Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating - This Miami Nightclub Pays $100K/Month in Rent?!

Episode Date: March 14, 2025

You won’t believe the rent on this Miami nightclub for sale!Business Listing - https://www.bizquest.com/business-for-sale/20-000-sqft-wynwood-nightclub-for-sale/BW2316385/Today's episode is sponsored by Connor's Franchise Consulting! If you're considering owning a franchise, Connor and his team can help you pick the right one. Sign up for his newsletter and attend a Gateway to Franchise Ownership workshop today. Schedule a call now: https://www.connorgroce.com/scheduleNeed an SBA loan for a business acquisition? Heather from Viso Business Capital connects buyers with the best funding options. Sign up for a free SBA loan Q&A session: VisoCap.netIn this episode, the Acquisitions Anonymous team breaks down a hot Miami nightclub listing—20,000 square feet, $100K in monthly rent, and a $3M asking price. With a cash flow of $1M, we debate whether this deal is actually a steal or a total trap. We dive into the nightclub industry’s risky business model, the role of promoters, the power of liquor licenses, and why some clubs thrive while others disappear overnight. Plus, is Gen Z killing nightlife? And could a crypto bro be the perfect buyer for this business?Key Highlights:A $3M nightclub listing in Miami – is it worth it?How nightclubs make (and lose) money – from bottle service to insane rentsThe crucial role of promoters in keeping clubs packedLiquor licenses: The hidden value in bar & club acquisitionsGen Z’s impact on nightlife – why they’re ditching alcohol for coffee ravesCrypto bros & nightclubs: The wildest potential buyers for this businessSubscribe to weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking here Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel. Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show! Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations. For inquiries or suggestions, email us at [e-mail]

It's very polarized. There are things that can be around for 30 years or there are things that are around for like two or three. There's not much in the middle. They are the ones who can really move the needle on whether or not the brand new, renovated club is a flop or if there is a line out the door. Often the reason that the value of the liquor license goes up over time is that that area is not issuing new liquor licenses.

Gen Z doesn't want to drink and doesn't like want to. to consume alcohol, like nightclubs are not that much fun. I'll say, Acquisitions Anonymous. Hello, another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous. We don't have 100% beer anymore. And thumbs downing on just the plus in Victoria London. Welcome back everybody to another episode of Acquisitions Anonymous. I'm Mills Snell, one of your co-hosts.

We talk about a fascinating business today that is hot. It's in Miami and it is a nightclub in Miami. that is 20,000 square feet. They pay $100,000 a month in rent. We talk about why this type of business would even be on the market. Why has a competitor or somebody else in the neighborhood not already taking this thing over? We talk about the nature of the nightclub business, how transferable are they, the role that real estate plays in it and how that drives a lot of the value and the underlying leverage of whether or not these businesses can't even transfer. It's a really interesting episode.

It's kind of hilarious in a lot of ways. So hope you enjoy. Stick around after a quick word from our sponsors. Hey, everybody. If you've listened to the show, you've probably heard us talk about franchises. While franchises can be a great path to business ownership for the right person, like there's a lot of pitfalls. And it's important to be really careful as there are certainly good franchises to be in

and bad franchises that you don't want to be in. Connor Gross is a friend of the pod and a resident expert on franchises. And Connor not only owns and operates his portfolio of multiple franchises, but he's also a franchise consultant and helps others work through while picking the right franchise for them. So as he's sponsoring today's episode, everyone should totally click in the show notes below to join Connor's newsletter and attend one of his gateway to franchise ownership workshops. If you're ready to move and move quickly, schedule a call with Connor and his team today. Happy Friday, everybody. How are y'all doing? Happy Friday. What's new? Heather, how's that?

the world of SBA loans going? It's going great. Other than when Elon speaks, it's going great other than that. But it, we have so many new signed LOIs in the last like three weeks. It is, the volume is very, very healthy. So that's good. Where are interest rates right now? Heather, like, where do you see most of them actually getting kind of closed and funded up? Yeah, the range right now from the lowest to the highest, there's like a two point spread. So the low, lows are in the low eights, maybe all the way up to eight and a half. And then the highest rate is 10 and a half. So, and that is going to be priced based on the deal. And then how strong the personal guarantor is. You have to have a pretty strong personal guarantor to get those very

low rate banks to bid. But that's, that's the spread, about eight and a half to 10 and a half. Super cool. Well, Travis, good to see you. Welcome to the show. What's up guys. We're recording. Oh, good to be here. I've been dealing with. a dog with a very upset stomach. It really meant cleaning a dog. Well, coincidentally, we have something entirely related to that as a deal today,

which is a Winwood nightclub in Miami where... Imagine the things you have to clean up. Your dog may have gone last night based on what you're saying. Clearly. And I was up just as late as the people at this club were. Four times in the middle of the night, guys. There is not a ton of detail on this. but BizQuest claims that it's a hot listing.

