The fact is, I know perfectly well what my dream job would be.

[xiphias]

Bartender at Callahan's.

I've known that for a while. Probably since the first time I read the stories.

But a thought just popped into my head -- a very strange one for me. It said: "So, your dream job is bartender at Callahan's Bar. How do we go about making this happen?"

Any ideas, people? How do I go about becoming a bartender at Callahan's Bar? Obviously, the first thing I need to do is build or find the bar.

The bar costs $110,000, and is near the Malden/Everett line. Or, at least, a bar that's for sale is there. It's only actually being shown to people who are serious contenders to purchase. And they want half down, and the guy I was talking to suggested that I really wanted to have maybe another $25k ready money for incidental startup expenses. So that's $80 thousand dollars to even be in consideration.

Is that the way to go? Or is there another route I'm not seeing?

Comments

[trcabbage.livejournal.com]

YIKES!!!

FIRST, you need to get bar worker friends.
You need to work in a bar in that area
You need to KNOW names, faces, smiles, reputations, needs and desires.
You have to know what a slow comfortable screw up against the wall or a light house is.

You need to be able to seduce great workers who have fans to you location.

You need either shit loads of money or great savy to get away with what your thinking about doing!


But that's just my *opinion*....

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what Tobie said. Do you know how to tend bar? Or do you intend your bar to only serve coffee and beer? Do you know a good beer from a bad one? Do you know good coffee from bad? If I order a grasshopper, can you make me one I'll orgasm from while drinking it?

But it isn't all about the drinks, is it? It's about the Listening. It's about being the guy behind the counter who listens to everybody's sad story and tells them the one straight line or asks them the one quintessential question that pulls them out of their funk and gets them thinking and feeling again. Can you do that?

Because that's what tending bar teaches you. That's what bars these days lack. That's why neighborhood bars with good bartenders are known to only a very select few.

IMO, Callahans isn't a bar and it isn't a place; it's an ideal. Callahans could be a coffeehouse or a cafe or bookstore for all of that. So long as the seriously broken can walk in the door, find like-minded people and a proprieter with a sharp ear and a loving heart, and find surcease from sorrow, then you will have built Callahans.

And I'll stop in and have one, toss a glass into your fireplace, once you do :) -H..

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

You are aware that tending bar is the one field which Ian has professional training in, right? He even knows how to do flair bartending. (The stuff that involves juggling the glasses.)

And I don't know what other staff are required for a bar, but he has multiple friends/family who have worked as bouncers.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I've seen what hangs out in bars in Malden and Everett. Trust me, the giant purple snorklewackers that hang out in Callahan's and make bad puns are probably a lot less scary.

[angelovernh.livejournal.com]

the stories? links please?

[vonbeck.livejournal.com]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812539370/qid=1062065097/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/103-8913102-4319053

[sinboy.livejournal.com]

You build one? Or talk a bank into giving you the money to build one?
The $25k in startup expenses sounds about right to me.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

Damn, why couldn't I have been born fabulously rich? I wish I could just hand you 100K and say "go make the world a better place". :) This is a fabulous idea, and I think you'd rock at it (I giggled when I saw someone wonder above if you're a good listener. You're the man who taught me what listening *is*). I just wish I knew how to get you the money, or a cheaper alternative.

I think the idea is awesome, though, fwiw. :)

A.
thinking of you

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

i think it's a great idea. and i think you already look like a bartender -- like an 19th century bartender, especially with your chops :) and i can tell from the few times we've met you are a good listener, and you tell some great stories.

i can totally see it.

i don't have good options for raising the money, but i'm happy to offer my services in layout/decoration-on-the-cheap to make your place look awasome, and feel comfortable. that's my gift :)

n.

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

What a wonderful idea! Go for it, if the element of financial risk is acceptable to both of you. That's a call only the two of you can make.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

For a while, my opinion has been that people in sf fandom tend to leap too easily to the idea of starting their own businesses, without first thoroughly looking for established businesses that might offer them what they want. This may seem ironic coming from me, but I know precisely how tough it is to get a clientele from scratch, and how much easier to join an organization that already has a clientele, if you can find a good one.

So my advice is for you to go for the bartending gig, but before putting so much money at stake, see if you can find a relatively nice place to work in an already established bar, at least at first. With your listening skills, the tips should be very good, and you can build up a lot of practical ideas of how you do and don't want to set up your own place. (Learning from the mistakes and successes of others is always less costly than learning when your own business is at stake.)

I am NOT discouraging you from your dream. If anything, when I read "bartender," I thought--yeah! That's great! And then reading comments about your skills--wow, you're perfect for it. But it doesn't have to be your own bar right away--you can work towards it, while having a good job, just not your dream, yet.

