- Thread starter NYKNICKS
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I need hel!. I want to open a hooters type plaice/nightclub
listen guys, many people have tried different things, some succeeded some didn't, jay z started his own record label and everyone laughed at him, but he had a different approach to an idea that a lot of people had tried but failed, you guys are probably passed your 40s, im 22 years old, with a degree in business, so i think i have an idea about business, the reason why i joined this site was because i thought i was going to get constructive feedback or some helpful tips, and if you guys are such business gurus, you should know that a successful business starts, with a simple idea which i already have... thanks...
My friend, why not come here first, look around and see where you fit in? If you have the need to come to a public forum to ask advice on what business to open up in a country you have no clue about, then you have a lot to learn. You think you are the only one with a business plan to thrill the market here? Guess what, its not so easy to do business here in the 1st place. you have different work ethics and different sorts of problems to deal with on daily basis. Many people came here in the past and have beaten the drums on this forum. They were also young, old, fat and even chinese. They all came with their NYC experience and college degrees. Where are they now?
I wish you good luck but I think you have to come here and live the Santo domingo scene for some time before you even think of investing a dime here.
AZB
Alright then, lets assume you have a different approach. Do you have the necessary capital of $250,000-$500,000 to implement your idea. Do you intend to buy an existing location or build? How much is your budget for renovations or buildout? Have you done any homework on the tax, legal, banking, regulatory, employment environment? Do you or any of your business partners have any actual experience in business in the D.R?
I think you are probably correct about a lot (not all) of us being passed our forties. However, many of us....and there are a lot on this board... have solid business background experience....some who have already posted who own/operate businesses in the DR right now.
Your, "I'm 22 with a degree in business" confidence is both a blessing and a curse. You are an idealist in the sense that you think you know it all right now....and that is how succesful entrepreneurs think. Unfortunately for you the highway to business success is littered with those who failed.....and that is what the passed forty crowd sees and tries to warn you of.
The best piece of advice ever given about doing business in the DR has also been given to you above. Go there, live there, understand the system (if you can). No business degree or MBA from any college or university can teach you what you will learn in 6 months of living there.
Respectfully,
Playacaribe2
i've been to DR plenty of times, and haven't been impressed with the local nightlife, and i understand that many people have tried and failed but i dont worry about that because i'm sure they all failed for different reasons, but thats not what im focused on, and i came on this forum because i thought it was full of knowledgeable people and im not referring to you
If you didn't see a Miami type night life here is not because all the people who came here before you were too dumb to think of something better to offer, its because they did their market study before investing and then they reconsidered their plans. 22 yrs old, you have more energy than experience. I am not even sure if anyone will take you seriously here at all. Can you tell me where you have been here? what areas you have stayed? Do you have dominican roots in this country? family, friends? Do you speak fluent spanish? Have you spend any real time living here besides vacations? Do you have any contacts here? I mean real contacts, not your primo jose from barrio. To open up a nice branded establishment in DR, do you know how much it costs? Do you have the capital to survive if your business doesn't pick up for 6 months? Do you know how the economy is here at the moment?
I live and work here for many years. I am a chiropractor and I am constantly in contact with all sort of people from all sorts of backgrounds. My patients are people from farmers, to all the up to ex president's lawyer to even some well-known politician to real business men who own well established businesses here. You should hear them talk. They didn't lose their hair from sun tanning on the beach. They know the real deal. So when I say, do your homework first and study the market, this is exactly what I mean. You are 22 yrs old. American type miracles are not easy to replicate here. Chances are, you will not even reach the 1st base in business. I wish you luck.
AZB
A few questions-
1) Did your business degree, which I'm assuming taught you the in's and out's of traditional business models, include dealing with third world corruption?
2) Do you have the slightest idea how much money will have to go in other people's pockets (politicians, police/army personnel, buscones) for you to get your business off the ground and stay afloat, money that cannot appear on any ledger sheet for your business partners to ask about?
3) Do you have any idea what the turnover rate with the chicas is? Do you have a plan on how to go about recruiting these females? Do you have any experience in dealing with surly, uncooperative Dominican chicas when they get out of pocket? I'll give you a hint...pimp slapping them is not the solution.
4) Do you realize to make any type of money in this game you must provide either a back room area for prostitution or take-out service to your clients? Do you have any experience catering to such clientele?
5) Are you going to cater to native Dominicans or tourists? Whatever your plan is you must price accordingly to your target market. It's either one or the other, it cannot be both.
6)How and where are you going to advertise?
7) What about security and dealing with patrons who get out of line?
8) The way the economy is, do you think you're going to get players and macks ballin' out with $500 bottles of champagne while you sit in the back with a cigar in your mouth and a parrot on your shoulder?
No offense but your plan, regardless of how you think you'll revolutionize the industry, is one bereft of new ideas. There is nothing you can come up with that will be any different than what others with more money and business experience have already tried.
Not to say you won't succeed, but the above questions will merit consideration by you and your partners.
