Zimbabwe is among the top consumers of alcohol in Africa, with an annual consumption of more than 500 million liters. Both Zimbabwean men and women are ranked high in Africa for drinking beer, and the country is on number 7 on the top African beer consumers.  Thus starting a liquor bar business in Zimbabwe is very rewarding, as the demand is very huge. Many entrepreneurs are making money all over Zimbabwe buy running liquor bar businesses. 

Before you start a bar business in Zimbabwe, you have to decide on the size of your business, location of business, products to offer and your target market.  You should always carry out a feasibility study, market research and write a business plan before you venture into any business. Do not make the mistake of starting a liquor bar or any other business just because someone is doing it and he/she says it’s profitable. This article will explain how to start a liquor store business in Zimbabwe, and the liquor bar business plan.

What you need

Location and Premises

Location will influence the viability of your liquor bar business. Make sure you locate your liquor bar in an area that provides enough traffic to bring sufficient customers to your store. It is however important to ascertain that you’re choosing a market that has enough purchasing power. Investigate the size of your target market and their income patterns. Use quality marketing and advertising strategies. People can always come and find you because of the quality service and the type of beer, and atmosphere which you provide. You will need premises which include the liquor bar, back offices, and a kitchen if you are also offering food. 

Market research

You need to conduct market research and come up with a market entry strategy that will keep you viable. Identify your competition and understand how they do business, what their marketing strategy is and the amount of market influence they have. Most importantly identify the niche that you want to cater for. This will help you in formulating your marketing strategy.

Liquor Bar Products

You have to make a decision on what kind of alcoholic products you will sell in your liquor bar. This will be determined by the niche you have chosen to target. Before choosing your niche, you have to determine how many bars/bottle stores sell items similar to those you intend to sell, what their price point is and how they market themselves. Also, see if there is a market for a new liquor bar or bottle store in your chosen location. This is determined by the demographics and drinking habits of people who live in the area. Examples of a liquor bar products include:

  • Lagers eg Castle, Lion, Eagle
  • Ciders eg Hunters Edge, Savanna Dry
  • Brandy eg Viceroy
  • Whisky eg Gold Blend
  • Vodka eg Smirnoff
  • Wines eg eg Green Valley
  • Sorghum Beer eg Chibuku Super
  • Soft Drinks
  • Food eg Sadza & Beef
  • Snooker Pool game

The largest suppliers of liquor products in Zimbabwe are Delta and African Distillers. Other liquor products maybe imported from South Africa.

 

Bar Business

 

Inventory Management

If you are to succeed you need to manage your inventory properly. Satisfy all your customer needs and make sure that they find all of the supplies they require.The demand is steady over time such it is better if you keep your liquor bar fully stocked all the time. You therefore need a good supplier who delivers the right quality and on time. At startup, it may be hard to stock your store with all the liquor products you need. However you can cash in fast if you focus on providing liquor products that are highly demanded eg lagers. Profits will keep rolling in if you have a wide selection for your customers to choose from.

Cash flow management

Cash can be very difficult to manage in your liquor bar business. When it comes to cash flow management, you cannot take chances. Account for all your cash inflows and out flows. In the first few months you may need to put back all the revenue you get back into the business to increase your supplies and grow the business. Costs for the liquor bar business include salaries of employees, rent, inventory, utilities, taxes, insurance and advertising costs.

Management and employees

As a customer-centric business, you should hire employees that are representatives of your bar’s style, friendly and efficient. Your employees should be passionate about selling beer and serving the clients. Depending on the size of your store, the number of your employees will vary. You will need cashiers, bar assistants, security bouncers, cooks(if you offer food), logistics personell etc. Good management is a determining factor in the success of the business.

Liquor Business License

To kick start your liquor business, prepare your application and get the necessary licenses. You first apply from your local authority/council and then apply for a licence from the liquor board. Liquor licenses in Zimbabwe are given by the Liquor Licensing Board. Liquor licence can be applied for online. If the online system is down, applications can be down at various provincial office around the country. In Harare you can apply from Makombe building. Requirements include local authority approval, health report, lease agreement, building plan , and advertising in the national newspaper of your intention of opening a bar/bottle store.  Follow through the legal procedure because operating this business without a license or using an expired license may result in the confiscation of the license and the business’ assets.

