Question

ForumGhost516

ForumGhost516

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey guys I had a question about the owning or running of a pool room.

Would it be wiser at this point in time to go with a room where there are a small amount of tables that way a larger amount are full at one time and you are paying less rent on a smaller space.

OR

would it be wiser to go with a room where there is a larger play area. More tables open things like that.

Should there be a stronger ratio of barbox tables Diamond Valley or otherwise for leagues and what not.

I would love to open a room full bar, plasmas, with like 8 to 10 Diamond Pros and some good food.

Also do the table companies do consignment or do you have to buy them all at one time.

Any info would be great.

Just curious.

Thanks
Charlie
 
I'd like to hear the answers to these questions too. I'm kicking around an idea to open a very small room. I'm getting bored with retirement and need to get away from the wife:grin: . I'm thinking of just four tables, open M -Sat with Sundays closed for regular buisiness, but might rent the whole room on Sunday from like noon to 6 PM. for birthday partys or whatever. Johnnyt
 
Its been a while since I figured out cost of room opening and I'm out of the business now, but ... back in the early 90's and being ultra conservative (read "big chicken") in figuring how to make a profit, I came up with a figure of NO MORE THAN $150 dollars a month rent per table to be sure you aren't selling your soul to the landlord.

I have no idea what it would be in today's dollars. I'm guessing no more than $225 to $250 a month rent per table.

I'm not saying my formula is correct, I'm only saying that IMHO I wouldn't stray too far from those numbers unless you carry a lot of rabbits feet.

That is if your business is primarily pool. If you make profit from other things you can be a little flexible with those numbers.

But again, being a chicken, I wouldn't be looking for a location too far off those numbers.

IMO you can probably even come close to doubling those numbers, but you're making peanuts and the landlord is loving every minute.
 
I would do some serious market analysis and really look long and hard at the economics of the pool hall business before I jumped into it. Personally I don't see how most of these rooms break even let alone generate enough profit for the owner to make a decent living after ALL costs are considered. I don't see the economics of it unless you can be all but guaranteed a good table rate and high occupancy in a very good location. Unfortunately a good location probably means high rent. A friend of mine was in the business for a few years and it was an economic disaster, but then again I know of several pool halls that have been in business for many years. I think the best deal going in this business is to buy bar boxes and lease them out to willing bars and other locations using a revenue sharing deal, the overhead would be much lower.

If the pool business is coupled with alcohol sales and food sales maybe the equation changes but it looks like an iffy economic proposition to me. In any case, good luck if you go for it. It's a tough economy right now but I guess the upside would be a lot of vacant commercial space available cheaply.
 
This is an extremely good question but one that you have to answer yourself, but it will take some thought on your part and the answer will become readily apparent to you.

You need a simple business plan. INCOME VS. EXPENSES. Just take two sheets of paper. On one put INCOME and on the other EXPENSES.

Just to start the EXPENSES sheet: (Expenses per month)
Rent
Electric
Insurance (property, renters, liability, etc.)
Cost of equipment:
If this is an up front, out of pocket cost how much do you loose than if you would have kept the money in the bank.
If you borrow money for equipment how much will your payments be.
Water
Taxes (property, employment, sales, business, etc.)


For the INCOME sheet: (Income per month)
Table income
Food
Beverages (this can be major part of your income)
Players equipment ie. cues, cases, ect.
Any other income


Review these sheets every day and visit other pool rooms to see where you need to add types of income and expenses. This should take several weeks.
Now take a look at the difference of income and expenses and if you have a profit divide that profit by the number of hours you have to work that month and presto---an hourly wage.

This is just a simple start but it may open your eyes.
 
ForumGhost516 said:
Hey guys I had a question about the owning or running of a pool room.

Would it be wiser at this point in time to go with a room where there are a small amount of tables that way a larger amount are full at one time and you are paying less rent on a smaller space.

OR

would it be wiser to go with a room where there is a larger play area. More tables open things like that.

Should there be a stronger ratio of barbox tables Diamond Valley or otherwise for leagues and what not.

I would love to open a room full bar, plasmas, with like 8 to 10 Diamond Pros and some good food.

Also do the table companies do consignment or do you have to buy them all at one time.

Any info would be great.

Just curious.

Thanks
Charlie
Click to expand...
As someone who has owned several rooms I can tell you the more tables the better. The reason is you only have so many peak hours in the day and you have to max out those hours when the customers are there. It is awful to have like 10 tables going for hours and a waiting list with people leaving when you could have 15 or 20. As far as the rent it is very simple to figure. Lets say an extra thousand a month gets you room for a few more tables as well as maybe a little better location just break it down. $1000 divided by 30 is $33.33 a day extra.

For this you get more tables and a better location. It will pay you back many times over. Just one of those extra tables during peak hours may get you an extra $100. a day if you figure pool and a bar tab for say 5 hours. Hopefully you will have maybe 5 extra tables with the extra space you are paying for. No matter how you look at it there are only so many peak hours in the pool room business and you have to be able to bleed as much cash as you can from the peak hours. Thats what the business is. No one will be using any tables at 6 in the morning. You also have to figure you need a good waiting area. You don't want people leaving when you are full. You want to put someone on the table as soon as someone comes off and have a minimum of down time. Plus they drink while they are waiting. You get them right on the list and don't let them leave.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top