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Live By The Special, Die By The Special

Live by the special, die by the special, is a common phrase used by the foremost authorities in this industry. And I agree. It is one thing having a very large club and working off of volume. But for most, that is not a reality.

You call them specials, or promotions. You and all of you competitors seel things like draft beer for twenty five cents, pack the place, and on the nights you don't have your special, your place is like a ghost town.

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You mean to tell me that you can't offer customers a good reason to come to your place, without reducing prices? You are in the wrong business then. Think of yourself as a customer. What would be great? What would be over the top? What would be FUN?

See what I mean. If you put yourself in a position where the only time you are busy is when you have specials, you have very little, if any, profits. Did you go into business for your health?

Are there exceptions to the rule? Aren't there always? Sure. Are you the only game in town? You must me livivng in a small town. By being the only game in town, you can pretty much do what you want and they will come. But for most, there is competition. Did you build your club just like the one down the street? Why would you do that?

You need to get full price so that you are profitable. That being said, you need to give your customer a reason to come in to your club. Why is it worth it to come to you? Only you can answer that. Yes you have to mix it up. But you need to get your mark up also, or you won't be around very long.

You know a few years ago the auto industry tried the same thing when the economy was down. Great specials. And they sold a lot of cars too. Unbelieveable prices, and no interest!! When the special stopped, car sales just stopped. So they did more specials. Well finally they stopped as there was no profits. How long can you go with no profits.

It was ridiculas for a while. But they stopped and you never saw anything like that again. They started promoting their cars. What they had that the competitor didn't have. They started to tout their quality. See what I mean.

So I hope you take heed. Live by the special, die by the special.