The bar business appeals to entrepreneurs for a number of reasons, including the entertainment appeal of serving drinks, showing games, featuring live music and hanging out with friends. To avoid becoming the owner of another neighborhood bar that fails, a strong business center is necessary to keep the entertaining aspects of the business under control. Support from the local community is essential to staying in business. The way you run your bar, treat your employees and give back to the community affects the success of the bar.

Step 1 – Brand your bar to fit into the local area. If you’re in the middle of a working-class area with low- to middle-income families, an upscale bar isn’t likely to perform well. Adapt your bar’s image, specials and events to appeal to those who live and work in the area to get support from the neighborhood.

Step 2 – Operate your bar with a sense of responsibility to those who come in and to others in the community. Take precautions to avoid serving minors or continuing to serve legal drinkers who have already had too much. Promote cab services to prevent drunk driving incidents involving your patrons.

Step 3 – Hire knowledgeable bartenders and servers who are able to handle patrons who have been drinking. Choose people with strong personalities who are able to make the bar experience more enjoyable for the patrons.

Step 4 – Train your employees on drink-making to ensure that they produce a consistent product. Emphasize the use of accurate measurements on mixed drinks to keep costs under control and to provide consistency for customers.

Step 5 – Maintain the bar to make it a place people actually want to spend time in. Even the cleanliness of the bathrooms, for example, affects how patrons view your establishment.

Step 6 – Connect with your regular bar patrons by getting to know their names, usual drinks and personalities. Make both new and regular customers feel at home in your bar so they will want to come back.

Step 7 – Host special events that are relevant to your clientele to draw in more customers. Live music and special game nights can attract crowds of current and new patrons.

Step 8 – Utilize other local businesses when possible. Support other neighborhood businesses to show that you are committed to the area. Others are more likely to return the favor.