Thinking of starting a nightclub, need some advice.

Because i'm thinking of starting a nightclub at a sim and i want to know what to do and what not to do.

Just say no...

Oh I didn't get to you before the first negative. Listen: If you want a club and can afford the land then build one and enjoy it. I have had mine since 2005. I don't always have time to staff and run it - but there are a few hosts and DJs that use it and have a good time. And it is always nice to see someone that logged off in 2007 on the dancefloor to log back in where they were dancing and still be in the club. Use it as a help center for new players (set up a freebie area) and have fun with it. I also own Club School so I will sign you up and get you the DJ and Host skills you need to get started if u like. Talk to you in-world.

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do not expect it to make money
expect it to be empty unless you know a lot of people who know a lot of people etc (or you know how to market it and draw a crowd)

make sure the sim you want to have the nightclub in allows it (if it is a private sim, do the owners allow nightclubs, and is the rating suitable)

either hire someone to build it, or build it yourself
hire somone to host and someone to DJ events or do it yourself

decide what type of club you want (dancer on poles, etc)

but most of all, do it because you want to have fun, and because YOU want the club and want to hang out there.

I have had a club since 06, off and on, and each time I put it back, less and less folks have come around. Clubs are not as popular as they once were.

i'm seeing dance clubs doing better than the clubs with dancers on a stage it seems now days..the builds i have been doing have all been for hanging out and doing events lately..
it's getting where i think they should be..it's getting to be more about the music and fun and dancing and meeting people..

if you make a club i would suggest making sure you run it until you feel it is underway..then hire a manager later if you feel the need..
i've seen a lot of clubs die because the owner puts the whole thing is someones hands that thinks they can manage because of having a few months of dancer experience thinking they know the in's and out's of clubs now..an owner checking i a couple times a day to see how things are going is not going to get good news..

stick with why you want a club..by that i mean try not to fall into the routine of others..
don;t expect much at first ..a good club takes time to get populated..
keep overhead down because it's gonna be a cost..find some dj's
and remember that new people are just as important if not more than the ones that have been in sl..new people are still seeing their first impressions of sl so you will find a much more loyal customer base than veteran club goers that have been around the block..

and put in places to sit..nothing says stick around for awhile and hang out like couches and chairs and tables and a bar..
new people to a club sometimes like to walk in get a feel ...sitting down gives them a chance to relax to the club and maybe people come up to them saying hi or they find a spot to ease into the chat..

it's all about comfort and feeling like they want to come back..
i found that the simple little things helped more than the big..set drink trays in reach so they can grab a drink or have a waitress pop over with ciggys cigars and maybe a drink tray ..thats kind of welcoming as well..

these are just some ideas but basically..if you want your type of club then you make your club the way you would want a club to be that you would go to and like to keep going back to..

you are bound to have something in common with enough people that you could gain a nice crowd of friends..

if you are in it for the money..it's gonna take SL experience to get close to that..RL club experience is a whole other world..

successful clubs take a lot of hard work and hours and patience and a feel for people and changes in styles and so much more...
there is a bunch more but you would see that post and say..i am not reading that long thing lol so i'll end it here saying ..hope this helps

I miss having a club

it was fun meeting the folks coming in, and chatting with them, getting to know the regulars

it felt like a RL club in a way

makes me want to reopen it (but I just do not have the time to devote to it like I used to)
maybe one day (that might be what brings back the SL spark for me.. who knows)

I also DJ'd back then, when there was not voice option (I found the introduction of voice did kinda hurt the Djing a little, it was sort of a pull, being able to hear the DJ, a novelty as it were.

but now, all people have to do is turn on voice, to be heard and to hear.

that is something else you might want to think about, will your club have voice enabled, or will it have no voice option.

From a DJ's point of view, I dislike voice in a club as I noticed a lot less folks turn on the stream, and instead just chatter amongst themselves. (so why have a DJ.. just have a stream, if you plan to have voice on)

I'm not a club owner, but someone who would like to go to clubs if only they were more comfortable as mentioned above.

