Hospo Pulse

How to win a new venue's opening order before the doors open

The opening order goes to whoever is already in the room

A new venue sets its range before it opens: the house pour, the tap list, the coffee, the dry goods, the takeaway cups. Whoever is talking to the owner in those weeks usually writes the first order. Once the doors open, the list is set and you're asking them to switch.

In your territory, that window is public information. A venue that plans to sell alcohol needs a liquor licence, and many apply before they open. In New South Wales and South Australia that application is put on a public register before it's decided.

Hospo Pulse reads those registers every night. The paid daily email lands by 9am with the most recent records from the liquor licence registers in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, plus council planning data across NSW and three Queensland councils. Every record is linked back to its official government source. One email, no portals, no daily hunting.

Start with the free weekly summary — counts of last week's new records by state and category, with a four-week trend. Every Monday, free. It never lists venues. Join free →

Here's what's in those registers and how to use them.

Signal one: the liquor licence application

A venue can't sell alcohol until its licence is in place, so many apply before they open. In New South Wales, the application goes on a public noticeboard so the community can comment before a decision is made (NSW Government). South Australia publishes new applications on its own notice board, also before a decision (Consumer and Business Services SA).

That makes the application the signal for opening stock. It tells you:

  • Who's coming — the venue name and where it is, in NSW and SA often before there's a sign out the front.
  • What kind of venue — the source register usually shows the licence type, a rough guide to the kind of venue.
  • Whether it's in your territory — so your rep can be first through the door.

How early it arrives depends on the state:

  • New South Wales and South Australia publish applications before a decision is made — the earliest read on a new licensed venue.
  • Queensland mostly shows licences once they're granted, with only a small share visible before a decision. That's a later signal. In Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast, council planning data can be the earlier sign.

Signal two: the planning application

Before the fitout, a venue often needs planning approval, and that's lodged before the venue opens, often weeks before a liquor licence application. For opening stock this is the early warning: you can see a site is becoming a cafe or restaurant, often before suppliers are locked in.

It also catches the venues a liquor register never will. A cafe that doesn't serve alcohol won't apply for a liquor licence, but it may still show up in council planning records. For coffee roasters and packaging suppliers, that matters.

In New South Wales, development applications and complying development approvals from councils across the state go through one statewide government system. In Queensland, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast each publish their own planning data, and freshness varies.

Working the window

  • Check every morning, not every month. A new venue sets its range once. A lead that sits too long often goes to someone else.
  • Split it by territory. Share the morning's records out by rep patch yourself. The email can be filtered by state.
  • Lead with the range, not the price list. At this stage the owner is still deciding what the venue is. Help with that and you're the one writing the opening order.
  • Keep a simple list. Note who's been called and what happened, so no venue gets called twice or not at all.

Why doing this by hand doesn't stick

Each register is public, run by a different government body, in a different format, with its own search. Checking three states' liquor registers and council planning data every morning isn't a realistic habit on top of a sales week. Hospo Pulse closes that gap: one feed, read overnight, in your inbox by 9am, every record linked back to its official government source.

Get the free weekly summary — counts of new records by state and category, with a four-week trend, every Monday. Free. Join free →