Wanting to open venue...

I am thinking about renting either a big warehouse or a large open shop in the business ditrict of my town with the intent of havin bands play there. What exacly is involved? What kind of liscences to I have to get etcetera? I already know most of the local bands, and a booking company that did all the shows before the other venue in this area closed down. So what exactly what is there to it?

I started to get involved with some guys in houston who were planning on doing the same thing. They had a small storage warehouse and wanted to divide it between two sides and have two bands a night rent it from them. Their intention was to just collect money from the bands and let the bands bear all the responsibility.

Doesnt work out that way.

If you are involved in ownership, or as a landlord, or partial owner of a club and someone gets hurt the lawyers are comming for your wallet, BIGTIME! So make certain before any of the public sets foot on the property as a "Venue" that you are completely and adequately insured.

My (cough) buddies were not going to sell or allow sales of alcohol. But you cant stop alcohol from comming into a place unless YOU provide the security and enforce it. Same with drug use. So there are alot of considerations.

My friends got shut down the first week they opened for public nuisance considerations. The second week they were shut down for alcoholic beverage and open container on the property. The third week they were shut down for drug sales inside the property and deemed an unsavory element to the public vicinity.

They stayed shut down for three months. When they reopened they thought they had all the permits in order and were alot smarter than before. But the next time the doors opened up they had a shooting inside the venue. And the lawsuits came rolling in. They are all bancrupt now after sinking a ton of personal time and a small fortune on it.

Me? I wasnt willing to contribute as much as they felt was needed to be a part of the deal. They booted me out early in the building phase after i did alot of the physical sheetrock work for them for free. They shafted me after i continually warned them that they were still accountable for the actions of the renters and their guests on our property. They wouldnt listen. They had the bands sign an agreement that supposedly gave us immunity to prosecution from any illegal activities and levied all financial expenses on them for damages and lawsuits due to their actions or behavior. But what i tried to warn them about was that this paper doesnt include lawsuits from others not listed in the document (ie...John Q.Public). And in texas you cant sign away your rights that way. Its the law. So a contract of that type isnt worth its weight in poop.

My advice? Get in touch with local bar owners and ask them who they use for insurance. Then go pay them a visit and ask all kinds of questions BEFORE spending a dime to fix up a place. And if you are involved with friends in this endeavor then get ready to lose them. Money and starting a biz are two things that destroy friendships. Everyone wants to TRUST the others. And then one of your good buddies gets a lil greedy and starts their own agenda. And i guarantee that when and if you make money on the deal someone in the immediate group of yours will get greedy.

Trust is for GOD, not business. Get it in writing when its people you are spending time and money with..

Brings a warm fuzzy feeling all over...

Wow, sorry to hear about your friends SratKat, and thaks for the speedy reply. ANyone else? any links on the topic would alsp be super useful.

Shoot! Im not! I was relieved when i saw the potential for disaster comming and they booted me. I only lost a couple grand. They lost their homes, cars, babes, and savings! Thats what ya get when ya do the Kat dirty!

But seriously, i hated to see it fail. And it hurt to see friends break up as enemies over law suits and lawyers.

There are basic rules that any bar owner can tell you. And there are services that run enterprises for you so you just own the property and they take the risk. And they do it legally. Look into those managing servies for a start and see what they would charge to run your biz. They have all the connections and know all the right people to get inspections passed and permits purchased. But since what you are basically doing is running a bar with0ut liquor then talk to experts in running the bar biz. Bar owners! They all have a horro story or two and can save you alot of problems.