Who hasn't dreamed of opening a bar? Turn your dream into reality and open your own wine bar with advice from our team at Les Grappes. In this article, we outline the steps necessary for opening and running your wine bar successfully. This article is aimed at both beginners and professionals, as we won't be discussing formal training for the professions of restaurateur, wine merchant, or bartender.
The concept
First and foremost, you need to clearly define your project, developing a concept around which you will build your bar. It's about finding what will make your business stand out from the others: you need to focus on differentiation since you will have to differentiate yourself from direct competitors such as other bars and restaurants, and from indirect competition from at-home consumption.
You therefore need to create a new and original bar. For example, you could specialize in a type of wine, organic wines , red wines , or certain vintages. The product itself is what makes it unique. However, you must always consider the profitability of your business, so try to appeal to a wide audience.
Another way to differentiate yourself would be to play on the originality of your bar's atmosphere by offering activities; for example, tastings or introductions to oenology.
In short, you need to pique the curiosity of customers and then seduce them with the originality of your wine bar.
The ideal location for your wine bar
Next, you need to choose the commercial space where you will set up your wine bar. This step is important because it will have a decisive influence on the type and size of clientele you will attract. We offer some selection criteria to help you choose a suitable location:
- Location: Choose high-traffic areas, such as city centers. Parking spaces are more expensive there, but this will increase your business's visibility and customer traffic.
- The geographical context: your premises and their location must be representative of your project. Your bar must be in harmony with the neighborhood in which it will be located.
- Be mindful of your neighbors! Avoid residential areas as the noise may disturb your neighbors, especially if you have a terrace.
- The size of the premises: you must take into account the wine storage space as well as the customer reception area. Therefore, you should plan for a fairly large space.
- Competition: you have the choice of placing yourself near competing bars to differentiate yourself from them, or on the contrary, offering a location further away from other bars, to avoid too much proximity to the competition and cover a less saturated area.
- Catering: you should also consider a kitchen in your premises if you intend to accompany wine tasting with tapas or dishes.
Procedures and regulations
Next comes the more technical and sometimes more complicated part: the administrative side. Several steps are necessary to open a bar.
The choice of legal status
First, you will need to choose the legal status of your company. You have several options:
- It could be a partnership, such as a sole proprietorship. In this case, the partnership is subject to income tax and does not have a legal personality; that is, the entrepreneur is personally liable for the company's debts.
- It could be a capital company such as a single-member limited liability company (EURL). These companies are subject to corporation tax and have more complex administrative procedures. However, they offer the benefit of limited liability, restricted to the amount of capital contributed.
- Finally, if you choose to open your bar with partners, a type of company such as a limited liability company (SARL) will be more suitable for your project.
Obtaining a license
To be allowed to serve wine in your bar, you will need to obtain the necessary licenses for selling alcoholic beverages. At a minimum, you will need a Class III license, also known as a restricted license, which authorizes the sale of non-distilled fermented beverages (wine, beer, cider, perry, etc.) and alcoholic beverages with an alcohol content below 18%.
Obtaining the operating permit
To apply for your license, you must first have obtained a liquor license. This is a certificate issued after specific training for the sale of alcoholic beverages. The license is then valid for 10 years.
The training lasts three days – 20 hours of instruction – for new operators. It lasts one day – 6 hours of instruction – for those who have held a license for 10 years. The objective is to provide information on the prevention of and fight against alcoholism, the protection of minors and the suppression of public intoxication, the resale of tobacco, noise control, narcotics legislation, and the general principles of civil and criminal liability.
Financing your wine bar
This is one of the main pieces of information needed to open your wine bar.
Before financing your business, you must consider the investments required to open a wine bar. These include:
- The work required to fit out the premises, particularly the installation of the bar counter which can be quite expensive, and the wine storage space which may require the installation of a system to control the temperature and humidity level.
- the furniture and the tableware
- the wine stock
- the license
- communication and marketing around your wine bar
To finance your bar, you'll need a business plan : this document includes a project overview and a financial forecast. The business plan should highlight the project's strengths as well as the risks associated with its implementation. You must demonstrate the extent of the initial funding required and the potential profitability of your wine bar. This involves defining your initial budget.
Beyond securing the funding to open your wine bar, your business plan should also include the material and human resources costs necessary for the smooth operation of your business. You can add any relevant elements to demonstrate the long-term viability of your project (such as your marketing plan).
The business plan will allow you to verify that your project is financially viable, and this document will be the reference you use to present your project to banks, investors, or a financing platform . It is therefore a pathway to financing your project.
Promote your wine bar
You've defined your concept, found the perfect location, completed the administrative procedures... Your bar is ready to open. To ensure you attract customers (the key to success!), you'll need to plan ahead and implement a marketing plan.
The marketing plan aims to detail and quantify the actions implemented to attract and retain customers. It may differ depending on your project, your location, your resources, etc. Here are some actions you can implement:
- Developing social media communication to promote your bar and keep your customers informed about events
- Bar SEO: website creation, inclusion on Google Maps, and creation of a Google My Business profile
- Mediation: Announce the bar's opening in local newspapers, specialized blogs… play on your bar's originality to pique curiosity and attract customers
- Focus on tourism, particularly wine tourism, by trying to be listed in tourist guides.
The customer is king!
Of course, we must remind you that your bar business must be driven by consumer demand. You need to pay close attention to this when choosing your concept. The premises should also be chosen based on the clientele it aims to attract, but also with the goal of attracting as many customers as possible, hence the importance of high-traffic areas and city centers for wine bars.
The type of clientele frequenting your establishment will help determine your menu prices: you will create a menu based on the clientele you want to attract. It is therefore up to you to define the markup coefficients for your menu according to your customers.
Once your wine bar is ready to open, you need to reach out to customers to attract them and convince them to come: this is the whole point of your marketing plan. For your wine bar to succeed, communication is essential: it allows you to raise awareness and remind people that you exist.
Finally, don't forget to keep things fresh to constantly surprise and meet your customers' expectations. There's no room for routine in a wine bar; always strive for originality!
Our latest tips
Before you get started for good, here are a few final tips:
Surround yourself with mentors! Someone experienced can guide you in creating and opening your wine bar, thanks to their expert advice and industry knowledge. They will help you avoid mistakes and overcome challenges. Many professionals will surely be happy to help you, and this will be the best way for you to learn and share, so that you, in turn, can pass on your knowledge and experience.
Finally, take your time and don't rush things. Opening a bar is meticulous work, and every step is necessary. The project must be built with certainty and efficiency, the financing must be secure… All the foundations of your wine bar must be perfectly established before opening your business.
