Today I want to talk to you about your next steps to take when your going about opening or owning a pub.

At this point:

You’ve looked at your finances

You’ve decided what you can afford

You’ve decided what kind of model you want (read more here)

If you’re new to the trade, one tip I’d give you – see if you’ve got friendly landlord local to where you are that you could perhaps have a chat with or maybe he’d let you do a couple of shifts or shadow them for a couple days, just to see if you’re going to like the industry.

I think it’s a great industry but it’s not for everyone.

So going forward, you’ve made that decision you want to come in, you want to take a pub or you want to take a bar, looked at your finances;

What’s your next stage?

You’ve got to go through as many agents as you can.

Have a look what’s on offer.

Decide where you want to be.

Then go and visit that pub.

Now you are going to have to do it almost like a secret shopper. You want to go in there, don’t announce who you are to begin with, have a look, get a feel for the place but also go round and see the competition.

When you’ve been around, assess what is out there, you can now start to make some decisions about your plan;

What style of pub or bar you want to turn it into?

Is that going to fit with the area?

Is it going to be an affluent area?

Is the area going to fit with what you want to do?

Only then arrange a proper viewing.

There you can ask far more in-depth questions, usually at that point you will be shown that the financial situation of whoever’s in there, have a good go through it. If you’re not sure how to read a set of financial statements, find an accountant and they will go through it with you. Finally you’ve got to be looking at appointing other experts which I will go into in another video in this series so make sure you check back for new blogs.