Anybody making money?

Mustardeer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’m sitting on cash and seems like an easier biz than a bar or a restaurant. A local room owner has 11 tables, no booze/food he used to make $30K a month, then in 2008 was losing 1-2k a month now he makes 10k/month. There are many many things I’d do better than him but common sense tells me opening a room in 2019 is a really bad idea for obvious reasons. I have made a lot of money in nightclubs pre-internet era and am a strong amateur shooter. Social media/marketing expert and a successful entrepreneur.

There’s also a room for sale with a type 40 ( beer ), 7 tables, 40k in key money, reasonable lease.
 

a1712

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I’m sitting on cash and seems like an easier biz than a bar or a restaurant. A local room owner has 11 tables, no booze/food he used to make $30K a month, then in 2008 was losing 1-2k a month now he makes 10k/month. There are many many things I’d do better than him but common sense tells me opening a room in 2019 is a really bad idea for obvious reasons. I have made a lot of money in nightclubs pre-internet era and am a strong amateur shooter. Social media/marketing expert and a successful entrepreneur.

There’s also a room for sale with a type 40 ( beer ), 7 tables, 40k in key money, reasonable lease.

Grossed $30k a month or netted $30k a month? Brian.
 

Mustardeer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes way. 2nd most popular room in a major city. Open till 4am. He has no reason to lie to me. Older Asian owner kind enough to show his numbers to the regular.
 

Red Shoes

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dear "YES WAY".....The owner was making $1000 a day (after expenses) 11 years ago.....then business gets bad and not only does he not make his G a day but starts LOOSING MONEY??? With 11 Tables and no booze or food what is his hourly table rate....$30 (in 2008 no less). Unless he is ALSO SELLING either girls, drugs, guns etc..etc.. A $1000 a day after expenses in PROFIT made only with "pool time and potato chips" is silly even if he could stay OPEN til 5 AM in NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES or CHICAGO. There is a reason the forum is marked for ROOM OWNERS ONLY! Does your Mom know your ONLINE???
 

Chili Palmer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If he opened at 11am and closed at 4am every day for a month with 11 tables that gives him 5610 "table hours" per month to generate revenue. 30000 net divided by 5610 is $5.35 per hour - but that doesn't include expenses and there's no way he runs all 11 tables all day, my guess (grabbed from the thin air between my ears) would guesstimate 50% table time. That would put the hourly rate at 10.70 per hour just for the stated profit. Now add in expenses - labor, lights, rent, insurance, etc. So if he charged $15 per hour, at 2805 hours (50%) $42,075.00 per month in revenue, that leaves roughly 12K for rent, labor, lights, insurance, etc.

If he could charge $15 per hour it could be doable, but I have no idea what the rates are where you're at, I would never pay that much though.

This reminds me of some old neighbors of mine. They bought a local bike shop (pedal bikes) from a family "friend", he told them he made $60-$70k per year (not sure why they made the choice based on that but hey, it was their choice), only to find out he was taking the cash transactions and putting them in his pocket and basically only recorded the CC transactions. After they bought it and did it "the right way" they lost their asses and went out of business in 2-3 years.

As far as opening a hall - if there is a need for it then go for it but do your own, local, research.
 

Mustardeer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Dear "YES WAY".....The owner was making $1000 a day (after expenses) 11 years ago.....then business gets bad and not only does he not make his G a day but starts LOOSING MONEY??? With 11 Tables and no booze or food what is his hourly table rate....$30 (in 2008 no less). Unless he is ALSO SELLING either girls, drugs, guns etc..etc.. A $1000 a day after expenses in PROFIT made only with "pool time and potato chips" is silly even if he could stay OPEN til 5 AM in NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES or CHICAGO. There is a reason the forum is marked for ROOM OWNERS ONLY! Does your Mom know your ONLINE???

No need for insults. The room is in Los Angeles. He charges $20/hr at night, either 18 or 16/hr during the day. He usually closes at 4 but I've seen him close at 6am if there's action. There are nicer pool halls in town; his got a vibe though not surprised he's successful. He also let people smoke inside not sure if he still does. People would sneak in booze, he didn't care I don't think since he wasn't selling it. There are 2 types of pool halls in town: the really dirty ones with sketchy looking regulars and the glossy ones with squares and no charm. His was the only cool one in between. Hipsters would go, serious players would go, lots of action, loud young party kids pushing balls, cute girls, bros, etc. No leagues no tourneys no nerds. He talked about the long wait time back in the day. People were waiting for a table even during the day. A crappy room by my house has an hour wait right now at night in 2019 so I believe him. If you're not aware of what the economy was like in 2008 then I don't know what to tell ya. This doesn't feel like an exchange of info, sort of like a one way street. Anyone else care to contribute? Was hoping to hear a few success stories.
 

JessEm

AzB Goldmember
Silver Member
I'm only an aspiring room owner (not an owner, yet...), so I don't have a lot to offer here. However, it's sounds like the stars are aligned for the room in question. Niche location, niche market, optimal placement within the universe. As the saying goes, location, location, location... If your numbers are accurate, I'd beg, borrow, and steal to come up with the 40k.

Good luck. Please update this and let us know what you decide. If you're not moving forward with this, why?
 
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