Needs Help for New Teen Club

[TravCasp]

I am an 18 year old ambitious senior in the Akron, Ohio area. It has recently come to my attention, that there are no "teen" night clubs in my area. I have done a little research, and found a HUGE Demand for such a facility. Many area schools would attend for high attendence numbers. I also have some good "teenage" ideas for the club. I have found prime real estate, but I must figure out the zoneing. Please Reply, ANY Suggestions/constructive criticism would be helpful

[David]

What do you want to know?

Give us a list of questions. You can also search the site. This question is on here a few times.

[TravCasp]

I am extremely inexperienced and any info would help. Such as cost, how to pay for such an expedition, any examples of other such adventures. What are some major downfalls?Where do I get started? Are Teen Clubs profitable/a good idea? I probably have more questions, but just cannot think of any right now. I am really into learning new things, I am a very fast learner. Anyone who already owns/manages a teen club could show me how they did it, was it successful, and what would you do different. I really would appreciate any help

Thanks

[makato]

I don't want to burst your bubble or try and shoot anyones hopes down. BUT starting any business is hard. Even harder is starting a Teen Nite Club.

If you want the truth ask me and I will tell you everything you need to know in order to open your teen nite club.

I have created only one teen club and I will never do it again.

I am currently designing a new club in baltimore.

Good Luck
Jason

[omari7]

I am interested in teen club startup I would appreciate any advice.

ar49@nyu.edu

[Cheek]

I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that a teen club would be extremely easy and fairly inexpensive to start up. I know a guy did it in my town by leasing an old store in a strip mall. He put only the bare essentials and made the place so it was up to code. I don't think he even had any furniture, or if he did it was sparse and old. Kids don't really care and in my experience they will usually destroy or steal anything that looks nice or isnt bolted down. I'm sorry if that seems negative, but it's the truth. We did a teen night at our club for a couple summers when business was slow and that was our experience. Keep it simple and inexpensive.

If I was starting from scratch, this is what I would do:
Hire a DJ that has his own sound and light equipment
Get a beverage supplier to hook up a system at low or no-cost
Find a good location and do only what was necessary to bring it up to code and improvise some decorating myself.
Get with a vending company to bring in some pool tables and other games and split the take.
Advertise the crap out of it on the radio for a few weeks.

[omari7]

This is what I'm talking about CHEEKS, so if this is possible, and you can make some money out of it....isn't this a good idea for someone who doesn't have the capital to start a club, but can kind of start with this and grow into a full blown thing and just keep this for one night a week.

If you agree cheek...I left another tread in the startup section can you reply so that we can get some of the other pros to weigh in .

[Cheek]

yes, its a good idea, and I edited my post after you posted read the bottom part

[mix]

teen clubs have their own unique headaches

i DJ'ed in one for about 3 months every friday and saturday

we had 2 rooms. 1 for hip hop. 1 for dance. i alternated.

dance room was often at 10% of hip hop room. every kid wants to be 50 cent or Eminem... nobody wants to be Louie DeVito. besides, kids only know what they hear on the radio. old school tracks??? you mean like songs from LAST SUMMER ????
enough of that rant.

once you get the cover charge, their spending is pretty much done. not like they are buying bottles of moet at $90 a whack.

a friend of mine was the head of security there. we talked nightly about the crap he dealt with. just a few examples...

* father of 14 year old girl walks in to pick up daughter when she doesnt meet him in parking lot at designated time. sees her bumpin and grindin with 19 year old boy... not the clubs fault, but that parent called the club and so did every other parent he called and told about it.

* kids bringing in contraband. guys bringing pocketknives, box cutters, etc. ya know... keepin it "gangsta"

girls sneaking in "nips" (single servings of booze) in their purses and mixing them with their cokes in the bathroom. drunk kids in your club. drunk kids going home to pissed parents.

* high school rivalries and attitudes spilling into the club. fights because you go to north high and i go to south. stupid but frequent. you talked to my girl in the hall after 3rd period. its on buddy !!

monkey bars at 3 o clock... be there.



honestly, i would think twice about it.

thats how i spin it............................

[Cheek]

Mix speaks the truth.

[Trance_matt074]

Sounds like you got the real picture. On the other side of the coin it's not always like that. If your patrons are consistently breaking the rules then your staff is to blame. We rarely have fights and when they happen no one sees them and it's taken care of fast. As far as the grinding goes if things are getting inappropriate, have your security pull the boy aside. you could also close off the view from the door so parents can't look right into the room.


I know a guy did it in my town by leasing an old store in a strip mall. He put only the bare essentials and made the place so it was up to code. I don't think he even had any furniture, or if he did it was sparse and old.
Hey Cheek, what teen club was that?

[Cheek]

club212 was the name

It went under after a year and I heard plenty of horror stories including once when they didn't let a guy in because he failed to present ID the guy pulled out a 9mm and started shooting up the parking lot. I knew a few of the door guys and they said they called 911 almost every week for all-out brawls and basically had an ambulance on-call all the time. I'm sure some of these stories were exagerated but I don't think it was run very well.

[Trance_matt074]

club212...hmm. Never heard of it. Was this in detroit? Cheek, if you don't mind mind me asking, what is the name of your establishment?

[Cheek]

It's in Kalamazoo.

Name of my club is Cheek to Cheek nightclub

[raypatel]

TRAVCASP:

Most people that I have talked to about doing a teen club don't have any real ideas about this business. Who am I? I am and still am in the planning phase of my teen club. Nightskool.com When I was planning to start this club, I didn't think about all the hidden costs that goes into doing a tenn club.
I though about all the money that I would make, but on paper it's a different story. But, I am not trying to discourage you from doing it. I have been doing marketing, research, advertising, updating my website, promotions, entertainment ect. all by myself. It was a real learning experience. I am about to host a teen dance party in about a month (I hope). If you do it right, it will give you great rewards, but do it wrong and it's the last thing you do.

CHEEK:

Location is everything, leasing in an old shopping center is good, but I have ask around in my are and no body wants a club in their shopping center. Even the shopping center that has zero occupancy.
The list you provide is good ,but just trying to find them is another time consuming and often comes with dissapointment.

OMARI7:

MONEY MAKES MONEY. The golden rule in business - any business.

MIX:

What can I say - Once you get bad rap about your club, then your finished. Why is the father allowed to come into the club to pick up her daughter, why not just announce the girls name on the speakers to meet her parents outside. Your security (if you had any) are not doing their jobs it kids are bringing in weapons. Who ever did this teen club didn't know what he was doing.


I have not done a teen dance yet, but I have thougth about everying including security, getting metal detectors and not allowing anyone with anything that can be used as a weapon, including belts.
Hand held metal detectors are a must for teen clubs. Make up rules for your club and stick to them, even if this means turn down people entry to your club. Better to be safe than sorry. I agree 100% with Trance.

Maybe I will turn nightskool in a corporation and sell stock, atleast then we'd all be happy to be part owner of a teen club...