Most Out Of Your Buck

[KLD]

I've been giving my hookah bars menu serious consideration over the last few days, but I need some support on what to do pricing wise for bowls ect.

I plan to have a 1 drink minimum if your not smoking
Im gonna be offering al amir, al fahker, layalina, possibly starbuzz

Now this is my question should I charge per person or per bowl?

If I charge $8 per person and let them order what ever type of shisha they want and 3 people come in a group and order the same shisha then it will be $24 on the same hookah.
If one person comes in I take out one hookah and hook him up and it will be $8.

If I charge 15$ per bowl and one person comes in they arn't gonna be happy and think this place is expensive
If 3 people come in and I charge 15$ per bowl its gonna be cheap and they are gonna be happy.

Now lets say I charge per person and I also charge for refills( $5 maybe more maybe less? )

The people who ordered the same shisha and smoked through it quick are gonna most likely be paying for another bowl seeing as they had 3 people on the same hookah.

The people who payed per person are most likely not going to pay for another refill because they are most likely not going to go through it that quickly.

Too me it seems the per person route would be the best, but others say the per bowl is the best way to go. Give me your input on what you think

[Ace of Hearts]

The way the local bar around here does it is priced per bowl and a $2 charge per each extra hose setup..
seems like it works well..

[KLD]

The way the local bar around here does it is priced per bowl and a $2 charge per each extra hose setup..
seems like it works well..

What type of shisha and how much is it per bowl?

[hookahlife]

Hey KLD,

We have been involved in setting up a few hookah lounges and also deal with many lounge owners in Chicago so I can offer you a few suggestions.

1. Concentrate on serving on quality shisha. Most people that come into bars dont know the difference between nakhla and starbuzz. The best thing to do is select a shisha with a wide array of flavors such as Layalina and for the exotics pick up a few Fumari or Starbuzz flavors. Best bet is to try to keep it minimally complicated, provide a flavor list and flat price it based on the average wholesale cost of your shisha selection. You dont want a list that is like 60 flavors long, just have about 20-30 flavors and allow people to mix with maybe some suggested/house favorite mixes listed.

2. Most of the bigger and more succesfull lounges charge per person. Something to the effect of $15 for one person, $12 for 2 people $9 for 3 people and so on. Also, a few that serve food and drinks offer package deals, such as for groups of 3 or more $15 buys you a hookah, a refill and 1 regular drink.

3. Something to consider is you can charge more and include a free refill. Your cost on the refill is minimal, but you can use it to justify higher cost on the hookah per person.

If you want a slightly more detailed suggestion mention what type of market your in. Is most of your clientel going to be locals, tourists, enthusiasts or practitioners. In the first 2 options whats listed above will be the best solution. If you have tourism concentrate on a strong theme and know that you can charge more...a lot more. If your in the last category you may have to offer different brands and cheaper prices because practitioners will know the difference.

Hope this helps.

p.s. where is this lounge located?

Regards,
Mike
Hookah Life
www.hookah-life.com
support@hookah-life.com

[HookahCulture]

One option is to keep it simple and charge by the bowl depending on the brand with AF being the most as it's a "premium" flavor selection, and have 2 other brands. Keep it flat rate by the bowl so you don't have to keep track of people or details like new people arrivals. The extra charge of a hose seems to be a good idea, but I've never seen this in action myself. The more people on a hookah, the faster it burns, the faster you get a replacement on there, again at a flat fee.
You can have 2 hose or 3 hose models, maybe a few 4 just for the sake of convenience.
Without knowing what your place is like..... I say $12.00 for AF unless you're counting on tourism then charge $15.00.
Some places charge a few bucks more for ice in the base, some charge more for a "deluxe" which has half a piece of fruit for a bowl. Apple for apple, orange, etc.
Just don't serve dinker hookahs, that's SUCH a major piss-off.
Serve over 30 inch hookahs. Make the people feel they're getting something exotic by serving a big beautiful hookah.
Think also about traffic and adjust for it. If high traffic, then flat fee the same for bowl after bowl, as you want customer turnover.
This is where your supply/demand chart comes into play and you're working toward equilibrium but keep the demand slightly higher!
If you have lower traffic, you want them to stick around and spend more (and spend more money on other things), so that's when you offer the discounted refill.
The traffic point is a gimme I guess, but it's often overlooked.
You just don't want to slave and fuss over a pile of people when they're just getting a $5 refill and taking up space.
Other side of the coin - hopefully they're ordering drinks and snacks too!

Just my 2 cents....

