The bar / pub launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 52 steps in 8 phases, 27 of them specific to a bar / pub. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan52 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
A bar sells high-margin drinks to a crowd during a handful of concentrated evening and weekend hours.
Typical for one unit is $450,000 to $1,300,000 a year; the owner keeps 14 to 20% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. employer businesses are still operating after five years, and food and drink businesses land close to that...
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: where licenses are capped, buying an existing bar with its license and its crowd is usually the lower-risk path, because those are the two things money alone cannot quickly manufacture. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
Opening a bar from an empty space is a real build, and in some states the liquor license can cost as much as the room.
The itemized cost to open10 lines
- Draft system, walk-in, back bar coolers & ice machine: $22,200 to $75,000A glycol long-draw system with 12 to 20 taps runs about $12,000 to $25,000 installed
- Cocktail stations, glass washers, blenders & bar-bites oven: $8,500 to $49,500
- Bar, seating, sinks, shelving & glassware: $29,100 to $123,700
- POS, TVs, sound & cameras: $8,600 to $36,100
- Signage & decor: $8,000 to $35,000
- Opening liquor, beer & wine: $10,000 to $30,000
- Build-out (construction, plumbing, electrical, HVAC): $47,000 to $345,000A second-generation bar space with restrooms and plumbing in place costs far less
- Liquor license fees (state and local): $2,000 to $10,000Where the state issues licenses; in quota states add an open-market purchase, recently $40,000 to $240,000 in California and about $350,000 on average in New...
- Permits, design, deposits, insurance & opening marketing: $24,200 to $111,000Drawings, permits, first liquor liability premium, lease and utility deposits, license attorney, grand opening
- Initial working capital: $40,000 to $150,000Payroll, marketing, and about 3 months of reserve
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · up to $5M · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for opening or buying a bar: it funds build-out, equipment, working capital, or an acquisition.
- Seller financing (Often 5-20% of price · 3-7 yr)Common when buying a bar, and especially useful when the license is a large part of the price.
- Equipment financing / lease (Secured by the equipment)Finance the draft system, coolers, and glass washer on their own, secured by the gear itself, to keep cash free for the license and the first months.
- SBA 504 loan (Up to 25 yr · real estate & heavy equipment)For buyers purchasing the building too.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/5Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
A bar lives on its crowd, and the location decides which crowd it gets and at what hours.
What decides it for this business: nightlife & entertainment density, evening foot traffic, the right crowd nearby, visibility & inviting entry, safe access, transit & rideshare.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, health department plan review, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
A bar sells alcohol to the public late at night, so it carries the heaviest licensing load in food and beverage.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:The health department reviews the layout, the sinks, the refrigeration and the finishes before you build. Building first and fixing later is the most expensive mistake in food.
After:For any or renovation, pulled by your contractors and closed out by inspection.
After:Local approval for exterior signage and lighting.
Register your or corporation and obtain a city or county business operating license.
State registration to collect and remit tax, plus any state tax on alcohol sales your state charges bars.
An on-premises license for beer, wine, and spirits from the state alcohol agency.
Many cities and counties issue their own liquor permit or must sign off on the state license, and must allow a bar; some areas limit hours or distance from schools and...
A live music or entertainment permit in some cities, a late-hours permit where needed, and music licenses (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC) to play music or show games.
Local sign-off that the space is approved for a bar, with the maximum the fire marshal sets from exits and restrooms.
After:Local sign-off that the space is approved for a bar, with the maximum the fire marshal sets from exits and restrooms.
After:Many states require or encourage responsible-beverage-service training for bartenders and managers, and insurers price liquor liability on it.
After the build, with the refrigeration cold, the facility clean, a certified manager on site and the final menu in hand. The permit comes after the inspection; post it where customers see it.
After:
- 07Not started0/12Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
A bar POS runs tabs on a preauthorized card, splits checks, and tracks voids and comps by bartender, your first line of defense on pour cost.
A dedicated business checking account keeps card deposits, cash, and wholesaler payments separate from personal money, essential for clean books, the license...
Close the books every month so you see pour cost, , and rent as a percent of while there is still time to act.
Bars run on tipped staff, so must handle tip reporting and any tip credit correctly from the first week, plus withholdings and workers’ comp.
, property, workers’ comp, and liquor liability at minimum; the liquor liability (dram-shop) cover is what protects you if a guest you served...
Count liquor, kegs, and wine on the same day every week and compare usage against POS ; the gap is your over-pouring, comps, and theft.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer, withholding, and workers’-comp registrations once you hire.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Daily / nightly: Set up the bar and stock the wells, brief the crew and the door, run... Weekly: Order liquor, beer, and wine to par, count inventory and check... Monthly: Reconcile pour cost and as a share of , work the line...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Pour cost & shrinkage; & security; Licensing & liability.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Bars sell actively, mostly to owner-operators, and in quota states the license is often the most valuable thing in the deal.