How to make your nightclub party? by Haney Sweda

It's midnight and the club is hoping.  The dance floor is a dizzying fusion of sound, lights, smoke, snow and action.  Tonight, some 2000 people will spend $60,000 with your business.  The club owner/manager stands at one of the bars, with a smile, as he/she participates in the festivities.

How do you make this happen?  By being a professional, hard working individual.  To succeed in the highly competitive world of the nightclub industry you have to be a legitimate business person.  It's not a picnic; it is a Party! And the consumer is serious about their stress relieving expendable dollar.

The work that goes on previous to the actual party is much more intense and requires much more attention.  This is not an easy business, it takes someone who is willing to work tirelessly day and night to pull off a party of this magnitude.  Keeping in mind that most nightclubs, to succeed, must have at least 2 if not 3 of these events each and every week to be profitable.

In addition to the work ethic these other factors are vital to maximizing profitability:

1. Aggression, in the manner that when the iron is hot you have to strike.  There is no success for the weak at heart in this industry.  How many weak kneed nightclub owner/mangers do you know?  You must react and make your staff react to swing the clubs emotion up, down and even sideways at any given time.   
2. Intelligent marketing, the cost of marketing is normally your largest variable cost outside of your COGS, thus leveraging marketing to the max is vital.  Wasted marketing money, is not just marketing money it has a direct relation to other cost, like payroll and a huge impact on your brand.  An incorrect marketing strategy, will result in an empty or nearly empty building, causing labor cost cannibalization of the business.  And a severe blow to staff moral and the image or brand of your establishment.
3.  Make the unbelievable happen, the consumer wants to experience the unknown, the unimaginable, the wildest and craziest.  When the consumer decides to frequent your club they want to leave their problems at their house, at their job, or with their significant other, or whatever the case is - they have come to your place to forget and enjoy.  Make sure your staff understands this and the staff, must force this issue and accept responsibility to make each person party.  The staff must also understand that the consumer does not want to hear about their personal issues, they want someone to take them by the hand and make them have a good time.
4. Yesterday is done, Today is the NIGHT, the customer(s) who are attending tonight's event care nothing about how great last night, last week or last month was, they want tonight to be the best, the greatest.  Management must ensure that each and every event/night is just that, the greatest event for each customer that night.
5.  Professionalism, yes you and your staff must be Pro's at throwing a party.  Every aspect counts here from the cleanliness of the parking lot, to a pleasant door staff, to the cleanliness of the restrooms, to serving a consistently good drink at a fair price, to making sure the club is stocked with all products, goods and services throughout the night, to the music format, etc, etc.   Leave no stone unturned or risk your own peril. 

I preached a philosophy of Prepare, Organize and Promote (POP) combined with passion, conviction and a sincere caring for the benefit of the consumer.  POP ensured that all aspects of our business were handled to the benefit of the customer.  Because if you are not taking care of your customers someone else will!