Identifying/Implementing your strategy
This will be a mix of what you can do and what you actually want to do. The larger and more successful your business, the more options you will have. The big questions are:
Do you have any area outside where customers can smoke and/or where you could create some facilities for them?
(From a table and umbrella to a major smoking shelter.)
NO - your outlet is ‘landlocked’ and experience from Ireland and elsewhere suggests that you will lose a high proportion of your smokers to better-equipped competitors. Think hard about how you can make your pub special (great food, excellent beer, terrific entertainment) and work on attracting non-smokers as quickly as possible.
YES - consider whether they are, or you could make them, really attractive. If they are really good they could extend the trading area of your outlet and generate a lot of new business.
Are your major competitors likely to create excellent smoking facilities?
NO - either because they don’t want to, can’t afford to, or have no space to accommodate smokers (and you can) you may have a great way of building trade by investing heavily in state-of-the-art facilities.
YES - think carefully how yours will match up. Do you want to do enough to maintain your trade or try to do even better than them? This could be expensive.
This may largely be an emotional decision, tempered by the practical considerations above.
Deter – by providing no facilities. To do this successfully you may have been largely, or totally, non-smoking before the ban. But remember, before the ban you were probably unusual, and your smoking policy may have attracted people from some distance. You may have to ‘up your game’ to keep them.
Permit – by providing minimal facilities. This is the low-risk option and, for most premises, might mean a cigarette litter bin and a couple of tables with umbrellas, or a small awning. Costs are limited and it will probably reduce any loss of business. But will it be enough to attract new customers?
Attract – by providing excellent smoking facilities. This costs money, often significant amounts of money, but the pay-back can be big and fast. If about half of the pub trade’s business came from smokers before the ban, this business will be attracted to the small number of places with great facilities. Get them right and you could do very well.
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