Bar ownership entails more than just creating and mixing good drinks. In a seminar titled Anticipating the Unexpected: Business Fundamentals for New Bar Owners at the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference, held July 16–21 in New Orleans, industry experts shared their best practices for bar management and ownership.
Moderated by Chall Gray, the author of The Cocktail Bar: Notes for an Owner & Operatorand the proprietor of Little Jumbo in Asheville, North Carolina, the panel featured Erick Castro, owner of San Diego’s Polite Provisions and Raised by Wolves; Dennis Kiingati, owner of Hamlet & Ghost in Saratoga Springs, New York; and Ivy Mix, a co-owner of Leyenda in Brooklyn, New York. The discussion ranged over negotiating contracts and leases, navigating trademarks and insurance, understanding financials, and other best practices for launching and sustaining a successful business.
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