When To Close A Venue — Draw The Line Before You Need It

The second venue's takings fell for six months in a row. "Next month it'll turn," so it stayed open.

When it finally closed a year later, it had used up the first venue's reserves as well.

⚠️ Closing decisions made under pressure come late. Draw the line while things are still fine.

The short version

• Set the line in numbers, while you are not under pressure
• Three lines: months of losses, cash on hand, and a deadline to turn it round
• Near the line, try one fix at a time, each with a deadline
• If you have several venues, cap how much one can borrow from the others
• If you close: staff first, then guests, then suppliers

Why set it in advance

Takings falling
⇒ "just one more month"
⇒ the decision slides a month at a time

⇒ Decisions made on the way down are pulled by hope. A line drawn on a good day is calmer.

The three lines

One   losses for X months in a row  ⇒ stop and review
Two   cash covers fewer than X months of bills ⇒ stop and review
Three a turnaround gets X months, no more

⇒ The numbers are yours to choose. Write them down.

⚠️ "Review" does not mean "close tomorrow". It means when you cross the line, you stop and decide — every time.

Near the line

Shorten opening hours
Rework prices or packages
Match staffing to demand
Change how you bring in guests

⇒ One at a time, each with a deadline. Change everything at once and you won't know what worked — and the deadline quietly disappears.

Several venues

A struggling venue borrows from the healthy one
⇒ set the maximum in advance

⚠️ Without a cap, the healthy venue goes down with the weak one.

If you close

One   Staff     …moves to your other venues, and the date of final pay
Two   Guests    …tell regulars first, point them to your other venues
Three Suppliers …contract notice periods, final payments

⇒ Fix final pay for staff first. If that wobbles, people leave before you close.

⚠️ Your lease will specify how much notice you must give. Count back from the closing date and check it.

The numbers to keep

One   monthly profit and loss per venue
Two   consecutive months of losses
Three months of bills your cash can cover
Four  total moved from other venues into this one

⚠️ Nobody adds up Four. When someone does, it is usually a shock.

A sheet for the office

────────────────────────────────────
  The line (set it on a good day)

  X months of losses     → stop and review
  Cash under X months    → stop and review
  Turnaround gets X months — one fix at a time
  Other venues lend at most ___

  If closing: staff → guests → suppliers
────────────────────────────────────

Common objections

"Setting a line is defeatist"

⇒ The line isn't for closing. It is for stopping to think.

"It feels like it's about to turn"

⚠️ That feeling is universal. That is why you follow the deadline you set earlier.

"Closing is failure"

⇒ It protects your other venues and your people. Losing everything by holding on is the bigger failure.

"If we tell staff early, they'll leave"

⇒ They leave anyway if told late. Tell them early, with somewhere to go and a date for final pay.

This week

One   pull the last year's monthly P&L per venue
Two   count consecutive loss-making months
Three work out how many months of bills your cash covers
Four  set the three lines and write them down
Five  check your lease's notice period

Doing it by hand, or on a screen

Keeping a monthly P&L for every venue is where multi-venue owners slip.

By hand …splitting receipts and costs by venue, month by month
On screen …pick a venue and see takings, payouts, gross profit and other costs

⇒ tasteck's accounting screen shows takings, entertainer payouts and gross profit per venue, with other costs entered alongside, so you can see month by month which venue is approaching its line.

⚠️ Cash in the bank, loans and leases sit outside tasteck. Lines Two and Three need your own books.

Wrapping up

• Draw the line in numbers, on a good day
• Months of losses, cash on hand, turnaround deadline
• Fixes one at a time, with deadlines
• Cap what one venue can borrow from another
• If closing: staff → guests → suppliers

Draw the line and you stop early. Stop early, and there is still time and money to turn it round.