A business can benefit greatly when it succeeds in gaining a Texas liquor license. Alcoholic beverage sales produce considerable revenue for hotels, night clubs, restaurants and stores. They also lure customers who spend money on other products or services. Unfortunately, some parts of the Lone Star State still enforce complex liquor laws that create numerous obstacles for business owners. One example is Waller County, where it often proves difficult to determine what rules apply in different towns, cities and election districts.

Jurisdiction

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission issues permits to companies that want to sell drinks in this region. However, the county lets local governments decide what kinds of beverages they can serve. Businesses may sell wine and beer in many eastern areas, and cocktails remain legal in some southern districts. State law allows cities and towns to hold elections that determine if they will permit certain types of spirits to be sold. Voters in several districts have opted to legalize beer, wine, mixed drinks or all alcoholic beverages. Regrettably, these jurisdictions are not limited to municipalities or even current election precincts. This adds to the confusion.

Localities

State and county rules give several different types of districts the right to introduce their own liquor laws. In addition to cities and towns, they include current and former justice of the peace districts. Some precincts held elections before their boundaries were redrawn during the redistricting process. As a result, the authorities can only enforce local TABC license rules within the previous borders. This makes it even more challenging for business owners to determine what restrictions apply to them. For example, two portions of the same town may allow different beverages. Waller County officials remain unable to supply complete information about the laws in every district.

Clubs

These confusing Texas liquor license laws prevent many businesses from obtaining the Texas alcoholic beverage license they need. In addition to enforcing drink restrictions, some locales require customers to join drinking clubs before they can order spirits. The process of establishing and maintaining a club frequently proves complex. It can also add over $15,000 per year to a restaurant or hotel’s operating costs. Most businesses remain unwilling to set up these clubs, so the law has discouraged a number of eateries from opening new locations in Waller County. Nonetheless, it can be lucrative for a popular business to create a drinking club for its customers. A substantial amount of licensing expertise is needed to accomplish this.

Cocktails

While numerous Waller County establishments have succeeded in selling beer or wine, very few offer cocktails. Local regulations have made it particularly hard to obtain a permit to sell such beverages. This denies most businesses the ability to serve an especially popular and profitable item. For instance, Asian restaurants in many parts of the nation sell Mai Tais in considerable quantities. They often command prices exceeding $4 per glass. The popularity of this beverage helps eateries boost food sales as well. Although it is difficult to accomplish, Waller County businesses can gain a major competitive advantage if they acquire licenses that permit cocktail sales.

The process of obtaining a Texas liquor license involves many steps. Waller County restaurants and inns must start by carefully identifying the local rules that apply to them. Otherwise, the authorities may deny their applications or fine them for breaking the law. Businesses also need to pay state and county fees, notarize TABC applications and establish drinking clubs where necessary. They can expedite and simplify this cumbersome process by requesting third-party assistance. Texas liquor licensing experts have the knowledge needed to help businesses quickly gain permits and follow every relevant law. This makes it possible for local establishments to boost their income and attract many new customers.

The ability to serve alcohol in Texas is a privilege, so every alcohol retailer must obtain the appropriate Texas liquor license. The problem is that there are city, county, state and federal licenses and permits, and you may not know which ones you need.

This entire process will be much easier for you if you do not try to take care of this yourself. A Houston liquor license service will take you by the hand from the beginning and remain with you until the process is completed. This type of business will ensure that you perform every step correctly so that this course of action takes the least amount of time possible. This service can also help you renew your Houston liquor license, so your business will always be in compliance with the law.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission

Alcohol retailers suffer serious consequences when an intoxicated patron or minor injures them self or others after leaving the establishment’s premises. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) wanted to reduce the chances that these unfortunate incidents would occur, so they created the “TABC Manager’s Awareness Program.” This program is meant to be a roadmap that helps managers voluntarily comply with the “Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code.”

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code

Under the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, servers and sellers are required to refuse to serve alcoholic beverages to obviously intoxicated adults and anyone under the age of 21. The code also requires servers and sellers to take things a step further. They must keep a minor from drinking while on the premises, and they must also keep patrons from consuming alcoholic beverages until they are intoxicated. If they are already drunk, the wait staff must stop serving these customers.

Failure to Comply with the Code

Those who fail to follow the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code’s rules will suffer criminal penalties. A sale to a minor can possibly result in some or all of the following:

• Being charged with a class A misdemeanor
• Receiving a fine as high as $4,000
• Receiving a jail sentence of no longer than one year

A sale to an intoxicated customer may result in some or all of the following:

• Being charged with a misdemeanor
• Receiving a fine between $100 and $500
• Receiving a jail sentence of no longer than one year

A retailer who sells alcohol to a minor or someone who is inebriated will also receive administrative penalties that include a fine and the possibility of losing their sales permit.

