If you’ve landed on this article page, you’re probably searching for a
good business idea—an idea that’s light on the pocket but heavy on
returns, promising both a fulfilling journey and potential profit.
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How to Start a Nightclub Business in
Nigeria
The club can offer a certain type of music, such as those that
play only country western music or their niche could offer
different services, like a gentleman’s club. Nightclubs can have
live music, feature DJ music, or both. Contemporary DJs have
become performance stars now as well. The most important feature
of any successful nightclub is the ability to attract enough
paying customers to pay the rent and occasionally “pack the
place,” to make tremendous profits.
If you are starting on a limited budget the best way to get
going is to make a deal with an existing nightclub as a
“promoter” that gives you a certain night per month (or per week
if it gets popular), to hold a special event at the club. The
club may charge a minimum bar cost that you must pay for the
night, so you can lose money if nobody shows up, but this is a
modest way to see if you can attract a crowd for your party
ideas. If you cannot attract a crowd for one night at an
existing club, you may need to rethink your ability to be in
this business.
The second best way is to buy an existing club that is already
successful. For this opportunity you will pay at least 10 times
the annual profits to buy the club, not counting the costs of
the real estate if it is included.
The best customers are the ones who have lots of money and do
not mind spending it on a wild night out. A handful of these big
spenders can make a club very profitable. Attracting famous
people is very good because they attract others.
How does a nightclub make money?
Selling drinks, possibly food, charging for admission, and,
where possible, for special seating and/or special services
offered to the customers. These special services can be anything
from “lap dances” at strip clubs to bottle service (customers
buy a full bottle of liquor to be exclusively served to them for
a special price) at VIP tables in the best spots right next to
the entertainment.
Retaining customers is about treating people so special that
they always feel like VIPs and then they will come back again
and again. It is important to treat regular customers well,
remember their names if they come back and if they return
frequently give them the VIP treatment. This special treatment
can be things like free drinks and invitations to exclusive
private areas of the club that the general public is not allowed
to enter.
What happens during a typical day at a nightclub?
Getting out of bed after a wild night is the hardest part. As a
nightclub owner, you will need to be awake during some of the
regular business hours to take care of the things that normally
happen only during the daytime, such as ordering supplies,
making bank deposits, and getting change from the bank.
Your main job is to find trustworthy people to help you and then
watch them very carefully to prevent stealing. You will find
this very difficult to do because there are dozens of way people
will steal from the club and it is the owner’s job to catch them
and replace with, hopefully, a more honest person.
If you have a good club manager to run the operations who does
not take more than his or her fair (and agreed upon) share, then
you will be able to enjoy this business. Your other main job is
to promote the club. Most night club owners become somewhat
famous in the city where the club is located because they go
around town constantly inviting people to come to their club. At
the club, they are often the life of the party. This sounds
great to some people; however, you need to have a super-human
stamina to party every night, which is what is required for this
business.
How to promote & market a nightclub
The best promotion is word-of-mouth. Have successful events at
the nightclub and everyone will tell their friends. Local
advertising is modestly effective, such as putting up flyers.
Internet marketing works for some clubs in tourist areas.
Handing out cards and having others do this is very effective.
These cards offer discounts, free drinks, free early entry,
two-for-one specials, VIP treatment (no entry lines), and other
incentives for people to come to a club.
How much can you charge customers?
Drinks sell at the lowest prices of N2,000 per glass for cheap
beer or a shot of cheap liquor up to hundreds of Naira for a
bottle of fine wine, expensive champagne, and “top-shelf”
alcohol. In the main Nigeria City, Like Lagos, Abuja and
Porharcourt, the average drink sale is N5,000 for a beer and
N10,000 for liquor drinks. Blended drinks sell for around
N15,000 each.
The key is to manage the “PC,” which stand for the percentage of
cost. The lower the PC the more profits for the club. The
typical PCs according to nightclub.com are, 17% for liquor, 23
to 25% for bottled beer, 21% to 22% for draft beer, 30% for
wine, and 6% to 8% for sodas. The average PC is 21%. Based on
the average, if the customer pays $3 for a drink the PC of 21%
means that the contents to make that drink must cost $0.63 or
less for the operations of the nightclub to normally make a
profit.
The cover charge to enter a club can be a modest N2,000 to
N5,000 per person with
this money used to help pay the bands and/or the DJ. It can be
much higher for special clubs like strip clubs that charge a
N10,000+ entry fee and even higher for special live
music/performance events, which sell out due to the limited
seating/capacity.
How much profit can a nightclub make?
A typical smaller club will make its owner N2M toN5M. A large
metropolitan club can make N10M
profit in a single night.
How can you make your business more profitable?
Make it more popular and host a variety of events as well as get
into some of the sideline businesses that are club related, such
as:
Comedy Night: Hosting comedian(s) is an additional source of
revenue if you charge for tickets.
Live Music: Getting famous bands to play in smaller venues and
charge premium tickets prices to see them in an intimate setting
is a great way to make money.
Open Mike/ Karaoke Night – Allow the customers to provide the
entertainment.
Private Parties – Rent the nightclub out or part of it for
private parties.
Record Audio and Video of the Bands Performance – Offer live
recording services to bands that perform at the club.
Live Radio Shows – Associate with a local radio station and
produce a live radio show.
The basic equipment needed is: Refrigerator(s) – $1,000
stand-alone style to $10,000 walk-in style, Freezer(s) – $2,000
stand-alone style to $20,000 walk-in style, Bottle Cooler(s) –
$1,000 each, Bar Cooler(s) – $1,5000 each, Under-bar sink(s) –
$900 each, Draft beer equipment – $500 for each station, Soda
making equipment – $300 for each pouring station, Ice Machine(s)
– $2,500 each, Glass racks and speed rails – $200 each
Glass washing machine(s) – $1,400 each, Bar Blender(s) – $250
each, Glassware in various sizes – $25 per 24 glasses, Bar
($4,000 to $10,000), Bar stools – $75 each, Bar lighting –
$1,000, Bar supplies – Utensils, Condiments etc. $300, Soda,
beer, and liquor stock inventory – $10,000 to $50,000 (replaced
daily as used)
Work hard. Opening a nightclub is a huge commitment. You will
have to be ready to put in long hours and devote yourself to
taking care of all aspects of the business. Even if you plan to
delegate the day-to-day management to an employee, you should
expect to be very hands-on in the beginning
Get our Practical Training Guide on how to set up a night club
in Nigeria. Learn about the materials and equipment you’ll need
to start a nightclub, how much to budget, and where to make
purchases.
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