, both in explicit communication but also just through the design and features of the business, the products, and the service.
In a pub this can be slightly trickier than the average business as there are likely to be more than one target customer group however, the groups are still limited and will have multiple cross-overs, they will have more similarities than differences.
4. Branding
To design the look & feel to suit the dream customers. To create a brand that includes products, glassware, lighting, opening times, music, offers, events, décor, systems, menu.
Brands are not about pretty logos and colour pallets they are about the product and feel.
5. Dream staff
To know who the dream customers will respond to, to know who the staff are who will also share the passion and values of the pub.
If this is right then the start of a community is led by these staff as they instinctively know how to communicate with the customers in a way that generates belonging.
6. Training
Any good business needs systems, if something needs to be said 3 times then it needs to be written down. Systems go a long way to ensure consistency and high standards.
However, this is not all that the staff needs to know they also need to know that they are part of a team and a community.
Training includes personal development, bonding as well as technical knowledge. Humans are driven by belonging as well as learning and growth. A training plan allows the opportunity for both.
7. Marketing
Letting dream customers know you are there and letting them know that they will love you. Social media and partnerships and networking are all important but the key to a successful pub is word of mouth.
People love telling each other about a great experience and a good decision. When they make a decision, they want others to agree with them and so if they think a business is worth it then they will tell lots of people.
The people they tell will be like-minded people and therefore already self-selected as dream customers. This is a slower process, but it is the most sustainable and effective form of building a community and tribe of people who love your business.
These people will be the most loyal and the most valuable. They will be apostles, not mercenaries.
The key to successful word of mouth is to get all the other steps right. If you build from the foundations from step 1 – step 6 then inbuilt to that will be great experiences for your dream customers.
Exceptional days and nights out memories formed and stories to tell. This is the key to all staff training and the whole business design.
The purpose of your business just became to create stories to tell.
*To find out more about this take a look at my ‘build back better training’ and ‘transformation’ programme.
I also have a 20 minute webinar to view
