There has always been talk of the working conditions of the waiters where in many cases they have been resigned from endless working hours and low salaries. But what about the other face of the coin? That is, is it really profitable to have a bar? Well, although many may think that if it is, nothing is further from reality. Behind each coffee served there are increasingly high rentals, exorbitant light bills, salaries to pay and margins that barely allow themselves to keep afloat.
This is shown by the Creator of Content Eric Ponce, who has traveled several bars in Spain interviewing its owners. His testimonies paint a constant sacrifice and scarce profitability. “Today a bar does not give you to get rich, it’s to work and survive,” summarizes one of them.
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Baptiste (29 years old), hired professor, charges 2,300 euros per month: “I only have my tent and I am very happy”
“I invested more than 60,000 euros and I’m still paying debts”
Far from being a cheap assembly business, opening a bar is a very high initial disbursement. Between transfer of about 30,000 euros, reforms, licenses and equipment, investment can easily exceed 50,000 or 60,000 euros.
“I had to do everything new, the place was to throw it out. Only in reforms and permits more than 60,000 euros were left,” explains a hospitality. Another owner recalls that, in addition, each administrative permit or procedure implied months of waiting and more added costs.
To this is added the rise in the rent, which in many cases has gone from 500 to 800 euros per month in a few years, along with bills of light and water that have doubled since the pandemic.
“You win to live, not to save”
The great myth that disassembles testimonies is that of profitability. The bars are no longer money to make money, but businesses of pure survival. An employee can cost more than 2,000 euros per month between salary and social security, which forces a place with two workers to sell thousands of consumption only to cover payrolls.
To this is added that the prices of coffees or menus have hardly been uploaded while the expenses do not stop growing. “You want to live, but not to save or to get rich. Today a bar is just a means to work on your own,” confesses one of the interviewees. In many cases, the owners themselves resort to their relatives because they cannot afford more personnel: “My wife and my daughter -in -law come to give a hand because I cannot hire more people,” explains another owner.
“I have set aside my family, this business absorbs you”
Personal sacrifice is another of the great loads. Days of 12 to 15 hours a day, open weekends and holidays and barely free time make many hoteliers recognize having sacrificed their family life.
“I have missed my children’s childhood. I enter at five in the morning and I don’t leave until nine o’clock at night,” says an owner. Another is overwhelming: “Any salaried worker has more rights and less hours than us. As self -employed we are sold.” The lack of qualified personnel and constant rotation further aggravate the problem, forcing the owners to cover most of the working hours.
“The competition has burst prices”
In cities like Barcelona, traditional bars compete with premises run by Asian families that work every day of the year and offer lower prices. “When prices were burst. We cannot upload them to the same pace as our expenses,” they denounce.
To survive, many try to differentiate themselves with homemade food, close treatment and family environment, but still recognize that it is increasingly difficult to loyalty customers.
Is it profitable to open a bar in Spain?
The conclusion of the hoteliers is unanimous and they say that opening a bar today is not a good business. Who does it must have previous experience, get an old license and be willing to work marathon days.
“Ten years ago it could still be profitable, not now. With the current margins it is unfeasible,” explains one of the interviewees. Another summarizes it like this: “A bar gives to eat, not to get rich. If you look up one thinking about earning a lot of money, you are wrong.”
Despite the cultural and social importance that bars continue to have in Spain, the economic reality shown by the testimonies collected by Eric Ponce makes it clear that it is a high -risk business, low profitability and great personal sacrifice.