What’s it like running a pub?

Firstly, if you have never worked in hospitality, please take off those rose-tinted glasses. It’s a huge financial risk and you need AT LEAST tens of thousands of quids to get through your first year.

Do not take on a pub until you have worked for at least a year as a manager in one. Learn the ropes before you steer your own ship. There are plenty of storms and doldrums and it is NEVER plain sailing.

👀 10 very important rules that new tenants often fail to observe. 👀

👂 If you take on a tenanted pub, LISTEN to your BDM, take all support that is available to you, and go on every course and workshop that the company provides.

💰 Put your VAT aside. It’s NOT YOUR MONEY!

⚖ Count every penny, every gram of cheese, and very ml of beer. Get stock-takers. They may seem expensive, but losses can disappear faster than quicksand.

🤑 Do not drink your stock and if your friends come into your pub, charge them. It’s a business, not a dinner party.

🍺 Do not use your pub as a pub! Drinking and socializing in your pub looks unprofessional and blurs the boundaries.

📣 YOU MUST do social media and marketing. If you ‘don’t do marketing’ do not take on a pub.

🍆 Do plant-based meals and cater for special dietary requirements. Why would you exclude these customers or their guests? 

👩‍⚖️ Follow all due diligence practices to the letter.

🤩 Support your staff and give them autonomy to support you back.

👂 Get unbiased feedback, listen to it, and act on it. Just because you think your pub is the bees’ knees doesn’t mean that the people NOT coming in, think the same!

Check out this article from the Morning Advertiser with comments from some of the bigger pub companies.

New year is a busy period for applications to run a pub (morningadvertiser.co.uk)

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Reputation Management

Mystery Visits

Phone & Online Audits

Free Training Tools

Free Training Tools

Intercepting Complaints

Check-backs and complaint handling go hand in hand. Intercepting a problem before a customer tells you, or Google, not only prevents negative word-of-mouth but can increase revenue through loyalty and positive PR.

Use our fun PEP talk sheets to support your front-line teams in learning how to avoid complaints.

Engaging Conversations

Building a natural and genuine rapport with guests can be the most positive and memorable part of their dining experience. Whilst the food and the environment can be remarkable by itself, making a customer feel that they are more than just a table number, has a far wider reach in terms of spreading positive word-of-mouth.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in learning how to have engaging conversations.

Positive Body Language

Being able to communicate positivity, and with enthusiasm, encourages customers to reciprocate in the same manner. However, most of us are unaware of how we are perceived by others and, whilst we may think we are coming across as welcoming and friendly, our body language could be telling a different story.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in understand the importance of self-awareness.

Relevant Recommendations

Team members need good product knowledge to be able to describe and enthuse, but often don’t know what many of the dishes taste like. A lack of upselling is also often due to a lack of confidence in knowing where to start a conversation that leads to a recommendation.

Use our fun PEP talk sheet to support your front-line teams in learning how to upsell.