FabSwingers.com forum: How to open a new club.

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

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By *he Queen of TartsWoman
Forum Mod
over a year ago

My Own Little World

Ask the Townhouse, they are normally very helpful and informative in answering peoples queries about opening a club, and as they are in your area they know more about local councils etc.

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By *anky_PankyWoman
over a year ago

Filthy Fuckeryville

"Ask the Townhouse, they are normally very helpful and informative in answering peoples queries about opening a club, and as they are in your area they know more about local councils etc."

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By *ilk_TreMan
over a year ago

Wherever the party is!

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

That's an interesting question.

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By *arry247Couple
over a year ago

Wakefield

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

If you really have to ask the above questions we would wonder whether you have what it takes to set-up and run a club.

We do not mean that in an insulting way but the setting up of a business (of any type) requires a person who can think on their feet and solve problems quickly and to require help with such basic questions puts you at an immediate disadvantage.

Sorry!

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

If you really have to ask the above questions we would wonder whether you have what it takes to set-up and run a club.

Sorry!

Well I was asking in a hypothetical sense. I've not put any serious thought into it at present, so whilst you say you're being respectful, you're also being very presumptuous.

Rather than thinking about all this stuff for a while, and then possibly deciding to bite the bullet in future and run in blind, I thought the tactful approach would be to engage the community in a discussion, getting answers from exactly those in the know.

I don't know if you run a club yourself, but surely the fact that I've asked even the most basic of questions is a sign that someone is clearly trying to figure out what pitfalls there may be, and not end up a sub par, underfund, disgrace of a club?

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By *ilk_TreMan
over a year ago

Wherever the party is!

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

If you really have to ask the above questions we would wonder whether you have what it takes to set-up and run a club.

Sorry!

Well I was asking in a hypothetical sense. I've not put any serious thought into it at present, so whilst you say you're being respectful, you're also being very presumptuous.

Two (rhetorical) questions I would ask you are:

a) Have you ever run your own or someone else's business?

b) Have you ever had to apply for a professional licence (NOT driving) to do a job?

Also, I know you're not asking for specifics but some of your questions ARE commercially sensitive. I wouldn't expect a business owner to answer here. Maybe you'll get a PM if someone would be so kind.

Now you're going to think this all sounds harsh and it is if you've never gone into running your own business. But this is a walk in the park in comparison to the first few months of trading.

The answers to your questions are out there. A lot of it is free, as is some of the help you can receive depending on your personal situation. When you're ready to take the plunge I wish you all the best.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Do you have £200.000 spare? and can afford to lose it?

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By *lanemikeMan
over a year ago

Bolton

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

If you really have to ask the above questions we would wonder whether you have what it takes to set-up and run a club.

Sorry!

Seems a very fair set of questions to ask. You may receive different answers from different people. Also the answers will probably vary dependent upon when you are in the country. Certainly will with regard to property costs...

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By *entralscotscpl7Couple
over a year ago

Falkirk

This is what i found when i syarted my own business. Loads of negative advise.

Its not difficult to find out information over the web rather than ask individuals.

When we started our business i we were told it was a crazy idea and would fail to work. 10 years on and we have moved into Europe.

Dont be put off people telling you otherwise.

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By *onny MCMan
over a year ago

Crawley

"Do you have £200.000 spare? and can afford to lose it?"

Someone did put on a similar thread a while ago that "if you want to make a small fortune running a swingers club, start with a large fortune".

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By *ilacWoman
over a year ago

Cheshire

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

I can't answer much of the club questions but know that a massive amount of hard work goes into running a club and the overheads are giant. It seems to be a love of the lifestyle choice over earnings/profit.

I'm a party planner and have done it a few years in different guises. Every now and then you get a very profitable party. Sometimes you don't break even. Profit isn't a motivator for me at all. You do take a risk when you hire a venue, maybe lay on food and entertainment, that you may not even cover your costs. It's actually more challenging to promote a party and get people through the door than people think.

I also declare my earnings from hosting/party planning. It's a pet peeve when people don't.

It's definitely about the buzz of the party and the customer service that motivates me to do it rather than the earnings.

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By *y Favorite PornstarCouple
over a year ago

Basingstoke

"Do you have £200.000 spare? and can afford to lose it?

Someone did put on a similar thread a while ago that "if you want to make a small fortune running a swingers club, start with a large fortune"."

I think one of the hardest decisions for a club is what to do about the gender imbalance in swinging. Are you going to have couple only nights or not? If not, you'll probably make more money short term. If so, i think the club will do better long term.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Start with this.

Approach your Borough council and propose your plan.

If they don't throw you out in the opening 60 seconds of your verbal proposal then submit your written proposal.

Assuming they don't keep you waiting for 3 years and then reject it unanimously then and only then go about your legal search to aquire a building and go from there.

Why do I offer this advice you ask?

Property available for suitable entertainment in Middlesbrough a number of years ago was proposed by a combination of business partners to open a swing club.

TWELVE HOURS!!!!! Unanimously declined by the authorities.

