Saving an independent club/music venue

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Joined
4 Jan 2003
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1,609
Location
Oldham, Gtr Manchester
Hi guys,

I'm after a bit of help/advice/guidance, I own a nightclub/live music venue in Oldham, Greater Manchester. We're coming up to our one year anniversary soon and I'd like to pick your brains about a few things.

We've struggled for the entire year in all honesty, bar a few good months and it's proving very difficult to stay afloat. The original funds to purchase the business and all the various fixtures/fittings/stock/pa/etc came from my parents who were essentially trying to help set me up with a career for life.
We've had good months where we've pulled in an ok amount but most months we struggle to even pay rent and cover costs.

At the moment we have various nights on catering to a variety of people (Indie on a Friday, Rock on a Saturday, Open Mic on a Monday, etc) but because we're struggling to get the numbers in we can't afford to make basic repairs/improvements and it feels like part of that is holding us back.

I believe at the moment we're probably not promoting enough, the bulk of our promotion is done on Facebook and we do have a core group of regulars but we need to reach more people. We've tried flyering before but it didn't really seem to do the trick, perhaps we need to try again but stick to it for longer. Can anyone think of some excellent promotional techniques that would help?

I've contacted the council about possible funding options as Oldham is currently undergoing a regeneration period (new metrolink system, new business incentives, etc), so hopefully we're eligible for something, but it seems venues are quite overlooked sometimes as they're seen as drunk filled spaces.

I've considered the idea of doing some form of crowdfunding/kickstarter type thing as we are the only real live music venue in the area, especially one that actually caters for alternative people. Would this be a fruitless endeavour or are there successful examples of similar businesses being successfully funded like this?

I've probably missed a lot of important information out, so if you have any questions please ask away. But if you can help with any advice or anything I'd be very grateful.

TL;DR: Bar struggling in Oldham, any ideas to boost business?
 
You are covering what, two types of music there? There must be 50 distinct genres looking for an outlet, the hardcore death-clown metal scene is particulary unrepresented in Oldham. You haven't even mentioned goth, everyone does goth.

Flyers get dropped, flypost everywhere instead.
Music genres have their own national forums, advertise each night there.

There is more to events than music, special interest groups (LGBT, furries, fetish) have their own events although you would have to get enough interest before hand. Again all these have their own forum.

What do you do during the day? Could you host war gaming societies or LAN parties?

This is probably your problem, Facebook only attracts people already on that page, flyers only reach one persons hand, everyone else is reading their own special interest forum (like OcUK).

You have to invent or cater for new markets and target each one individually via their own social outlets.
 
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You are covering what, two types of music there? There must be 50 distinct genres looking for an outlet, the hardcore death-clown metal scene is particulary unrepresented in Oldham. You haven't even mentioned goth, everyone does goth.

Flyers get dropped, flypost everywhere instead.
Music genres have their own national forums, advertise each night there.

There is more to events than music, special interest groups (LGBT, furries, fetish) have their own events although you would have to get enough interest before hand. Again all these have their own forum.

This is probably your problem, Facebook only attracts people already on that page, flyers only reach one persons hand, everyone else is reading their own special interest forum (like OcUK).
You have to invent or cater for new markets and target each one individually.

Flyposting is illegal and will just give us a lot of problems with the council. We're a music venue, although we've advertised the venue for hire for all anything and everything when it's not in use in the week.
 
a lot of people I know ruin club nights and what not, rock/indie/metal nights just don't seem to work anymore.

how large is the alternative scene in Oldham? if there is already a alternative club going then from personal experience your wasting your time trying to head down that music root.

seems to be the way to make money is too play generic music that everyone knows and make the place look swish/up market.
 
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Perhaps vary the music / target punters.
Approach community radio / papers / free ads / collages / relevant shops with promotional info.
Be aware what other clubs in the area are doing and on which days.
Would your space be suitable for rehearsal space for either music or theatre during the day?
Is there anywhere local which does standup comedy?

:)
 
If you feel that the business would survive if money were spent on basic repairs and advertising then you may want to consider a business loan or possibly seeking a partner to inject capital.

But is it just that? What demand do you think there is in the area for this sort of club?

Was it a club before and how did it do?

Have you asked a sample of your customers how you could improve?

Is there any way to reduce costs and funnel that into repairs and advertising?

Have you tried hosting 70s, 80s, 90s nights etc?
 
I always thought the golden rule of the nightclub business was get the ladies in, because the money follows the ladies.

How to attract the ladies is a subject I fear I am in no position to offer you advice on :(
 
This! If you want to stay afloat cater for the masses, go **** rave dance club tosh if you have to, if that's what pays the bills

Nothing wrong with going niche and avoiding all the competition if there's enough demand for that niche. Back in my clubbing days I preferred going to a club that played Indie & Rock music (different floors) - it was always rammed on a Friday and Saturday night. That was 20 years ago though, these days it all seems to be hippoty hoppity music :(
 
What are your costs and outgoings like versus the current revenue and numbers through the door?

Do you have any nights of the week that are a success, profit wise, or is every weekend a struggle?
 
Sounds to me like you need to spend some time with a professional to go over all facets of the business and come up with viable marketing strategies and a mid-to-long-term campaign.
 
I wish you all the best of luck. We don't have enough venues like yours in this country (well not where I live anyway - the best we get here is a rock night once a month in a pub) so I hope you can turn it around.
 
The price of alcohol is just too high now for a night out. I tend to choose much wiser now on what nights I want to go out or events/gigs to see because it doesn't matter what night of the week anymore it's still expensive.

Not sure how this compares to England as this is mostly due to drink promotions being banned and minimum alcohol pricing.
 
Get a bit of the Dub/Dubstep/Electro/Techno nights going and post on forums. I used to look on Dubstepforum.com (when I used to enjoy it) for nights out. I;d go to anything that played some decent music and I could get smashed up.
Search Myspace or Facebook for Local artists with a half decent following and ask them to play. Try not to get just some two-bob DJ who comes in with an Dell laptop or an Ipad and plays **** from ITunes, just because he's cheap.

Also, go easy on the security presence. ;)
 
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