I just finished a 30 minute discussion with one of my little darling dancers. The topic of the evening? Finances. Yes, I spent half an hour of my life banging my head against a proverbial wall with this one. If "Stripper A" owes rental fees to "Club B" and can't pay them what are we to do? A cute 21 year old has fallen in arrears with her club rental fees. She has reached the cut off point and can not owe any more. So, after arriving late for her shift and having an emergency that required her to leave for more then an hour the end of the night has arrived. With more then 70 customers through the door we would expect the night to be relatively profitable for most of the girls. But not this one. The dancers are given a choice between either A) pay their rent when they arrive or B) pay at the end with a 33% mark up. Most of the girls have learned in time that it is much better to pay $30 then it is to pay $40. At the end of the month this is a great savings. Then we have the few, the proud, the "special".
The young lady in question tonight had apparently borrowed money from her boyfriend without his knowledge and went shopping with it. Now she didn't bother to pay the $30 when she arrived at the club, but rather, bought a couple of new outfits that were "too cute". After 9 hours and 72 customers she has amassed a whopping $55. She doesn't wish to part with any of this money since she owes said boyfriend exactly $55 and if he finds out that she took it there will be problems at home. What follows is an excerpt from the conversation:
"But it's not my fault. The customers just didn't like me." "Perhaps it is because you sat on your ass all night?" "No. I sat with this one guy for like 10 minutes at the start of the night and he didn't do a dance." "Well, that is almost 2% of the night and over 1% of the customers accounted for." "But I only smoked like 5 or 6 cigarettes and and I was in the dressing room getting changed only like 2 times." "I see. But I never said this is your 'fault', I said it was your 'responsibility'. You have owed me this money for nearly a month now and you aren't getting caught up. Maybe this should tell you that this isn't the right job for you. You are telling me that my customers don't like you so maybe you shouldn't be here." "NO! That's not what I meant." "You could go upstairs and ask your sister to borrow the $30 you still owe for tonight and then you can pay her tomorrow." "No, I don't like to owe people money." (While burying head in hands) "You do realize that YOU owe ME money right???" "But I did really good one night when I first came back. It isn't my fault we're in a recession now." "Honey, we've BEEN in a recession. We aren't going to stop being in a recession anytime soon. How do you expect to survive if you don't try to make any money?" "I did try. I almost cried the first time someone said that we were in a recession." "OK, this conversation is over. There's nothing more that can come of this so you can either find $30 tonight or find $60 before you work here again. I don't care how or where, I'm done." (Exit Stripper A)
Incidentally, she didn't bother to try to find the money. She just went home. Yes, dear loyal reader, this is what I refer to as "stripper logic". Why save $30 from last night to pay when I arrive today when I can just spend $40 of what I make tonight to pay 8 or 9 hours later? After all, it's ONLY $10 a day, $50 a week, $2600 a year... What's the big deal? Maybe it's just me but I think they have a great future in politics.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Cha..cha..cha..changes.
There comes a time when change is required. It is inevitable and attempting to deny it is futile. Last year I was forced to replace 75% of the male staff of the club. Some of them were friends for many years and it was not an enjoyable experience. At the same time we were acquiring the club in Prague and within a matter of months their entire staff was also replaced.
I have never been a big fan of change and I can admittedly be a bit of a "soft touch". I always feel bad for people even when they are undeserving. Working in the capacity that I have been for as long as I have been has taught me to better deal with the unenviable task of replacing employees. There comes a time when someone no longer is performing their function to the levels required to maintain a healthy business. It appears increasingly clear that the time is once again drawing near when I must let a member of our staff go.
After numerous talks with him explaining the importance of performing their job as specified by the company they continue to fail in their tasks. It is always an unfortunate event when you can not save someone from himself. You must look at all the positives they have brought to the establishment in their tenure. But you also have to reconcile the fact that they are no longer the same employee you hired. More often then not people develop a false sense of entitlement when they have been at a job too long. Their performance begins to slip and that is the case here.
