Should I get this Pool Hall?

If you can afford to think about starting a pool hall, you can do it at another location.

As people have mentioned, Parking. I won't leave my truck off in the distance and walk to give too many people my money.

Depending on where the hall is, people may not feel safe walking later on in the evening.

Food. If there is room for a small kitchen, there should be no problem getting used equipment. A stove, fridge, grill and deep fryer.

Have to explore all avenues of revenue making. don't over look anything.

Alcohol. Thats the deal killer. personally for myself, cold beer, munchies and pool go together. If I can't get that, I will not patronize that hall. Simple.

And alcohol can be a huge help in revenue.

As someone mentioned, if you are going to marry your job just because you want to own a hall. The thrill will wear off pretty quick.

Hrs of paper work etc. Just because you lock the doors at 2:30 am, doesn't mean your day is over.

7 days a week until you are bring enuff revenue in to pay staff. Lots of head aches too.

At least if you have your heart sey on being a small business owner, check the demographics of the town or city in which you live.

Demographics/location. Try and figure out which part of your town could best suit your particular type of business.

Man, at one time I thought I needed to run my own tractor, trailer unit.

I am still paying for that one and probably will continue if I'm lucky enuff to live until I'm eighty.

Take your time and don't leave any stones unturned.

You can do it, or at least make a good go of it at another location. Don't be in a huge hurry to bury yourself in debt for years to come.

Just stay positive and do your home work. When the time is right, everything should fall into place and you will know.
 
ignomirello said:
Should I do this?

How much would you pay for a Pool Hall that has no chance of getting an alcohol license?

Owner sells very little food.

Seller wants $13 Sq Ft for lease rental. Lets say $65k/yr

Expenses are about 4.5 times Square footage without Payroll. Approx 23K/yr

Income is 27 x square footage *lets say 135K/yr

$135k-65k-23k = 47K
47k LEFT TO PAY EMPLOYEES & MYSELF
@$10+/HR = $21k/yr

Pros: leveraged out. Very little money in. Income can be driven up with food.

Cons: Won’t sell building. No off street Parking. (Might be a problem filling up room). Many updates needed. Baths/Software. Roof is over 25 yrs old. No chance of getting liquor license at this location.

Question is will the business make me Money or will I just be marrying a job?
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You are buying a job. A weak one.
 
Sounds like a TRAP to me, I would look around more, something else may come up .


David Harcrow
 
ignomirello said:
47k LEFT TO PAY EMPLOYEES & MYSELF
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This = "no" to me.

I would work for $47k myself if I could do what I wanted/loved, but I would not run my own business for that...you work *all the time*.

Plus, payroll has to come first...because you're the only one who won't quit if he doesn't get paid. Those situations don't end well.
 
sfleinen said:
Parking is probably the ultimate determiner, the veritable "welcome sign" if you will.n
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That can backfire though. A struggling local room here has a large parking lot out front, but it just looks sort of forlorn because there are seldom many cars in it. (At least when I've been there.) It's actually not welcoming, it's sort of off-putting.
 
ignomirello said:
Should I do this?

How much would you pay for a Pool Hall that has no chance of getting an alcohol license?

Owner sells very little food.

Seller wants $13 Sq Ft for lease rental. Lets say $65k/yr

Expenses are about 4.5 times Square footage without Payroll. Approx 23K/yr

Income is 27 x square footage *lets say 135K/yr

$135k-65k-23k = 47K
47k LEFT TO PAY EMPLOYEES & MYSELF
@$10+/HR = $21k/yr

Pros: leveraged out. Very little money in. Income can be driven up with food.

Cons: Won’t sell building. No off street Parking. (Might be a problem filling up room). Many updates needed. Baths/Software. Roof is over 25 yrs old. No chance of getting liquor license at this location.

Question is will the business make me Money or will I just be marrying a job?
Click to expand...


Don't go there. You need to find a landlord that has a spot vacant for too long. Get your terms right, then everybody wins.
 
gutshot said:
Sky high rent with no food and no alcohol equates to zero chance at making any money. I don't see any way of overcoming the rent nut, let alone all the other expenses in running a business.
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agreed.

walk away

ken
 
ignomirello said:
No chance of getting liquor license at this location.
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There is no way I would get this. Pool time is not going to cut it, especially if there is not enough parking to fill the tables up? Food and some good casual drinks is the only way to turn the tide into a favorable business.
 
I think I'd rather have a small place, even in a poor location. Buy it cheap, build it even....but own it. I couldn't invest my life in someone elses building.
 
Island Drive said:
Don't go there. You need to find a landlord that has a spot vacant for too long. Get your terms right, then everybody wins.
Click to expand...

In NJ, especially north Jersey, trust me, landlords are content with no tenants. Up and down Rt 17, 46 and 23 there are more empty fronts than you can count. The taxes here make renting a no win situation. You will work just to cover your nut, lotta blue laws here also, no Sundays, etc...

You need to buy a building with 6 or 8 spots where the other 5 or 7 pay for everything and your pool room can operate at a loss. Unfortunately this seems to be a necessity. Your perfect mini-mall will have a DD, a drycleaner, a massage parlor, a pizza place and a Pilates, and then your pool room.

Just the way it is.