Just 12 hours is all they took to reject it.

All the business plans in the world are useless if your towns powers that be refuse what you propose.

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By *ownhouseTwosomeCouple
over a year ago

Birkenhead/Liverpool

If you want to contact me privately, I will answer your questions. Just a heads up, Liverpool will not give permission for a fully fledged swingers club, we've tried and we have been establised for years! Neither will Knowsley, Sefton, halton, Warrington and some Cheshire councils. Wirral have specifically said they 'don't want another swingers club on their small peninsula' lol

What I will publicly say is that running a club takes blood sweat and tears. Not managing...owning and running. Taking responsibility for every corner of the business, making and keeping it legal, marketing, customer service and balancing the books takes 80-100 hours of my week. Jim does a lot of the physical work and when he's not recuperating from surgery (!) he works around 80 too.

I wouldn't recommend anyone walking into this sort of business if they have never run a successful business before as it's a minefield. There are also people looking to trip you up all the time.

Swingers clubs are not goldmines. Customers add up the door sales for one night and think, wow!!! What they don't realise is our sort of business by it's very nature racks up massive monthly costs. My laundry bill alone for March was £498.60 and we use a very reasonable commercial laundry!!

We do not need anymore clubs in this area. You would be a fool to throw your money into a club in the Northwest right now. I actually enjoy the competition but some clubs out there are struggling and another club would finish some of them off and unless the new club was super dooper, that would probably struggle too.

Anyone who has done an ounce of due diligence wouldn't touch the Northwest. They would go further afield and go over to Yorkshire or the North east which is a bit more sparse for clubs.

This may be a hypothetical question but it's been asked for a reason, so you will get a warts and all answer from me. PM me if you are serious...if you are just curious, then just do some of your own research.

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By *ownhouseTwosomeCouple
over a year ago

Birkenhead/Liverpool

Oh and 'Hi' btw...good to meet you on Friday xx

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Fantastic response!!

Think townhouse has answered the question on the nail lol

think i might open up a laundrette big business exclusive to swingers clubs. Lol doing and spinnin towels lol

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"This one is more for the club owners and party planners among you all.

Can anybody explain in detail what is required to start a club?

Legal and licensing stuff/costs?

What type of venue do you look for?

Set up costs?

Running costs?

I'm talking ballpark figures here guys, no need to dish out specifics about your business.

Also, do the party planners amongst you cover your own costs, or do you all make a loss?

If you really have to ask the above questions we would wonder whether you have what it takes to set-up and run a club.

Sorry!

When starting any business it's always advisable to ask lots of questions first, even if you already know a lot about whatever trade it is it's possible to learn more.

Information

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By *arehamMan
over a year ago

handforth

What ever you do don't open one next to a council estate,two of my friends opened one,I helped put it together and if I do say so we made a good job of it,it was really very nice inside,

But as soon as the kids found what it was no one was safe coming in or out from kids shouting abuse at ever one I don't think it lasted more than two or three months,

It could have been so good.

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By *obin_and_marionMan
over a year ago

Beaconsfield

I know nothing about running a swingers club... but I do know about business and have run my own business for 15 years.

Here's a brain dump of things to think about:

Financial aspects - initial funds, cashflows, income, costs, tax planning, VAT.

Regulations and compliance - planning, health and safety, environmental, fire, legal, companies house, HMRC.

Re costs, it will be all the costs that you don't anticipate that will kill you so think them through IN DETAIL. Don't think about the good times, what will your fixed costs be ongoing, what will your costs be during the lean times.

Re income, how will you charge, what will you charge, promotions, using agents and other fronts (eg party planners)

Customers - marketing, what's your brand and appeal, where will you get your first customers from, how will you retain and attract new customers, why should anyone come to you

Suppliers - what supplies do you need, how will you get them, how will you make sure they do what you need when you need it, how will you pay them

Competition - who are your competition, are there enough customers for you all, are you planning to steal customers from rivals, if so how, how will your rivals react to competition, why would customers come to you rather than a rival

Staff - what staff do you need, what work needs to be done, how will you get them, what and how will you pay them, will you employ them or contract services, how will you ensure you are compliant with employment laws, how good are you at managing people

Earnings: how do you plan to make money from the venture ? will you draw salary or dividends ? what is your exit plan ? Do you plan to run it and take out the profits ? Reinvest the profit and build up the business value ? How will you release the value of the business in time, by selling it ? Who would buy it ?

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By *atasha_DavidCouple
over a year ago

Slough

Do all your family, friends, neighbours know you swing? Soon as you start planning applications etc it will be a matter of public knowledge

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I also know nothing about running a swingers club, although I run my own business it's not comparable.

What I do know is that I would never want to run one, I enjoy having fun in clubs but usually when we've been to clubs the people who run it are not the ones having the fun. It's like my favourite holiday destination - I like going there once a year but I wouldn't want to move there or where would I go on holiday? I enjoy swinging and visiting swingers clubs but honestly can't see where the enjoyment would be in owning one.

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