#LoungeFail Small Town Hookah Lounge (2010-2011, USA)

#LoungeFail Small Town Hookah Lounge

Owning a business is no small feat, and this is especially true when it comes to starting a new venture. When I was only 18 years old, I had a dream of owning a hookah lounge. Unfortunately, this dream turned out to be short-lived as the business ultimately failed.

here is a look at the lounge that i use to have open

Looking back on my experience, I identified several key factors that contributed to the failure of my hookah lounge. One of the biggest challenges I faced was learning how to operate a business. As a young entrepreneur, I had to navigate everything from taxes and saving to spending and advertising. Fortunately, my wife was there to help me along the way and offer valuable support.

One of the biggest obstacles I faced was learning how to advertise and attract new customers. The area I chose for my lounge was a small town with only 10,000 residents, which made it difficult to introduce people to hookah and generate excitement around my business. Despite offering happy hour promotions and radio ads, I found it challenging to get the word out and bring in new customers.

Reflecting on my experience, I also realized that having a stronger online presence could have been a game-changer. Back when I opened the lounge, Instagram and other social media platforms weren’t as prevalent, which made it more difficult to showcase the business and its offerings. Additionally, creating more video content about hookah and my lounge could have helped to generate interest and excitement around the business.

Despite the challenges I faced, I remain passionate about hookah and sharing my hobby with others. Looking back on my experience, I identified several key lessons that I would apply if I were to start another business. For one, I would focus on creating a clear theme or concept for the lounge to differentiate it from others in the area. Additionally, I recognized the importance of having faith in oneself as a business owner.

#LoungeFail

8 Comments

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Do you remember which hookah tobacco brands you served in your lounge?

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I had a variety of shisha brands in my shop, including Starbuzz, AF, Tangiers, Fantasia, Fumari, and many others. However, one mistake I made early on was having a menu that was too large and had too many options for the amount of customers that came in. Many customers would look at the menu and not know what to order, so they would just ask me for recommendations. In hindsight, I should have had a smaller menu and offered pre-made mixes for customers to choose from. I’ve learned many lessons from this experience.

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“The area I chose for my lounge was a small town with only 10,000 residents”

– you know actually its a good point for discussion. I know some really succesfull lounges from Germany, which located in some small cities like 10k people. But its not a problem for them since guests visit them by car from surrounded area and other cities

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Yes i think that if this would have been a area with younger people that 10K would be find like if it was a college area or university, and i do think there could have been more done from me as an effort to try and get people to come in and give it a try.

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In which year you have opened your lounge and in which year its been closed? How many seats for guests you had?

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it was 2009-2011 only had seats for about 10 maybe 15 people very small lounge.

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Here’s some pic from the very first Hookah Battle event from 2011 =)


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First of all I have to mention that in 2010-2011 I’ve been a big fan of this shisha design (from China yep)


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