JV
 
I am a business owner, and I would not take your pool hall deal if it were given to me for free. Its a nightmare. You will be a slave to it, and not make any real money. My businesses run themselves on a day to day basis, yet I am still very busy as the owner, handling all the problems, negotiations, paperwork, ect. that the owner must handle. Even though I rarely spend more than an hour a day in my businesses, I'm busy. You will be that busy, plus have to work at the store more than full time all year, to make much less than what my businesses profit in a month. It's a loser any way you look at it. You'd be better off getting a job as a house man at a pool hall if you really want to be stuck behind the counter at a pool hall all day and not make any money. At least you'll sleep at night and not go into crazy debt.
My family owned many pool halls in NJ in the 90's. No booze, but plenty of parking, and a good crowd of regulars and date night crowd. They made pretty good money, but those days are OVER. Rents are too high now, expenses are too high now, and revenues are WAY down. My family got out of the pool hall business in the early 2000's and they had GREAT rooms.
As others have said, don't walk away, RUN.
 
classiccues said:
You need to buy a building with 6 or 8 spots where the other 5 or 7 pay for everything and your pool room can operate at a loss. Unfortunately this seems to be a necessity. Your perfect mini-mall will have a DD, a drycleaner, a massage parlor, a pizza place and a Pilates, and then your pool room.

Just the way it is.

JV
Click to expand...

This sounds ideal. You can shoot pool in your spare time, have plenty of coffee available, pizza whenever you want it, and grab a happy ending now and then! Oh, while you are at it, you might as well drill a few peep holes to look into the Pilates studio. :)
 
PaulieB said:
This sounds ideal. You can shoot pool in your spare time, have plenty of coffee available, pizza whenever you want it, and grab a happy ending now and then! Oh, while you are at it, you might as well drill a few peep holes to look into the Pilates studio. :)
Click to expand...

Not necessarily in that order.. :p

JV
 
wow Thanks again everybody

skierlawyer said:
I am a business owner, and I would not take your pool hall deal if it were given to me for free. Its a nightmare. You will be a slave to it, and not make any real money. My businesses run themselves on a day to day basis, yet I am still very busy as the owner, handling all the problems, negotiations, paperwork, ect. that the owner must handle. Even though I rarely spend more than an hour a day in my businesses, I'm busy. You will be that busy, plus have to work at the store more than full time all year, to make much less than what my businesses profit in a month. It's a loser any way you look at it. You'd be better off getting a job as a house man at a pool hall if you really want to be stuck behind the counter at a pool hall all day and not make any money. At least you'll sleep at night and not go into crazy debt.
My family owned many pool halls in NJ in the 90's. No booze, but plenty of parking, and a good crowd of regulars and date night crowd. They made pretty good money, but those days are OVER. Rents are too high now, expenses are too high now, and revenues are WAY down. My family got out of the pool hall business in the early 2000's and they had GREAT rooms.
As others have said, don't walk away, RUN.
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Wow thanks again everybody & skierlawyer

Please keep your opinions coming!

Like I said, I think I can boost up the food sales & get more people through the door. But with no parking can I keep them there?

I have a crew that knows the business. I'm willing to make Little changes (Make it more recreational)

Right now the Town/City won't allow any alcohol.

As far as Buying/Leasing a property & build It would take $150K-250K per square Foot to build Without the equipment. So that's out of the question.

The only good thing about this deal is that it would be leveraged very well Very Little money into the project.

But that does not mean I'm willing to marry something that's just a job Just to say (I OWN IT)

Thanks again,

Tony (IGGY) Ignomirello
 
Thanks Andrew

cleary said:
The only way to make something like this work is to form an in house league and actually get it to work. Or nightly single elimination tournaments that will draw heads, once they're out, they'll rent a table. Food would be a must.

Im guessing this will be in NJ. And I know certain places in NJ, liquor license can be BIG BIG BIG money. What about BYOB?
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Thanks for your input Andrew :-) Paying the big bucks for the License won't be the problem. The problem is the City/Town won't allow it. :-(

I have the right people in place to get the leagues started & food up to par. I think the main 2 things are Parking/Alcohol. I can get the people there but like I said will they stay without off street parking? Only metered parking during the day is another negative.

Thanks Again Andrew

See you soon,
Iggy
 
I say no you can never own it and without alchohol income stream is limited and then the parking issues. 3 strikes
 
ignomirello said:
Should I do this?

How much would you pay for a Pool Hall that has no chance of getting an alcohol license?

Owner sells very little food.

Seller wants $13 Sq Ft for lease rental. Lets say $65k/yr

Expenses are about 4.5 times Square footage without Payroll. Approx 23K/yr

Income is 27 x square footage *lets say 135K/yr

$135k-65k-23k = 47K
47k LEFT TO PAY EMPLOYEES & MYSELF
@$10+/HR = $21k/yr

Pros: leveraged out. Very little money in. Income can be driven up with food.

Cons: Won’t sell building. No off street Parking. (Might be a problem filling up room). Many updates needed. Baths/Software. Roof is over 25 yrs old. No chance of getting liquor license at this location.

Question is will the business make me Money or will I just be marrying a job?
Click to expand...

How can you make any money without liquor, do you have machines ?
 
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