ERAUEAGLE Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 Hey, I'm out here in Arizona going to college and a hookah bar here would be really nice, for the three colleges in this town What all do you think it would take to actually start one up, or has anyone here attempted this themselves?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuburbanSmoker Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 a love for hookah, an understanding of what your doing, great personality traits, and a large investment. On top of all the other stuff like licenses, a properly ventilated building, buyilding a customer base. you know all that good stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickReppinThe909 Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 QUOTE (SuburbanSmoker @ Jul 17 2008, 02:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>a love for hookah, an understanding of what your doing, great personality traits, and a large investment. On top of all the other stuff like licenses, a properly ventilated building, buyilding a customer base. you know all that good stuff.and lots of patience and the ability to deal with dumb fucking people Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victim026 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 Your #1 hurdle will be money, think realistically you will need at least $50K.... The one I have budgeted out thats on hold for the moment is requiring close to 80k. Your next hurdle will be time, if your going to school full time you might not have the time to run the bar yourself and for awhile that's what your gonna need to do until you have the income to hire a few people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERAUEAGLE Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Yea, a friend and I are wondering how we would fund it because flight instructing isn't going to cover it...But I'm going to my advisor since I'm a business major to ask him about this venture because if we could get it rolling, it would be really nice for our area... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victim026 Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 QUOTE (ERAUEAGLE @ Jul 17 2008, 08:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Yea, a friend and I are wondering how we would fund it because flight instructing isn't going to cover it...But I'm going to my advisor since I'm a business major to ask him about this venture because if we could get it rolling, it would be really nice for our area...Well unfortunately your more then likely going to go the private investor way, So if you know someone with disposable cash then thats the person to talk to. Banks and the majority of investors will have nothing to do with you becasue of the nature of the business. No one wants to get involved in a tobacco based business, or at least thats my experience with banks, and from what I've read in Mushy's HB threads he had the same experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 well with the bar I had planned out about 50k would have been enough to get my first years rent, enough for supplies to start with and to get furniture and construction finished inside. So it just depends on what you would like to accomplish.My advice, is if you know you're going to be able to get the cash start advertising. Set up a facebook group about if they'd like a hookah bar etc and tell them someone will win 10 bucks. Then randomly select someone, give them the money and you'll already have a promise you kept. I would def. try to get the first years rent if I were you, that way for 12 months all you have to worry about is electric, water bills and any supplies you keep in stock. All of which are a hell of a lot cheaper than building rent. Then all the excess money that you don't need for your basic survival (food, water) put it in an investment vehicle that you can pull it out of whenever you need. (like a 6% savings account...yes they're out there and accessible) Also consider if you want to sell cigs and cigars. Tobacco companies will pay you to carry their products on top of the profit you make from them. I know i know, you prob. don't smoke anything but hookah. However, it might not be a bad idea to carry cigs but def. carry some cigars in a simple humidor room. You'll have a much bigger customer base that way and you'll make more money. Last but not least, after it's up and running you should run poker nights. Have a $5 buy in or something to play and everyone who's watching either smokes or pays a $1 cover fee or something. Then take all the buy in money and buy a giftcard or a prize. That way it's not gambling and circumvents any law (if the laws are in place there) in a completely incontestable manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERAUEAGLE Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 Geeze man you have it figured out for sure...We were thinking hookah forum members get 15-20% off if they come and visit , or a punch card, but the poker night thing, thats awesome man, prescott has really nothing to do except for bars and such for the nightlife so that would be great, those are some good ideas man, I'm going to crunch some numbers and see how long it will take to turn a profit and then how much we could make after that then start actually trying to start soon if able Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERAUEAGLE Posted July 18, 2008 Author Share Posted July 18, 2008 and for furniture, we have been stockpiling couches from craigslist and stuff so we are set with furniture, just need a store, liscenses and whatnot, and some hookahs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 QUOTE (ERAUEAGLE @ Jul 18 2008, 12:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Geeze man you have it figured out for sure...We were thinking hookah forum members get 15-20% off if they come and visit , or a punch card, but the poker night thing, thats awesome man, prescott has really nothing to do except for bars and such for the nightlife so that would be great, those are some good ideas man, I'm going to crunch some numbers and see how long it will take to turn a profit and then how much we could make after that then start actually trying to start soon if able kick ass man, that's awesome. Loyalty cards (punch cards) are a great idea. Just research rates on how much a bowl would cost for you too hook it up with shisha/coals average bowl won't pass $2 total costs to you and you can charge $4 per one person