1) Did your business degree, which I'm assuming taught you the in's and out's of traditional business models, include dealing with third world corruption?
2) Do you have the slightest idea how much money will have to go in other people's pockets (politicians, police/army personnel, buscones) for you to get your business off the ground and stay afloat, money that cannot appear on any ledger sheet for your business partners to ask about?
3) Do you have any idea what the turnover rate with the chicas is? Do you have a plan on how to go about recruiting these females? Do you have any experience in dealing with surly, uncooperative Dominican chicas when they get out of pocket? I'll give you a hint...pimp slapping them is not the solution.
4) Do you realize to make any type of money in this game you must provide either a back room area for prostitution or take-out service to your clients? Do you have any experience catering to such clientele?
5) Are you going to cater to native Dominicans or tourists? Whatever your plan is you must price accordingly to your target market. It's either one or the other, it cannot be both.
6)How and where are you going to advertise?
7) What about security and dealing with patrons who get out of line?
8) The way the economy is, do you think you're going to get players and macks ballin' out with $500 bottles of champagne while you sit in the back with a cigar in your mouth and a parrot on your shoulder?
No offense but your plan, regardless of how you think you'll revolutionize the industry, is one bereft of new ideas. There is nothing you can come up with that will be any different than what others with more money and business experience have already tried.
Not to say you won't succeed, but the above questions will merit consideration by you and your partners.
good advice is sometimes free
Hey mr nnknicks, you have received some good counsel here. Most important you made a good first step....you are networking! Muy bien. Now if you're serious find some biz professionals in the restaurant biz, or here in the RD, or preferably both, and get invited into their world...i.e. expand your network and become an insider. Sell some of these folks (maybe folks on this post...maybe elsewhere) on the validity of your ideas, and you will find your path easier to navigate.
But as I say first sell yourself to some informed people and LISTEN and learn from their experiences....
And I joke about why a hooters type club in the RD....
But seriously why the RD? I have spent the better part part of the last year (only the last year), in Santo Domingo and I must say i am amazed how many establishments can stay open with often what i have seen as minimal customer traffic. Dinero is very tight here. And SD is hardly a hopping tourist destination. i am one who believes SD geographically could be a world class destination. But I am sure the vets on DR1 can explain why given the political and other situations, there are much better markets in the world to attempt to harness a thriving customer base....that just not does not exist here. Which raises another question...who is your target customer? tourists? biz travelers? Dominicans? These groups coexist and patronize some (not many) of the same establishments, but have very different needs.
Hey mr nnknicks, you have received some good counsel here. Most important you made a good first step....you are networking! Muy bien. Now if you're serious find some biz professionals in the restaurant biz, or here in the RD, or preferably both, and get invited into their world...i.e. expand your network and become an insider. Sell some of these folks (maybe folks on this post...maybe elsewhere) on the validity of your ideas, and you will find your path easier to navigate.
But as I say first sell yourself to some informed people and LISTEN and learn from their experiences....
And I joke about why a hooters type club in the RD....
But seriously why the RD? I have spent the better part part of the last year (only the last year), in Santo Domingo and I must say i am amazed how many establishments can stay open with often what i have seen as minimal customer traffic. Dinero is very tight here. And SD is hardly a hopping tourist destination. i am one who believes SD geographically could be a world class destination. But I am sure the vets on DR1 can explain why given the political and other situations, there are much better markets in the world to attempt to harness a thriving customer base....that just not does not exist here. Which raises another question...who is your target customer? tourists? biz travelers? Dominicans? These groups coexist and patronize some (not many) of the same establishments, but have very different needs.
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every guy like you, who believes that he can make a certain type of business flourish in the DR, believes that others failed because they did not know what they were doing. you are all of 22 years old, with a degree in business, so you must know what you are about. the last guy like you that i counselled about such a venture, gave me the same answer. he was from New York, ran a club there, so was more than qualified to run one in a little banana republic. i gave him three months, and he called me all manner of names. two months later i went to check on him, and he was long gone. just like the guy who ran a Kentucky franchise in Maryland, and believed he could put all the local pica pollos out of business, because he was coming from the USA. well, he is back in Maryland now, doing who knows what.
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awesome post, Berzin. the first week this guy opens, and realizes that his clients are not drinking Alize and Crystal, but presidente pequenas, he will understand what he is up against. in the USA, people are ordering sex on the beach, margaritas, and long island ice tea, drinks which cost a pretty penny, but which keep the business going. most clubs also have a trademark finger food, like their wings, which brand them. wait until he finds out that he clients sneak out to go to the local pica pollo when they want something to munch on, rather than pay his prices for the stuff to nosh on. this is not America, as David Bowie sang.
With all doe respect, The gogon, but Berzin's post is far from the truth. I've had bars here in Santiago "Don Quijote de la Mancha" (currently named Aybar dance) near the Monument for well over 8 year. Not once did I ever pay or grease some government official to stay in business, and curtainly not some police officer of all things. I truely believe that most expats have an ill conceived notion that when doing business in the DR you MUST pay someone for the right of doing business here. This is farthest from the truth.