So let's let me get let me tell you guys about it. So it is a 20,000 square foot winwood nightclub for sale located in Miami, Florida in Dade County. They're asking $3 million for it and it is cash flowing a million dollars in seller's discretionary earnings. So it appears the seller works there. And it is a 20,000 square foot for sale nightclub and it's an unmissable opportunity. to own a thriving nightclub in the heart of Windwood, Miami's hottest entertainment district.

This turnkey venue boasts a prime location with high foot traffic, modern interiors, state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems, and a loyal clientele. Surrounded by trendy restaurants, art galleries, and vibrant nightlife. This space is perfect for events, live music, or upscale gatherings. With a strong revenue history and endless growth potential, this is your chance to shine in Miami's nightlife scene. Call now for details. It is a three-year-old nightclub, and it's listed by Rodriguez, Global.io, they lease the property and it's 20,000 square feet and they pay $100,000 in rent per

month. And that's what we know. So I'll see if I can pull up something here on Mr. Rodriguez's website. How much did you say they're paying in rent? A hundred thousand a month. No way. Wow. Totally. Yeah. Oh my gosh. You're taking, you're assuming a massive liability. $1.2 million a year in rent. But I mean, so Travis, Travis, No offense to my co-host, but you seem to be probably the person who's probably the closest to this space and maybe have gone to what? I am offended. Sorry. What?

The only jobs I've ever had in my life were actually as bartenders and I managed a club. So a very tiny club. So I got a little bit of how much was the rent. That's all I want to know. Oh, about a tenth of that. So what what do you think this is in terms of? of a business? Is this just like a big, like what they used to call a disco back in the 70s or what are we looking at here? I haven't been able to grasp of what it is at all, to be honest.

The weird thing about like this, the club industry is there's, it's very like polarized. There are things that can be around for 30 years or there are things that are around for like two or three. there's not much in the middle and specifically if it is a night club and I don't know the Miami scene at all at all Come on, come on, be honest

I've never once but yeah, I'm in the Miami scene but most of the time these clubs come in and they they have like a bang in two or three years and they just print money

and then the end like you know the numbers don't work and they close up shop and then two years later they reopen to something else and then they print money again. And that's actually the business model. Like when I was in Charlotte where I was living,

that was the business model. It was like this whole community of like Greek guys. They owned all the nightclubs. And they always had like four or five at a time. And so they would always have one or two completely closed to remodel to open as the next hot thing. And it was just the same thing. Just kind of different vibe.

That was the model. And they were all quite rich. So what causes that kind of barbell outcome, right? Where you have some that lasts forever and some that are just flashes in the pan. Like, is it the clientele that does that? Is it what happens? Do you have any insight?

So the age range, I'm pulling this out of my butt here. The age range for like the club clubs is fairly narrow. It's maybe a little bit more exaggerated in Miami, but in like most cities it's a little bit narrow. So they almost have to start fresh. I don't know what I'm saying here. I don't know what I'm saying at all. The ones that make it 30 years,

they tend to grow with their clientele a little bit. So the last club I worked at, which was a small place, but it was open for something like 25 years before it closed. And by the end, all of the clientele were literally in their 60s. Yeah, when it started, they were in the 30s. Yeah. I know one like that near me.

Yep. There's actually, I saw on TikTok the other day, there's a new trend of nightclub for Gen X. So people like in their 40s, 50s and stuff. And Heather, you'll appreciate this. It opens at 4 p.m. and it closes at 9 p.m. Oh, man. That is great. Perfect.

That's my entire city, by the way. So what's interesting about the nightclub, and I don't know if this picture, I think this might be like a stock photo. it's a picture for those of you who aren't on YouTube of a DJ behind a booth and it's got this massive kind of like dance floor with like a bunch of lights and screens and like overhead, you know, AV stuff. But, you know, you basically have restaurants. You have restaurants and bars. You have bars only. And then you have this class of nightclub that they are probably not serving any food. it's probably alcohol maybe you know maybe a cover to get in depending on if it's like a slow night

