So You Think You Want to Own or Manage a Bar?

It's Friday night, and the regulars have gathered at the local watering hole. Every bar stool is occupied. The girls are dressed to kill in jeans they starved themselves for a week to squeeze into. The guys in the corner are ordering up another round of shots and laughing over a joke that probably wouldn't have been nearly as funny an hour ago. Someone pops a few dollars in the jukebox, and a song by your favorite band floats on the night air.

You glance down at the bar to see that someone has put a fresh beverage in front of you. The guy beside you is telling a story about the time he caught his wife cheating. He's drooling a bit too, but you're filled with rum-induced contentment and compassion, so you pretend not to notice.

Gone are the fluorescent lights of your cubicle and the boss who glares down at you through his glasses. The pile of bills on your kitchen table and the dishes you haven't done in a week are miles away. The workweek is over, and the masses are celebrating their freedom with music, shooters, pick-up lines and laughter.

Your friend returns from her fourth trip to the bathroom in the last hour, and you clutch her arm and share the inspiration that has just popped into your head.

"I want to own a bar someday," you say.

"What?"

"I want to own my own bar. You know, a little joint like this one. A place where everyone comes to eat, drink and be merry. Look around you! What could be a more perfect way to make a living?"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone say that. There's something about a few too many beers and drunken conversations that invites us all to believe that owning or running a bar is a way out of the daily grind.

My father thought the same thing himself, 20 years ago. So he took early retirement from his day job and used his savings to go into a partnership and open his own pub. If you asked him, he'd admit that he wouldn't change it for the world. But if you told him you were thinking of doing the same thing yourself, he'd give you a deep chuckle and pour you another drink. Then he'd ask you the following questions:

1. How do you feel about scrubbing toilets?