Estimating average table income

[plfrg]

I'm in the planning stages for a new pool hall. I'm very comfortable with financial proformas and have a good handle on the restaurant/bar portion of the business.

My question is related to estimating the income from the pool tables. I have created an estimate table time tab and can adjust seasonally for the hours but I have no 'norm' or expected value to compare the estimated table time revenue to. This is for a 20 table club with a full restaurant and bar.

For the experienced/established pool room owners out there, do you have an average income metric to expect from your tables? Whether it is:
- % of gross sales or
- % of open hours or
- (table hours / week / table) * rate or
- table income / yr based on # of tables or
- some other metric?


Any guidance on this is greatly appreciated,
Jon

 

[cueandcushion]

From 40 years of experience I can tell you I am not surprised when the best table is empty and the worst table in the room gets the most play. Its not surprising that your three cushion table one month is first in revenue and the next month is last. So many variables you never think will have an effect on your pool income. Big action at another room, big movie openings, weather, car crashing into front of competition, hot bar maid being fired from competition, bar boxes going up $0.25 cents up the street. Our billiard income is about 8-9% of our gross on average and that can vary from 5% to 15% depending on other factors. This is all to say I cannot predict my own income so predicting yours would be arrogant on my part, to say the least. Best of luck in your endeavor. Just remember to let income guide your decisions and not customer suggestions. You will be surprised how much those two never match.

 

[plfrg]

From 40 years of experience I can tell you I am not surprised when the best table is empty and the worst table in the room gets the most play. Its not surprising that your three cushion table one month is first in revenue and the next month is last. So many variables you never think will have an effect on your pool income. Big action at another room, big movie openings, weather, car crashing into front of competition, hot bar maid being fired from competition, bar boxes going up $0.25 cents up the street. Our billiard income is about 8-9% of our gross on average and that can vary from 5% to 15% depending on other factors. This is all to say I cannot predict my own income so predicting yours would be arrogant on my part, to say the least. Best of luck in your endeavor. Just remember to let income guide your decisions and not customer suggestions. You will be surprised how much those two never match.

Thanks for the input. Appreciate it and agree that the real world can get interesting sometimes. However, using some metrics as a guide (such as the ones you mention above) my estimate will tend to be more accurate than if I don't bother trying to model the income - so input like yours is very helpful.

I've modeled many financial proformas in another industry and when you go for financing you have to open your kimono and show them what you have. Models aren't proof they're just estimates. I've found that educated estimates are better than a wild guess and the banks are pretty good at knowing the difference between the two.

I just checked my proforma and my table time income is 12% of gross sales at $6/hr average charge. At $4/hr the income is 8%. At $8/hr the income is 15%. I'm looking at locations closer to a city center so acceptable table time prices will trend closer to the $8/hr number than the $4/hr number.

My table time model uses four main factors (time of day, day of week, month of year, and $/hr) to attempt to be more accurate.