I'd prefer clubs don't have disorienting lights. The people coming to the club will want to show thmeselves off and not compete with blinky lights. I'd rather they were simple low lag environements, maybe based on a clever theme like an old warhouse or a trailer park turned into a club. Both of these have been done already, but something like that is always fun.

Above all do not populate it with bots. Nothing creeps me out more. Real people having real conversations everyone can participate in (that is, not inside clique conversations) are far more welcoming. How do you achieve that? I wish I knew.

Firstly, before you even commit one single Linden Dollar to this, here's a biggie to ask yourself .... why do I want to run a club? There are lots of possible answers to this, some of which are reasonable and some of which are downright ridiculous, "go take a cold shower" territory.

Number one among the latter is "I want to start a club to make money". Oh really? Look, I hate to rain on your parade here, but that is highly unlikely to happen. SL Clubs, apart from the very few ground breaking ones from about three years ago, don't make money. And even those rare ones that did, in those heady Golden Days of Second Life, didn't make the "quick buck" - they were slow, methodical climbs, with a plan, a vision, and an ironclad set of principles from which they didn't deviate. The owners had thought it through carefully, had a plan which knew where they wanted to be in a month, in three months, in six months ... you get the idea.

So, a opening a club "to make money"? By all means go ahead if you think it's gonna work, but honestly, our better advice to you is hone your skills on Zyngo, Poker, Jaded Jacks, and take your money out to the places that have these machines .... You'll statistically stand a better chance of "making money" this way - and it's almost guaranteed that you'll have a more fun-filled time doing it.

OK, so we got the "quick buck" idea out of the way - how about that perennial reason "somewhere for myself and my friends to hang out"?

Yeah, ok, I can see that - it's certainly a much more laudible reason. You're tired of not having something to do, or racking your brain and destroying the search function looking for a place for you all to go and have fun. Nobody seems to agree on where to go, and in the end, you're lucky if you can gather up yourself, your partner and maybe two or three others in the same place at the same time.

So, your vision is that you're going to create this Utopian venue where the fickle and varied tastes of everybody on your friends list is catered for, and where they'll all come flocking, amassed together by the sheer gravitational pull of your charisma and the wonders of your club? It sure makes nice reading, doesn't it?

Ok, so think about this - you're sure doing a noble thing, and you've actually found a reason to believe you're about to launch a venture which has a chance of success. SO here comes the cold shower again ....

Let's think back - and ask why it is that nobody on your friendslist seems to able to agree on doing the same thing at the same time. Could it perhaps be that, although you have commonalities as people - they wouldn't be on your friendslist if you didn't, right? - you also have differences. What makes one person tick can perhaps be the very thing that makes someone else sick, after all. And do you truly believe that you can be that "all things to all people" which can pull them together, repeatedly, forsaking all other forms of entertainment that they've found?

And what about your friends' friends - the ones you know little or nothing about? Are they going to meekly follow along, toe the line and come to your club? Or are they going to issue alternative invites, suggest other things to do, to your friends?

See, the reason is noble, but the logic is kinda flawed. What you're expecting is that people will follow you, a good collection of sheep, and turn their backs on all other external influences. Well, hey, if you believe you've got that level of power and charisma, a club is just aiming low for you - I'd humbly suggest building a temple, shrine, cathedral or even starting a whole new political party, if you can wield that much power.

So, what are the other possible answers? There's "for fun and to see if I can do it" - and its dark partner "everyone else seems to be able to do this, don't see why I should be left out". Alright, sure, I respect that idea. SL is, after all, "your world, your imagination" - and why not give the whole "I run a nightclub" dream a bash?

