Advice for the Worst Business Idea on the Planet
Clubland USA’s 101 Guide for the Club-preneur
Upon starting Clubland USA, Ishaan Jajodia and I never envisioned writing this issue. Entrepreneurship is always filled with twists and turns, including our realization that new clubs will probably be a frequent topic for us.
We truly love our Gold Standard Clubs, but we believe that competition is a healthy component of any marketplace. After all, as Clubland’s Seth Thevoz has written, many of London’s oldest clubs, such as Boodles, actually began under private ownership before reverting to its current member-owned status.
If American trends evidently are just a rerun of a British episode from years prior, we’re entering a golden age of members club. Or as Alex Pacheco, the man behind Austin’s Crimson Club, says, “New Golden Age of Fraternalism”. Mr. Pacheo will be featured in this publication later this month.
Mr. Pacheo, during our interview, shared a fascinating explanation with me about the projected value of clubs as an asset class. (Cover your ears, Muffy, they’re using “finance terms” at the club table!) But, if his projections are correct, the question for young urbanites across this great land will no longer be where should we go tonight but rather where can we go tonight?
Now Ishaan and I aren’t too bullish on clubs as a private enterprise, but we’re very bullish on club life. And it’s with that in mind that we share advice for aspiring club-prenuers in this issue. —LR
Social Comes First
Yesterday evening, after a busy work day, I found myself on a chilly rooftop in Manhattan sans cigar and cocktail — unfortunately. Thankfully, the topic was so intriguing to me that I didn’t need much artificial stimulant.
You can safely imagine that it turned to the world of private clubs.
My friend — a Gen Z corporate dropout with a philosophy degree and entrepreneurial mindset — was bemoaning the lack of IRL experiences, primarily in the dating market. That, of course, led to us speaking of the great club renaissance that’s occurring right before our eyes.
Somewhere in between my sharing a personal ranking of my club’s reciprocity list, he interrupted and asked, “Leonard, what makes a really good club?”
My answer was simple: clubs that actually create social conditions where members can actually socialize with one another. —LR
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Members are not Customers
Dear Club-Preneur,
I take great glee in reminding you that the infamous “socialite” who was a guest of New York high society’s who’s who (and of Uncle Sam, in orange tie), branded herself a club-preneur of sorts. Not a strong start to begin with. But Anna Delvey understood something that many of you do not, having spent your time pitching prospective investors and donors alike: your members are not your customers.
Imagine walking into a clothing boutique and being told off by the designer and the manager for being inappropriately attired or wanting something that is deemed unacceptable (even though it’s available across the street, legally). Or having fellow “customers” remind you of the rules of engagement and dress codes and appropriate and inappropriate topics of conversation.
What I am asking you to imagine, then, is a world where the following mantra applies in every possible situation: your members are not customers.
It is ridiculous to imagine that your members are your customers. If you treat them as such, they will leave, straight out the front door, and spread the word that you, parvenu club-preneur, ought to be a pariah. Did you nickel and dime them for a soda or pour a drink that was less than two ounces of spirit? Out. Out. Out. The ease with which one can become a social pariah as someone who runs an establishment is underestimated by most: you may run the place today, but, like Ward McAllister found out, you can be on the outs rather quickly. —IJ
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Thank you for reading Clubland USA. Our next issue will appear on Tuesday, January 20, with Dispatches from Clubland.