In fact, to put my money (almost literally) where my keyboard is, if you want help in massaging a bartender resume, e-mail me via womzilla or supergee. That's one of the things I get paid for, but I'd love to help you with your resume pro bono.

[cheshyre]

Yay to having manageable steps!

We've been checking the want-ads for bartending jobs, but they're few and far-betweeen, especially for small neighborhood establishments. [Generally, we only see them when a new franchise is opening, and competition for those is fierce.]

Just brainstorming publically to see if it springboards ideas for anybody else.
Hey, Ian! The Havard Bartending Course has a $95 advanced class, which (a) covers some material that might benefit you, and (b) they promise to forward "emails about local bars and restaurants in need of temporary or permanent help." That latter part could be real useful, if they're actually effective.
Might want to call them up and ask how many such emails they've passed around in recent months, and possibly ask for copies of the emails (with the company omitted, if necessary) to see if they're getting the kinds of jobs that you want. But if they can actually help you find such a job, I think the money would be worth it.

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

Okay, first, before you worry about money, do your research.

Has anyone tried creating Callahan's before? What were their experiences like?

What do you need for a bar, anyway? What furniture? What equipment? What licensing? What staff? Would you have to pay protection money in that neighborhood?

How much of a profit do bars generally make? Breaking even, just enough to pay staff salaries? Or can you expect to turn actual profit, enough to attract investors?

Can you expect a big enough customer base? Will those customers be the type of people who make it feel like Callhan's? Or will you get people looking for a meat market?

Would you be better off renting commercial space rather than purchasing outright? Unless the owner is proposing to finance you personally, the amount of down isn't his decision -- it's the mortgage company's. Mind you, for all I know 50% down may be standard for commercial properties -- or it may not.

[redbird]

This sounds like a cool idea.

Whether that bar-for-sale is the way to go is less clear. How much "incidental startup expenses" should there be if you're buying an existing bar? Does that mean "to live on while you get it going" or do they plan on leaving you an empty room, just shelves and the bar surface itself, and you have to restock everything from chairs to drinks?

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

It certainly does sound like a perfect synergy of two of the proficiencies you're willing to acknowledge: psychology and mixology :-)

I will ask, along the same lines as undauntra: What is it that would make a real-life bar "be" Callahan's? Either for you, or for the clientele?

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

I imagine if Callahan's came about out of real-world bar, it probably came about pretty organically. Do you want to wait for the years that might take? I'm thinking maybe 'seed' the bar with a few locals of like mind.

And then run it just like in the books. Don't advertise. Hang out your shingle, but don't make yourself obvious. Don't bother with bouncers but build the kind of place where Doesn't Belong There finds somewhere more suited to them to drink. The rest, I suspect, probably still has to be grown and carefully cultivated. Oh, and pun :) Best of luck to you, -H...

[(Anonymous)]

You should begin by doing what the rest of us are engaged in. GET A JOB SIR!

Or perhaps you could obtain your seed money through a divorce settlement. Or you could leverage the equity in that house you claim to own.
All in all, I don't think you owning anything aside from a purple camry is a good idea.

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

Oh, come on. If you're going to advocate a major life-change like divorce, the least you can do is to identify yourself. How else will Lis know how to look you up when she's single?

(I'm assuming that it's Lis you're hot for, since your words seem to indicate a lack of appreciation for Ian.)

trying to think outside the box

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

1) How about maybe sell current house to buy place zoned residential-commercial where you can live in back and tend bar out front? That way, even if the bar is hopelessly in the red, you still have a roof over your head. Is such a thing even allowed with current liquor laws?

2) Find a 'person of like mind' with the capital to put up for it. I'd suggest Spider, but I imagine he's been approached before, and writers are not known for being rich. There has to be -someone- in fandom with the money and the ideals. Wish I knew who to point you to, but if I ever meet that person, I'll let you know.

3) Is there some other odd-job type work you can do from the bar itself for the first few years to net you some income beyond that of the bar itself? Or is Cheshyre willing to outsource herself to this end (ie work off-bar for stable income)?

4) Speaking of which, can you count on Cheshyre to make this part of her life-long dreams, too?

5) Maybe try to pin Spider down at a con and simply ask him where the other Callahan's attempts are. He's alluded to having been told of many Callahan's out there. Maybe knowing that you are building one, he'll let you know where the others are. (So, I like the idea of there being more than one Callahan's. There's plenty of broken people in the world to be standing room only every night for a long time to come. Does Spider even realize the good he has unleashed in the world, with bartenders like yourself to take up the cause?)

ok, so this outside the box is hard work. If I come up with others, I'll let you know :) -H...

