I would use the word Gentleman's club but I know that means something different to our American cousins.

Anyone have any advice or experience of opening a private bar. The idea being that instead of it being open to Joe Public it would be a members only bar.
People pay a monthly/yearly subscription to join and can then use the bar when they like. Each member gets a personal Pin code to open the door.

I assume this gets around the need to have a publicans license etc. because it is not a public bar and only open to paying members...very much like a normal Swiss Verein.

I have seen a number of bars for rent that are within budget, although the cost of taking over old stock seems to be a bit of an issue. Are there any gotchas I need to be looking out for, like hidden costs etc.

Any advice would be great.

I honestly would never buy a bar unless I worked in it and saw all the little issues. the one I wanted to buy at first I worked for a year and when the poss came up I walked away from that one. I would have needed 100k's of repairs done to everything. It was perfect though as it had a smaller bar in the basement which could have been closed off. I could have used the owners liscense etc...

I believe you still need your 'patent' (for less than 22 or 25 persons all you do is pay and no classes)
Then you have to set up a company etc etc etc

EDIT:
even being a private club....it attracts a certain kind of people if it is private.

Exclusivity in this town keeps the riff raff out by extortionate pricing. I don't think membership numbers would generate enough income. How about the Airport Business Lounge model, one yearly subscription, all drinks etc free, offer WiFi, neck massage, wide screen TV etc etc ? You would get my loyalty if I could fix my drinking budget for a year and not worry about any other costs.

No advice, but sounds like a great idea!

I always noticed that the big spenders are this riff raff surprisingly. and the yearly thing you suggest would have to be a pretty big premium no? I know of several people that drink worth 5k in a night (not by themselves which brings the next issue) guests are they allowed in, can they bring in their women etc etc

I think idea here is not making huge money, but having a hangout for friends / friends of friends, where their membership fee would pay the rent, and would entitle them to cheaper than normal pub beer prices (which you would of course, still be making a little bit of cash on).

Planthead - from a strict business point of view, is there a need?

Why would people pay up front to go and drink in a bar - which may have less people in that the usual swiss bar?
If you are trying to reproduce a London Club, with a highly selective membership and benefits - then yes, the need might be there

For Joe Public ....??

I do have some experience of private members clubs as a member and advisor - they work quite well in affluent areas (my experience is based in London). The model tends to be annual or 5 year membership cost vary from £500 a year to £5000 a year plus sign up fee. Then once a member you get access and some drinks deals (the club I am a member of in London offers 3 or 4 bottles of good wine at cost price to members as a perk).

What is key though is membership - people need to want to be a member of the club because the other members are the types of people they think they are or aspire to be. You need to identify your target market and then work out how to attract that market - do you want the uber rich male market (that comes with the pretty blonde girls) or do you want the professional market (20/30 yr old male and female)- less of an income but likely to refer a number of friends to be members. Do you want to focus on particular work sectors (Soho house for example has a media bent) so you can offer meeting space to keep the bar busy all day - or do you want to focus on the city worker who can use the space to meet other suits?

The answer to the above questions will inform the type of application process you have - do you have a first come first served policy where anyone who can pay can be a member or do you have an application form, require CV and references so you can choose your membership base?

A model that also works is the concept of founder members - those special people who joined before the bar was open and paid slightly higher fees perhaps in exchange for an ongoing discount? this can give you the capital needed to set up the bar without need for excessive borrowing - it also creates scope for tiered membership categories in the future allowing for you to expo it the different price sensitivities of different types of customer.

As an aside - you may also want to consider a pre-pay system - the customer can load up a card with drink credit (again at a discount to encourage this) so you get the money up front also a lot of people won't spend the cash! This will also allow you to control deals - you can put credit on people's cards as a promotion and remove it if not spent.

Sorry, this is rather long!

So basically a working man's club or lodge - like it.

Not to the membership to my other club expires...

I was a member of a club like this when I lived in Bath. It was a regular (expensive) lounge bar. They made huge money off the drinks and it was quite show-offy - people bought bottles of vodka to be kept behind the bar, labelled, for them. There were comfortable sofas and a fireplace and such. It cost around 200 quid a year and you had to be invited by someone else (each member could invite two people). It was OK, but very much a place to say you were going to and try and impress people. Horses for courses really, but it provided a quieter place to read the paper on the Sunday without nattering laptop types in Starbucks.

I know a man who could supply the club with premium quality British cheese. Send a PM for more info

Thanks for the replies.
The initial membership group etc has already been figured out and as Stirb says, the sole aim isn't to run a big profit. It is more a social/working/gentleman's club for friends and members.
The pre-paid drinks card is a good idea though.

Does anyone have any information on the legal side of setting up such a club in Zurich. I am aware of what is required to create a Verein but beyond that I am a bit clueless as to the legalities.

For example, could you show films on a private screen, would I have to rent/buy a commercial property already designated as a bar or could I change a shop into a bar.
There is no plan to employ a permanent barman, which I assume removed the business angle, however if some money is made for the club does it have to be reinvested or can it be shared amongst the founders.

Push this up to the top to see if anyone else has some advice.

Pretty sure you would need a commercial license for showing films and the Billag could screw you (I was recently told that our company should have a commercial Bilag for public broadcast as I have a radio in my company van!).

A lawyer could cost a lot for advice on all of this and I doubt many EFers have the relevant legal experience, I would call your local Gemeinde who will put you in touch with the relevant dept who will give you free advice.... for example food handling licenses are a Cantonal matter, at least where we are based. I find these officials are generally very helpful.

Thinking about it, an accountant will be able to help re the rules about what to do with any profits in a Verein.

is there gonna be strippers ?

As you correctly say this is the equivalent of a verein. In Basel nearly every carnival group has what they call a Cliquenkeller (spelling?) where members pay very low rates on drinks. There also used to be the English Speaking Club in Basel that had its own bar. You do not need the normal 'Wirtepatent' license to run it like a regular restaurant. The big question is, is there really a demand for something like this? The English Speaking Club does not exist any more.

I think it might be a good idea to pop into some local ethnic social clubs, like for Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Croatian etc. They are often easy to find, and might have some insight on where to get started if it's the common man you are looking for.

Doesn't this go back to the OP of saying it's not what Gentleman's Clubs are in the states?

What about home made films?