The creator debunks the myth that bars fail at a higher rate than other businesses. He then introduces the 'technician's curse' from the book 'The E-Myth,' arguing that the primary reason for failure is not economics, but bar owners who are good at the craft (e.g., making drinks) but fail to learn the essential business skills of management, marketing, and creating a unique customer experience.
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There’s always been a persuasive myth out there that bars fail at a higher rate than other businesses, but this doesn’t hold up. Most businesses fail. Most bars fail.
The reason, however, is rarely just economics.
It’s much more simple: an owner who doesn’t care, and who refuses to learn the necessary skills to build and grow something great.
But operating a bar, is as much about self-improvement as it is selling drinks.
#hospitality #bar #bars #nightlifevibes #bestbar
Transcript
People love to say that bars are unique in their ability to fail. But if you actually look at the data, bars fail at nearly the same rate as every other business. So if it's not some industry curse destroying all these bars, what is? Well, after talking to so many bar owners, there's only one thing that links the bars that don't succeed better. And it's a bar owner that doesn't respect the craft of running a hospitality business. In 1995, Michael Gerber wrote a book called The E Myth, and he coined a term called the technician's curse. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of what business is. The fallacy is that just because you understand the technical work of a business, that it doesn't mean that you understand a business that does technical work. The bartender thinks that because he makes good old fashions that he can run a successful bad, but they are vastly different skills and people don't respect this enough. Most bar owners never sit down and ask themselves, why should people visit their bar? Why should they bring their friends and why should they come back? Most bars nowadays feel the same because the owners just don't care. They love the idea of running a bar, but they don't want to learn the skills required to do so. It's a bar owner who refuses to learn the skills of cash flow management, customer experience, architecture, marketing. They think if I build a bar and deliver good drinks that people will come, but people don't buy services or products in isolation. They want consistency, emotional transformations, feelings, a good atmosphere. There's enough mid tier brands to go around. They want bars with an identity. And this, not just economics, is at the core of what makes most bars fail.