The Manager’s Awareness Program

The two-hour Manager’s Awareness Program was designed to instruct managers on how to teach their employees to promote responsible alcohol sales. For example, managers learn about the laws related to serving alcohol to minors and intoxicated adults. They find out how they can be found liable for the injuries that these people cause once they have left the retail establishment. They also discover how to determine when an ID is fake or altered.

The Responsibilities of a Manger

A manager has many responsibilities, and the Manager’s Awareness Program illuminates each one so that retailers that sell alcohol can remain on the right side of the law. For example, managers are required to do the following:

• Ensure that employees are following the rules and regulations
• Provide continuous education for servers about responsible alcohol sales
• Create responsible policies and procedures for the service of alcoholic beverages
• Teach employees how to intervene with inebriated customers
• Assure employees that if they refuse to sell alcohol to a patron, they will never be disciplined for this action
• Ensure that everyone knows the rules for checking IDs

After attending the Manager’s Awareness Program, each individual manager will be able to create policies and guidelines for their businesses that will fit their specific needs.

Owning an establishment that sells alcoholic beverages in Texas is a serious responsibility. As an alcohol retailer, manufacturer, wholesaler or importer, you will be required to obtain or renew your licenses on the federal, state, city or county level. You may also be obligated to carry permits. These requirements might seem daunting and exhaustive to you, but there are Texas license services to help you navigate through the entire process without suffering any missteps.

The Definition of the “Dram Shop”

An enterprise that has a Texas beer license or other alcoholic beverage license has extra liability issues that other retailers and business owners do not have. This is because a business that sells alcoholic beverages is considered to be a “dram shop” and is subject to dram shop laws. A dram shop is any retail business that makes alcoholic beverages available for sale to customers for consumption on the premises. Dram shop laws give responsibility to the owners of bars and restaurants for injuries suffered by patrons who had too much to drink.

An Example

A customer enters a restaurant and has several drinks. The employees and other customers notice that this particular person is drunk. The intoxicated patron leaves the restaurant intending to drive home but is injured in a collision. In this scenario, the restaurant’s owner may be found liable for the inebriated customer’s injuries or any injuries the customer caused.

In the example stated above, the plaintiff would need to prove at least two things before the restaurant’s owners can be found liable in the incident, and they are the following:

• The wait staff continued to serve the patron alcohol even though he or she was very clearly intoxicated
• The fact that the patron was served alcohol directly led to the injuries he or she suffered or caused

The Alcoholic Beverage Code of Texas

In Texas, the Alcoholic Beverage Code states that bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to obviously intoxicated customers may be liable for injuries. Customers who are injured in accidents after leaving a bar or restaurant can sue the establishment that served them alcohol while they were drunk, but they will have to demonstrate that it was evident that they were a danger to themselves or other people when the alcohol was sold. Minors who were inebriated when they were sold alcoholic beverages are also entitled to sue a bar or restaurant for their injuries under the Texas dram shop law.

Strict Liability

In most states, people wishing to sue bar or restaurant owners under dram shop laws must only demonstrate that they were served alcohol while they were intoxicated. Then, the establishment’s owners will be subject to strict liability. Strict liability means that the owners are “absolutely liable” for any injuries suffered. In Texas, it is different because a drinking establishment’s owners cannot be found automatically liable for injuries.

The Difference in Texas

If you have a Texas alcoholic beverage license and a patron sues you for their injuries, you will only be responsible for the portion that the jury assigns to you. For example, a Texas jury can determine that you are only liable if you are more than 50 percent responsible for the customer’s injuries. This means that the jury can decide that the driver is responsible for their injuries because they made the decision to drive after consuming alcohol.

Texas courts do not take these matters lightly, and they investigate them very thoroughly in order to assign the correct amount of blame to each individual party. Both the plaintiff and the defendant have the right to retain their own attorneys and hire experts who can demonstrate that one side or the other deserves the majority of the blame.

Restaurant owners can be assured of increasing their gross profits margins when they become licensed to sell liquor. Nightclub and Bar Magazine conducted a survey in Chicago, and the researchers learned that alcoholic drinks amounted to 14.4 percent of bar and restaurant sales. If you do not have a Texas beer license or other state required liquor licenses, you may want to start the process of obtaining them through a Texas license services company to increase the profitability of your establishment.

The Gross Profits Margin

You can discover how much money you are earning from liquor sales by determining the product’s gross profits margin. The gross margin is a highly useful figure for business owners because it tells them how much profit they are earning from each particular product.

Cost of Goods and Net Sales

Learning the gross margin for liquor sales is simple. You will need to know how much it will cost to obtain the beverages you plan to sell. This figure is called the “cost of goods.” You also need to calculate “net sales.” You arrive at this figure by tallying how much your patrons spend on their beverages. If you offer any discounts, subtract this amount from prices paid, and you will have the net sales amount.

Calculating the Gross Margin

After you have the numbers described above, you can determine the gross margin. Take net sales and subtract the cost of goods. Then, you can convert the whole number into a percentage by dividing it by net sales.