or if they have like a guest DJ or something like that but what a lot of these clubs especially like the more premium ones have moved to is like these like bottle service clubs where you go pay depending on the city depending on the exclusivity of the club you might pay like a thousand or two thousand or five thousand dollars for a booth that's just to get in, right? And then you have kind of your own server who's bringing you very, very highly marked up bottles of alcohol that, you know, you're buying, you're not just going to the bar and ordering like an old fashion. They're bringing you like a whole bottle of tequila. And the markup is insane. I have some family members who own some clubs like this in the Carolinas and some of

them in Charlotte, Travis. And they're partner, no, but they're partnered with some of the Greeks. It's my wife's family. It's not my family. But it's really, it's really a fascinating model because they have a lot more sunk cost. It's not just like you open like a college dive bar and nothing has to change on the inside. If you're charging people a thousand dollars for a table on, you know, on a Friday or Saturday night, then you've got to have like the nicest amenities. nicest touches. But to your point, Travis, when these places don't make it and they move out, like the landlord ends up extracting a lot of the value because they're usually like, hey, you're behind on rent, just leave all your stuff. And you vacate and then I'm going to release it

to somebody else. But you've spent, you know, $500,000, a million dollars, renovating the building. And I want you to leave all the booths and the fixtures and everything here. Of course, they have to toss those when they reopen to something else half the time. Yeah, or re-upleaster them or something like that. It's a weird model. So the last place I worked at, it was like a jazz and blues martini bar. So very different vibes. But it was a really rough roller coaster for the owners because when they started, they were, I mean, my small town equivalent of this.

Like, they were the hot spot. People, like, wrapped around the block. And they were living large. And then by the end, like, they're scraping. Like, can I save $200 here? Can I save $200 here? it was kind of sad to watch. Now, what I've seen with a lot of the clubs that make it,

which obviously won't work here, but they make it with real estate. Like, they just have to, they buy the real estate, and they hang on long enough for that real estate to appreciate, and then they retire off of that. Because most of the time you can't, you don't get to sell nightclubs for the most part.

And a lot of times, so I have a friend who was in the nightclub business, also in the restaurant business, and he sold it because it's like, most of the time they shut down. Like, you get out when, it's good. The other thing I'm thinking about with this is if they're doing a million dollars in cash flow, and let's just say that's real, and they're spending, you know, a million two on rent,

I mean, the revenue on this place has got to be, I don't know, what do you think, five million dollars at least? Bongers. You know, I mean, after they're paying staff, after they're paying their, you know, costs associated with the sale of goods, the people who do really well in these businesses are promoters. People who are like hustlers and promoters. And they are the ones who can really move the needle on whether or not the brand new renovated club is a flop or if there is a line out the door. And they drive traffic through like existing relationships in the, you know, in that very niche community, but also through like getting the new kind of hot DJ to come, you know, do an event.

And then you can charge a cover and then you can charge more for drinks and all those kind of things. I've seen promoters, they can kind of move in between these, you know, these different locations and these different venues. And they're the kind of X factor in a lot of ways. Did the listing mention anything about liquor license? No. This is it. Like this little clip is the, that's it. Yeah, that was, I mean, this is one of those listings that was like, oh, cool.

But then it's like, oh, cool. I wish you put more detail here. because it makes for hard radio to talk about a deal like this when they don't give much. That's why I'm on the guy's website right now trying to figure out if there's more detail on this website. So I had an interesting call with an entrepreneur a couple weeks ago, and she purchased like a bar and restaurant. This is in like middle of nowhere, Indiana, basically. As poor as it gets in terms of like club stuff.

And their liquor license alone was like, I don't know, 300 and something. thousand dollars and i didn't quite understand but the liquor license was kind of like the taxi medallion system was over time like half of the value of the business would sometimes just be that actual license that they sell to the next person because there's like a set cap of the amount of licenses so i'm kind of wonder what my what miami's doing here and what would their price of their liquor license be my goodness yeah they don't say that it's included and you're right it is very much like the medallion system i've worked on some deals where the liquor license had to trade.

And it's a whole process in and of itself to trade the liquor license, to go through the approval process and the, I think, you know, public posting about it. And there's only often the reason that the value of the liquor license goes up over time is that that area is not issuing new liquor licenses. It's a finite supply of licenses. Therefore, you know, that dictates the price. So it really depends on the area. but yeah, that would have been an interesting point to note.

Are you having to pay $3 million for the nightclub and then also something extra for the liquor license? Hi, Heather here. When I'm not breaking down deals with these guys, I'm helping people get the right SBA loans for their business acquisitions. Because when you're buying a business, the best financing isn't one size fits all. There's the best rate, fastest to close, the specific loan structure that you need, or a little of all of those things. That's why my company, Vizzo Business Capital, works with over 30 different lenders to find you the best funding in less time and with less friction so you can focus on the deal. Sign up for a free live Q&A session on SBA loans at VisoCAP.net.

