Small bar, big dreams

The City of Sydney’s Laneways Revitalisation program is a worthy initiative that is re-invigorating the city.

That’s the view of entrepreneur Chris Lane, who with good friend Luke Heard opened one of the city’s first small bars – the aptly named “Small Bar” on Erskine Street – with the help of a Council grant.

Mr Lane says the expense of finding a suitable location to trade is alone a good justification for the program.

“[It] gives guys like us the opportunity to use some of these spaces and if enough people do it then it will actually reactivate the city and bring more income into the city anyway,” he says.

“I can’t really see the grant being a negative thing at all … If Sydney’s got a goal of revitalising the laneways, the sort of people they want doing it are the young, creative people wanting to take a risk.

“They don’t always have a huge amount of capital to start with [and] it’s hard to borrow from the banks, so Council’s putting their money where their mouth is.”

Mr Lane says comments made to City News by Cr Chris Harris that the laneway grants are “corporate welfare” were a “bit much.”

“We were two 25 year old guys when we first started … We took a risk as part of Council’s plans to revitalise the laneway [and] we put our money where our mouth was as well,” he says.

“So I certainly don’t think it’s a handout – it’s an encouragement [and] it’s an incentive … I think people … tend to get a bit pre-judgemental and start thinking well, bars make a lot of money … but it’s not always the case.”

Mr Lane says the biggest financial challenges facing small bar operators are setup costs and rents.

“There aren’t a lot of places that have existing hospitality fit-out … [So] you’ve got to build this whole thing from scratch,” he says.

“The initial capital expenditure is not something that a lot of young up-and-coming business owners would necessarily have compared to a pub or hotel group.

“As well you’re paying rent from day one unless you can organise a conditional lease, which not all landlords will do.”

He says Small Bar’s success is proof that revitalising laneways works.

“We’ve seen another bar move in next door [and] there’s been three other businesses move in here in the last six months, directly as a result of us coming here and bringing more attention to the area,” he says.

“So, on a micro scale [it] actually injects a lot of funds into the area, so it’s all positive as far as I’m concerned.”

Mr Lane and his business partner were actively involved in fitting out Small Bar, which he says fills a niche for city clients who are after something different.

“We try to be different from our competition,” he says.

“We don’t have poker machines or gaming or TVs, anything of that nature … we create a nice, small, warm environment.

“We’re [also] a female friendly environment, that’s been our pitch from day one – and that’s a product we deliver.”

The success of Small Bar has not come without hard work, he says.

“As a manager and owner you are responsible for just about everything,” he says.

“Staff, bills, any discrepancies on anyone’s previous accounts, function bookings, stock take … it’s very involved – I’m here 16 hours a day, six days a week.”

Mr Lane also co-heads the Small Bar Association, comprised of other bar owners along with Richard Roberts, Business Development Coordinator Laneways and Small Bars for the City of Sydney.

“We’re trying to essentially pay Council back for what they’ve done for us, show that we’re taking the initiative and we believe in what we’re doing and get this started, because it’s our vision as well as Council’s,” he says.

The rewards of all this work, he says, make it worth it.

“You’re working for yourself … you’re able to do something you enjoy,” he says.

“It [also] makes it very rewarding when people come in and shake my hand and say “thank god you guys are here, it’s great to see something like this in the area” … [It’s] the sense of ownership of something unique and different in a city that’s got a lot of the same stuff.

“It’s different, unique, you’ve built it basically from the ground up with your best mate from school and it’s going well.”