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By
Sarah Ward

Dive Bar Business Plan: 13 Facts of a Dive Bar Business Plan

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Writing a dive bar business plan is a monumental step in what you need to do to create a dive bar business. It helps you plan your dive bar food. You can draw from dive bar history to plan your dive bar aesthetics and business goals. 

Your dive bar business plan will help you map out your operational efficiency and plan for the future. It’s the place for an inventory management plan and much more. Read on through this blog to learn all about creating a dive bar business plan that will make it easier to run your business. 

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Writing a Dive Bar Business Plan

Writing a dive bar business plan gives you the outline for everything you need to make a successful dive bar. These 13 facets of a dive bar business plan address each area of your business. The more in-depth you go, the more you’ll have to lean on as you organize and operate your dive bar. 

13. Executive Summary

The executive summary is a brief but important part of your dive bar business plan. It’s the place to define your business and give an overview of what is coming up in the business plan.

12. Business Description

Your business description should have as much detail as possible. Are you working as an LLC? Do you have business partners? These are the questions to get you started.

11. Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis is where you’ll examine the other bars and competing similar businesses in your immediate area. Identify your competitors, note how far they are from you, and check out what they’re doing to draw in customers. You can base some of your plans on this, to do the things they aren’t and find the customers they won’t get.

10. Market Analysis

Your market analysis goes hand-in-hand with your competitive analysis. What is your market of potential customers? What are they looking for in a dive bar? Find this out by researching your locality. 

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9. Business and Management Structure

The business and management structure in your dive bar business plan is the place to define your business structure and how operations will work. Will you have a general manager? Maybe a shift manager? Who will be in charge of scheduling? These are the questions you need to answer.

8. Dive Bar Concept

Developing a bar or restaurant concept is all about finding what will make your bar unique. Dive bars share a lot of qualities. What’s going to be specifically you, at your place? Defining this concept will give you the foundation of your business plan.

7. Menu Plan

Coming up with a menu plan is the place to sort through a basic bar inventory guide and list everything for your menu items. This is important for food safety reasons and for your ability to have a well-stocked storeroom for ingredients. 

6. Licensing Needs

Your licensing needs are a vital piece of getting your dive bar ready for business. From a business license to a liquor license to food handling permits, there’s plenty to prepare. 

5. Marketing Strategy

Your marketing strategy fits neatly into your bar operations manual as well as your business plan. For a dive bar, you walk the line between intentional and minimal marketing. Your marketing strategy plan is the place to define that line.

4. Financial Plans

The financial plans section of your dive bar business plan is helpful for two main reasons. For one, it’s the place to sort out your budget. For another, if you need investors, this is the place to lay out all the information they’ll want to know. 

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3. Sales Projections

Sales projections fall within the financial plans of your business plan, but they deserve special attention. How much do you need to sell to make a profit? How do you plan to do so? This is the place to figure it out.

2. Staffing Solutions

Your staffing solutions are something to figure out before you need employees. Hiring bar staff means finding the right people and knowing what staff you need. This covers wait staff, a bartender, line cooks, and more.

1. Growth Plans

The growth plans section of your dive bar business plan is a place for future plans and goals. Do you want to become a franchise? Is your eventual goal to find a manager who can take over for you? Have a few options to make plans for, just in case.

"Key Takeaway: Your dive bar business plan will help you map out your operational efficiency and plan for the future. It’s the place for an inventory management plan and much more."

Frequently Asked Questions About Dive Bar Business Plans

Creating a business plan can be a daunting task for any business owner. In the bar, restaurant, and hospitality industry, there are many questions to ask, and many options for answers. You can draw from catering business plans, brewery business plans, and restaurant business plans. You can study operational structure. Our answers to these FAQs will help get the ball rolling. 

How Do I Write a Business Plan for a Bar?

To write a business plan for a bar, follow the steps of working through your business needs and keep your bar goals in mind. A business plan may seem like something technical and formal, purely for the use of starting the business in the legal sense. If done right, however, your business plan will guide you through each step of managing the bar.

Is Owning a Dive Bar Worth It?

Yes, owning a dive bar is worth it for profits and more importantly, for career satisfaction. When you create a dive bar where people love to enjoy a good time, you’ll have a business to be proud of for years. Over time, your profits will be wonderful and you’ll have a successful business, but the satisfaction is the best part.

What are the Disadvantages of a Dive Bar Business?

The disadvantages of a dive bar business are how long it takes to start, the competitive market, and the potential for unruly customers. For the time it takes, the startup costs and initial operating expenses will be quite a financial effort. 

As for the competitive market, there are a lot of bars you’ll be working alongside. For unruly customers, this isn’t always an issue. When it is, you’ll learn the importance of bouncers or security. 

What Makes Money In a Bar?

The highest profit drivers in a bar are alcoholic drinks. This is because of the relatively low cost of alcohol for bars as compared to what you can charge for them. Even in a dive bar, with famously cost-effective menu pricing, you’ll turn a profit on drinks with alcohol. 

What Makes a Bar Successful?

A bar is successful with a group of loyal customers and a welcoming environment. Yes, you’ll also measure your own success by your profits as they grow. Your most tremendous success, however, will be how your bar becomes a place where people gather with friends to enjoy good times. It doesn’t get better than being the place where everyone wants to be.

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Dive Bar Business Plans: Plan for Success

Your dive bar business plan gives you concrete steps to follow as you plan for inventory program management, ordering needs, and staffing solutions. From your dive bar ideas to restaurant operation plans that come in handy, there’s much to learn. Come back to the BinWise blog for dive bar solutions and information about the bar industry as a whole.  

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