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Starting your own club!
I have been DJ'ing for a couple of years now and I have a regular gig at a local club. I have been thinking about starting my own club and was wondering if anyone has ever tried this and if so, what did you learn by doing it? Things like:
Sound system
Lighting
Financing
Promotions
Etc, etc...
Thanks!
LOL!!! u knwo how much money is involved.
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| Originally posted by 69 KrAzY G 69 LOL!!! u knwo how much money is involved. |
I plan on making my millions in the Adult film industry and then making NYC's best superclub. Co-founded with Amit, Billu, and Matt (Taub) of course.
You don't need deep pockets, just guts and no fear of losing some cash.
Don't start of big, take a smallish club and build a following in a low risk environment. Stand out from the crowd, do something different, find a niche in the market and you are laughing.
My night is just moving to a meduim capacity club (500+), we are bringing in a top guest in December that has never played in my country before, the people want top hear him. We may lose money at this night, but I know the publicity gained from it will stand us in good stead in the future.
Promotion is vital, you have to be aggressive and consistent in this area. Market your night for the crowd you are aiming for. Ensure that all marketing is clear and concise!
Get contacts, you will need to find printers to deal with posters/flyers. Find a good PR team, something many overlook. Get a designer to create a brand image for your club. Contact DJ's and get friendly with them, some are willing to help an awful lot! Get to know the club managers in your area, speak to them and get your foot in the door for the future. Its always good to know who knows who in this business, perhaps the deciding factor in gaining this new venue was the fact that we knew other promoters running nights at this venue.
Good luck mate, you will need it!
whats your night called Acid? where abouts is it cos id be interested in going to it! pm me pls with more details!
this all sounds alot like Rollercoaster Tycoon
hmm maybe some1 should make an game: Club Tycoon.. that wud be awesome 
im assuming you mean you want to start a club night, not start up your own complete club
those are 2 completely different things, and are in COMPLETELY different price brackets
if you're just wanting to start a clubnight, its not THAT expensive if you know where to look
a lot of places will let you have the the club for the night for free, but it will have to be 19+ (or whatever the drinking age is), and the club owner gets to keep the liquor sales, and you keep the door money...or the owner gets 25% of door money + booze sales or whatever
just shop around
try to find a place that already has decent lighting and a sound system so you don't have to rent one everytime you have your event
Thanks Acid Circus and Kid Lax!
What I want to do is start an actual club, not a club night. I think I am in a position to afford the building and a decent sound system. I am a little older than the "regular" TranceAddict, I think, and have had the opportunity to save some cash. The thing that kills me though is the price of a liquor license.
From what I have learned, in the US, they issue these licenses based on the population. So there are no more available from the local government. I would have to buy one from a private party and they range in price from $75,000 - $85,000. Unbelievable.
I guess I could sell some limited food at the club and try to fall in the restaurant category. That way I could get a seasonal beer & wine license, that I would have to reapply for every 6 months.
Has anyone else had these troubles? If so, what did you do to resolve them? I think it would be hard to appeal to the 21+ crowd if I did not have a bar in the club.
Also, there is no "trance" clubs in my area. They mostly play top 40 and such. Whenever I DJ at a club I try to sneak some trance tunes in my set. From what I can tell people seems to really enjoy it. I think there is a defenite market for a good trance club.
Also, I am married and I plan to make my wife the "owner" of the club. I think that would greatly enhance my chances of getting financial assistance from the government. Any thoughts on this?
okay well i don't know shit about US liquor licenses...but if you're planning on starting up your own club...
can i play opening night? if you pay for my plane ticket from toronto to alaska...ill play for free 
hahaha
my suggestion would be to just hold a couple club nights first..maybe at the club you spin at already... and see what the reaction is
when investing THAT much money, i think it'd be worthwhile to see if there is infact a demand for trance first...other than just a couple tunes during a top 40 set
kid lax has a good point there! if youve already got enough money put away for the building then good keep that just now! and try and run some club nights at already existing clubs, that way you will be making money whilst getting yourself a reputation for the kind of music you play and the crowd you want! and with the money from the club night you would be running you could put that away for an alcohol license, this means that when the time comes to buy your club and the alcohol license then there will already be lots of people that know your kind of muic and atmosphere from your club night, which in turn means you will already have a bit of a reputation and all you will have to do then is start promoting your club to the people that were not at your club nights! getting a regular following is half the battle so if you already have people from your club night then the club will be open and word will spread from the regulars and bingo before you know it you will have a well and truly established club on the go! good luck!
Thanks Big Dave and Kid Lax, those are some very good points.
