Rick's Cabaret – “The VERY Best in a Business That Has a VERY Low Bar”

Pros

Hands down, Rick's treats it's entertainers and employees better than any Gentleman's Club Franchise out there, which makes me very happy to have worked for them off and on for the past 5 years.

I always feel respected, cared for, understood, appreciated and treated as a very important component of the club.

The kind of customers that Rick's attracts are all in all very kind people. Sure, there is occasionally a bad apple, but that is to be expected in this industry.

Cons

Disclaimer: These thoughts are delivered with love, respect and passion for a business I love with all my heart that has given me so much. I only say these things because I also wish with all my heart that it were better both for the entertainers and the staff.

As most people would expect, the strip-club industry has a very low bar. The organization does not advance it's female management above VIP Hostess. It does not take feedback or input in the way of reworking the way the industry works on a fundamental level. The room for improvement is endless and the organization does not really seem open to this kind of input. The attitude the company takes is "the opportunity to make money should be enough."

I don't think it is.

To be fair, I have personally never attempted to reach out to give them suggestions from a higher level perspective. My opinion more rests on the experiences told to me by other women in different positions than an entertainer.

These other women in the business care, they want to give back and do more, but the owner and manager seem to only be comfortable with the southern, good old fashioned boy's club way of doing business.

There is so much money left on the table because the industry does nothing to dispel it's stereotypes and attract a more thoughtful clientele with higher standards.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop resting on your laurels and revolutionize the business for the coming Generation X and Y'ers that have higher expectations for communication, connectivity, wellness and quality of life. Train the staff to care, to put their heart into their work.

Create a business that is for grown men instead of immature boys and the business will attract even more respectful, better paying clientele. Many customers have been turned away because all the dancers seem to care about is money. That horse has been beat to death. The industry needs new life, new energy.

Like many sales focused businesses, it rests comfortably on an inherent cycle of cynicism that needs to be broken, that is in the process of being broke whether we like it or not.

Even the seasoned, successful entertainers think the only way to make money is through manipulation. The "nice" girls are tired of being "too nice to make a lot of money" and resign themselves to be comfortable with the scraps left over by the stereotypical stripper pirana.

There is another way.

This isn't about age or younger entertainers, because many of these young men actually like older woman.

It needs fresh ideas, fresh perspective, better, more inventive branding. The time has come.

On a practical nuts and bolts level, take away the spending limit put onto customers. Does Boeing say, "I'm sorry you can't pay more than $40million for that plane?" Of course not. Let the customers spend as much as they want without having to call and set up a party in advance.

Come up with a creative, inspiring training program for the entertainers. Be more aspirational rather than focused on the bottom line. Men want more than boobs and bottoms, even if they won't admit it to anyone's face except for an entertainer.

In addition, make the business even more friendly to couples and lesbian women. Actively court them and come up with creative ways to satisfy their varied needs. And train the women to work with couples and other women better. These are grossly untapped markets. We should be slammed with Lesbian Bachelorette Parties in NYC and I've haven't seen more than one or two since the legislation got passed.

A few of these moves, done in an inspiring engaging way would go a long way to creating immense business for the club and company.

I don't disapprove of the the way Eric Langan leads the company because he is a bad guy with a bad business sense—he's truly a great guy with a big heart. Being the best, merely hovering over a very low bar simply isn't good enough anymore.

And last, but not least, instituting some across the board aspirational changes could go a long way to boosting the image and stock price for the company.