I worked the bar business in Fort Lauderdale.
My father ran a saloon in Kenosha, Wis., which is just about as rough a living as I can think of. It was brutal; it scared the hell out of me. I was so petrified all the while I was a child, I didn't know what I was doing half the time.
They all went into the bar business. Which was a mistake, because they began to sip at the merchandise and it set them back, set us all back. Well, them more than I.
If your main reason for opening a bar is to have somewhere for you and your friends to hang out, then build a bar in your basement, and stay out of the industry.
I opened my first bar that I owned in 1989. The first one I ever owned was in downtown St. Louis.
A bar is a factory, a marketing organization, and a service organization all in one.
There has been a black hole in the bar business in Las Vegas, particularly on the Strip in tourist areas.
A lot of people go into the bar and nightclub business thinking: 'Hey, we can make money for a year or two, close and then open again,' but for me, it's always been a business and it's always been about longevity.
I came up with this idea to create an app. And the premise of the app is this: every problem in the bar business goes away when there's sales. You increase revenue and you solve every problem. It's when the revenues are low that [the business] doesn't work. So I wanted to put together an app that focused on top-line revenue, guest experience, and business management in a more organized way.
The biggest lesson I learned in the bar business is to focus on revenues. Dollars, not dimes.
I didn't like the bar business.