I have had a few club nights at a local club, where I play mostly progressive and psy trance, Astral Projection, Plastic Angel, Blank & Jones, Man With No Name remixes and such (please don't flame me if you disagree with my interpretation of those trance categories). They have been very successful and I think the clubbers like the new sound. Unfortunately, the owner of the club insisted that I call it a rave and play at least some recognizable crowd pleasers (Sandstorm, Ian Van Dahl, etc). I think he wanted to use the appeal of the media crazed word "rave" to lure new customers to his club. This is to be expected, I guess.
Anyways, I guess there is no way to truly know if a pure "club" will succeed or not unless you try it. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska and the overall scene up here is either country bars and meat markets. Luckily there is an Amry post up here with many soldiers from the larger cities, I think a club like this would appeal to them. I served a few years in the Army myself up here and not having a good club here is one of the most common gripes. If all else fails I can change the theme and make it a sports bar...just kidding..=)
And, Kid Lax, if I get this going and it is successful, you are on!
Two of my friends and I have a dream of starting a club, but as of yet, only one thing has been holding us back--money. I'm a chemist, one of my friends is mcguyver, and the other is a computer guru, though we are all quite talanted in many different arenas. We planned out all sorts of things from what type of eq we would want/need to what music we would play and what advertizing, food, liquor etc. Depending on what city you are in, just remember this, you cannot have a pure trance club unless you are in a city large enough to support it. I am currently linving in Indianapolis, and have though about starting a trance club myself because of the huge lack of trance clubs, or at least clubs that will play one night of trance. The problem though, is that even with 1.5 million people living in the city, and all of the people that go to clubs/bars etc, I would need those who love trance to come to my club not only once a week, but several times a week in order to stay in business if I only play trance. What I would suggest, is if you CAN work up the capitol, then you have to have other genres of music availible to bring in a much wider and diversified crowd. You may not like the music that is played on all night, but when you commit to being a business, your primary intension will be to bring in enough money to STAY in business. I was planing on making the main nights (friday and saturday) trance, and other nights DnB, RnB, house, jungle etc. Or have multiple rooms so that you have 2-3 choices each night,or on main nights, and keep the other rooms closed during the week.
By the fact that you were suprised that a liquor license cost about $80K, then I think that you are severely underestimating what it will cost--even with government assistance--to start up and maintain a club for long enough to bring in a crowd large enough and consistantly enough to not go under. First off, you may be able to be ambitious and get your club started within 2-3 months of when you first found a venue to rent. So at minimal, you will need three months rent (at probably close to $3k-$10k a month depending on the size), then utilities, which could be as much as $1k a month once it gets going. Those speakers, lights and air conditioning will cost you a fortune when they are running for several hours every night! Then you have to have the capitol to buy the sound system and the lighting system, which alone could be $50k-$100k, unless you find a place to rent it from, which will be another monthly expense. Then you have to hire and train people, which will be another monthly expense that varies by the size of the venue. Not to mention advertising, liquor license, benifits for workers, lawyer fees, city licenses, taxes and plenty more...
All in all, I would suggest that you have about $250,000 plus about 3-6 months worth of operating costs before you even think about opening up a club. If you don't have this much money, I would put off the club idea until you do. But don't think that I am discouraging you for one bit! Look online for government assistance programs etc. Matthew lesko (the question mark suit guy on TV) has a book you may want to buy www.matthewlesko.com which will help you find these government programs. I think the book is $40 or so, which is well worth the thousands in funding that the book may help you find!
Tell me how it goes, or what your specific ideas are and maybe I can help you plan things out more! 
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| Originally posted by mantisnl this all sounds alot like Rollercoaster Tycoon hmm maybe some1 should make an game: Club Tycoon.. that wud be awesome |
SimCity has a house party add-on where you create your own house party....similar i guess but not really a club. Maybe they have a club version too? dunno, but there are simulations for just about anything out there nowadays...
All i can say is that it is a bitch to all put together.
When you buy or build the venue, you will have to go over the structure of where everything is. Safety standards and building regulations for a club have to be met.. Alcohol licences take a few weeks to get.. but i guess thats nothing compared to the few months of planning you will need. Reliable staff who don't slack off.. cos this will cause you a lot of business. Security is easy to obtain. And you have to check with the council to see if they wil actually allow another club in whichever area you plan to be at. And if they will allow your designs and size of club (& ppl).
My brother's friend owns a nightclub and part of the place is purchased upon sharholders.. so if you have some good friends this would be a good idea.
Hope this helps
I was thinking of something along those lines but, I want to start off with a club night (my own promotions company), I wanted to have a few weekly club nights goin 2 various clubs in my area.
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