[Allia22]

At our shop we charge $9 per bowl, $1.50 per bowl after that, unlimited coals, and the limit is as many people as can fit at the tables... once it was 8. One group ordered the hookah, some other people came in and asked for one and I said we had no room to set up another (which is true), so they just shared the hookah with the other group. Amazing sense of goodwill, these devices make

[RayVer]

Over here one place charges $10 per head for unlimited hookah (I think they use layalina). If there is more than 4 people with you they give you another hookah on your table. (about 40 flavors to choose from..they let you mix up your flavors)

Another charges $8 per head for unlimited (layalina) and $10 per head for unlimited starbuzz. A little conflicting sometimes if one person doesn't wanted to pay for premium when the other does. (about 50 flavors to choose from)

Another place down here charges $5 a hookah but they use nakhla (about 7 flavors to choose from, they let you mix them.)

The last remaining bar around here charges $7 per hookah and refills are $5. They also have about 7 flavors

[garykainz]

the lounge i used to frequent (before i got my own) was $6/pipe. The way they worked multiple people is to have a certain number of hookahs per person. For example:

1 or 2 people - 1 hookah - $6
3 or 4 people - 2 hookahs - $12
etc...

man, lounges elsewhere are expensive!

[KLD]

Hey KLD,

We have been involved in setting up a few hookah lounges and also deal with many lounge owners in Chicago so I can offer you a few suggestions.

1. Concentrate on serving on quality shisha. Most people that come into bars dont know the difference between nakhla and starbuzz. The best thing to do is select a shisha with a wide array of flavors such as Layalina and for the exotics pick up a few Fumari or Starbuzz flavors. Best bet is to try to keep it minimally complicated, provide a flavor list and flat price it based on the average wholesale cost of your shisha selection. You dont want a list that is like 60 flavors long, just have about 20-30 flavors and allow people to mix with maybe some suggested/house favorite mixes listed.

2. Most of the bigger and more succesfull lounges charge per person. Something to the effect of $15 for one person, $12 for 2 people $9 for 3 people and so on. Also, a few that serve food and drinks offer package deals, such as for groups of 3 or more $15 buys you a hookah, a refill and 1 regular drink.

3. Something to consider is you can charge more and include a free refill. Your cost on the refill is minimal, but you can use it to justify higher cost on the hookah per person.

If you want a slightly more detailed suggestion mention what type of market your in. Is most of your clientel going to be locals, tourists, enthusiasts or practitioners. In the first 2 options whats listed above will be the best solution. If you have tourism concentrate on a strong theme and know that you can charge more...a lot more. If your in the last category you may have to offer different brands and cheaper prices because practitioners will know the difference.

Hope this helps.

p.s. where is this lounge located?

Regards,
Mike
Hookah Life
www.hookah-life.com
support@hookah-life.com

My customer base is going to be locals, I'm not offering every flavor of each brand, I have select few which I will be offering. I live in La vista nebraska, population 18000~, My neighbor town is papillion which is around 18000 also. But omaha is near by which is around 400,000 which leads to another question. I found a place in papillion which is pretty damn cheap for rent, its visible from a major street, and crimes just don't happen in papillion. But omaha has alot more people, you will pay alot for a premium place that people can see and its obviously filled will violence.

[Ecstacy]

At a local hookah lounge, there are 6 options before you ever get to flavors. 1 hose w/ small bowl, 2 hose w/ medium bowl, or 3 hose with large bowl. Each of which can either be filled with "regular" "premium" shisha. Under each category of shisha there are maybe a dozen or more flavors (with some overlap between categories). With prices ranging from 6-15 dollars a bowl, I believe. No discount on refils as far as I know. With the way the sign is set up it's relatively easy to interpret, but I wish I could get a larger bowl without adding hoses.

Ecstacy

[Molson]

i dont own a hookah bar or any restaurant for that matter. But i would keep the bowls around 9-12 bucks (not per person). This will encourage a bunch of people to come in and smoke for like a few bucks each but the money will be in the food and drinks you serve them. Money is ALLWAYS in the food. I worked at the largest theme park in canada (wonderland) and they made nearly all their money off the food. Just the way i see it. Alchohol products will probibly sell the best.

Example for 3 people comming for a hookah
10 dollar bowl
but they each order 2 beers at 3.50 a beer.
what was gonna be a 12 dollar hookah tab between 3 people turned out to be a 21 dollar beer tab plus a 12 dollar hookah=$33

Now how do you get them to order drinks you ask? Its simple don't let them talk. If they sit in silence they're gonna want something to do (like have a beer). How do you do that you ask? Stick a tv in there and put the hockey game on.

That would be my oppinion keep the hookah cheap so they come in, if the hookah is cheap they will think they have extra money to spend and end up buying other things aswell (put a 1 drink minimum on everyone tho, or food or something). You'll make more money in having 20 people return regularly then 100 ppl returning once!

Good luck