Opening a hookah bar, Advice please

[Sonthert]

[quote name='Smashraj84'][quote name='Tangiers']Laws vary from state to state, the laws regarding smoking bans are state laws and vary, I can't comment on DE. Loopholes have allowed hookah lounges in CA to serve alcohol, where the original intention was the opposite. It would make sense to not allow smoking where prepared food is. If you are interested, I can get the number for the tobacco bureau (or whatever its called in DE), if you want.[/quote]That would be great if you could get that number.I don't know if I told you, but I talked to a lady that deals with business licenses in the state department and she said that the indoor clean air act states that smoking can not occur in any public buildings or businesses except fire halls and VFWs and that a hookah lounge would be illegal to operate in Delaware.
[/quote]Interesting and disturbing. We can check, she could be full of it, an anti-smoking nazi. I have never heard of a state who's laws prohibit smoking in tobacco shops.

[HookahCaterpillar]

In NY by my school in upstate they used to have a couple hookah bars
but due to anti smoking laws all got shut down. For some odd reason in
NYC there are hookah bars always wondered why not in upstate?? I want a
local lounge  haha

[pavlakos_politakos]

[quote name='The Dude Abides']I've been thinking of opening a small shisha cafe in either Brooklyn, NY or Portland, OR, and definitely want to focus only on hookah smoking and offer no food.  My goal would be to keep it as non-complicated as possible, and being solely devoted to the hookah would provide that simplicity to me.  What I'm not sure about is if that kind of business plan would bring in enough revenue, or if serving food would be a cash cow that I would need to be milking.  The only non-ma'assel ittem I would serve is mint tea, but would I need to special food-license if I'm going to be serving beverages?  Tea is essential.[/quote] well take it from a native of brooklyn,if you want to  compete without food your gonna have to get a little more complicated.belly dancing,specific music nights,maybe make it more like a lounge or club than a cafe.otherwise you gotta get the  food dude!!!and im almost 100% sure that the law for serving only pre-prepared food does not apply to ny(or bklyn at least)because the hookah cafe i go to(Meena House Cafe-located on 5th ave and 69th street in the bay ridge area of bklyn) has a kitchen in the back.i know they do ALL their cooking there beacuse i know the owner(hes also the chef)and i help him out occasionally.but dude i would seriously love for you to open one in bklyn.id be a regular(and ill even leave you a dollar tip)

[HookahCaterpillar]

My theory is if you want people to chill at your lounge for a long time
and buy hookah after hookah you have to provide food and drinks. The
people will leave to buy food and most likely not come back after they
eat. In vegas casinos serve food for the same reason they want people
to stay in there casinos for as long as possible. The longer they stay
the more money they spend. Personally food is my life im becoming a
chef and a lounge without food is just insane to me. The hookah bars i
goto at home all serve food and i would always go get dinner and smoke
shisha. Its all personal preference but in my opinion a shisha lounge
without food is like peanut butter without jelly both good on there own
but excellent when combined 

[Sonthert]

Local ordinances may vary. Some localities have banned smoking hookahs, as I understand it. 

[HookahCaterpillar]

Tang, yes in NY there very strict you cant smoke anywhere, no cigar
lounges, no hookah bars, no bars not anywhere indoors. Most places have
designated spots so you cant even smoke out in a parking lot, main
reason why upstate ny has no hookah bars. 

[Sonthert]

Looks like some civil disobedience is in order...just cause they outnumber us and they have pseudo-science on their side, doesn't mean they get to make all the rules.

[Cicada]

what kind of sales/income is expected from a successful hookah lounge?

[Sonthert]

Revenue: $20,000/month depending on location and suchIf you did really well, you might be able to pull $35,000/month

[theshisha]

25 flavors is too much. You have to worry about the tobacco drying out
and people not buying your flavors. My advice is keep the flavors
simples Like apple, lemon, grape, mint etc. Then if they want they
could chose to mix them as well. I have seen from experience other
hookah lounges lose profit from having that many flavors. Sometimes to
much variety isnt the best bet.

I opened my lounge in January 09. We opened with 30 single hose magdy zidan hookahs, ($30 ea.) All 75 Starbuzz flavors. Our draw is so many flavors. and unlimited refills. You do not need this many flavors but it is somthing your customers will talk about outside to their friends. Our space is 1200 sqf. We have seating for 27 inside and 15 outside patio. Our pricing is for unlimited hookah. $13 for the first person and $7 for each person sharring. Our average group comes in 3 people for an average check of $27.

Our pros and cons - We are in a college town Athens , GA (UGA). We only have 1 competitor

Cons - Our location is not the best, our rent is high

About our biz - We have yet to turn a profit and our gross sales are at about 70% of what we need to opperate, in other words we are still forking out money to stay open.

But as with any business it ussualy takes 2 years of strugling to make it profitable and 5 years for it to run on its own.

I think our biz is going to be great, but dont be fooled into thinking the day you open your door you will be making money .... Give you an example on what we have spent so far.

$35,000 to open the doors
$24,000 since we have opened.

So you see we are in the hole $59,000 so far. Actually very cheap to open a business. I expect we will spend another $100,000

[Jeff_T]

Wow, back from the dead... Other than that it's great to actually see someone putting up some numbers so others out there in this position can grasp some general "start-up" costs. The fact that it generally takes a business 18-24+ months to start making it to the black is a big part not many people really get, or at least it seems like that, when they start planning, etc.

[Aaronvb24]

It def. puts into perspective the type of money that needs to to be saved. Between saving up and finding out all the laws for the state of choice I am sure that it will take some time before i am ready to get mine open and ready. I agree that it would take 24 months to see some profits.