Actually, in terms of motivation, there's little I can say against this reason. It's your money, your time, your choice as to what to do with it. Just bear in mind, though, that this is a remarkably self-oriented reason - it's about your fun, your gratification, your fulfillment. So, and here's what I think is a reasonable suggestion, don't expect other people to buy into your dream, and invest time, effort and emotion into you. After all, they are also probably seeking their own "fun", their own "fulfillment". Yes, this might work as a reason, and maybe even serve you as a motivation to go to wherever "the top" is in Second Life - but be warned, it's a hard and arduous route, and it will be both stressful and ultimately lonely.

On the other side of the coin, if you've measured up this question, and these thoughts, and said to yourself "no, I really feel like testing myself, and it's all really about me" - then kudos to you, you're a brave person, you just might do it!!! Go get them, tiger!

The final answer I'm going to address is "to offer something fresh, something different". Wow - that's one heck of a thought! Imagine teleporting somewhere in SL and being presented with a package that just blows you away with its originality, its considered planning, its professionalism. You'd go back, wouldn't you? You'd tell your friends, wouldn't you?

And if this is your answer, if this is why you want to start a club - well I won't give you that original idea - if I could do that, I'd be doing it, not writing about it - but I hope that in reading these words you'll manage to find a way to take your "wow" idea and make it a prims and textures reality, along with possibly avoiding some of the pitfalls along the way.

And whatever your reason, be it about the money, about being a hero to your friends, about your own self-gratification, or just because you think you've got a dream that might just be worth following - good luck to you. I mean it, the highway to opening a club is easy, the rocky road to successfully running a club - now that's something different again.

yes definintly get good animated seats . couches nice leather animated seating.. but make sure it makes ones av look cool... dont get stupid cheap ones

A piece of advice I read somewhere from a RL night club operator:

"If you ever have an urge to open a night club, the first thing you should do is lie down in a darkened room until it passes."

I hope this proves helpful.

lol damn that is harsh Har

To the OP, you have eyes and ears and a thinking mind... go into SL and OBSERVE and LISTEN. I think that you'll learn a lot more about how to make a good club by being in SL looking at and enjoying clubs than you ever would learn from any of us trying to type something out in a post.

This is only helpful if you have business sense, and frankly, a lot of people wanting to get into business in SL don't have any.

Fixed it for ya!

Pep ("Adult" continent? Fat chance.)

I'm pretty much echoing what others have said, but want to highlight the points that I feel are important. I once had a fairly popular club a long long time ago.

If you do it, just do so because it makes you happy. That's the best possible reason. Don't expect to make money, have a regular traffic flow, or even make enough to cover costs at first or maybe ever. The more people involved the more drama you will have.

But... if you do it right and don't expect to much you can turn it into a great hobby and meet a lot of wonderful people. I have friends to this day that I met in my club period.

I already have said most of what I would say to anyone starting a club right here:

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I'd add to that the following:

- Expect it to take *time* to create a crowd - by that I mean weeks or months;
- Finding *good* staff is critical, and when you do, treat them like gold;
- The "No, I DON'T want to hire dancers!" rule:
Don't lose short of your vision nor let it get diluted by other people.

(Every so often I get approached by someone who wants to promote my club and they ALWAYS suggest hiring dancers. While I have nothing against dancers it is just not in the vision for my club.)

I loved the Angry Ant!!
It was a cool place and I met a wonderful friend there, who sadly, left SL.

I go to quite a few clubs and have done so since I came to SL in 2006.

What makes a good club?

Good design and decor
Good music choices and when there's a DJ, a good one!
Good dance machine
Not too many scripted things to cause lag

I have built a couple of clubs myself - so far they have never been set up anywhere for events - but one day, maybe!

Dont do it , i own my own club one of the first clubs in secondlife been open since 2004 , unfrotunatly the market is saturated with clubs , nightclubs and strip clubs take my advice it is a money pit everyone and there brother thinks they can run a successful club , and a majority of them fail, clubs are a moneypit right now

yep and who wants more competition from other clubs?

(and clubs have just about always been a money pit (the only time they were not was when we had dwell)