Fifteen of the world’s top owner-operators talk survival. 15位世界頂級酒吧的老板和運營人向我們透露成功的秘訣。

1. 靈活調整你的概念。

俄勒岡波特蘭克萊德酒吧聯合創始人Matt Piacentini還在紐約擁有另外兩家酒吧，分別是比格爾（現已停業）和Up & Up，而今年2月開業的Up & Up是他的首家獨營酒吧。“克萊德一開始就大獲成功，我們從來沒有特意想過哪些地方做得不對、需要做出改正。于是，我經營比格爾的時候態度不現實，以為取悅大眾本來就是件容易的事情。我的想法是用一種特定的方式來經營，想要吸引行為模式固定的一個特定人群。 但來的人形形色色，有的人喜歡這樣，有的人喜歡那樣，我完全沒有準備蜒我們的概念不靈活。所以，我在籌備下一家酒吧的時候設計了一個特定的系統，但同時又做好了不成功的準備，提前想好了替代辦法。靈活性是所有事情的引導性因素。我設計的座位布置既適合一對一對的客人，又適合六個人的小團體。我確保酒單上有一小部分酒品符合多數人的口味，供那些不太熟悉嚴肅雞尾酒的客人點用。”

1. Prepare to adapt your concept.
Matt Piacentini is the co-founder of Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon, as well as two bars in New York: The Beagle (now closed) and The Up & Up, his first solo cocktail bar, which opened in February this year. “Clyde Common was such a success from the start that we never had the experience of having ideas not work and need retooling. Because of that I went into The Beagle with an unrealistic attitude that the public was inherently easy to please. I conceived it to run exactly one way for a specific clientele that would act a specific way. When a whole bunch of different people came in, some liked things one way, others a different way, I was unprepared – the concept wasn’t flexible. So with the next bar I built each system to act a certain way, but was prepared for it not to work and had alternatives in place. Flexibility was the guiding factor in everything. I created a seating layout that would work just as well for parties of two as groups of six. I made sure to have a small selection of broad-appeal items for people coming in who may not have experienced serious cocktails.”

2. 和臨近社區建立起關系。
本地客人至關重要，Piacentini繼續說。“開比格爾之前，我沒有調查在附近居住和工作的人群。如果做過調查，我就會發現開業概念有點太正式了。后來光顧酒吧的鄰居們向我說了他們的意見，我很快就明白了。我們進行了調整。但開始考量到本地客人之前，我已經失去了大量潛在客人。”

2. Establish relationship with the neighbourhood.
Local patronage is vital, continues Piacentini. “Before I opened The Beagle I didn’t research who lived and worked in the area. If I had, I would’ve seen that my opening concept was a bit formal. I learned that pretty quickly when the neighbourhood folk came in to give me their two cents. We adapted. But I lost a lot of potential regulars before I started factoring locals into my plan.”

3. 只靠周末客人支撐不了酒吧。
“周末客人大都是臨時客流，他們喜歡去人氣新酒吧蜒他們只會光顧一兩次而已。你不能光靠周末的生意。本地客人和周二或周日都會來的常客才是酒吧成功的核心。”

3. Weekends don’t make a bar.
“Weekends are mostly destination traffic who are looking for the hot new place – they’ll come in once or twice, that’s it. You can’t survive on weekends alone. It’s the locals and regulars that come in on a Tuesday or Sunday that are the core to a bar’s success.”

4. 制定一個適當的商業計劃。
“這絕對是最重要的一點，”Piacentini表示，“太多調酒師都以為出色的雞尾酒就能夠讓自己的酒吧成功。他們認為產品是最重要的。可到了最后，成本、工資稅和保險的現實因素會讓你感到壓力，不得不改變經營理念。‘產品至上’變成了‘利潤至上’。產品不再重要，最終酒吧經營也會失敗。”

4. Write a proper business plan.
“It’s absolutely the most important thing,” reckons Piacentini. “So many bartenders think being able to make great drinks is enough to build a successful bar of their own. They think the product is everything. What ends up happening is when the reality of expenses and payroll taxes and insurance starts to set in, the concept starts changing. There’s a huge swing from, ‘It’s all about the product’, to ‘It’s all about making money’. The product goes out the window and ultimately the business fails.”

