Bar/Pool Hall Rural Area

[kwk66]

I'm looking into opening a small bar/pool hall into a rural town of east texas, and was wondering if any one had experience with something similar. county is partially dry with about a 10,000 population in the area I would draw customers from. approximately 40% of the population is between the ages of 21 and 44. Closest bar is approximately 20 miles away and it stays packed although it is in a slightly larger town and has a reputation for being somewhat seedy. Lease/mortgage payment would be about 1200 including piti. The hard thing I'm having with formatting a business plan is the expected revenue/number of customers. I've saw the formula of figuring your capacity will turn over approximately 1.5 times on a busy night, but not sure how that would correlate to a small rural bar like this. Any one have any ideas or experiences they would car to share?

[Daryl]

kwk66,
I hope you get some feedback on your question. I am considering the same type , or similar situation. While , I am not looking at opening a pool room bar, just how do you predict the turn out for a club or restaurant.

If you are looking at taking over an exsisting place you may be able to predict or get a feel for current trends. But if you are doing a complete new start up how to you "guess" on what the response will be.

standing by....:D

[walawdog]

I guess if I were you, I would figure out what you are going to need to pay your bills and to make it financially worth your effort, and then decide how many drinks you are going to have to sell to meet that goal...and then decide if it's even possible to pull that many people in a market of 10k. I doubt you would turn your capacity 1.5x a night in such a small population.

[Rivalrys]

I own a few pool halls and have one similiar to what you are describing:

Old brick 1 story building
10 9foot Gandy (made in my hometown) pool tables
Small Bar
Small Grill
town of 30,000
2 people work it
does great business, reminds me of a modern day saloon where characters hang out all day

Just offering a bar closer to home would be attractive for a lot of people, also get a league going (guarantees business on a weekday night)