and $6 for two people that way you're coming out pretty nicely on top.Ventilation is important, I would recommend air purifiers that are made for smoky environments that usually can be integrated into the ceiling ventilation, that way non-smoking friends can come and hang out without feeling suffocated, and who knows the might try it out which is why taking around "free" samples of a great flavor in a hookah to tables, like mushrat does at his place. Also what kind of theme are you looking for? Like personally I was going to go with rust colored walls (burnt orange, or some reds) and I was going to have a bar for people to order simple food/drinks at that don't need a license (like smoothies, prepackaged foods) with black tile on top and blue underlighting that would come up through the clear grout of the tiles, which suprisingly isn't that expensive. And my theme was going to center around wood and leather. complete with a corner with a fireplace and leather chairs for the cigar fiends. A huge L shaped couch or something of the like is also a great idea depending on the space constraints.But not to say yours should be like this, just an example of what I was going to do with mine.Also as far as running it goes, some trustable friends that will work for free hookah would be great to start with until you can start doing it yourself. In a related topic, get someone to do your books for you, that way if something gets fucked up, they're liable, not you. It costs a little bit but it's worth it to save you the stress if you don't know how to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuburbanSmoker Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 If you ahve craigslist furniture i.e it is not brand enw you can always purchase a shit load of nice fabric and just drape the shit on the couchs with new pillows. its a cheap alternative to new couches =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted July 18, 2008 Share Posted July 18, 2008 QUOTE (SuburbanSmoker @ Jul 18 2008, 03:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If you ahve craigslist furniture i.e it is not brand enw you can always purchase a shit load of nice fabric and just drape the shit on the couchs with new pillows. its a cheap alternative to new couches =)+1, plus you can make it whatever 'theme' you want Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 http://www.hookahforum.com/?showtopic=17064http://www.hookahforum.com/?showtopic=11575a few threads on the subject.So how you guys going to live while you work this place for the first year or two?how much of a couson do you have in the bank for unexpected expenses?How many friends splitting the profits how many ways?Who has the final say on business decisions? and ya..I actually went ahead and started a hookah lounge..it's been great fun but sometime...OY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollen Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Depends what you do for your hookah bar.. I know someone who started his own. He went to a local cafe shop. They sell bubble tea, and some other cool things. Anyway, He went to the place and asked if they are interested in renting out the back. They gave him the backyard for FREE, he just has to give them 20% of the PROFIT. So if he made 100$ in the night, only 20 of it went to them. (He made alot more that was an example). He put up this cool looking tent, then put up projector screens on the building, and put some sweet couches out there. It is almost exactly like a normal hookah bar. He small AC units during the summer, and heaters during the winter and it never gets too hot or too cold. So realistically. You probably can start up a hookah bar like acouple thousand or maybe even less! (of course he had to get the licenses and then register the business and stuff too, but it wasnt too bad for a COLLEGE kid to do) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERAUEAGLE Posted July 19, 2008 Author Share Posted July 19, 2008 Hollen that is awesome!!!! That givese ides because that would be awesome, i'm going to check around with some of the local cafes because there is a ton ofthem and we could probably work a deal out with them as in get a coffee, get _% off or something. And yes mushrat, I'm going to be here for three years for sure and the profit would be split two ways...But we are in it more or less for the experience of running a small business for later aviation related ventures and for the love of hookah that we would like to share with community, although the profits will e a great benefit, don't get me wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wongxiao Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 If you can afford it, I highly recommend you incorporate either right off the bat or asap. I'm not sure how many hookah lounges do it, especially small-time ones, but I can imagine that the last thing you want as a student is for creditors to be able to come after your personal assets, in the event that business goes south. Of course, you get hit much harder with taxes (depending on what state you chose to HQ in), and your sunk costs will be much higher, but IMHO it would be WELL worth it to reduce the risk.Thematically, I would try something different. Try to appeal to the local culture of your city... if there are any other hookah places nearby, check them out and make yours as unique as possible. There are some good decor suggestions in this thread, but I think it would be best to come up with your own theme and business plan, as you know your clientele better than anyone here.best of luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ERAUEAGLE Posted July 20, 2008 Author Share Posted July 20, 2008 The nearest hookah bar is two hours away at least so I would be going out on a limb here with this, but three colleges in this area, Iknow a ton of people that smoke hookah and this could be a great place to chill and hang out....Prescott just got a club and from what I've heard its not the best but everyone says they need a place to hang out after eight..LOL this town shuts down sooo early so IO think this could be in the best interest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookah hippie Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Damn being more ambitious would be good I would love to own a hookah bar just no money starving college student over here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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