5. 熱情好客。熱情好客。熱情好客。
“五年前，雞尾酒吧是人們膜拜調酒師驚人技藝的地方，”Piacentini繼續說，“我們都以為客人來酒吧是為了欣賞我們調酒。沒有人會認為我們不是客人體驗的焦點所在。現在，Up & Up的概念有一大部分是打造經典氣質的酒吧。除了手鑿冰和精準量度，來我們酒吧喝酒的客人總是能看到調酒師臉上的微笑。我們用盡一切手段來避免調酒師成為焦點，客人才是焦點。我們知道他們不是來欣賞調酒的——他們是來享受自我的。”

5. Hospitality. Hospitality. Hospitality. 
“Five years ago, a cocktail bar was a place where people would pay to worship at the altar of a bartender’s amazing skills,” continues Piacentini. “We all had this attitude that people wanted to come to our bars and marvel at what we were doing. The idea that we were not the focus of the customer’s experience simply didn’t exist. Now, at the Up & Up, a huge part of the concept has been about creating a bar in the classic sense. Underneath the hand-cut ice and precision measuring, it’s a place where you can get a drink and see a smiling face on the other side of the bar. We’ve done everything we can to take the focus off the bartenders and give it back to the guest. We understand they’re not there to marvel at our art – they come to enjoy themselves.”

6. 為生意不好的時期做打算。
新開酒吧最常犯的錯誤？“資金不足。”酒吧老板兼概念設計人Matthew Bax說。他開的德羅姆酒吧（現已停業）是澳大利亞最著名的酒吧之一，最近他還在墨爾本開了繁茂酒吧。不要只考慮開業資金，他繼續說道。“你需要額外的資金來維持酒吧經營的高標準，不能偷工減料——無論什么酒吧都會經歷生意不好的時期。”

6. Plan for hard times. 
Most common mistake of start-up bars? “Under capitalisation,” reckons Matthew Bax, bar owner-conceptualist behind one of Australia’s most feted bars Der Raum (now shuttered) and, more recently, Bar Exuberante, a new opening in Melbourne. Don’t just think about start-up capital, he continues. “You need spare cash to keep running your bar at a high standard without cutting corners – the quiet weeks will come no matter who you are.”

7. 調酒師和酒吧老板之間有著極大差距。
“開了第一家酒吧之后，我以前的生活徹底結束了，”Bax繼續說，“我非常喜歡創意控制的自由，但你每時每刻都和酒吧結合在一起蜒很難完全放松下來。”

7. The space between bartender and bar owner is epic.
“After I opened my first bar, my life, as I knew it, was over,” continues Bax. “I love the freedom of creative control but you are married to the venue 24-7 – it’s very hard to switch off.”

8. 準備好心態上的巨大轉變。
“關鍵是完成從專才到通才的轉變，”上海Starling酒吧聯合創始人Adam Devermann說，“以前你只要每天調酒就好，但現在你要了解COGS（銷售成本）、會設計酒單、會創造概念、了解勞動法、會談判供應商合同、會做收益預測蜒這需要一個很大的心態轉變。這并不容易，需要花時間去學——但你在開酒吧前一定要學會。”

8. Prepare for a huge shift in mind-set.
“It’s about making a move from specialist to generalist,” says Adam Devermann, co-founder of Starling, Shanghai. “Moving from a daily drinks maker to someone who understands, say, COGS (cost of goods sold), how to write a menu, develop a concept, understand employment law, negotiate supplier contracts, forecast profits – that requires a big mental leap. It’s not easy and takes time to learn – but learn it before you open your own venue.”

9. 娛樂？只在我的記憶里存在。
“任何以為開酒吧很有趣的人都不適合做酒吧老板，”新加坡頂級雞尾酒吧老板Abhishek Cherian George說，“你尤其不能認為開酒吧就是去城中或全世界的酒吧花錢體驗。我在我的酒吧里住了一年才讓它有序運轉。如果你不能全力投入，那就放棄開酒吧這個念頭。”

9. Fun? I remember that.
“Anybody who thinks owning a bar is a fun job shouldn’t do it,” says Abhishek Cherian George, owner of The Spiffy Dapper, one of Singapore’s best cocktail bars. “Especially if you think it’s about spending money and drinking at bars around town/the world. I lived in my bar for a year before it was able to run on its own. If you can’t go all in – don’t go in at all.”

