St. Patrick’s Day is a huge day for bars. In fact, Americans racked up a $245 million bar tab in 2013! Clearly you can expect a lot of business…so what can you do to prepare? Check out these tips to make sure you’re ready for a busy St. Paddy’s Day at your bar.
Evaluate your staff.
Do you have enough staff to handle a big increase in business? This includes your kitchen staff, your bartenders, and (maybe most importantly!) your security. Although you typically want to be sure you don’t overstaff your bar, on St. Patrick’s Day you just want to be sure you have enough employees around to avoid any problems.
Review your training.
Make sure your staff knows how to handle a packed bar. Review your policies with bartenders so that they’re clear on when they need to cut customers off and what they should do with belligerent customers.
Create a new menu.
You might want to simplify or change your bar’s menu for one day only to make things easier on your kitchen staff. Or, you might want to offer special themed food. If your bar doesn’t typically offer food, consider getting a food truck to park outside your bar. This will encourage customers to stay longer.
Check your inventory.
Be sure you have everything you need (and then some) on hand. Running out of green beer on St. Patrick’s Day is basically the biggest mistake you can make, so be sure it won’t happen.
Research your competition.
What are other bars in your neighborhood doing for St. Patrick’s Day? More importantly, how can you differentiate yourself from them? Figure out your angle—the thing you can offer your customers that they can’t get anywhere else!
Look at your history.
What happened last year? Did your St. Patrick’s Day go off without a hitch? If so, take note of what you did right. If you ran into lots of problems, think about what you can do to avoid those problems this year.
Promote!
Some of your customers will be making their plans early, so you want to start promoting your St. Patrick’s Day party now. Make sure you use your social media presence to get the word out! Remind your Facebook fans about it and tweet often.
It’s important to think ahead when it comes to one of the biggest days of the year for your bar! By keeping these tips in mind, you should be ready for a great St. Patrick’s Day.
Article provided by Buzztime.
For daily tips, ideas, and concepts for your bar or restaurant, please visit
http://www.BuzztimeBusiness.com/smarts
Trusted by over 3,200 bars and restaurants in North America since 1985, Buzztime integrates trivia, card and sports games with in- and out-of-venue messaging and communication tools. With over 4.2 million player registrations on the Buzztime platform and over 52 million games played each year, Buzztime players spread the word and invite friends and family to their favorite Buzztime location to enjoy an evening of fun and competition.
