Standards are really where cleanliness (or its counterpart, messiness) originates from. It does not take talent to bus dishes and glassware, to wipe down tables after they’ve been used, do a proper bar clean at the end of every night, and maintain a good kitchen. It is not complicated to disassemble a dishwasher, clean it, and refill the detergent, rinse aid, and sanitizer every night. Nor is it a complex task to sweep, mop, and dry a floor. Cleaning is not hard to do – it’s just hard work. It’s dirty work. It’s not fun to do. But this is really one of the foundations of running a smooth best clubs in cancun operation. If your standards say that maintaining high levels of cleanliness are important – then you (as well as all your staff) will put a tremendous amount of energy in maintaining cleanliness. If you honestly believe that anything less than an immaculate, shining, clean, and sanitary venue is unacceptable, then your staff will keep that as top of mind as well – and work to maintain that standard. That’s really all it takes to maintain a clean bar.
The tough part about cleaning is that it has to be done all the time. There’s never a time in the operation of a night club where cleaning does not have to be done. Every night you open, you can be sure the party will create a huge mess, and your room will get beaten up a little bit each time. That’s a reality of throwing parties. Even after your staff cleans the room the night of the actual party – there’s always small stuff that gets missed. There’s also tough to get areas like under the dishwashers, behind shelving units, kitchen equipment, and roof rafters that only get cleaned every now and then that have to be done on your off nights. The amount of cleaning it takes to maintain a clean room is a gargantuan amount of work. Staying on top of it is a difficult task.
You must become at peace with the fact that you’ll always have to do some cleaning, at all times. It’s that mindset that really allows you to manage a team of people that maintain a clean bar for you. They have to believe that cleaning is important, it’s hard work and sucks to do, but it must be done. It always has to be done. It can never be ignored.
The best way to approach cleaning is to maintain what is called a bar clean schedule. A bar cleaning schedule basically identifies all areas of the room that require cleaning, who is responsible for doing it, and the frequency at which it should be done. With a bar clean schedule, you should be able to identify maintenance requirements for every square inch of your business.
Each position in the business has cleaning duties that are required of them on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. If your goal is to maintain a clean, tidy, organized and immaculate business, then you need to set this out on paper for each one of your employees – and hold them accountable for maintaining their areas.
Kevin Tam is a bartender, night club veteran and writer. He is the author of a book called ‘Night Club Marketing Systems’ that was released in Fall 2011. He has written for Night Club and Bar magazine, Bar and Beverage magazine, and Bar Business magazine. He owns a consulting practice that helps owners of bars, night clubs and restaurants fill rooms, make more money and save more money – even if the business is losing money and on the verge of shutting down.