10. 保持專業性。
人們對開酒吧的最大誤解？“人們以為我們總是艷遇不斷，”George回答說，“那不是真的。而且，和客人上床不是件明智的事情蜒就像和員工上床一樣。”

10. Keep it professional.
Biggest misconception about owning a bar? “That we get laid a lot,” replies George. “Doesn’t really happen. Besides, fucking your customers is a stupid thing to do – just like fucking your staff.”

11. 培養積極的商業意識。
“身為酒吧老板，你必須不斷地從長遠角度進行考量，”上海Logan’s Punch創始人Logan Brouse說，“調酒師的想法是，哦，今天是星期二，客人不多，我可以休息一下，不用干太多活。而酒吧老板的想法是，該死，今天是星期二，讓我們創造更多收入，讓我們做點什么吧！身為酒吧老板，你必須激勵每位員工。如果我只是坐在角落里不去留心，那么其他人也都不會在乎。”

11. Develop an energetic business sense.
“As a bar owner you have to be constantly looking at the bigger picture,” says Logan Brouse, founder of Logan’s Punch, Shanghai. “As a bartender, you’re thinking, OK, it’s Tuesday night, it’s not going to be busy, so I can just hang out and not do too much. As a bar owner, it’s more like, Fuck, it’s a Tuesday night, let’s get some revenue going, let’s do something! As the owner, you have to motivate everybody. If I’m slumped in the corner not paying attention – nobody else will care.”

12. 找到一位可靠的管道工。
“建造酒吧的很大一部分和水有關，”Brouse繼續說，“不僅僅是水池、洗手間繕如果我們早就知道該怎樣安裝下水管，那當時我的生活就好過多了。”他酒吧吧臺下方有一根下水管是開業數月后才安裝的。“我不知道要專門提出要求，我想當然地以為設計師會搞定。我在開業之前無比希望自己有更多技術知識。”

12. Find a dependable plumber.
“So much of setting up a bar is about water,” continues Brouse. “Not just the sinks, toilets… If we’d known how to properly install our drains my life would’ve been so much easier.” A drain beneath his bar top was installed several months after opening. “I didn’t know to ask for it – I took for granted the designer would take care of it. I would’ve killed to have more technical knowledge before we opened.”

13. 酒吧不會自動運轉。
“一般來說，杰出酒吧的老板也在自己的酒吧里工作。”Jason Scott說。他聯合創辦的巴克斯特客棧和松樹蔭沙龍是悉尼最受好評的兩家酒吧之一。“如果是從零開始打造酒吧，你要慢慢呵護它成長，每天都要去酒吧工作，確保它達到最佳表現。客人馬上就能感受到這種投入。酒吧一開業，身為老板的你必須去吧臺后面調酒，從而立刻了解到客人的反饋和員工的動態，一發現服務問題就解決掉。當然，有問題員工最終會告訴你，但是，如果你在整個晚上有20次被冰箱狠狠撞到了腿，你就會更快地發現它擺錯了地方。”

13. The show doesn’t run itself.
“Generally, the people who own the great venues here also work in them,” says Jason Scott, co-founder of The Baxter Inn and Shady Pines Saloon, two of the most highly rated bars in Sydney. “If you build something from scratch, nurture it into life and work there everyday, you want to make sure it’s the best it can be. Guests immediately recognise that kind of dedication. When you first open, as an owner, it’s important to get behind the stick to be immediately aware of customer feedback, get the feel of the staff dynamic and solve any service issues as soon as they arise. Sure, the staff will tell you eventually, but you’ll know the fridge is in the wrong place much sooner if you’re smashing your own knee on it 20 times a night.”

14. 不要在施工時偷工減料。
“開酒吧最困難的部分是確保遵守建筑規范，”Scott說，“大家都告訴我施工過程將比我預計的長兩倍、貴兩倍蜒但它仍然讓我震驚。”

14. Don’t cut corners in construction.
“Toughest part of opening is managing building code compliance,” adds Scott. “Everyone tells you that the build will always take twice as long and cost twice as much as your budget – but it’s still a shock.”

