You’re buzzing with excitement. Your pub’s concept is fresh, the décor looks incredible and opening night is packed. Friends are raving, the energy is electric, and for a moment, it feels like everything’s falling into place.
But then comes the part no one told you about.
One minute you’re celebrating a packed house. The next minute, a quiet week bites into your bottom line. Or worse: half your staff quit, your equipment breaks all at once or a pandemic hits. Cashflow dries up when bills are due, suppliers are breathing down your neck and expenses quietly chip away at your profits.
When hospitality businesses fail, it’s rarely because the décor was wrong, the menu was too short or the staff didn’t smile enough.
They usually fail because:
- The cashflow didn’t survive seasonal dips
- Labour costs spiralled out of control
- They didn’t adjust to local market shifts fast enough
- VAT bills hit harder than expected
- Repairs and maintenance wiped out cash reserves
So says Carroll Accountants owner David Burr in his new book: The Pub and Bar Business Plan Toolkit, released in August 2025.
Maybe you’re getting ready to open your first pub. You’re full of excitement and hope. But as a savvy businessperson, you also understand that hope isn’t a business model. Or maybe you’re already in business, but you’re finding that operations and finances are trickier than you thought.
Regardless of your situation, David’s book offers the no-nonsense insights to make sure you’re ready for landlord negotiations, opening night and weathering surprises that come your way.
Meet the Author
David brings a rare breadth of hospitality experience. He’s been:
- The 19-year-old learning the ropes behind the bar
- The management accountant setting hotels’ budgets and forecasts
- His town’s youngest-ever landlord
- The operator of up to 500 pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels
- The owner of an accountancy practice specialising in hospitality finances and operations
In his 40 years in the hospitality industry, David has seen what works, what breaks and what catches people off guard when they least expect it.
What’s Inside
David has distilled those 40 years of insights into your step-by-step guide to:
- Finding your first (or fifth) site
- Turning your vision into strategy
- Backing up your strategy with hard numbers
- Proving your worth to landlords, banks, and pubcos
- Staying in business even when things get tough
Plus, you get usable templates and spreadsheets to track KPIs, best and worst case scenarios, cashflow, VAT tracking and more.
And it’s not just the numbers: David also offers his hard-won wisdom about market research, staffing needs, expansion and exit planning.
Planning for Big and Small Surprises
While David does sprinkle in ‘real-life’ anecdotes, The Pub and Bar Business Plan Toolkit’s real value is its practicality.
It breaks down big concepts into manageable steps:
- Company structures, leaseholds, and agreements
- Profit, loss, and cashflow
- Understanding overhead costs
- Planning for uncertainty
And then tells you about all the little things you may not have even known you needed to think about:
- Satellite football costs
- Drip tray wastage
- Menu engineering
- GDPR compliance
- Machine Games Duty
Get Your Copy Today
The Pub and Bar Business Plan Toolkit is available as a paperback or an e-book through Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Everand. Get your copy today — and take the first step towards your profitable, successful hospitality venture!