Re: trying to think outside the box

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

2A) Is it possible for a bar to cover it's operating funds off of a trust fund? Who could you approach to set up a trust fund to cover the expenses incured with the bar? Maybe several small trusts, ie one for the building and a different one for the liquor?

2B) Become really friendly with someone who knows tax law, zoning regulations, liquor laws/blue laws, and financial planning. If I meet this person, again, I'll send them your way.

[navrins]

How many people do you know who would be thrilled to have "Callahan's by Ian" in their neighborhood?

How many of them might make a sizeable investment in you to start it, if you were to ask? Even knowing it's a risky investment, but also knowing the reward?

Another circumstantially indigent friend of mine once discovered that five or six friends (including me) had ponied up enough money to buy him about a $1200 computer for his birthday. I get the impression you have a lot more close friends than he did, and this would be an investment that would not only make you happy, but also provide a benefit for the givers and maybe a financial return for the investors.

You do need to do a lot of research, though - if only for your own peace of mind. You don't want to do this if your best prediction is that you'll get more and more in debt every month with no end in sight. Find out what the bar costs to run, and what it earns. You can get this information from the seller - if you can't, you're not interested. Rumor has it you can also often get this information from similar businesses by asking, as long as you ask ones far enough away from your proposed location that you wouldn't be competing with them.

Then think about how you would run it differently, and what effects those changes would have on its bottom line. Remember to factor in *all* costs you can think of: Your salary, salary for anyone you'd hire, utilities, stock, taxes, insurance, mortgage interest or rent... Also costs that Spider Robinson doesn't mention: disposable glasses, fireplace repair, piano tuning, workers' comp, days closed... This is why you need an existing bar's expense list - they already know what it costs to run a bar, and you don't yet.

If this really is your dream job, I congratulate you on having identified it - I still haven't figured out mine. It's probably not going to be easy to realize, but you're getting a lot of concrete (and inexpensive) suggestions for ways to get the process rolling. And it is provably almost-doable. People *do* run bars, and make a living at it. If others can do it, you can do it. You just need to figure out how.

[teddywolf.livejournal.com]

Ian, I think the idea is possible. I just think you'd do much better, foot-traffic-wise, if you put the place in Davis or Harvard Square. And I'd suggest Davis moreso for the likely clientele - you'd be able to get the crowds who go to Diesel, for example. While the Malden/Everett line may be closer to home it may be a bit less likely to get the kind of clientele you're looking for.

A few points to consider, aside from the monetary expenditures:

1) Do you want patrons to smoke, or want a non-smoking place?
2) Do you plan to do the thing with the glasses in the fireplace?
3) Yea or Nay on Internet access? If so, would there be a fee? Remember, it'll be costing you seveal hundred dollars a month.

I am reasonably certain you've thought about the music and the drinks selection.

If you want my help on the project, lemme know.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

1. I want to find a happy medium. I want people who want to smoke to be able to smoke comfortably without feeling like pariahs or second-class patrons, and I want people who dislike smoke or don't want to smell like smoke or have health issues -- or who are giving up cigarettes and find that smelling them makes it just that much harder -- to ALSO not feel put-upon. A smoking room with an actual door?

2. Not initially. Ideal would be a place with a fireplace, but until I could actually design a real, live parabolic fireplace that things could be hucked into, and figure out a real way to get genuine broken glass out without dealing with real, actual stitches, I'd hold off on that. I actually don't think the price of the glasses would be the big kicker -- it's the liability of the jagged sharp bits. And, somehow, I don't think that throwing paper cups into the fireplace would have the same thrill.

3. If I could get into an area where a BUNCH of the local merchants were putting up a wireless network, and splitting the cost between them, that'd be good.

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

I have no practical suggestions whatsoever. I just think you rock. :)

[chaiya.livejournal.com]

... I don't have time to read all the comments right now, but something I'm pretty sure others haven't said yet ...

hakamadare has often dreamed of owning a bar in which people don't go to get drunk or be loud, they go to be cool and relax and stuff. You just made the connection for me -- he obviously needs to read Spider Robinson!

I don't think hakamadare has the means to make a bar happen anytime immediately, but you two could get to know each other and dream for the long term ... :)

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

I think it's a great idea, but not yet. Don't get sucked into this location unless it's ideal for some reason I don't see. Another location will work too. Get a job as a bartender with an eye to scoping out what works and what doesn't work. Take a night class, make a business plan. Contact Spider Robinson and see if he'll endorse/sign your Irish Coffee machine/not sue.

