Contact
§ The Author

Ryan Dahlstrom.

Twenty years of opening, turning around,
and operating bars — written down.
Tucson, Arizona
1-Ounce Publishing
Est. 2005
§ 01 — The Operator

Hands on the bar
before pen on the page.

Ryan Dahlstrom is the author of the Bar Business Plan available on this site. He has spent over twenty years opening, turning around, and running bars and restaurants. The plan you can purchase here is built on that hands-on operator experience, structured to satisfy the lenders, investors, and landlords who actually fund and approve bar openings.

This page covers Ryan’s background and credentials. If you came here looking for the plan itself, the homepage is the product page.
§ Track Record

By the numbers.

20+
Years In Hospitality
65K+
Copies Distributed
1,000+
Pages Authored
3
Connected Publications
§ 02 — The Author

Operator-grade
publications.

Ryan is the author of multiple operator-grade hospitality publications. In total, more than 1,000 pages of hospitality training, planning, and operations documentation currently in use across the industry.
№ 01
The Bar Business Plan

The complete investor-ready and lender-friendly bar business plan available on this site.

№ 02
The Bar Starts Here
Foundational bar operations book published through 1-Ounce Publishing, with over 65,000 copies distributed worldwide.
№ 03
The Ultimate Responsible Alcohol Service Manual
The 140-page bartender training and responsible service manual at bartendertrainingmanual.com.
№ 04
The Open a Bar Founder Framework
The complete ‘how to open a bar’ framework at opena.bar.
§ 03 — Why This Site Exists

“Most bar business plan templates online are built by people
who have not actually opened bars.”

— From the introduction

They are either generic small business templates with a bar example bolted on, SaaS lead magnets from POS or payment companies, pure template libraries with no operational guidance, or generic restaurant plans applied loosely to bars.

The Bar Business Plan on this site is different because it is bar-specific, written by an operator, and structured to the questions that lenders, investors, and landlords actually ask. The financial model uses bar-industry-specific assumptions. The operational projections reflect what bars actually do, not what generic templates assume.

§ 04 — The Network

Three sites. One body of work.

All three sites are authored by Ryan Dahlstrom and published by 1-Ounce Publishing. Each covers a distinct angle of bar operations.
№ One
opena.bar
Founder Framework
The complete process of opening a bar — concept through operations.
Visit Site →
You Are Here
№ Two
barbusinessplans.com
Commercial Flagship
The Bar Business Plan and the complete planning toolkit.
This Site
№ Three

bartendertrainingmanual.com

Training Manual
The 140-page bartender training and responsible alcohol service manual.
Visit Site →
Founders typically need the planning tools here AND the founder framework at opena.bar AND the training manual at bartendertrainingmanual.com — the three cover different phases of opening and running a bar.
§ 05 — The Expert Witness

A parallel
practice.

Ryan also serves as an active dram shop and alcohol service liability expert witness, working both plaintiff and defense engagements nationwide. This is a parallel professional practice operated separately from the planning content on this site.
For founders reading this: the expert witness work matters because it keeps Ryan close to what actually goes wrong when bars do not launch well.
Expert Witness Inquiries
thedramshopexpert.com · expertwitness.co
§ 06 — Location

Based in Tucson.
Working nationwide.

Ryan is based in Tucson, Arizona, and works with clients across the United States. Most engagements are remote. Custom plan development, investor presentation review, and implementation consulting are available by arrangement.
Direct
Tucson, Arizona, US
Most engagements remote
On-site consulting by arrangement
§ Connect

Ready to write yours?

For questions about the Bar Business Plan, the Founder Bundle, or any of the resources on this site, use the Contact page. For expert witness inquiries, contact expertwitness.co directly.
View the Bar Business Plan
Contact Ryan
Also on
LinkedIn·ryandahlstrom.expert