What would you think of a night club like this?

Your going to have a lot of liability issues with the BYOB. You may still need a liquor license to have people drink there. I know restaurants that allow you to brig your own wine need to have a license. You also have to factor in the cost of insurance, it's not going to be cheap. I don't think this is as easy as you make it out to be at all, but good luck.

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I don't like the BYOB idea. Its just too much of a hassle for a night out.

People don't mind taking their own bottles of wine to a restaurant or whatever, but expecting college kids to bring booze with them to a club is not the best way to bring in the crowds.

A couple questions come to mind:

-How do you convince people that BYOB can be 'chic?'

-How do you ensure customers have access to their own bottles and not others? Can this be done without a considerable hassle?

Hmm, I think it's a solid idea, especially bc of the location. (I'm assuming your alma mater is large enough and parties enough) I think there are two potential problems with what you described.

1. What Short said. You may still need a license. But-If you need a license you might as well keep a small alcohol inventory around and mark it up for those who run out of what they brought or want something else. I don't think liability could be any worse than a normal bar (except probably have to be 21+), but the license is worth checking out.

2. How would you keep everyone's alcohol behind the bar for them? Assuming 200 (even 100) people bring a case of beer or equivalent, there are 3 issues: Space (where are you going to put it all), Time (there will constantly be huge lines for more alcohol) and "Tracking" (for lack of better word-by tracking I mean keeping up with what is whose, making sure not to give away stuff to the wrong people, etc). If you were to do this, it would require tons of space and a huge staff.

call it the boom boom room

BYOB=a lot of potential shit, that will automatically get shoved down your throat if anything goes wrong...approach with extreme caution.

Beyond the issues with BYOB, you would have some serious potential for renting this place out to school organizations. Since you have no frat houses or anything (assuming you still have frats, sororities, etc.) this would be a great place for them to use for formals and stuff. Something else to consider.

One problem I can see is when people don't bring enough and run out.......basically your saying I would have to leave the party and find a liquor store and bring it back?

Your insurance would be astronomical and the neighborhood committee would probably not vote in favor of your license. If the school has an ANC rep, which it probably does, that rep will certainly vote against your club. Additionally, you'll need 2 or 3 times as many bouncers as you think you do. Also, unlike a normal bar, you'll have to pay your bartenders quite a bit since there won't be much tipping. The economics just don't seem to be there. The closest I've seen to this was a BYOB strip club but the vast majority of their revenue came from the girls so it doesn't really apply to your idea.

I would prefer my Grey Goose at $40-$50 from the package store to $400-$500 at a bottle service club, but logistics seem like they would be really hard.

I think you'd also end up with a massive mess if people handle their own bottles for a decent portion of each night.

I don't know a ton about club revenue streams and operating costs, but in lieu of your idea or in addition to it, I'd consider trying to undercut the local alcohol prices. If club visitors can get a bottle of Goose or something for $80-100, beers for closer to $5 than $7, cover for $10, etc., they'd be far more inclined to come to your place than others. You'd then have to consider whether that type of revenue can adequately offset the real estate, design, staff and inventory costs.

Sorry man but this is a pretty bad idea, it's not even really worth getting into why it's bad other than it doesn't make sense logistically or economically. Save you time and money.

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you're not going to make any money with 10-15 dollars at the door. It would have to be a lot more expensive, and then no one would come because you might as well buy your drinks.

it's in no way a stupid idea, as it could be a new/interesting concept to market, etc... but i don't see it being that profitable.

just my opinion.

People go to house parties and public bars for different reasons. Your successful house parties had nothing to do with BYOB. It had to do with the perception of house parties vs. bars. People go to house parties, because there's a perceived connection for those invited. Everyone has some sort of connection to the hosts (direct FB friends, friends of friends, etc.); it's a less intimidating atmosphere. People go to bars to be around complete strangers, and usually have a different attitude towards socializing here.

Your BYOB bar would not have success in the same way your house parties did. When roommates sit around in the afternoon, figuring out if they want to go out to the bars or a chill house party, their decision is one of environment, not cost (more often than not). Your venue is just another public venue, with a differentiating characteristic. You're better off leveraging the location for just another bar (perhaps a franchise that has not hit your campus yet -- http://www.brothersbar.com/).

Sounds like an interesting idea but I feel like it would be tough to pull off. These types of clubs do exist but they are usually known as private clubs/after hours clubs, etc. so the laws don't apply to them in the same manner.

I personally think the whole checking in the drinks thing would be a mess. You would have to go to the same bar and same bartender so they could access your drinks and not somebody else. I also see an issue with you telling someone they can't have anymore of the liquor they brought because they are too drunk. There is increased liability because people are probably more likely (or would seem more likely) to get hammered, so that could impact insurance costs.

I would stick with the club idea as a whole and see what you can do in more of the mainstream club/bar aspect that could get you up and running and then you can experiment with a BYOB night to see how that works.

I think the concept is good from a demand standpoint given the location and college clientele but I don't know if the logistics would work out. I don't chic would be the ideal way of describing a concept like BYOB but having the different areas sounds like a good idea.

Also think about (check the legality) a BYOB place where a person is allowed to bring a cooler (these places do exist already) and their own mixers, etc and you have minimal bar staff to supplement the things that someone forgot to bring or decided they wanted once they are there. Good luck.