15. 客人比你的華麗調酒工具更重要——總是如此。
“我希望當初開第一家酒吧之前更多地考慮到了客人的需求。”國際酒吧顧問Paul Mathew說。他是倫敦三家酒吧的聯合創始人，包括海德、Demon, Wise & Partners和套匯人。“身為調酒師，我想要確保酒吧裝修得很好、吧臺后面的設備很合用、調酒有效率、我們能夠盡可能調制出最好的雞尾酒。但我沒有在每個座位上坐下，想象自己是一個客人。我們最初采用的座位有些很好看，但坐上去并不舒服。還有些座位很舒服，但看不到吧臺，也很難招呼到樓面員工。最終我們對布局進行了多次重新設計，讓每位客人都感覺很好，服務流程也更順暢。酒品有多出色并不重要蜒如果客人感覺不舒服，其他一切都無關緊要。

15. The customer is more important than your fancy bar tools – always. 
“I wish I’d considered more things from a customer’s perspective before we opened our first bar,” says Paul Mathew, international bar consultant and co-founder of three London bars, The Hide, Demon, Wise & Partners and The Arbitrager. “As a bartender, I wanted to make sure the bar looked great, that the equipment behind the bar was fit for purpose, that drinks could be made efficiently and that we could make the best cocktails possible. What I didn’t do was sit in every seat and imagine I was a customer. Some of our original seats looked great but were uncomfortable. Others were comfortable but you couldn’t see the bar and were difficult for floor staff to reach. We ended up redesigning the floor layout a few times so every guest felt right and the service flow worked better. It doesn’t matter how amazing the drinks are – if people are uncomfortable, nothing else matters.”

16. 不要草率從事。
“酒吧之所以如此頻繁地開開關關，是因為缺乏管理或商業經驗，”上海Union Trading Company老板兼創始人陸遙說，“僅僅因為贏了比賽或小有名氣，某位調酒師就吸引到了開酒吧的資金蜒這種情況我們看得太多了。但他們忘記了，成為好的調酒師不代表成為好的領導或酒吧老板。缺乏遠見和領導使得酒吧無法堅持下去。再加上糟糕的決策、對成本和細節的忽視，酒吧自然關門大吉。”

16. Don’t jump in too early. 
“The reason why we see such a high turnover of bars is the lack of management or business experience,” says Lu Yao, owner-founder of Union Trading Company in Shanghai. “We see a lot of places open by bartenders who’ve managed to attract capital because they won a competition or got some publicity. But they forget: being a good bartender has nothing to do with being a leader and a good bar owner. Bars tank because of a lack of vision and leadership. Combine that with poor decision making, lack of attention to cost and detail, and the bar’s going under.”

17. 概念應該具有獨創性??
“許多酒吧失敗的原因是身份不明確，”陸遙補充道，“大城市里的人被各種選擇寵壞了。每家酒吧都需要有一個清晰的概念，這樣才能找到屬于自己的細分市場，并最終將自己和城中其他數百家酒吧區分來。”

17. The concept should be original…. 
“A lot of bars fail because they don’t have a clear identity,” adds Lu. “Folks in big cities are spoiled by choice. Every bar needs a clear concept so they can find their own niche markets and ultimately differentiate themselves from the hundreds of other bars in town.”

18. ??但時機也要恰到好處。
新加坡人氣酒吧阿薩姆冷飲攤的聯合創始人Sam Wong認為，關鍵是對市場飽和度的理解。“我們在兩年前開業的時候，新加坡手工雞尾酒圈已經在不斷升溫，所以我們必須找到一個與眾不同的定位。不過，經驗告訴我們不能把與眾不同作為唯一的努力目標蜒你不能離潮流太遠。我們在開業前花了許多時間來討論如何找到平衡。”

18. ….but also well timed. 
Co-founder of popular Singapore drinkery Ah Sam Cold Drinks Stall, Sam Wong reckons understanding the maturity of your market is key. “Even when we started two years back the craft cocktail scene in Singapore was already heating up and it was necessary to find a niche to stand out. Still, we knew from experience that we shouldn’t go all out just to be different  – you can’t jump too far ahead of the curve. Finding that balance took a lot of discussion before we opened.”

