Deciding when is the right time to sell a pub is never an easy decision.
As a nation, we have attached a certain nostalgia-factor to our watering holes. After all, they make up a sizeable chunk of the oldest businesses in the country, and often become the heart of local communities.
However, the long-term success of these establishments is built on their ability to move with the times. When you have evidence that shows a pub is no longer viable, selling up can help prevent your pub or brewery chain from losing money, and give you the chance to re-deploy resources in a more favourable location.
This blog will outline some of the key ways you can leverage location intelligence software to decide when is the right time to sell a pub and move on.
How to use location intelligence to decide the right time to sell a pub
The possibilities with location intelligence software are almost endless. However, there are four key metrics you can calculate in order to inform your decision-making process:
1) Analyse demographics
Recognising when local demographics are changing will help you decide on the right time to sell a pub, or potentially to adapt your offering to accommodate this.
With location intelligence software, you can calculate an epic range of demographic factors present among local residents and visualise your findings intuitively on a map, including:
- Personal attributes, such as average age, gender, race, marital status, family size, religion etc.
- Socioeconomic attributes of residents, including income, education and professional background
- Wider local demographic trends, such as birth rates, death rates and change in house values
- Sentiment of local residents towards particular establishments and their products/service
2) Factor in future developments
Your decision should not be based solely on current demographic trends, however.
You also need to factor in likely future developments in the areas you’re considering, or the lack thereof, and how these might impact profitability. This could include changes to:
- Transport routes, interchanges and infrastructure (road, rail and other applicable types)
- Housing developments or shopping precincts and their likely compositions
- Amenities (e.g. parking) or utility networks
3) Compare profitability potential
Demonstrating that a similar pub in a new location is likely to generate more profits than an existing location will help you move forward with confidence.
The ‘Revenue Predictor’ tool – unique to Periscope® – enables you to quickly and conveniently establish whether a similar premises in a different location would be more profitable based on your key metrics.
4) Recognise logistical challenges
Sometimes the factors that determine the profitability of specific pubs go beyond local customer demographics.
You should also factor logistical elements into your decision-making process. Calculate the cost of keeping a particular pub fully stocked, in relation to others under your umbrella, by gaining an accurate overview of your entire logistics network and associated travel times.
The availability of locally-based staff should also be a consideration, especially for venues outside of town centres.
Ensure you choose the right time to sell a pub and optimise your overall brand with Periscope®, from Newgrove.
Make the right decisions at the most advantageous times for your business; sign up for a free, 10-minute Periscope® demo today.