Then click Zoom sign up in the top right corner. That's V-I-S-O-C-A-P.net and click Zoom sign up. A lot of the businesses that have liquor licenses in our area recently have been hit. They're getting squeezed because the insurance premiums are going up for their liquor distribution because the insurance companies are having to deal with, you know, drunk driving, like all that kind of rolls back to the establishment. And so we've had a bunch of bars in Columbia that have gone out of business just because they can't afford their insurance premiums anymore.

Nothing else is structurally changed about the business, but it's kind of a new, like, almost like regulatory or compliance burden that got introduced. That's a new trend happening in homes where you live, Heather. all over the place. Yeah. Now, I think that's something for all buyers to consider that we're sort of starting to talk about more. When you're modeling out your cash flow, you almost, you know, without even knowing anything, increase the insurance costs.

Make sure you get insurance diligence to know what that should be. But you can almost guess immediately in most businesses that your new insurance is going to be more than the seller's existing insurance because of just where we are in, you know, with the insurance industry in general. Who are people to reach out to about that? I recommend overly. That's, you know, overly risk. They do free insurance diligence for searchers and, you know, present them with a really good information so they can make decisions on whether they have enough coverage or, you know, whether they can get better coverage.

That's what I always recommend. I talked to them before. I would echo that. So I failed at finding more detail on this listing on the broker's website, partially because he's one of those brokers who signs up for the data feed and, like, has 400. hundred thousand listings on his website even though none of them are his interesting which is kind of a frustrating thing so so why is this listing on biz quest like this seems like that what yeah we talk about buyer business fit all the time this is one that is it really really matters if you google just if you do a google image church a bottle service it gives you a flavor for what this is

it's like uh like sparklers and these like crazy like like very, very high end type settings. This is a nights and weekends. It's really only weekend nights business. And you're having to capture like 100% of your revenue on like two nights, usually Friday, Saturday night. You know something I saw in, I've seen it in Hollywood and I've seen it in Las Vegas,

kind of along the lines of what Michael said, they have party brunch. and apparently the Gen X folks, or not Gen X, I'm sorry, the Gen Z folks are liking this where they go, they're in full nightclub attire lining up and everything, but it's, they're lining up at 11 o'clock in 11 a.m. and going to a nightclub with a DJ and everything and then go home at 4 p.m. and go to bed. Have you guys seen this trend where Gen Z is doing coffee raves? Are you familiar with this? No. You guys have a totally different algorithm, you know, hitting you. Bro, bro, Mills, you need to get off of basically roofing TikTok and get into the corners of TikTok where me and Travis hang out.

There's some shit going on out there. Anyway. So basically because Gen Z doesn't want to drink and doesn't like want to consume alcohol, like nightclubs are not that much fun. So what they're doing is, is like Sunday morning, there'll be like a sober rave, but they don't do them at nightclubs. They do them at like a neighborhood coffee shop. And there are some TikToks of people lined up like 200 deep to get into these neighborhood coffee shop raves. Totally sober in the daylight.

Good for them. Yeah. Sounds like just like a networking, you know, networking over coffee kind of thing. No, no, it looks like an abiza nightclub. It's just 9 a.m. on a Sunday. With no alcohol. With no alcohol. Yeah, I'm not old enough.

I don't think. I don't think you are either. Once you reach close to that 40 number, like, you just can't drink much anymore. So you're just like, I just hang up the hat. Let's just do coffee. So is this deal on BizQuest because anyone who knows what they're doing is passing on this deal and they're just looking for a jump? I have a theory. Please.

I have a theory. Let's say some. Someone is a very rich and lucky crypto bro. Where do they live? They live in Puerto Rico. They live in Miami, right? They have more money to know what to do with. They want to do something to have fun.

They don't know brokers to go and buy businesses. Where do they go? Bizquest, done. And they buy it. No one buys this for an actual business, right? That's just a recipe. You can't. It's a recipe for disaster.

You do this for fun. Crypto bros. Yeah. I can see that. Crypto bros. Crypto Bros to the rescue. I think that's amazing. That could be the solution to every perplexed deal.

Somebody who has a lot of money who doesn't really have a very big hurdle rate with it. You know? I like it. There should be a business listing site called Crypto Bros. Bizz by sell or something like that. That would be great. Just those kind of businesses that would appeal to them. Probably do well.