Market for Liquor Bar Business

Demand for alcohol in Zimbabwe is huge, with over half a billion liters consumed every year. Both men and women drink beer in Zimbabwe, thus are both potential customers. You can use various strategies for attracting customers to your liquor bar. Share with your friends, your family, your social media circle, give them reasons why they should drink at your bar.  Do bar opening promotions with special discounts, giveaways, and other “little extras.” Put your best foot forward and put a particular emphasis on amazing customer service. The drinkers usually love watching soccer, thus showing soccer games will attract more customers to your business. This means your customers will spend more time in the bar as they will be entertained by soccer, and thus will buy more products. Good products, good customer service, good music, snooker tables are some of the ways of attracting repeat customers to your bar.

Pre-Written Liquor Bar Business Plan : Comprehensive Version, Short Bank Loan Version, Automated Excel Financial Statements

For an in-depth analysis of the liquor bar business in Zimbabwe, purchase our business plan. We decided to introduce the business plans after noting that many Zimbabweans were venturing into the liquor business without a full understanding of the industry, market, how to run the business, the risks involved, profitability of the business and the costs involved, leading to a high failure rate of their businesses.

Our business plan will make it easier for you to launch and run a liquor bar business successfully, fully knowing what you are going into, and what’s needed to succeed in the business. It will be easier to plan and budget as the liquor business plan will lay out all the costs involved in setting up and running the  business. The business plan is designed uniquely for the Zimbabwean market.

It is a great opportunity having you around. Your business plans are well planned after a thorough research. They have actually opened up my approach to business. Thanx
S Mandebvu

 

Uses of the Liquor Bar Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The bar business plan can be used for many purposes including:

  • Raising capital from investors/friends/relatives
  • Applying for a bank loan
  • Start-up guide to launch your bar business
  • As a project proposal
  • Assessing profitability of the liquor bar business
  • Finding a business partner
  • Assessing the initial start-up costs so that you know how much to save
  • Manual for current business owners to help in business and strategy formulation

Contents of the Liquor Bar Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

The business plan includes, but not limited to:

  • Market Analysis
  • Industry Analysis
  • Automated Financial Statements (monthly cash flow projections, income statements, cash flow statements, balance sheets, break even analysis, loan repayment calculations, start-up costs)
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Risk Analysis
  • SWOT & PEST Analysis
  • Operational Requirements
  • Operational Strategy
  • Why some Zimbabweans in the liquor business fail, so that you can avoid their mistakes
  • Ways to raise capital to start your bar business in Zimbabwe

The liquor bar business plan package consist of 4 files

  1. Liquor Bar Business Plan – PDF file (Comprehensive – 68 pages)
  2. Liquor Bar Business Plan – Editable Word File (Comprehensive – 68 pages)
  3. Liquor Bar Business Plan Bank Version – Editable Word File (Short version for applying for a loan – 38 pages)
  4. Liquor Bar Business Plan Automated Financial Statements – (Editable Excel file)

The business plan financials are in USD currency. 

The financial statements are automated. This implies that you can change eg number of lagers bought, selling price etc, and all the other financial statements will automatically adjust to reflect the change. 

Get the Liquor Bar Business Plan (PDF, Word And Excel)

We decided to make them affordable for anyone who would want a business plan, and the price for pre-written business plans is only ZWL$350 000 for soft copies. When you pay via PayPal, Mastercard or Visa Card, the soft copy costs US$25.

You can purchase via Paynow using Ecocash, One Money or Telecash. You just click Pay now (scroll down)  and you will then be taken to Pay now website where you make the payment. Just follow the instructions; you will be done with the payment process in 2 minutes. We will email the business plan (PDF format, Microsoft word format, and a Microsoft Excel file with the financial statements)  to you within 24 hours, using the email address you provided when you were paying.

If you have PayPal, MasterCard or Visa Card, you can purchase the business plan via PayPal or DPO Payment Gateway.  You just click Buy now (scroll down) and you will then be taken to the PayPal or DPO website where you make the payment. Just follow the instructions; you will be done with the payment process in 2 minutes. We will email the business plan (PDF format, Microsoft word format, and a Microsoft Excel file with the financial statements) to you within 24 hours, using the email address you provided when you were paying.

You can also purchase soft copies at our offices in Harare. Visit  StartupBiz Zimbabwe, Suite 201, 2nd Floor, Morgan House, George Silundika Avenue (between 1st Street & 2nd Street), Harare . The cost of the business plan is ZWL$350 000 (soft copies).

For any questions, other payment options, email us on shop@startupbiz.co.zw , call/whatsapp us on +263778798072 (Whatsapp us by clicking the link https://wa.me/263778798072) .

Liquor Bar Business Plan 

Click Buy now to purchase using Paypal, MasterCard or VisaCard (US$25)

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