Post #220781 by Swanky on Tue, Mar 14, 2006 4:09 PM

Too small can really be an advantage. It's the "Carney Principal": A crowd draws a crowd. Col. Tom Parker used to book Elvis in places too small for him when a large venue was nearby. The sell outs made the crowd more excited and added to the hype. It will keep people coming back and on slower nights, it will seem more crowded than it would otherwise. Better a small place that's occasionally got a wait than a large place that is almost always empty.

You can work that to your advantage though. If you anticipate the wait and get out there with a book and A) offer to take a reservation B) hand them a card for a small discount of some kind for when they come back. Something to entice them to return and not be POed and never come back. But they will come back. They will start to try you on Wednesday instead of Friday...