You can get a small business loan as long as you're realistic about how long it will take you to start showing a profit. Or you could take the company public and sell shares. Normally I wouldn't advise it, but I think in SF fandom there might be enough people who would want to own a few shares of Callahan's just to frame the stock certificate that you could capitalize your business right there.

Mer

[gingicat]

I think everyone's said everything I'd have thought of. I think it's a cool idea, and wish I had money to front you. In lieu of investment help, though, I could do other stuff. Heck, I could manage your books/budget if you get it off the ground. :)

[undauntra.livejournal.com]

Take her up on this. You need someone who knows how to keep the books.

Let's Get Down To Reality Folks

[(Anonymous)]

All of the theory is absolutely wonderful, and Callahans is a great place to dream in. However, bars (or any other venture) don't happen unless you are prepared to:

- Work VERY long hours (7 days a week, 52 weeks a year???)

- Have the financial and BUSINESS savvy to manage the business -- it isn't enough to know how to pour a great grasshopper. You have to know how to manage (among other things) Employees and Labor Laws, State and Federal Taxes, Purchasing, Financial and Accounting, INSURANCE!, etc etc etc. If you OWN the bar, this is no longer a 9 to 5 part time gig -- this is your life

- Financial resources -- Don't even think of opening a business unless you have contingency funds available. Opening the doors is great. What happens in week two when you realize you need more money for (fill in the blank here)

- Risk. If you live your fantasy all is well. If your fantasy turns into a nightmare, you risk losing your job, your house, your marriage. There are no debtor's prisons in this country, but failure can bring you awfully close. Are you 100% prepared for that eventuality?

- Dealing with suppliers -- not sure what the current situation in Boston is, but I still recall stories of the booze industry being dominated by certain less than sociable types who don't take kindly if you buy the wrong brands. Are you prepared for that?

Have you analyzed the risk / benefits of owning a bar? Let's see... someone drinks too much and gets in an accident (you get sued), someone slips and falls down (you get sued), someone gets in a fight and throws a chair thru a window (you pay for the damages -- UNLESS the chair hits someone, then you get sued), someone eats one of your fantastic appetizers and bites down on something foreign (you get sued). and on, and on, and on.

Don't mean to rain on your parade, but unless you seriously consider and plan for any and all of the above eventualities, Callahans is nothing more than a figment of Spider's imagination.

[(Anonymous)]

Better check on the parking situation, too?
Do you have enough parking spaces? or are you within a one block of commuter rail?

[louisedunn.livejournal.com]

oooh, you would post a fascinating question right when I took a livejournal holiday. So, even though this is terribly late, I would like to weigh in anyway.

This sounds like a *fabulous* idea. Those of us who've been reading long enough have a pretty good idea of how well this would suit you. Congratulations on identifying a dream-job; that's hard. I've been trying for a couple of years now and still haven't gotten as close as you have to a realistic job that fits me.

That said, which part of this appeals to you? The bartending part, obviously, but what you've outlined is so much more. What appeals to you about ownership? About management? And about bartending? Which of those things are critical to the appeal, and which are

Another "slow steps" route (if you feel that the ownership part is less critical for you at the start) might be to find a bar that already has something of a community feel to it, get yourself known to management, start tending bar there, and work your way up the seniority chain until you've got some management-related duties. If the owner(s) are sympathetic, you can have a big effect on the tone of the place.

You might find useful information about where-to-locate this sort of project at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. I think if I were doing this I'd look for a neighborhood that's in a mixed-income-level stage -- not wholly gentrified, but not someplace people are afraid to walk at night, either. Someplace the redevelopment authority is taking an interest in, zoning mixed-use, working on a dense neighborhood center. Your project is the kind of thing a developing neighborhood *needs*. And, as mentioned by others, public transit is good.

A different "slow steps" approach: Gather together local like-minded people (directly from your circle of friends, or from callahan's fans in your area, or both) and start a weekly or monthly semi-private club-type thing. Hold cocktail parties or somesuch in people's homes and arrange some money-collecting things: door fee, or per-drink charge, or donations jar (or whatever combination actually succeeds in covering costs, or find people who don't mind subsidising it. Keep a "dream jar" on the counter instead of a "tip jar" and put that money aside for making your dream bigger. Use the experience you're gaining to figure out what the next step for "bigger" is. Be vocal & honest about what it is you're doing and why you're doing it, and accept other peoples' enthusiasm as a gift to both you and to your dream.

Importantly, don't give up! Don't get stuck on "I can't have exactly what I want, so why bother?" but don't let anybody convince you to settle for something that's neither firing your blood nor an appropriate stepping-stone to getting what you want.