Strip Club Business Plan

Be careful about turning something you love into work.

Terrible idea, especially with a recession imminent.

You're seeking a fortune teller not a business analyst.

1) Why is the club struggling?

2) Purchase cost is based upon market value, assets, outstanding debt structures, and negotiations with current ownership. The same is true of buying into joint ownership.

3) Operating costs are based on everything from local utilities, physical plant operation and upkeep, mortgage/rent costs, equipment and inventory taxes, payroll, benefits, licenses, food and liquor, advertising, and do you need to pay anyone off? After all of that and more, then you begin receiving your income after all that.

4) How quickly you see a return depends on how much you spent and how well you run it.

5) if you do not have enough equity after 10 years to sell at a profit, then you paid too mich up front or did not run the business well. That is the only certain answer amongst all of your questions.

adding on to @gammanu's post above, don't forget insurance costs. Baltimore club I'm just a little familiar with decided to not get insurance and that led to their demise (along with Freddy Gray riots, 2008 bubble crash, COVID, etc.)

The fact that the OP is asking these questions indicates he has no business running a business. I mean that in the sincerest way. Stick to paying for handjobs.

And you'll need a good lawyer on retainer for when the local LE and other municipalities try to shut you down because you're a blight on the community or when you have some 2am-ers and end up getting sued.

It seems there are many other businesses that come with higher profit and less hassle.

Assuming you are serious - you need to decide what kind of strip you want.

A dive bar with meth addicted ho’s - or -
An upscale gentlemen’s club with Culinary Institute of America trained chefs.

Or anything in between

Location, location, location! Strip club row can be good in a populated area or small town with one club can be surprising lucrative also if you don’t have law enforcement trying to make a name for itself or churches picketing. Liquor is profitable but comes with its on headaches too many to mention. I happen to live near a lot of nude non-liquor clubs and I wouldn’t trade those clubs for anything.

Think it would be more profitable and less stress to just light your money on fire and watch it burn.

Very broadly speaking, small businesses are rarely a good investment for someone who doesn't want to run it full time. The exception would be if they have a son or nephew or someone trusted who can managed day to day operations and needs a job.

A strip club is the definition of a cash business where everyone involved is going to be willing to skim.

I think a hot woman could put together some side hustles these days and real make bank

I saw a YouTube of a bartender (not a strip club assume) and she claimed she makes $100k just in tips. Combine that with an OF account and you’re off to a good start in life

Seems like bullshit to have to always worry about it. But it could be a fun experiment if you had fuck it money.

"What if I took my retirement savings and bought a struggling club next year?"


So how did you go bankrupt?

- Slowly at first then suddenly.

I went to the spearmint rhino home office in Norco, CA and I said I've got 300,000. they said you need a million. I said thank you. now I've got nothing left after spending it here and there mostly on the ladies.

Ha! Thanks for all the free advice amigos! Almost unanimous agreement about this being a bad idea.

Thanks @Jascoi for the actual data from Spearmint Rhino. One million seems like a very round number. Must have been an interesting meeting. I didn’t consider the potential benefits of franchise.

I assume that some small independent strip clubs are fronts for other illegal operations. Maybe others are owned by single owners.

I think I recall a thread discussing a small club that charged dancers a flat rate and made most of their money on alcohol sales.


Great food for thought team! Appreciate all the thoughtful responses!

It's sometimes remarked that you will be more envied for owning an NFL team that loses money, than a factory that makes money. I think it's a similar situation with with owning a strip club, in many cases.

gamma's post above is the right way to think about it, but I disagree about taking on debt. There are ways to get around the debt. Additionally, do you want to buy an existing business or start one from scratch? Both paths have their obstacles. I'm probably the only one on here who thinks buying/making a strip club is a bad idea. I've known an owner or two and some general managers and even in Chicago metro it's profitable. But, it's a lot of work.