I want to start a nightclub in London!

[Marcel18Bannett]

Hey guys,

i need your advice. I want to start a nightclub in London. Maybe in SoHo, Oxford Circus or in Westminster. I have 1/2 mio. pounds. Is this enough to start a good nightclub? or do i need more money? It should be a reall classy nightclub. Not one of these cheapy .....hole's.

What do you think?

[ministry]

if i knew how much a pound was worth i would tell you.

[thetime09]

There a new London website which helped me launch my club. adbookr.com. Make sure you do a good video.

[Marcel18Bannett]

hey,

1 british pund is 1,66$ woth. So i have 830.000$ to open a nightclub.

[Marcel18Bannett]

1 british pound is 1,66$ woth. so I have 830000$

[xpirtdesignseo]

hahahahahahha that last post was funny. I believe you would need more money than that if you want it to be classy. Because remember the line between classy and regular in london is huge. Meaning classy people expect a lot of class.

[Rainee]

Hey guys,

i need your advice. I want to start a nightclub in London. Maybe in SoHo, Oxford Circus or in Westminster. I have 1/2 mio. pounds. Is this enough to start a good nightclub? or do i need more money? It should be a reall classy nightclub. Not one of these cheapy .....hole's.

What do you think?

I think you're going to need several times that amount. I don't see how you can start a classy nightclub in an expensive London neighborhood for less than 2 million GBP, and that would be for a smaller place.

[Marcel18Bannett]

2 mils? Really? i don't want such a huge nightclub. a little bit smaller. somethin' like a MEMBER'S ONLY CLUB.

[Rainee]

2 mils? Really? i don't want such a huge nightclub. a little bit smaller. somethin' like a MEMBER'S ONLY CLUB.

You should start with some numbers - what kind of capacity do you need, and how many sq. ft (or do you guys use sq. meters?) of space does that imply?
How many bartenders do you need working at one time, and will that require installing more than one bar?
Do you need room for VIP/table seating?

Will there be entertainment (dancing, music performance, etc?) Will there be DJ music the requires a special soundsystem?

Any other special upgrades you will need, such as high-quality soundproofing?

Answer these questions, and you should be able to figure out how much space you need (include both space for the club, and for any storage/office areas), as well as what you need to build in the space (bar(s), dance floors, etc).
Then talk to a commercial real estate broker and a contractor, or whatever the british equivalent is, and you should be able to get a decent estimate of your start-up costs.

[Marcel18Bannett]

hey, i want a club just for 150- 200 people. and a VIP lounge for maybe 30 people. also one bar for 2 or 3 bartenders and a dancefloor. nothing huge, because i want to places to relax, lounges or something like that. The DJ should do his work with normal sound systems.

it should be more a cellar. not a whole building. i would love to build it up in picadilly circus.


what do you think? is 1/2 mio pounds enough or should i go to the bank and ask for a credit?

[MMorgan]

I am thinking I should change careers before I even open my club. Go straight to consulting. (joke)

Okay, going from American standards (permits, regulations, codes, zoning) you will be looking at around $100 per sqft for realestate and if you figure in 7sqft per person wanting 180 you will spend around $170,000 or 230 you will spend close to $200,000, and if you don't purchase a kitchen built in you will be looking into another $150,000 for renovations to bring that part up to par where you can serve in your club. Depending on the zoning, which I will asume fire codes are up to par, I know it is becoming more expensive and more complex when setting up sprinkler systems and such and will range anywhere from $40,000- $120,000 depending. So, currently half of your budget has went into bringing your building up to par, now in America at least, liquor liscense which will run around $120,000 or more.

So, that fun stuff is out of the way. You now need to add your own style, theme or whatever you would like to call it to your club. an acid wash will cost you about $15,000. Your bar will cost you upwards towards $15,000. Stocking the bar will cost you upwards towards $25,000. Your bills will run close to $4,000 a month and you will want to have about 6 months in reserve. I would try to keep 10-15% of networth in cash for the first year. If you want a dance floor you will be looking at another $10,000.

So in total we have spent (and we just opened the book) $679,000

you may be able to do it, but it will be by the skin of your teeth, and that is never a risk to take, raise $500,000 more if those figures look right( realestate value and laws oversees) and you should be fine
~MMorgan

[Rainee]

MMorgan, I think your estimate is on the low side, but this is a good way to approach it.
I think $100/sq ft in Picadilly Circus is super low - you will not find anything that cheap unless you move much further out of central London.

Also, I think you would spend considerably more on a bar of that size, once you account for the cabinetry and shelving, especially if it is to look "classy".
And you should budget for an architect and someone who can handle whatever the London equivalent is to the buildings dept.

Under $1 million USD is optimistic in my opinion.

[Mikeshane]

First of all i would like to congratulate you for starting a new venture. I would recommend you to do proper research regarding the location and price sensitivity. These are important points to consider and they will be very important in defining the success of your business.

I would also like you to do some analysis about yourself like your risk taking abilities. You are spending huge amount of money, so i would suggest you to be extra cautious in what ever you are doing.
If you have time...then i would suggest you to join some great online communities for entrepreneurs. These are great places to learn tips and tricks to run successful business from the veteran of the industry. Some of the places you can consider are-
Entrepreneur.com,youngentrepreneur.com etc.
There are also some great books available to sharpen your knowledge about running a business. The best one is Shoestringventure (http://www.shoestringventure.com/):Shoestring Venture: The Startup Bible.

[barmatt]

Hi Marcel

I've just bumped into your thread here, and I might have something of interest.

Are you based in London, and available for a coffee and a chat? PM me if you're interested.

Matt

[fabiocao80]

hey, i want a club just for 150- 200 people. and a VIP lounge for maybe 30 people. also one bar for 2 or 3 bartenders and a dancefloor. nothing huge, because i want to places to relax, lounges or something like that. The DJ should do his work with normal sound systems.

it should be more a cellar. not a whole building. i would love to build it up in picadilly circus.


what do you think? is 1/2 mio pounds enough or should i go to the bank and ask for a credit?


I live in London and work with all the High End nightclubs,I'm actually looking to open a venue. Contact me privately and we'll discuss everything. Fabio@liveeventsworldwide.com

[fabiocao80]

Hey Man,I live in London and work with most of the high end nightcllubs. I'm looking to open a venue myself and i have a business plan ready to view. Contact me at fabio@liveeventsworldwide.com and we'll take it from there.