In the spotlight | A conversation with Kevin Roper, co-owner of VENUE Music Bar & Bistro in Freeport
Photo/David A. Rodgers
Gar Roper (left) and Kevin Roper
Founded: May 2008
Employees: 4-5 currently; up to 10 during busy season
Startup costs: $300,000
Projected revenue, year one: $250,000
Projected revenue, year two: $400,000
Contact: 865-1780
5 Depot St., Freeport
www.venuemusicbar.com
Why did you decide to open this business?
Initially it was my dad’s brainchild. He’s a Freeport resident and he thought the town needed something geared toward art and music and a place for people who didn’t want to go all the way to Portland. We wanted something a bit more sophisticated right in Freeport and it happens that I’m also a musician and I have experience in the restaurant and bar industry, so it was a good fit for me to have a place to nurture my music and be involved in the music business as well as offer my expertise in the industry.
What does VENUE offer?
We started operating as a full-time restaurant and that was great but it wasn’t our initial focus and we always intended to head more towards focusing on the music and the bar. So at this point we’re looking to get a bigger circuit of music. We were focused on local music, which we will continue to do, but we want to get our name on the map and have some bigger-name acts from all kinds of music — rock, jazz, funk, blues, country. We were doing lunch and dinner and were open seven days a week, but now we’re open three to four days a week. We do have a light bar menu now and depending on the other half of our focus, which is special events and private parties, we’ll work with catering companies who can come in and use our kitchen.
What was the major driver behind that change?
Partly knowing what the market in the area is looking for, and it’s maybe not just another place that has live music. But for people to drive to Freeport where it’s not a huge population, we wanted more of a reason to have bigger names that people would be willing to spend money to see and have a real special occasion to come to VENUE.
How did you finance this business?
Most of it was financed through my dad’s previous business endeavors as a marketing consultant, so it was funded through his personal savings.
How do you market your business?
We have done a mixture of things, originally we started off trying to go primarily with guerilla marketing/word of mouth and soon realized that we needed to reach a bigger audience and that’s when we started doing some print advertising in local papers and magazines, as well as some radio spots on WCLZ in Portland. More recently, we use Facebook, MySpace and our website and we have a growing list of people who we send updates to online.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced running this business and how have you met that challenge?
I think because of being where we are, which is not in a big city, it’s getting consistent repeat business. Everybody who walks in loves the place but the town is only so big and with the economy people aren’t going out as much, which is another reason why we’re pushing bigger concerts.
What makes VENUE unique?
When we opened the place we put in extremely high-quality sound system and musicians have said it’s one of the best places to play in Maine because it’s such high quality … that was part of the startup costs because we didn’t want to skimp.
How has the economy affected business?
I think in two ways: one being that people are just more cautious when they’re going out or are staying in more, and the second would be just the tourist market, because Freeport is such a tourism-based economy. I could see a big difference between this summer and last summer, so I think there are fewer people traveling to the area this year. Also what we’ve found is that our local draw is stronger than our tourist draw, and in the summer all the locals split and are off doing other things.
What are your goals for the future of your business in the next 5-10 years?
Really to be able to keep bringing great music to the area and to succeed at being able to operate at a profitable level and continuing to get bigger and better. Depending on our growth we could see expanding to a bigger location, which would include more staff.
Interview by Mercedes Grandin
New Ventures profiles young businesses, 6-18 months old. Send your suggestions and contact information to editorial@mainebiz.biz.
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