Most people opening a pool hall in India model the revenue side ruthlessly ("six tables, ₹200/hour, ten hours/day, so...") and almost never sit down with the cost side until month four -- which is usually when reality hits. This piece lays out the realistic monthly bottom-up cost stack for a representative 6--12 table Indian pool hall, and gives you a framework to model break-even on your own numbers.
All figures are ranges based on observed operating data from Tier-1 and Tier-2 Indian cities in 2025--2026. Specifics depend on location, footprint, staffing model, and ambition. Treat the ranges as a sanity check, not a quote.
1. Rent and CAM (₹40,000--₹2,50,000 / month)
Rent is the single largest fixed cost for almost every pool hall and has the biggest variance:
- Tier-2 city, first floor, residential neighborhood (1,800--2,500 sq ft): ₹40,000--₹80,000 / month
- Tier-2 city, ground floor, high-visibility (1,800--2,500 sq ft): ₹70,000--₹1,30,000 / month
- Tier-1 metro, first floor, neighborhood (2,500--3,500 sq ft): ₹1,20,000--₹2,00,000 / month
- Tier-1 metro, mall / high-street, ground floor: ₹2,00,000+ / month (rare for pool halls; usually CAM and revenue share make this economically tough)
Add Common Area Maintenance (CAM) on top -- 10--20% of base rent for commercial properties. Also: most landlords will demand 6--10 months rent as security deposit, so the working-capital hit is twice the annual rent at minimum.
2. Staff (₹35,000--₹1,50,000 / month)
A typical 6--8 table venue runs:
- 1 senior marker / floor manager: ₹18,000--₹35,000 / month
- 1--2 junior markers: ₹10,000--₹15,000 / month each
- 1 cashier / shift handler (if separate from owner): ₹15,000--₹22,000 / month
- Part-time cleaning / housekeeping: ₹5,000--₹8,000 / month
Don't under-pay your senior marker. The difference between a ₹20k marker and a ₹32k marker is 10--15% in monthly revenue from better customer handling and fewer credit-ledger errors alone.
3. Electricity (₹25,000--₹70,000 / month)
Pool halls are surprisingly power-hungry -- lights over each table, air-conditioning for the whole footprint, ceiling fans, charging points, a small kitchen if you have one.
For a 2,500 sq ft venue running 12 hours / day with AC on for 8 of those hours: budget ₹40,000--₹55,000 in summer months, ₹25,000--₹35,000 in milder months. Tier-1 metros pay more per unit.
4. Table maintenance (₹6,000--₹15,000 / month, smoothed)
Cloth replacement is the recurring big-ticket item. A 12-foot snooker table costs ₹6,000--₹10,000 to re-cloth, and you'll do it every 9--15 months at a busy table. Cue tip replacements, rest repairs, ball polishing -- budget ₹500--₹1,500 per table per month on a steady-state basis.
For 6 tables: ₹6,000--₹15,000 / month is the realistic smoothed cost. Treat it as fixed, not variable -- neglecting it kills the customer experience faster than any other single thing.
5. Software and tooling (₹500--₹6,000 / month)
This is where most clubs "save" by using paper chits and an Excel sheet -- and then lose 5--15x the savings to shrink, bad pricing, and missed credit balances. Realistic software costs:
- Free / paper / Excel: ₹0 (with hidden costs above)
- Strikee Starter: ₹599 / month -- full session tracking, credit ledger, tournaments. See pricing.
- Generic restaurant POS (with workarounds): ₹2,000--₹5,000 / month plus transaction fees
Add CCTV subscription (₹500--₹1,500), accounting software (₹500--₹2,000 if you don't handle it manually), and high-speed broadband (₹1,200--₹2,500).
6. Refreshments cost of goods (varies)
Most pool halls run a small refreshments counter -- chai, soft drinks, cigarettes, packaged snacks. If you do, food & beverage becomes a separate margin line. Typical Indian pool hall F&B margins:
- Beverages: 60--70% gross margin
- Packaged snacks: 25--35% gross margin
- Cigarettes: 8--15% (highly regulated; many states restrict sale)
F&B can contribute 15--30% of total venue revenue if managed well. Track it separately from table revenue in your software.
7. Compliance, taxes, accounting (₹3,000--₹15,000 / month)
Don't skip this line. GST returns, professional tax, shop licence renewals, FSSAI renewals, occasional fire NOC inspections. A part-time CA who knows hospitality runs ₹3,000--₹8,000 / month for a small venue, ₹10,000--₹15,000 once you cross ₹50 lakh annual turnover.
8. Marketing (₹0--₹25,000 / month)
Most successful clubs spend less on paid marketing than you'd think -- the medium is Instagram, WhatsApp, and word-of-mouth via tournaments. Budget ₹0--₹10,000 / month for steady-state marketing plus ₹15,000--₹40,000 per major tournament you run.
9. The realistic monthly cost stack
Putting it together for a representative 6--8 table Tier-2 pool hall in 2026:
| Line | Conservative | Realistic | Aggressive | |---|---|---|---| | Rent + CAM | ₹50,000 | ₹80,000 | ₹1,40,000 | | Staff | ₹45,000 | ₹70,000 | ₹1,10,000 | | Electricity | ₹25,000 | ₹40,000 | ₹65,000 | | Table maintenance | ₹6,000 | ₹10,000 | ₹15,000 | | Software & tooling | ₹1,500 | ₹3,500 | ₹8,000 | | Compliance / accounting | ₹3,000 | ₹6,000 | ₹12,000 | | Marketing | ₹0 | ₹8,000 | ₹25,000 | | Total / month | ₹1,30,500 | ₹2,17,500 | ₹3,75,000 |
At ₹2.17 lakh monthly fixed costs, you need ~₹7,250 / day in gross margin contribution from tables to break even -- which translates to about ₹9,000--₹11,000 / day in gross revenue depending on your pricing model.
Break-even modelling
Take your realistic monthly cost stack. Divide by 30 to get daily cost. Divide by your average gross margin (typically 80--90% on tables, 30--60% on F&B blended). That's your daily revenue floor.
Now ask: at your pricing model and projected utilisation, can your tables hit that number even on a slow Tuesday? If no, you don't have a viable business -- you have an expensive hobby. The fix isn't more marketing; it's a different cost stack (smaller footprint, fewer staff, cheaper rent).
Where most clubs leak money
After ten years of watching clubs open and close, the patterns are consistent. Money leaks from:
- Credit balances nobody tracks (5--10% of monthly revenue)
- Frame / hour counts disputed at billing (3--8% of monthly revenue)
- Tournament finances run on WhatsApp groups (sponsorship money lost in transit, 100% of the time)
- Over-staffed slow days you never reviewed (10--15% of staff cost)
- Electricity bills you didn't shop for a competitive tariff on (5--15%)
The first three are exactly the categories Strikee solves -- see the features overview. The other two are operational discipline. Both are worth real time.