Help A Small Music Venue Keep The Doors Open Fun Story!

Hello All!

My name is Whitney and I am the owner of the Be Here Now DIY Music Venue & Craft Brew Bar in America's Hometown of Muncie, Indiana. We are beginning our 15th year of business this July and it's been a long journey. We are the only place in this mid-major university city exclusively hosting live original music. This has been our mission since opening the doors and we have hosted thousands of bands from all around the country, and even the world, in the years since. As the owner, I can tell you it's been an uphill battle but I'm proud to still have these doors open. We used to host live shows 4-5 nights a week but have seen the support wane over the years. Post-Covid, we have shifted from being open 6-7 days a week to 4 as we have seen fewer and fewer people going out. This transient post-industrial city continues to lose any population younger than 40, our costs on everything have gone up considerably in the last 5 years while our prices have essentially not gone up in a decade. All that withstanding, we have weathered the storms and made ourselves a safe spot for organic culture while developing a sustainable business model that pays the rent for 7-8 people while keeping bands on the road and providing a unique place for them to share their art. Now we get down to the nuts and bolts of this...

Lost in the celebration of "Happy Hour" rule changes was another change buried in the same bill. The great state of Indiana, without any notice, has mandated that every liquor license renewal now requires a business to carry Liquor Liability Insurance. You might think "why wouldn't you carry that anyway?" and I will tell you... it is EXPENSIVE and I've set my business up in a way that doesn't just follow the law concerning overserving or serving underage but has a code and no tolerance policy for those drinking irresponsibly. We are not the spot to come to just get drunk... we are event-based and attendance is in support of the events we host. We have systems in place that, though they may cost us money, keep us, and our patrons, safe. I made the risk and invested in a liquor license 8 years ago... it was a financial risk that I took. I protected that investment by building a business model that protected against these risks. The state is now requiring me to protect my investment according to the rules of the insurance industry. For many small bars with kitchens, this is not a big expense as they can claim they primarily make money on food sales. For a business like BHN with 400 legal capacity (no, it does not matter that 240 is outside and only used 4-5 months a year, or that only inside or outside is EVER used together, OR that we rarely have 100 people there at any given time!) and no operational kitchen (We are in a commercial area surrounded by late-night pizza, ribs, Mexican, subs and allow carry-in anytime. We have spent money on kitchens in the past and NO ONE is coming to the local small music venue to buy food! We have free pizza from Greeks next door out most nights as well!) Insurance sees our security personnel as a liability. The same personnel that prevent the problems from COMING IN! Anyone who has been to BHN can vouch for the level of chill that exists here. We rarely have conflict, let alone fights. We have zero tolerance for drunkards, free water, popcorn, etc... We are our brother's keepers, a third place, and take our role in the community seriously. We have not had a single excise fine in 15 years of business. Unfortunately, there is no place in insurance algorithms for a local spot that does things the right way. At this point, the state has created an unfunded mandate that requires a 3rd party to judge my business's risk. From stories I have heard from several industries, carrying this kind of liability insurance opens businesses up to constant frivolous lawsuits. 95% of claims are settled and the costs are then transferred to the policy carriers. I learned about this new law when attempting to renew my license in mid-August. I have received 5-6 quotes ranging from 4k-8K (not to mention the 1K renewal cost to the state!). These are completely unexpected costs in an already challenging time. Had we had ANY notice or a year to get these changes into place or the state had offered a grandfather clause, etc., this would be manageable. Instead, we were given 6 weeks to find a policy (which requires payment in full OR the use of insurance financing companies for commercial policies... so they get you TWICE with interest!) in order to renew... and without renewal, there is no business!

We have always found a way. There are credit cards to max out. There are loan sharks and credit card processing companies to access. I worked very hard to get OUT of that trap and have no desire to return. With some influx of capital to cover these unexpected expenses, we will right the ship and figure things out by next year. Without it, we will probably find ourselves drowning in debt waiting for next year's $5,000 expense. Did I mention we already pay $5,000 in GENERAL LIABILITY Insurance? What a racket.

If you've enjoyed the space, played the place, or have some stories over the years that you'd appreciate others being able to experience moving forward... please consider helping in this moment. I've worked very hard to make this place sustainable and am incredibly disappointed in our state government for adding an additional burden on small bars/taverns/venues at this increasingly difficult time.