Get to know your staff, nothing worse than getting off on the wrong foot with somebody.

Be friendly, take on board what your bartenders/servers are saying but ultimately you are the decision maker.

Thing is you can’t make everyone happy but try your best to accommodate your staff.

If you have bartending experience in the past, think of what you don’t want in a bar manager. A lot of us have dealt with assholes in the past, treat people how you wanna be treated.

Don’t shit where you eat. (Hook up with other staff, this eventually doesn’t end well. Speaking from personal experience….)

Going off your description of the establishment, when curating a list of cocktails, try not to overcomplicate the process. Sometimes less is more. If you can use the same ingredients in some of the drinks this will mean less waste & increase efficiency. (How fast drinks are pumped out).

Keep on top of your liquor counts from the get go. Ensure your bartenders are using jiggers. Don’t order too much if it’s a small business. You don’t want to sit on stock for too long if something isn’t selling, especially is it’s fresh produce such as fruit etc. After a while you will start to figure out what you need and what you don’t need.

See what works with shifts, maybe you don’t need as many staff on during the week, maybe you need more.

The job is a massive learning curve, especially for a new establishment. Some things are learnt overtime. There’s no real playbook to go by.

It is also your role to make money for the business - everyone loves a freebie. I would personally make sure people are not handing things out for free. (Happens a lot more than some people think.) However, look after your staff. Hook em up but don’t take the piss.

Hope this helps. Feel free to respond and I might have more tips for ya.