Every time my kakis down three pints of Tiger or Guinness, the exact same “genius” business proposal comes out.
“Eh bro, we spend so much money drinking here every week, why don’t we just open our own bar? Then we can drink for free, invite all our friends, sure make money one!”
Bro, your brain is it made of foam or what? Wake up your idea leh! There is a massive, continent-sized difference between consuming alcohol and running a business that sells it. You think opening a pub is just sitting there, looking cool like some Peak Blinders character, nodding at customers and poured-on-the-house shots?
A lot of these people think so easy, end up lose money jialat jialat. They don’t see the real ugly side of the business. You think rental in Singapore is cheap is it? The moment you sign the lease, landlord already sucking your blood. Then got NEA license, liquor license, public entertainment license—all these take time and money.
And don’t even get me started on manpower. Now who want to work service line? You think you can easily find reliable staff? End up you yourself have to wash the vomit in the toilet at 3:00 AM because your part-timer fly aeroplane last minute.
The biggest delusion is the “friend profit” myth. Your drinking kakis say they will support. First week, yes, they come and post Instagram Stories. Second week, they ask for “bro discount.” Third week, they ask you to “chalk up on token first” (hutong/credit). By the second month, they vanished into thin air because they found another newer, trendier place to drink. You cannot survive on your friend group’s liver capacity alone, okay?
When you run a bar, you are dealing with tight margins, inventory tracking (so your staff don’t steal your expensive whiskey), supplier drama, and high utility bills because the aircon must blast non-stop. If you just love drinking, just shut up, pay the happy hour price, and enjoy being the customer. The moment you become the owner, the bar is no longer your happy place—it’s the place that’s going to burn your entire life savings and CPF.
Stop dreaming already. Don’t go and take a business loan just to realize you bought yourself a 12-hour-a-day janitor job with extra steps. If you want to lose money that fast, might as well just go MBS or buy 4D, at least don’t need to wash toilets.