Going Strong,
You have been given a lot of good advice in this thread. I will add in my two cents...
I began bussing tables when I was 13 years old. I spent well over 20 years working in restaurants and bars. Everything from an International Pancake house, a Spring Break bar in Daytona, an Irish Pub as well as a fine dining establishment. My father owned a fast food chain as well.
First thing is to get a job in a bar/restaurant. If you have never worked in retail food service you are in for quite a shock. You will be working nights and weekends. The times that everyone else is off. Get used to having to work long hours because a flaky coworker just decided not to show up.
It will mess with your internal body clock. If you close at 2am (3am on Friday and Saturday) don't think that you are going to go home and go to bed. No sir, now you want to unwind and have a few beers. So more often than not you go out with your coworkers and end up getting to bed right around sun up.
If you get a job working at a bar/lounge/nightclub you will become distant from your friends who work normal business hours. You will end up spending a lot of time with people who cannot get jobs in the "real world". They are usually less educated and less cultured. Not all mind you, but enough. .
It will force you to learn good money habits. You will get used to having large amounts of cash (tips) and have to learn to control yourself with it.
When I was younger waitstaff got paid $2.16/hr. Less than minimum wage. They were supposed to report their tips every night but everyone lies. It was not uncommon to see checks for $0.00.
If you want to open your own place you have to manage for awhile. Get ready for the headaches of scheduling two dozen employees who all have limits on days and times that they can work.
You will be dealing with health inspectors and liquor inspectors.
I don't know how much dram shop insurance (liability coverage for a tavern) costs now but it has got to be much higher than when I was in the business.
Don't get excited if you have a great night. Your monthly fixed costs never go away and they will sometimes be higher than you anticipated.
This topic deserves a thread of its own if it doesn't already have one. I know the original post asked about opening one overseas but I strongly suggest he learns how one runs in whatever location he is at right now.
When I have time I will type something up about the restaurant and bar business.
CP
You have been given a lot of good advice in this thread. I will add in my two cents...
I began bussing tables when I was 13 years old. I spent well over 20 years working in restaurants and bars. Everything from an International Pancake house, a Spring Break bar in Daytona, an Irish Pub as well as a fine dining establishment. My father owned a fast food chain as well.
First thing is to get a job in a bar/restaurant. If you have never worked in retail food service you are in for quite a shock. You will be working nights and weekends. The times that everyone else is off. Get used to having to work long hours because a flaky coworker just decided not to show up.
It will mess with your internal body clock. If you close at 2am (3am on Friday and Saturday) don't think that you are going to go home and go to bed. No sir, now you want to unwind and have a few beers. So more often than not you go out with your coworkers and end up getting to bed right around sun up.
If you get a job working at a bar/lounge/nightclub you will become distant from your friends who work normal business hours. You will end up spending a lot of time with people who cannot get jobs in the "real world". They are usually less educated and less cultured. Not all mind you, but enough. .
It will force you to learn good money habits. You will get used to having large amounts of cash (tips) and have to learn to control yourself with it.
When I was younger waitstaff got paid $2.16/hr. Less than minimum wage. They were supposed to report their tips every night but everyone lies. It was not uncommon to see checks for $0.00.
If you want to open your own place you have to manage for awhile. Get ready for the headaches of scheduling two dozen employees who all have limits on days and times that they can work.
You will be dealing with health inspectors and liquor inspectors.
I don't know how much dram shop insurance (liability coverage for a tavern) costs now but it has got to be much higher than when I was in the business.
Don't get excited if you have a great night. Your monthly fixed costs never go away and they will sometimes be higher than you anticipated.
This topic deserves a thread of its own if it doesn't already have one. I know the original post asked about opening one overseas but I strongly suggest he learns how one runs in whatever location he is at right now.
When I have time I will type something up about the restaurant and bar business.
CP