Perhaps for this reason, and this reason alone is why many expats have failed on their attempts to succeed in the DR. Rather than concentrating on keeping the business functioning as a well oiled machine, they were too busy paying people off. And not because things are as complicated as many will paint it on this forum. I currently have three business functioning here, and as I've already said, I have yet to pay out a single bribe to someone. Correction, way back in 2001 I did pay a government inspector whom worked for Direccion General de Impuesto Internos (DGII) to register each one of my properties under the five million (5,000,000) price limit so as I can avoid paying yearly taxes on them.
Sorry for digressing, when I had my bar I sold everyone of those drinks you mentioned above, they sell very well once you've made a stable clientele. One more thing, no client able to pay for such drinks will ever head to a pica pollo when hungry. Your clients will either arrive at your establishment alread fed, or they will eat at your business if you provide such service.
I can't say much about the girl situation, because I've never worked with hookers in my life.
NYKNICKS,
Don't listen to these people. They're just cranky.
Instead, tell us about your track record. Tell us about the successful "Hooters"-esque you run in NYC. THAT is what really matters.
You show these negatrons the FACTS of your knowledge and experience and they'll go silent.
Don't listen to these people. They're just cranky.
Instead, tell us about your track record. Tell us about the successful "Hooters"-esque you run in NYC. THAT is what really matters.
You show these negatrons the FACTS of your knowledge and experience and they'll go silent.
No Derfish, I was actually addressing Berzin's post where he makes mention of catering prostitutes to his clients. Go re-read post No. 29.
with all due respect sir, but your bar failed miserably and so did anyone else who tried to establish a business on the same location. Aybar dance is not having much success either. that corner is plagued with failure. who-ever opened up there, failed. Aybar is doing ok with his bar/restaurant but he is not making money at aybar dance. he is lucky to get some people in there on weekends. The expensive label drinkers in those places are dominican york drug dealers. You guys had some degree of success about 10 yrs ago, after that, its down hill. Who is making money in santiago now? maybe 5 businesses and only on weekends.
AZB
Look at the bright side (yes, I know, doing that is akin to a mortal sin on DR1; lol); he's a very young kid.
Ask most successful business owners if they were successful the first time, don't be surprised if most say no. You will open one business, it will most likely fail, then you learn from your mistakes and open another. Keep going until you make it, its very simple (but not simple to do). If you fail, big deal! You're going to be 23? 24? It will not be the end of your life.
Now, about the Hooters thing. Santo Domingo has the real one and Santiago is going to get one too (at the infamous Bella Terra Mall that everyone here swears is a big failure; lol).
Do your research, build the best team and start working.
It may sound cliche but, losers never win and winners never quit!
And worst than trying and failing is wondering what ifs for the rest of your life.
Now, let's get this thread back to the gloom and doom track that people on DR1 are known for. lol
Ask most successful business owners if they were successful the first time, don't be surprised if most say no. You will open one business, it will most likely fail, then you learn from your mistakes and open another. Keep going until you make it, its very simple (but not simple to do). If you fail, big deal! You're going to be 23? 24? It will not be the end of your life.
Now, about the Hooters thing. Santo Domingo has the real one and Santiago is going to get one too (at the infamous Bella Terra Mall that everyone here swears is a big failure; lol).
Do your research, build the best team and start working.
It may sound cliche but, losers never win and winners never quit!
And worst than trying and failing is wondering what ifs for the rest of your life.
Now, let's get this thread back to the gloom and doom track that people on DR1 are known for. lol
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So you DID have to bribe someone to keep things in order. You say you only had to do it once, but you still had to.
You cannot tell me that a traditional bar/restaurant is on equal footing as the type of place the OP wants to open. If you would have acknowledged the difference you would understand that a strip bar attracts a different type of attention from all parties concerned.
Anyone remember the crackdown on the casas de chicas in the capital a few years ago? Or how the chica crackdown in Sosua managed to pass Peter's place unmolested? Traditional bar/restaurants aren't susceptible to these types of politically motivated actions for obvious reasons.
A couple more questions pertaining to the subject at hand-
1) In a traditional Dominican strip club, do the patrons get up near the chicas dancing on the pole and "make it rain"? Do the chicas perform lap dances and charge per song?
The last time I went to such a place, and it was a while ago, none of this was going on. The chicas danced and the patrons watched silently as if they were attending church. Most of the cats there were native Dominicans nursing their 150 peso Presidente peque?as.
I left wondering "how does this place make any money?" until it was in the news when it burned down. I think the name was Jazzy Night Club or something like that.
Here is another question which will undoubtedly go unanswered like all my others-
2) If the chicas do not generate revenue for themselves charging for lap dances and getting tips for dancing, what would be their financial incentive to work in a strip club? How would they make money?
Since the OP is not opening a "Hooters" type place, which is a restaurant where the waitresses are just eye candy, a strip club usually generates money pedaling flesh to clients.
If I'm mistaken then please someone enlighten me.
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