Nightclub Manager: Responsibilities, job description and more

You are about to find out what responsibilities a manager of a nightclub has and things that you may want to consider if you want to be a nightclub manager/owner. In many cases a manager would at least partially own the venue but if you're not ready to own a bar there would be opportunities to manage one. If you want to manage or own a nightclub read more below.

Responsibilities of a nightclub manager

Club managers handle many of the day to day operations of the running a nightclub.

Sorting entertainment

You will probably have to sort the entertainment for your venue.

In my opinion you should probably already know what type of music the nightclub will offer. If the current entertainment style is no longer working or if you're starting from a blank slate choosing you can choose a particularly style for the bar.

In some cases you can match the look of your nightclub to the music. For example putting cowboy hats around the place would symbolize country music. Skulls are generally used in metal bands. You may want to get an interior designer to help with this aspect.

You may want to reach out to artists if not enough of them are approaching you. It could be worthwhile to check their social media followers and how many people are commenting on their posts. If they have a strong active following this will make it more likely that some of their fans will come and see them.

Advertising and promotions

In some cases you may have to manage the promotions for your venue but normally this is delegated to people that create graphics and/or handle the social media advertising etc. Typically your promotions manager would send you marketing materials to approve and that's the bulk of the work surrounding this. It's possible to have one company handle all this or you can deal with multiple companies depending on what's efficient.

Managing the staff

You will be responsible for hiring/firing the staff. People skills are typically good for this.

Some of the types of employees that you would need to have are bartenders, lighting technicians, servers and security.

Most staff including yourself would be best to have people skills. If they don't people can be turn off from coming to the venue and tell their friends of their experience. Many people go clubbing in groups so if one person had a bad experience a bunch of people may decide to go elsewhere.

Ordering products

You would need to ensure your bar has enough stock for its business hours. Running out of stock is not a good look so you may want to order a bit more than required so you never run out of an ingredient/drink. I wouldn't go crazy with this strategy. If you think that you have enough excess stock, you're probably correct.

Ensuring the venue is compliant with laws

A critical part of any business manager is ensuring that the business is complying with local and national laws. If you don't do this your nightclub could be forced to close until it's compliant.

You would be best learning the local laws and develop policies to ensure that the venue is complying with the laws.

Maintaining safety

You will need to ensure that the nightclub is a safe environment for customers. View our nightclub safety tips here

Financial responsibilities

You should ensure that accounts/bills are paid in an acceptable amount of time and there are no problems with the amount of money coming in.

Making sure the venue isn't constantly losing money is a good idea. Part of this can be ensuring that all outgoing drinks are being accounted for and there's no thief etc. The venue should always keep a record of any free or discounted drinks it gives out.

We have an article on the monthly expenses of a nightclub

You should also work out how much profit the owner of the club expects to generate.

If you are both the owner and manager you may want to pay yourself a salary suitable for your life-style and have this completely separated from the venue's profit. You can additionally pay yourself a share of the profit on top of your salary.

Ensure the regulars are happy

As already stated you should make sure that the nightclub hits financial targets and part of this is ensuring people are coming regularly. If not enough people are coming to your establishment you may have to try different entertainers and/or host events.

Hours

You would probably start work in the afternoon or early evening. You can decide when you finish work but many nightclub managers stay until the bar closes. Most nightclubs would go until 2AM-4AM.

Personality traits of a nightclub manager

In my opinion people skills will help in your career as you need to deal with employees, suppliers and people at your venue. For the first two negotiation skills could help.

Appearing cheerful in the small hours in the small hours of the morning could help too. You might have to rearrange your sleep schedule which can be problematic if you have a family. If you have kids you might have to employ a babysitter depending on your circumstances.

Location of your resistance

Many busy nightclubs are in the central business district of your city so you may want to move close to there.

Salary

How much you get paid would largely depend on how busy the club is and the location. Nightclub managers in big cities like Los Angeles or New York will receive someone in a similar position in a smaller city. The range is typically $27,000-$155,000 and some profit share might be included depending on the agreement.

Potential accessibility issues

If you have epilepsy this may not be a good job for you because of the strobe lights but you could manage a bar without them. I think that this job requires decent mobility and verbal communication skills. if you don't have some abilities maybe you can delegate some tasks to an assistant manager if this is financially acceptable to the owner.

Education and Training

Some countries require managers to get a license to manage a bar, but others do not. You may want to do a course in business management.

Getting started

To get used to the hours and working with people you may want to start as a bartender. You could then offer to be an assistant manager and/or manage the venue if the manager goes on vacation. The manager could need nights off now and again; you could offer to manage the club in their absence.

Some people try to manage smaller clubs before trying to manage a major nightclub. Even managing a hotel bar could get you some experience. Look for job openings online or in the newspaper.

Managing an existing nightclub that is profitable would probably be a great way to get started as a manager. Alternatively managing profitable bars or restaurants could gain you similar experience.

Advancement in your career

It's possible that you may not get your ideal venue straight away but as long as you like the job you may as well use it as a learning opportunity. If you decide to move on to a venue you like more you'll have the experience to manage it better.

Once you are sure that you can manage a club you may want to see if you can manage a busier club and/or start your own. If your goal is the latter you may want to save part of your income to use as capital.

Thanks for reading

I hope that I have given you some things to consider if you aspire to be a manager of a nightclub.

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