Wanna open a bar on the Lower East Side? A bicycle shop on the Upper West Side? New York magazine has the "financial calculus". (Though their "break even" computations seem wrong and by a lot.)

Comments

[Tim Worstall]

Their wages figure for the bartenders looks crazy as well. Over $4,000 a month in wages for each of the three?

Nuts. More like $1,000 a month, just over minimum wage. At their break even number of $800 a day in sales the bartenders will be getting $120 minimum in tips (shared).

That’s why peopple do such jobs. Also why the majority of people earning at or under minimum wage are in hte service industries. They make it up in tips.

[KipEsquire]

A 700 sq ft bar? My apartment is about that size, and you couldn't fit a bar in it.

And most retail real estate, including bars, operate on net, double-net or triple-net leases, not a fixed per-square-foot rate, so a figure like "$6,000 a month" is meaningless.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

They haven't got a clue as to how to do break-even analysis. The handbag store supposedly has $11,000 in monthly rent and payroll (no utilities, no telephone?) expense. They say you can break even by selling $600 a day.

Only if you conjure up the bags out of thin air.