There's some interesting sites in Europe. I can't think of the name right now. But you just, you buy everything in crypto. And so they have like Rolexes and protects. You can rent jets. You can buy condos in Barcelona. Like all with crypto, all significantly marked up. But it's people who are trying to go around the system essentially.

Huge marketplace for them. We looked at some crazy listing website on the pod at some point. But I don't think it was specifically crypto, but it was like, it was basically like super exclusive. Like you can buy a yacht and a helicopter and like a car. condo and like watches but it was like nothing was less than you know a hundred thousand dollars it was amazon for money laundering yeah yeah that's basically what i went through the episode we were like oh okay this is what this is this is for money laundering this is for this is amazon for russian oligarchs that's what it is here we go it's bit dials dot e u watches jewelry cars flights

gold they need nightclubs too they need it they this it would totally work. Elegance. That's our new business guy. Elegance every second. Nightclothes for crypto bros. Elegance in every... So this is only...

You can only buy this stuff via crypto. That's what you're saying. Yes. Yes. I think only Bitcoin even. Yeah, they list it in Bitcoin. But if you do the math of like the current conversion rate, it's significantly marked up. I went down this rabbit hole.

I think it's some people in, I want to say like Lithuania, essentially figured out some like payment gateway thing so they can take in the crypto convert it to fiat buy it ship it to the people um yeah who knows their their method of getting this money into fiat but they totally are because they go and buy it from real stores or real dealers or something like that is my understanding so this petech petechilippe aquanaut is one bitcoin so that would make it like ninety five thousand dollars depending on the day on the day that's nuts We need be in the money laundering business. Yeah.

This whole following the laws, things is really annoying. Yeah. We looked at another one that we found out was money laundering, Travis, that was basically like it was a store to buy, like, an e-commerce store to buy gift cards, Visa gift cards and stuff like that. And Bill had some experience with it. I can't remember what the backstory was, but it was, they were doing, like, tremendous volume.

But it was basically just a, um, thinly-veiled way to move money. Yeah, those things work great until they don't. Until, you know, the FBI knocks on your door. All right. I received a really good tip recently because I think most entrepreneurs at some point in their life won't like, you know, I want to own a bar or a restaurant or a tea shop or something like that, right? They all kind of want that.

It's like the dream. But the tip was you don't want to own it. What you want to do is to go into a place and become the best customer. So just over-tip a lot. And that way when you show up, you're the equivalent of the owner. You know, you get all the special treatment, all everything. And I've done that. I go to a restaurant a couple nights a week.

I tip like 30, 40%, 40%. I'm equivalent to the owner. Like, they make seats for me when it needs to happen. It's great. Like, you don't need to buy the thing. Don't do that. It's a terrible way to do things. Just become the best customer.

Way less expensive to be the less customer. Way less expensive. Yeah. And you actually get to enjoy it because if I own that place, it sounds great in theory. but then by week three, I'm like, oh, no, what do I do? So to close out this deal, let's go around the horn. Let me ask two questions, everybody.

Thumbs up, thumbs down, and who should buy this? So I think Travis, you said crypto bro. And are you thumbs up or thumbs down? I mean, for the crypto bros, I'm thumbs up. For anyone else, I'm thumbs down. There you go. Mills. I'm thumbs down, and the person who should buy it is an

existing nightclub owner in Wentwood. Yeah, with you. And then Heather, you already have your cashier's check prepared? No, it is not SBA pre-approved. It is thumbs down. Somebody naive with do much money should buy it.

And I take it, Travis, this is not something you would put on capital pad. I wouldn't even respond to it. I'd just archive. So and then CapitalPad's website is capital you have it's dot com or dot i.o or which one do you have? That's awesome. Congratulations.

I've sat on it for years by the way. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah, I did. I was like I knew kind of where I wanted to go with it. I didn't know exactly and then it ended up. It's perfect. How many deals are on the platform currently? Currently one live deal and two that are in the finalizing stage.

which means you can request to be added to it. It doesn't mean you can actually get approved. But yeah. I told them right before we hit record, the active listing right now is so cool. It's amazing. It's so unique. It's like amazing,

165-year-old business. Yeah, I'm putting in a nice check of my own in there. My only regret with that one is I didn't find that business myself to buy, like completely, because that's one you could easily sit on for 30 years and just being in a great shape. comes with a

like all-star team running it they just need help marketing it really because they don't do any any it's insane that's awesome super cool all right guys we'll wrap it up here thanks for joining in on this episode

of Acquisitions Anonymous we'll see you next week if you like this episode tell a friend about the podcast and if you didn't like this episode also tell a friend about the podcast because we need all the love we can get we'll see you next week

Thank you.