An Example

With the purchase of one keg of beer for about $100, you have enough beer to offer patrons 165 12-ounce servings or 124 16-ounce servings. At $4 a glass, the amount paid for beverages will be between $490 and $660. After using the formulas described above, you will find that the profit margin is equal to 500 percent.

Increased Competition

Although liquor sales have offered bar and restaurant owners large profits in the past, industry experts are expecting these profits to slow down in the next couple of years. More people are expected to purchase their alcoholic beverages from bars and restaurants, but researchers from IBISWorld believe that this increased competition is going to decrease each individual establishment’s profit margin.

Increasing Your Gross Profits Margin

You can increase your ability to realize a higher gross profits margin for liquor sales by investing in mobile point-of-sale (POS) systems. POS systems serve two purposes. They make it easier for your servers to sell the product, and they store data you need to calculate your gross profits margin.

Servers Remain at the Table

People often want to know how POS systems allow servers to increase liquor sales. Because servers can remain at the tables at the same time that they place an order, servers can continue to engage with the customers and sell more of the product.

Detailed Information Is Collected

A POS system tells you very detailed information that can help you stage your restaurant or bar more effectively. For example, with a POS system, you will be able to determine when people purchase more wine, beer or spirits throughout the day and plan accordingly.

You Know When Inventory Is Low

With a POS system, you will know in real time when your inventory is low. Then, you can re-order the product you need directly from the system. It can even figure waste loss percentages and waste loss variance so that you can manage loss.

Texas License Services

In order to obtain a Texas liquor license, you will need to meet the states qualifications. After being approved, you will be required to follow the state’s rules and regulations, and you will have to renew the license in the future. This does not have to be difficult because Texas license services can handle the entire process so you can focus on running your business.

Across the United States, alcoholic beverages represent a big, lucrative slice of the revenue pie for untold thousands of restaurant, bar, hotel and store owners. Total U.S. alcohol sales approach $100 billion per year, and restaurants with a Texas liquor license can earn up to 70 percent or more of their income from sales of beer, wine, spirits and mixed drinks.

In most of Texas, the story is much the same. On a per-capita basis, Texans do not drink quite as much as their counterparts in northern states like Wisconsin, but local consumption statistics are still pretty impressive. According to recently available data, the average Texan drinks nearly 25 gallons of beer and more than one gallon of 80-proof liquor – the equivalent of nearly 100 shots or mixed drinks – per year. Wine continues to be a popular choice for a wide swathe of the drinking population as well.

A Closer Look at the Geography of Alcohol Sales in Texas

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission keeps close track of where and how alcohol is sold across the state. Unsurprisingly, Texas’s biggest counties – Harris, Travis, Dallas, Tarrant and Bexar – accounted for a huge share of the state’s alcohol revenue. It helps that these places boast stadiums, universities, entertainment venues and other traditional draws for merry-making tourists and locals who look forward to a night out on the town. On a per-capita basis, Austin and the rest of Travis County – home of the University of Texas and the undisputed live-music capital of the state – do better than any other part of Texas.

That said, retailers, restaurateurs and bar owners without easy access to entertainment venues or student populations can easily leverage a Texas beer license to boost their bottom lines. In rural and suburban areas, establishments that serve alcoholic beverages on-premises persist at far lower densities than in established urban centers with robust nightlife cultures. This creates opportunities for retailers who sell bottled alcoholic beverages for off-premises consumption as well as restaurant and bar owners who have yet to tap into this lucrative slice of the market.

Consumption Habits Throughout the Year

Even in areas far from sporting venues or nightlife districts, both off-license retailers and on-premises licensees that take advantage of Texas license services can benefit from special events and holidays that are traditionally associated with alcohol consumption. For instance, fall weekends find collegiate and professional football fans connecting with their favorite teams over alcoholic beverages. Some holidays, including Cinco de Mayo and the Fourth of July, are closely associated with the consumption of specific beverage brands. Others, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, are noted for the consumption of a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. During the holiday season, consumers are often willing to pay a premium for high-end brands of wine, spirits and even beer.

The fact that specific types of alcohol are associated with specific times of year is a powerful argument for alcohol sales at restaurants, retail outlets and other venues. During the warm months, savvy operators draw buyers’ attention to refreshing, often cold beverages like light beer, white wine and wine coolers. During the cool months, red wines, spirits and dark beers might be emphasized. The holiday season brings a range of specialty drinks, including eggnog and spiced beers.

A Recession-Proof Business

Although Texas’s economy has weathered the recent turmoil better than most, local business owners always have to worry about unexpected shocks or slowdowns. Fortunately, alcoholic beverages are a recession-proof source of revenue for thousands of retailers, bar owners, hoteliers and restaurateurs across the state. For many reasons, sales of alcohol remain steady or even increase during periods of economic weakness. Due to their ability to offer a lower cost per drink, owners of liquor stores and other off-license sellers do particularly well during soft periods.

Overall, there are several clear revenue benefits of selling alcoholic beverages in Texas. From small-town restaurant owners to big-city event promoters, the state’s business owners are taking advantage.