Being your own boss should be your goal in this life. You must be a person who embraces the entrepreneurial spirit to move forward. With the current economic downtimes, it is always good to get a venture that guarantees you a steady flow of income. One such venture is a liquor store. The rising demand for wine and spirits ensures you meet your set sales target.

Being a lucrative business idea, you must have a lot of questions on how to open one. Starting a liquor store is not a pipe dream you can do it if you remain focused and determined. Also, with proper strategies and procedures, we can guarantee you a steady income from your venture in the future.

Step 1: Come Up with a Business Plan

You must have a business plan before you start any business. A business plan is an outline that maps your business.  You can use a business plan template or write yours from the scratch. Either way there are fundamental questions that your business plan should provide answers to.  Here are those questions that your business plan should answer.

Step 2: Name of the business

Decide on the name of your business. You should be creative when coming up with a name. Customers love those names they can pronounce and easily remember. The name should be unique and no other liquor store should be using the name. It is therefore, your responsibility to ensure that the name you choose is available as the web domain.

Step 3: Market research

Your business plan must provide justifications that there is a high demand for liquor products in the area you seek to establish the business. Also, you should have all the information about the competitors found in that area. Devise ways in which you can offer good services than your competitors. It is the uniqueness of your services that places you at a competitive edge.

As you carry out the market research, you should define your target market. In most cases, the target market should be that of people above the age of 18 years. It is highly prohibited to sell alcohol to people below this age. Contravening this rule can see your business closed and pay hefty fines.

Step 4: Costs

Your business plan should give you an overview of the expected startup capital. There are several factors that influence the amount of capital you require to open a liquor store. These factors include; location, number of staff, licensing fees, and beginning stock.

The business plan should help you plan for what you have. If need be you can use the business plan to get capital from financial institutions. Therefore, be realistic about the expenses that your liquor store incurs going forward.

Step 5: Actualize the Business plan

It is important to note that a business plan is just a piece of paper that might remain dormant to eternity if you don’t actualize it. To reap the effectiveness of your business plan, the second step is to put it to work. The first thing is to head to the ground and identify the location to open the liquor business. Your location must have a high potential to meet your sales target. Also, if you seek to get external funding this is the right time to use your business plan to convince the funding agent.

Step 6: Register the Business

After you have the capital and identified the ideal location you should go ahead and register your business. In the business plan, you must have already and identified the name. This makes it possible when it comes to the registration process. The name must be unique and no other business should be using the name.

As you register the name of the business, you should also decide on the business entity of your business. There are pros and cons to each type of entity you choose. Sole proprietorship and general partnership are some of the options you can select. If you don’t want to be held responsible when your liquor store is sued then you can choose limited liability company LLC.

You can consult the attorney or tax professionals to ensure you make the right decision.

Step 7: Get Licenses, Permits, and Insurance

It is a must for every business to have a working permit from the relevant state bodies.  You must get a license, permit, and insurance to legally operate your liquor store. Insurance protects your liquor store’s financial wellbeing in case of loss. There are different types of insurance policies. You must be new to this and you don’t know the policy to subscribe. To save from all the confusion, you can start with general liability insurance.

Step 8: Open a Bank Account

You must separate your bank account from the business account. For that reason, we advise that you open a bank account specifically meant for the liquor store. With a business bank account, it becomes easy to track the cash inflows and outflows. The moment you mix the business and personal assets it becomes hard to separate them when the business is sued.

Step 9: Stock Up the Liquor Store

You can launch your liquor by stocking up the beginning inventory. Define your brand and devise ways to attract and retain customers. The process of building your brand does not happen overnight. Pay attention to customer reviews to better your services.

How do I open a liquor store?

How to Open a Liquor Store: A Step-by-Step Guide
  1. Step 1: Write a Business Plan.
  2. Step 2: Find the Store or Location You Want to Buy or Rent.
  3. Step 3: Get Funding.
  4. Step 4: Register Your Business.
  5. Step 5: Get Licenses, Permits, and Insurance.

How profitable is a liquor store?

