How do I work out what I would earn from owning a bar?

A bar’s statements do not tell you what you would take home. They show what the bar earned for its current owner, who may work long shifts for no wage and who may have no loan. Your own situation will differ. The method below gets you from the seller’s figures to your own, one step at a time, without guessing at numbers you have not yet seen.

Start with the seller’s own work

Ask what the seller does in a week: opening, ordering, bookkeeping, working the bar, handling problems. If none of it is paid, the statements flatter the business. List each task and decide who will do it under your ownership and what that person would cost. Be honest about how many hours you want to work. A role you plan to fill yourself still has a value to you.

Add the cost of a manager

If you will not work the floor, you need a manager you trust, and the bar must pay for one. Ask what a capable manager costs in a place like this, and whether the current manager would stay. Without a manager, work out what your own hours would be and what that means per hour. See what to do in the first months after buying a pub for how to plan the gaps.

Subtract the cost of buying

Loan payments, interest and any payments owed to the seller come before you do. Ask your lender to model them against the bar’s cash flow, and ask your accountant how the purchase affects what you can draw. Your own tax position is a question for your accountant, not for a general page.

Leave room for the unexpected

A broken cooler, a slow season or a new competitor can each shrink what is left. Keep a cash reserve, and test your estimate against a weaker year than the seller shows. Check the result against your household’s needs before closing.