So now I am stuck with deciding when is the best time to inform the soon to be former employee that their services will no longer be required. Being the holiday season and all this creates a bit more pressure. Is it better to get it over and done with before the holiday? Should you try to tolerate the lack of effort for a few more weeks just to make it through the holidays? As you know by now I was once demoted on my birthday so I can relate with just how much that sucks. But one thing is for certain. If you visit the club next year you will once again see changes made. After all, change is inevitable...
I have never been a big fan of change and I can admittedly be a bit of a "soft touch". I always feel bad for people even when they are undeserving. Working in the capacity that I have been for as long as I have been has taught me to better deal with the unenviable task of replacing employees. There comes a time when someone no longer is performing their function to the levels required to maintain a healthy business. It appears increasingly clear that the time is once again drawing near when I must let a member of our staff go.
After numerous talks with him explaining the importance of performing their job as specified by the company they continue to fail in their tasks. It is always an unfortunate event when you can not save someone from himself. You must look at all the positives they have brought to the establishment in their tenure. But you also have to reconcile the fact that they are no longer the same employee you hired. More often then not people develop a false sense of entitlement when they have been at a job too long. Their performance begins to slip and that is the case here.
So now I am stuck with deciding when is the best time to inform the soon to be former employee that their services will no longer be required. Being the holiday season and all this creates a bit more pressure. Is it better to get it over and done with before the holiday? Should you try to tolerate the lack of effort for a few more weeks just to make it through the holidays? As you know by now I was once demoted on my birthday so I can relate with just how much that sucks. But one thing is for certain. If you visit the club next year you will once again see changes made. After all, change is inevitable...
Monday, December 8, 2008
In the beginning...
I suppose being the first post a back story is in order. I am the part owner/C.F.O./GM of a small adult establishment in upstate NY. I started here in college to help pay the bills. Well maybe it wasn't ALL about the money. What 21 year old guy do you know that doesn't want to work in a nude club? At the time it was only supposed to be a part time job and just till I got my degree in Biology the following year. Well, needless to say, the best laid plans... So fast forward a decade and I now run the most successful club in a 100 mile radius.
I started my "career" as a bartender for the first couple of years. Within a few months I was also handling all the bookkeeping for the company as well. The owner wasn't exactly bright and the manager that was brought in soon after I was hired wasn't exactly trusted with the money. So after 2 years of this I convinced the owner that he was a fool to keep the manager on when business wasn't exactly booming and I was stuck doing most of the duties that a manager would. It took many nights on the phone until after sunrise but at last he agreed to make the change. I was given the title of interim manager until someone better suited could be found. This stayed the same until 2003 (4 years later) when he decided to bring in a new partner.
So I was told there was an investment group from Florida that were interested in buying the club. But they wanted to put one of their own guys in to run the club for 6 months to see if they were still interested. Yes, I told you he wasn't so bright. Needless to say I didn't exactly believe the cover story, but then again, I didn't care that much either. I was still DJing by then and that paid way more then the manager position paid. Being the nice guy that he was the owner held a meeting on my 28th birthday to tell everyone that he was bringing in a new manager and I would no longer be running the club. This would not have been such a bad thing if any of his story was true. Instead he brought in a man who's experience included working at a home for troubled children (which is strangely similar to working at a strip club) and working at a gay bar. Did I forget to mention he was a homosexual? So from October until January I watched the owner and the new manager undo much of the work I had done to give the club a little credibility. We had come full circle from the days of balloons on the ceiling and a manager running around dressed as Ziggy Stardust or the Mad Hatter to having video games and a crane machine in the middle of the club.
In January 2004 I was first introduced to the "investment group". It turned out to be a member of the Spearmint Rhino group. A chain of gentleman's clubs that started in the L.A. area and then spread globally. Within minutes of meeting me he offered me the GM position. He informed the previous owner that he did not want to keep the current manager (who oddly enough he had no knowledge of) and that we would be making a lot of changes at the club. A starting date in mid April was set for his involvement to begin. By July the previous owner who was now the minority partner was regretting his decision to sell the majority stake in his business. By August he was forced to sell his remaining shares in the club to the new owner. The new owner in turn offered me a minority stake in the business and the offer to operate as partners instead of employer, employee. Obviously I took the offer and within 30 days the previous owner had passed away in his sleep of heart failure.
