Did Covid change busy vs. slow months?

We're planning the next few months of Brave New Bar and would love your help figuring out what to focus on.

If you have a few minutes to spare, please take this short survey. If you complete it before 2/25 you'll be entered into a drawing for a $50 Visa gift card.

Thank you so much!

Note: last time we did this, about 25% of folks who completed the survey won a gift card, so it's definitely worth the time.

Megan Rickerson is a FL native who owns Someday Bar in Brooklyn, NY. We've previously had her on to talk about how members of the service industry can—and absolutely should—get involved in local politics.

But in this interview Megan provides some personal background and also talks about what Covid and its aftermath were like at Someday Bar, since it's that experience that set her on the track to become so involved with NYC politics.

Here are some takeaways from the convo.

• Someday Bar opened in July 2019. Obviously it was a brutal time to open.
• It started as a nerdy craft beer bar, and that's what Megan assumed it would stay.
• But when Covid hit they pivoted. (She hates that buzzword, but here we are.) They still had awesome beers, but they leaned way more into cocktails than she ever thought they would. She attributes that to how much more people were drinking during the pandemic.
• So they were making cocktails and sealing them in plastic bags with a hairdryer for takeout.
• While basically every other bar around them closed, they managed to squeak through, even though they were basically getting the shaft from relief programs (more on that next week).
• Things feel ok now, but whenever you solve one problem its like 3 new ones pop up.
• One compelling example: you used to know what your busy and slow months would be. E.g. July 4th and January would be slow and you could plan accordingly with regards to staff, projects, etc. But that's out the door now—sometimes Someday has awesome months when you'd expect a dud. And vice versa. It's tough.

Check out the interview clip for more from Megan, and please check out this Youtube playlist to learn about getting involved in local politics as a member of the service industry:

❓ Why?

Because prospective customers often check out your website to decide whether or not to come in.

They'll click the "see website" link on their maps app, they'll click the link in your social media bio, or maybe they'll just run a google search for "bars near me."

Regardless, they're getting to your website, and if all they see on your website drink menu is "we have specialty cocktails and craft beer," it's easy for those folks to say "uh, no thanks."

And to be clear: you should keep all your menus—including your rotating beer list—up-to-date on your website.

Even if just a couple people each month are drawn into your place because you're website menu hygiene is on-point, that's totally worth it.

❓ How to do it?

Manually is an option (though not a great one—see below). Here's how the manual flow could work for your team:

1. Create a menu page (or different menu pages for your different items) on your website. Most website builders offer an easy-to-use and professional-looking menu template that allows you to avoid using a PDF, meaning your menu will be mobile-friendly.
2. Add your menu content. Be sure to include all your menu items and descriptions.
3. Include an "Updated on" timestamp so that visitors can trust what's up there (sooo many places have out-of-date menus on their website).
4. Make sure everybody who needs it has access and the know-how to update the menu when items change.
5. Every time your menu changes, go to your website and make the updates. Don't forget to change the "Updated on" timestamp.