To Build or Buy
Small Business Management
10/30/2014

People love to socialize, have fun, let loose and forget about their worries and what better place to do that than at a local dance bar. For hundreds of years, bars have been around ensuring that people are having a great time and enjoying their drink of choice. Bars will never fade away and go out of style and every city and town could always use something new and exciting that will help draw them away from one bar and to another. Everyone enjoys dancing, fun music, great drinks and entertainment throughout the whole year.
Lincoln, Nebraska has around two hundred and fifteen thousand people and is always growing. It is most known for the University of Nebraska where college sports is always dominant, so that means when school is in session there are thousands of college kids ready to party and let loose from all their studying. To the west in Lincoln there is a new district that is growing steadily with new restaurants and bars. This is all within walking distance from the football stadium and the newly built arena where concerts and basketball games are played. In this area there is a city block that has two levels of bars and restaurants and an outdoor patio with a giant big screen television outside for everyone to watch major events. This place is called the rail yard since it was built right where the train station used to be many years ago. At the rail yard people have their choice of choosing a bar to enjoy, getting a drink outside and watch an exciting sporting event on the giant screen or do both.
At the very top of the corner in the rail yard there is a bar called Vega. It was made to hold live music events and it has a full 360 degree bar outside where everyone can enjoy the views of either the rail yard or overlooking the new arena and football stadium in the distance. Vega holds around four to five hundred people and has a lounge area with V.I.P. seating and then a back room area where the stage is for live bands to play. The bands that have been playing there have not been top notched bands and the bar requires a high priced cover charge every time a band is playing that people do not like to pay especially when there are other bars right next door that do not require a cover charge. People who live in Lincoln love the big named concerts that come to town, however there is not a very popular market in Lincoln for small named bands and this is where Vega, is failing to succeed and make a big profit.
Lincoln, Nebraska is not known for having any clubs or fun, clean, kept up places to go dancing with your friends. In the bigger cities such as Kansas City and Denver there are great beach themed bars that are a complete hit and people from the age of twenty one up through their thirties love to go to these types of clubs and have a great time. Lincoln would thrive on having a beach bar dance club where the female bar tenders wear bikinis and the male bar tenders only wear their swimming suites. The bar would also be able to change its lights and be a black light party so everything and everyone is glowing which would create an awesome effect. The dance floor would also have special effects like a giant fog machine, cannons that shoot confetti out on the dance floor, and a special machine to make it look like it is snowing. The bar would also have a D.J. that would play the fun party dance music from the nineteen eighties, nineties and today. Lastly, the outside would also be decorated with the beach bar theme so it would actually feel like you were on a tropical island. Nowhere in the state of Nebraska would have a place like this and people would want to come because it is popular, unique, kept up and has an atmosphere that you can’t get anywhere else.
This new bar would directly compete with the now bar Vega and all bars around because people are going to want to go where people are having fun, dancing, and where the atmosphere and the drinks are awesome. People can go see a band play at a dive bar in the downtown area and the bars with bands are not hard to find by any means. Having a beach themed bar would be so unique because one, there is no great clubs in Lincoln and two, there are no beach themed bars that provide a high end dance club atmosphere with great music from the past. A lot of people have been complaining in Lincoln about only having bars that are not kept up, cheap and horrible drinks and the place is falling apart. Having a beach themed dance club would give people from Lincoln a proud place to go and have a blast!
It would make more sense to purchase the existing business as is and make the upgrades necessary to turn the music venue into a beach bar themed dance club. The reason it would make more sense to purchase the bar instead of opening a new one somewhere else would be the layout of the current bar itself would be perfect for a beach themed bar. The bar is the biggest in the area; it is located at the highest level on the block which is on the third level compared to the other bars that are only on the second and first floor. The bar would already have a giant outdoor seating area that would be turned into a luau themed bar that the other bars in the rail yard don’t have and can’t get.
Other benefits to purchasing this current establishment instead of opening up a brand new place would be that this would also allow me to make an agreement with the current owners to purchase their equipment and entertainment system to help save me on the initial startup costs. Even though time, money and effort would have to go into updating the layout, the décor, and the seating area, in the end it would be cheaper and more time saving. The bar, the dance area, the sound system and outdoor seating area is already established so it would need to be changed with how it looks to give it that tropical feel. Money would need to be put into the black lights, the luau themed huts, new seating areas with special places for people to sit to get their own bottle service and the equipment to deliver amazing effects while dancing the night away. Location is important especially when failure is not an option and if you have a chance to purchase the perfect location then it is a must to be successful. With purchasing this place, it would be the perfect spot for advertising since it is located on the corner where everyone walking by would see it immediately and their eyes and excitement would draw right to it.
The most appropriate form of ownership for my new business would be partnership. When dealing with partnerships it is very important to have a strong detailed business plan that outlines everything in detail. It is also very important to have a partnership agreement. According to Scarborough (2012) “The partnership agreement is a document that states all of the terms of operating the partnership for the protection of each partner involved. Every partnership should be based on a comprehensive written agreement.” (p. 75) The purpose of having everything in writing is to help protect each partner when and if problems arise in the future. It is easy to agree on everything at the beginning, but as things change so do emotions and opinions and the written document will then become extremely important. Having a well thought out agreement will also help with getting loans from the banks because banks often want to review the partnership agreement before issuing out loans to the business. When picking a partner to go into business with, it will be important to find someone who has complementary skills. Each partner skills should help complement each other and help strengthen the business.