How much profit can a liquor store make? According to a recent Forbes study, liquor stores are among the top five least profitable businesses, taking home a profit of 1.7%. Owners who are able to run their own business take home an average salary of $21,000 – $51,000, depending upon size, location, and sales.

How do I open a liquor store in South Africa?

  1. Premises. You need a premises before you can even apply for a Liquor License.
  2. SARS clearance. Apply for your Tax clearance certificate at SARS.
  3. Liquor License. Contact a reputable Liquor License Consultant to give you a quote clearly confirming all cost.
  4. Start planning your shop. Decide on your target market.
  5. Budget.

How much does it cost to open a liquor store in Texas?

How much money will I need to open a liquor store? You should expect that opening a liquor store, brand new or through a transfer of ownership, may cost $100,000+ depending on location, store success, and the most expensive parts of any liquor store, the inventory and equipment.

Is buying a liquor store a good investment?

While liquor stores are valued as a multiple of earnings, the multiples vary across the United States. In California, multiples are fairly generous and liquor stores can be one of the best retail investment compared to other business opportunities.

What are the requirements to open a liquor store in Texas?

To start your own liquor store in Texas, you need to contact the TABC to set up a pre-licensing interview. Your partners, you and any potential investors must be present at the meeting. Your responsibilities will be explained, and you will receive the instructions and forms you need to apply for your license.

How long does a liquor license last in Texas?

It’s important to budget for licensing and permit expenses, especially since many liquor licenses must be renewed every two years in Texas.

Can I sell alcohol from my home?

Anyone with a Personal Licences is legally allowed to sell alcohol on behalf of any business (including online) as long as it has premises licence (this does not apply to some members’ clubs or community premises). Getting a personal licence is a two-step process: Training. Applying for and obtaining the licence.

What is the profit margin in liquor store?

How much profit does a liquor store make in India? Ans- In India, on average a liquor store can incur profits of around 4 to 5 Lakh rupees. It also depends on the type of store, whether it is an all under one roof kind of store or just a standard pint and wine shop. The profit margin remains higher on imported alcohol.

Are bottle shops profitable?

Colloquially known as bottle-os, bottle shops sell alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine and spirits to Australian consumers. These shops generated sales of nearly $17 billion in 2016 and collected an estimated $5.1 billion from indirect alcohol taxes and GST revenues.

What is the profit margin on pint?

What Is the Profit Margin on pint? The profit margin for bottle beer should be around 75%, while the profit margin for draft beer should be about 80%.

Is owning a bar profitable?

Economic Bottom Line. From a profit and loss perspective, to run a successful small to average bar, it costs around $110,000 initially to rent and prep a place for operations. This means an average bar has monthly revenues of $25,000, monthly costs of $20,000 and monthly profits of $5,000.

Why do bars fail?

Spreading your resources too thin creates major pitfalls and causes many bars to fail. The most common and obvious culprit is financing: You don’t start with enough capital, you spend it on the wrong things, or you pay too much for equipment. Often, bar owners overwork their employees to the point of exhaustion.

Do small bars make money?

Can you start a bar with no money?

Estimates suggest the revenue of the average bar is between $25,000 to $30,000 per month. These estimates are based on certain assumptions: An average price of $8 for drinks, $6 for appetizers and $13 for mains. Your profits will depend on how well you run your bar and manage your operating costs.

How hard is it to start your own bar?

Crowdfunding – Crowdfunding is another way that people are able to open bars without any money. They use services like GoFundMe, FoodStart, Kickstarter, and AngelList. Field and Vine in MA used Kickstarter to start out and Swah-Rey also used Kickstarter in FL to open their bar.

Can I run a pub with no experience?

Opening a bar is hard, and running a successful bar is infinitely harder. A disturbing number of people think that if you can scratch together the money to get in, a bar will return astronomical profits, just because it is well stocked and the doors are open.

How do I start a lounge bar?

Can you run a pub with no experience? The simple answer is yes. If you’ve had experience of working in or running a pub before that’s great, but don’t worry it’s not a requirement. The most important qualities you need are dedication, determination and a passion to make your business succeed.