19. 水漲船高。
新加坡雞尾酒行業的發展離不開酒吧之間的合作精神，Wong說。“盡管業內競爭非常激烈，我們仍然是一個聯系非常緊密的團體。這正是新加坡雞尾酒行業的美妙之處——不管你是在時髦酒吧還是在老店屋工作，‘部落’精神仍然流行。大家都在互相幫助。”

19. Rising tide lifts all boats. 
Singapore’s development as a cocktail city is partly due to a co-operative ethos between bars, says Wong. “Even though the scene is very competitive, we’re a very compact, close-knit community. That’s the beauty of the scene in Singapore: whether you’re working at a posh venue or an old shophouse, the “kampong” [“community”] spirit still prevails; everyone helps each other.”

20. 酒吧是一門生意，不是你個人的展示廳。
怎樣的調酒師做酒吧老板是最糟糕的？“開酒吧只為向其他調酒師炫耀的那種。”獲獎級舊金山酒吧惡作劇小狗的經理Morgan Schick說。他也是享樂人生酒吧咨詢公司的創意總監。“經營酒吧有一點很重要，那就是要懂得你在為客人服務。如果你只供應自己喜歡的酒、只播放自己喜歡的音樂、只采購自己喜歡的啤酒，那么你只能吸引到兩個受眾蜒你自己和你的媽媽（她不得不表示喜歡）。這種態度也適用于接受你雇員的風格。每個人追求目標的道路都不一樣，經營酒吧意味著讓員工去走自己的路，你只需確保目標是正確的。”

20. A bar is a business. Not a showroom for your own ego. 
What kind of bartenders make the worst bar owners? “The ones that open bars for other bartenders,” replies Morgan Schick, bar manager of award-winning San Francisco bar Trick Dog and creative director of bar consultancy Bon Vivants. “A crucial thing in running a bar is to understand that you are serving your guests. If you only serve drinks that you like, only play the tunes you like, only stock the beers you like, then you will have an audience of two: you, and your mum (and she has to like it). This attitude extends to accepting the styles of your employees as well. Everyone has a different route to the same goal – running a bar means letting the staff follow their route and just ensuring the goal is right.”

21. 讓你的調酒師們做自己。
上海雞尾酒吧Epic的老板之一余天音也持相同觀點。“身為老板，你要熟悉你的員工，要了解他們不同的個性。我鼓勵我的調酒師擁有個性，我不希望他們都是同樣的風格。我不告訴他們該怎樣。我讓他們自己找到方法來平衡個性和職責。”

21. Let your bartenders be themselves.
Co-owner of Shanghai cocktail bar Epic, Cross Yu agrees. “As an owner, get to know your staff and understand their different characters. I encourage my bartenders to be individual – I don’t want them all to have the same style. I don’t tell them how to be. I let them find their own way to balance their personality with their job responsibilities.”

22. 投資你的團隊。
“新酒吧運營人常犯的錯誤之一是酒吧培訓不足，”德國頂級調酒師、科隆新酒吧小鏈環老板Stephan Hinz說，“最重要的不是酒吧老板，而是團隊。如果沒有經驗豐富、技巧嫻熟的調酒師支持，那么世界上最好的酒吧老板也會失敗。”

22. Invest in your team.
“One of the most common mistakes new bar operators make is insufficient bar training,” says Stephan Hinz, one of Germany’s top bartenders and owner of Little Link, a new bar in Cologne. “It’s not just about the bar owner – it’s about a team. The best bar owner in the world will fail without the backing of experienced, properly in-the-know bartenders.”

23. 不要急著雇用酒吧經理。
“根據我的經驗，老板和經理之間的關系是最重要的，”紐約人氣酒吧閑人免進的創始人Dushan Zaric說，“如果酒吧老板對自己的員工都不友好，那么他們也無權期待員工對客人友好。俗話說得好，‘上梁不正下梁歪’。”

23. Take your time hiring a bar manager.  
“In my experience, the relationship between owner and manager is the most important thing,” reckons Dushan Zaric, founder of Employees Only, one of the most successful cocktail bars in New York. “If the bar owner is not hospitable to their staff then they have no right to expect that their staff will, in turn, be hospitable to their guests. As the saying goes, ‘The fish stinks from the head down’.”