In 2007 I got a call from my partner who asked if I had ever been to Prague. 10 days later I was on my first trans Atlantic flight with the owner of a club in the Czech Republic. A month later I was the minority owner of 2 gentleman's clubs. I've traveled around the country looking at potential clubs and on several occasions we have even entered deals but currently these are the only two clubs in my portfolio.
I guess that brings us up to date for now. In the future we may revisit the past and the events that brought us here in more detail. But unlike the Billy Joel character, I know that it isn't me that you're coming to see. So until next time...
I started my "career" as a bartender for the first couple of years. Within a few months I was also handling all the bookkeeping for the company as well. The owner wasn't exactly bright and the manager that was brought in soon after I was hired wasn't exactly trusted with the money. So after 2 years of this I convinced the owner that he was a fool to keep the manager on when business wasn't exactly booming and I was stuck doing most of the duties that a manager would. It took many nights on the phone until after sunrise but at last he agreed to make the change. I was given the title of interim manager until someone better suited could be found. This stayed the same until 2003 (4 years later) when he decided to bring in a new partner.
So I was told there was an investment group from Florida that were interested in buying the club. But they wanted to put one of their own guys in to run the club for 6 months to see if they were still interested. Yes, I told you he wasn't so bright. Needless to say I didn't exactly believe the cover story, but then again, I didn't care that much either. I was still DJing by then and that paid way more then the manager position paid. Being the nice guy that he was the owner held a meeting on my 28th birthday to tell everyone that he was bringing in a new manager and I would no longer be running the club. This would not have been such a bad thing if any of his story was true. Instead he brought in a man who's experience included working at a home for troubled children (which is strangely similar to working at a strip club) and working at a gay bar. Did I forget to mention he was a homosexual? So from October until January I watched the owner and the new manager undo much of the work I had done to give the club a little credibility. We had come full circle from the days of balloons on the ceiling and a manager running around dressed as Ziggy Stardust or the Mad Hatter to having video games and a crane machine in the middle of the club.
In January 2004 I was first introduced to the "investment group". It turned out to be a member of the Spearmint Rhino group. A chain of gentleman's clubs that started in the L.A. area and then spread globally. Within minutes of meeting me he offered me the GM position. He informed the previous owner that he did not want to keep the current manager (who oddly enough he had no knowledge of) and that we would be making a lot of changes at the club. A starting date in mid April was set for his involvement to begin. By July the previous owner who was now the minority partner was regretting his decision to sell the majority stake in his business. By August he was forced to sell his remaining shares in the club to the new owner. The new owner in turn offered me a minority stake in the business and the offer to operate as partners instead of employer, employee. Obviously I took the offer and within 30 days the previous owner had passed away in his sleep of heart failure.
In 2007 I got a call from my partner who asked if I had ever been to Prague. 10 days later I was on my first trans Atlantic flight with the owner of a club in the Czech Republic. A month later I was the minority owner of 2 gentleman's clubs. I've traveled around the country looking at potential clubs and on several occasions we have even entered deals but currently these are the only two clubs in my portfolio.
I guess that brings us up to date for now. In the future we may revisit the past and the events that brought us here in more detail. But unlike the Billy Joel character, I know that it isn't me that you're coming to see. So until next time...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Coming Soon!
Coming soon to this space: exciting and comical tales of the adventures of a man surrounded by dozens of women with above average looks and below average intelligence. Yes, you've all oft wondered what really goes on behind the scenes when you patronize your local adult establishment. Get the dirt from the man behind the make-up and g-strings. What will be the excuse that Lexi can't make it to work on time tonight? Will Princess keep her baby? Will Jasmine find out that her sister is sleeping with her man again?* A never ending thrill ride of raw emotion and grammatical errors that will leave you begging for more. You'll laugh, you'll hold your breath with antici...pation, and you may even learn the difference between extortion and contortion if you don't already. Stop back often as there will be updates when and if my busy schedule allows. That's right folks the long awaited premiere of "Tales From the Titty Bar" coming soon to blogger.com!
*Please note most names will be changed to protect the ignorant.
*Please note most names will be changed to protect the ignorant.
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