Regards

The cost to insure such a place would be astronomical...

Just some questions off the top of my head,

If I have to BYOB, why would I go to your club instead of just going over to my friend's house or a frat house or a different bar?

What if I finish my "beverages"? Where/how do I get more? Say if I have a group of friends and we are sharing a bottle of ___, we finish it, where do we get more alcohol?

Will there be music/food at your bar/club?

How exactly will I get access to my alcohol? Do I have to ask for it every time I want some? What if I want to get someone else a shot? Is there a way for me to track how much alcohol I have left?

The only way I can imagine this work is if it is a high end club with private rooms but obviously that doesn't apply here.

At a high level you are saying, hey I'm gonna take an exiting business, maintain very similar overhead and eliminate the highest source of revenue of said business. It's illogical.

Random things to consider.

• You'd probably have to invest some serious cash to get this off the ground. You need TVs, sound equipment, lighting, seating, the bar, dance area, and it has to be designed cool and hip. People aren't gonna wanna pay to go to a club if it looks and feels like shit.

• Legality/license will probably be pretty hard to obtain. This will probably add to lawyer feels. Who even knows if the concept is even legal.

• Liability, you would be talking on a huge liability, probably more so than a normal bar, and would therefore have a pretty expensive insurance policy.

• Building lease will probably lock you down to a decent commitment and make you pay a sizable down payment. This will add to your up front costs as well as risk if it doesn't work out. That's even assuming the building owner would want to rent to you in the first place, which is a big assumption.

• While it's easier sell for guys I'm not how sure how much girls would want to be hitting up the old BYOB club. It's tacky and girls don't really pay for drinks anyway nor do they pay covers.

• You are probably significantly under estimating the monthly overhead. Rent, taxes and utilities, outsourced cleaning crews, insurance (which will be through the roof), staff of at a minimum 12 people that you will have to pay well since they aren't being tipped (also don't forget all the SS and WC taxes bump your expenses up by 30%), maintenance, promotional materials, etc. Its not that lean of a business. You overhead would be similar to that of a normal bar yet you aren't making all the margins off the drinks.

• Filling an party via facebook at an apt every once in a while is a lot different than consistently filling a night club, especially when college parties are composed mostly of underage kids and where in a bar you are legally obligated to have 21 and up.

• Not sure about your state, but for example in California, I don't think you can just have a bar you have to sell food and the food reciepts need to be greater than the alcohol, if this is the case where you live you would in fact need a kitchen and all the expenses that go with that.

• It will be super confusing and annoying to be checking in and out your alcohol.

• While it could have an initial interest it will be very hard to sustain several nights a week over a long time line.

• As stated above, people go to bars to meet new people, this environment is more conducive to just being with your buddies.

• You will be effected by seasonality, and since you'd probably be running thin margins this would hurt you even more.

The list could go on and on.

Maybe if you had a normal bar where you could bring your own alcohol with a corking fee would be an interesting idea but that isn't a sure bet either.

BYOB nightclub?!? These exist? The only thing I associate BYOB with is house parties and under-21 strip clubs. What state is your alma mater in?

I just don't think college kids are going to pay $10-$15 cover at a college when they can go to all types of parties for $5 or less.

Why would I pay a cover and BYOB when I can just go to a house party if I'm a college student?

BYOB is a non-starter. Curious to see how this works out.

I would recommend TK Financial Group for your insurance. I use them for all my corporations. They specialize in hard to place insurance policies. www.tkinsure.com

Well, usually half the kids in college can't legally have their own alcohol, so sounds like this could end up in a lot of legality issues. I think the BYOB is the only part that sounds bad. Other than that, there seems to be a few things missing. All I can think of is dancers with showers right now

dont bars make most of their $ off of charging insanely high prices on alcohol? byob would hurt

I have been exploring a similar idea for about a week now. People seem to reject the idea too harshly (as evidenced by some of the waste-of-time comments on this page), but here are my thoughts:

1) College students may like BYOB because it's cheaper but some of these folks are right: They might also pass over you for house parties instead. I am looking to set up in a very large city and would not be targeting collegiates. Also, 12k students is not a whole lot. If you find a niche, you are OK. Otherwise, there simply might not be enough demand.

2) The more I think about it, the more it makes sense to keep things simple, at least at first. Sure, you can sell mixers and ice and cups and all that, but then you are kind of using a regular bar business model: Provide drinks but charge a crapload for them (especially the hourly wages you have to pay all of your employees). I would recommend doing whatever you need to keep your employees to a bare minimum. Stick to all of your neat ideas and tricks for getting people to show, and only add in "services" when you've got the money to.

3) I'm still not 100% on the legality, but looking at Ohio laws (where I am), BYOB is only illegal for places that have a liquor license. Which is hilarious because regular bars would unable to muscle out a BYOB bar unless they also come to the dark side (BYOB). From what I can tell, as long as you don't sell any alcoholic beverages and don't have a liquor license, the alcohol laws do not apply to you. But be sure to understand whatever laws are relevant to your locality.

Best of luck. BYOB is purer and simpler. It's the future.

Instead of collecting alcohol give ice buckets with the expectation of a tip. Also if possible focus on live music ro get people in the door. Also dont be cheap with security! A promotion team is also very necessary to attract new clients every weekend. The same people wont support wed- sat

Dumbest thing I've ever read on the internet.