24. 提供體驗，而非雞尾酒。
“你必須讓自己的酒吧與眾不同。”Zaric補充道。他的酒吧為呆到凌晨4點的客人提供雞湯，以表達感謝之情。“只有將人的因素包括進來，你的酒吧才能持續經驗下去。所以，問問你自己。你的客人覺得自己受歡迎嗎？他們覺得自己屬于這個地方嗎？他們想留下嗎？他們明天還會來嗎？他們會把你的酒吧介紹給朋友嗎？你必須時刻想著這些問題。酒飲品質不應該成為商業計劃的基礎。如今，每家酒吧都有日本工具，每家酒吧都有冰條。問題在于，你的酒吧能為客人提供怎樣的情感體驗？”

24. Offer experiences, not cocktails. 
“You have to make your bar different,” adds Zaric, whose bar became famous for its thank-you chicken broth, served to all guests who stay until 4am. “The only way that can happen and lead to a sustainable business is if you include a human element. So, ask yourself, Do your guests feel welcome? Do they feel like they belong? Do they want to stay? Will they come tomorrow? Will they tell their friends? These are the questions that need to be on your mind. The quality of the drink is not something you can base a business plan on. These days, everyone has Japanese tools, everyone has ice blocks. The question is, ‘What emotional experience is the guest getting at your bar?’”

25. 不要讓酒吧概念打折扣。
雞尾酒收藏家Martin Cate是舊金山最多產的酒吧老板之一，也是美國優秀提基酒吧走私者小灣的創始人。他在打造單一種類酒吧方面有著獨特見解：“重要的是全心投入你的概念。你需要邀請客人一起分享你的理念，讓他們感到受歡迎。你要讓他們欣賞這個理念，這樣他們才會參與進來。他們不用了解全部細節，但他們知道這個理念得到了徹底實現。在我的酒吧，客人一進門就會拿到酒單，上面寫著我們的理念以及背后的原因。由于其他烈酒的選擇有限，他們會覺得最好的體驗應該是朗姆酒。這個方法奏效了，我們銷量的93%都來自朗姆雞尾酒或朗姆酒純飲。”

25. Don’t half-ass your idea. 
Rum collector Martin Cate is one of San Francisco’s most prolific bar owners and the founder of Smuggler’s Cove, considered one of best tiki bars in the US. On the challenges of developing a single-category bar: “The important thing is to fully commit to your concept. You need to invite guests into your vision and make them feel welcome. You’re hoping to get them invested in the idea so they’ll participate. They won’t know all the details but they’ll know if the idea isn’t fully realised. When our guests arrive they are presented with a menu that announces what we do and why we do it. By limiting their selection of other spirits they get a sense that their best experience probably lies with a rum drink. And it works: 93 per cent of our sales are rum cocktails or neat rum serves.”

26. 開酒吧不會讓你暴富。
“不要期待自己賺進大量鈔票。”西雅圖卡農酒吧老板兼運營人Jamie Boudreau說。他的酒吧擁有世界上最大的美國威士忌收藏。“現實是你賺的錢還比不上當調酒師時候的收入，如果按小時算的話。但它是值得的。開酒吧最好的一點是成功或失敗都出自你手。是的，你以前喜歡的和行業有關的許多事情都會消失。但你將自己的作品展現在世人面前，吸引了許多滿意的回頭客蜒這是一種回報。”

26. Owning a bar won’t make you rich. 
“Don’t expect to make tons of money,” says Jamie Boudreau, owner-operator of Canon, the Seattle bar with the largest American whiskey collection in the world. “The reality is you’ll make less money than you would as a bartender if you break down the hours. But it’s worth it. The best part about owning a bar is knowing that the successes and failures are all yours. Yes, a lot of the things that you loved about the industry will disappear. But you’ll be rewarded by putting your creation out there and seeing happy patrons return day after day.”

27. 不要因為任何事情而退縮。
本文幾乎所有的受訪人都表示，盡管有各種困難，但開酒吧是一種極其有營養的人生體驗。或許陸遙的話最好地表達了這一點：“我們能夠用自己相信的方式去為客人提供體驗，得到他們的喜愛和支持，這無疑令人非常興奮。這是一種最讓我感恩的體驗。”

27. Don’t let anything put you off.
Almost all the interviewees for this article said, despite the pitfalls, owning-running a bar is a profoundly nourishing life experience. Perhaps Lu Yao says it best: “The feeling of being able to provide guest experiences in a way we believe in, to get the love and support from our guests, it’s absolutely exhilarating. The most humbling experience I’ve ever had.”