The weeks before Tobago Carnival are the busiest of the year for anyone who opens a door to the public at night. Four things decide whether a full house is a great night or a hard one, and all four are settled before the first busy weekend, not during it.

In brief

Control one well-lit way in, and choose who stands on the door with care
Know how many people your venue can hold, and count against it
Keep the till lean and vary when cash leaves the premises
Plan the close, so staff leave together and nobody walks alone

Tobago Carnival runs from Friday 30 October to Sunday 1 November, and the weeks leading up to it are when the island goes out. For a bar, a restaurant, a beach venue or anybody hosting a fete, this is the stretch of the year that the rest of it is built around. More people through the door, later nights, more cash across the counter, and staff working harder than at any other time.

That is exactly what an owner wants. The difficulty is that a busy night finds out everything a quiet one lets you get away with. An entrance that works for forty people does not work for four hundred. A till that is fine on a Tuesday is a different thing at one in the morning on carnival Saturday. None of this is a reason to be nervous about the season. It is a reason to spend an afternoon this week walking your venue as though it were already full.

Four things are worth settling before the first big night. They are simple, they cost very little, and every one of them is far easier to fix now than halfway through a fete.

1. The door

Everything that goes well or badly inside a venue starts at the entrance. The aim is one controlled way in, well lit, with a clear queue that does not spill into the road or block a neighbour’s business. Side doors, service entrances and gaps in a fence line are fine on a normal night and become a second, uncounted entrance on a busy one.

Whoever stands on that door matters more than any piece of equipment. They should know what they are looking for, know what they are allowed to refuse, and be able to say no calmly and without an audience. Most trouble at a venue does not start inside. It starts in the queue, with somebody who has been kept waiting, turned away badly, or let in when they should not have been.

2. The count

Every venue has a number, the most people it can hold before movement, service and exits start to suffer. Know yours, and count against it. A simple hand counter at the door, counting in and counting out, means nobody has to guess when the room is full, and nobody has to have an argument about it.

An over-full room is uncomfortable long before it is dangerous: longer waits at the bar, people pressed against each other, tempers shorter than they would otherwise be. Stopping entry for ten minutes at the right moment is one of the cheapest pieces of security there is, and it only works if somebody has been counting.

3. The cash

Takings are highest on exactly the nights when attention is most stretched. The rule is to keep the till lean. Hold a working float at the bar, and move the rest somewhere secure and out of sight at set times through the night, rather than letting it build up until closing.

Two habits cause most of the difficulty. The first is counting the night’s cash at the counter, at the end of the night, where customers and passers-by can see it. The second is banking at the same time, by the same route, every week. Count out of sight, keep the number of people who handle cash small and known, and vary when and how it leaves the premises.

4. The close

The last fifteen minutes of a busy night are the most overlooked part of it. The music stops, the lights come up, the room empties into the car park, and the staff who have worked a long shift are the last people on site, tired and carrying the takings.

Plan it in advance. Bring the lights up inside and keep them on outside. Walk the premises before the last person locks up, including the toilets and the storeroom. Make sure staff leave together, and that nobody walks to a car or a taxi alone. It takes a few minutes and it is the part of the night your staff will thank you for.

What getting it right looks like

Get these four right and the night is remembered for the music, the food and the company. The till reconciles, the staff get home, and people come back the next weekend. Get one of them wrong on the wrong weekend, and that is what the night is remembered for instead, by customers and staff alike, for a good deal longer than the good nights on either side of it.

None of this needs to be complicated. A venue that has thought about its door, its count, its cash and its close before the season starts is ready for most of what the season brings.

Dominion Security Services has protected Tobago since 2003, and we provide venue and event security across the island. If you would like a second pair of eyes before the season starts, ask us for a security assessment: we will walk your venue with you and tell you plainly what we would change.

Request a free security assessment

We will visit your site, look at the premises and advise honestly on the cover it needs, with no obligation. Prefer to talk? Call (868) 639-7649 or WhatsApp 868 264 9099.

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