The benefits of having a partner are that you will have the opportunity to have a larger pool of capital. Each partner will be able to borrow a greater amount of money and put together will largely be a lot more than just a single person. Another benefit of having a partner is that you won’t be subject to federal taxation and that will save your business a lot of money. One best practice to being successful with your partner is to understand each partner’s mission and organizational culture. (What are the keys to creating and managing successful partnerships, 1995) said “Every organization has its own culture that is built over time based upon its mission, its practices, its people, its governing values, its traditions and its institutional history. In any partnership arrangement, it is important to acknowledge and understand these different organizational cultures, to respect them, and to find ways these factors can contribute to strengthen the mutual endeavor. The most successful partnerships are those that value differences and find ways to integrate them into a workable operating culture for the partnership.” This is extremely important opinions to follow and have been shown time and time again the importance of finding a partner and being a good partner just like how you would want your partner to be. To be successful, you must want it bad enough and that means to put in the time, work, heart and effort that you want your partner to do for you as well.
Having a strong thought out business plan is important to getting started on the right foot. According to the (Small Business Administration) “The business plan generally projects 3-5 years ahead and outlines the route a company intends to take to reach its yearly milestones, including revenue projections.” Executive Summary: My business is a beach themed bar named Shark Bar, where everyone will have an amazing time. My name is Brian Hamer and I am twenty eight years old. I have been managing different businesses for ten years now and this would be my first time owning my own business. There will be fun, lively music where everyone can dance and have a great time. Everyone working will be dressed in their swimsuits and will perform fun little shows to certain songs throughout the night, to keep the excitement and party going. The drinks will be amazing and you will feel like you are on an Island and having the time of your life! There is no club like this anywhere in Nebraska, and this will thrive in a college town since there are no clubs within an hour of Lincoln.
Business Description and Vision: Shark Bar’s mission statement is to provide an amazing experience for our customers that include great drinks, fun music, lively entertainment and a tropical place to help you forget all about life’s worries. Shark Bar’s business goal is to be profitable enough where we would look at opening another bar in surrounding cities in the next couple of years. There are beach themed style bars that are very popular in states like California, Florida and Texas that are all next to the ocean. So what we are doing is bringing that beach party to right in the middle of the country. Shark Bar will not just be for the young twenty one year olds or even just for the older crowd. Shark Bar will be for every one of legal drinking age to have an amazing time and party together. Having fun tropical drinks and playing all sorts of music is what will get people to return time and time again.
Definition of the Market: The bar business is continuing to grow every year right now. According to the founding Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "... alcohol has existed longer than all human memory. It has outlived generations, nations, epochs and ages. It is a part of us, and that is fortunate indeed. For although alcohol will always be the master of some, for most of us it will continue to be the servant of man" (Chafetz, 1965, p. 223). The target market is going to be the ages of twenty one to around late thirties. As long as our customers are ready to dance and have a great time, then they will fit right in. Since the bar will be right near downtown and by the college campus, most of our clientele will be college students. Since we will be the nicest club in Lincoln, Nebraska and nowhere around will have a beach themed bar, we will be popular because you can’t get this experience unless you leave the state.
Description of products and services: We will specialize in tropical drinks that you could only imagine going to a tropical island to get. From strawberry daiquiris to pina coladas we will know how to make them all. We will also have state of the art sound system and lights display to make this a truly one of a kind experience. If you get tired of dancing and need some fresh air, then step on out to our tiki themed outdoor bar area where you can see the lights and sounds of the city all around you.
Organization and Management: We will have our liquor license and be very strict to ensure we obey the rules of having a liquor license. This will be a partnership on owning this business, so my partner and I will have to work together closely to ensure we have a successful game plan. My partner and I will hire a general manager to run the business, plus have an assistant manager and three floor managers to cover all the shifts. Holding everyone accountable to their role and ensuring we are delivering on our expectations will help us be successful and continue to grow as a business.
Marketing and Sales Strategy: We will run happy hour specials and run different promotions on special nights. Example of happy hour specials will be offering half priced drinks and larger sizes of drinks for the price of a regular drink. Different promotions will be if the customer dresses up in their beach ware then they will get half priced drinks. There will also be ladies and men’s nights where they will get drink specials. Having these different promotions and happy hour sales will help target our college students that we are trying to go after. For distributing our alcoholic beverages our business will be going through K and Z distributing that works with all main businesses in Lincoln.
Financial Management: The startup costs will be the most expensive part to our business. We will need loans to help invest in our sound system, our lights display for the dance floor, all new furniture and chairs to fit our beach theme, décor to hang on the walls and from the ceiling to give it the luau themed feeling. We will also be investing in black lights to have a black light party and the most important cost will be purchasing equipment for our drinks. We have Pina coladas and frozen strawberry daiquiris from a quality name brand machine. We will have to purchase enough liquor to ensure our bar is always stocked and to ensure that we won’t run out as well.
Shark Bar is what Lincoln, Nebraska has needed for a long time. A clean, fun atmosphere where people can let loose, dance the night away to awesome music, have a blast with our black light parties and really feel like you are on a tropical island. The only places to go in Lincoln to dance are places that are dirty and are not taken care of. Where there are pretty girls, there will be guys and that equals a profitable bar. People want to forget about all their life’s worries and there is no better place to do that then at the Shark Bar.

Reference Page
What are the keys to creating and managing successful partnerships? (1995). Retrieved from http://www.doi.gov/partnerships/keys-to-successful-partnerships.cfm
Hanson, D. (n.d.). History of Alcohol and Drinking around the World. Retrieved from http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/Controversies/1114796842.html#.VFbhr_nF-8V
Scarborough, N. (2012). Effective Small Business Managment (Tenth ed., p. 75). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Create a Business Plan | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sba.gov/tools/business-plan/1