Mobile Bartending Business: Start Up Costs!
July 25, 2008
So…How Much?
Almost everyday I get asked this question. I open the door, pull back the curtain and expose a bit of my exciting world as a Private Party Bartender, and people say “AWESOME! Great! …How much?”
It is a great question! If you are going to take the leap (I call it a small step) from employee to entrepreneur, you are going to want to minimize as many risks as possible, and when you hear about all of the details of having a Bartending Business, most are left wondering “what’s the catch?”
Why Bartending Rocks:
Becoming a mobile bartender has more perks than I can think of, and frankly need to save for future posts. But the NUMERO UNO reason why becoming a Mobile Bartender kicks some serious butt is:
ALMOST ZERO START-UP COSTS!
I’m serious! It really does not cost you much to get you started and on your feet! Even better, you will make so much money so quickly that you can reinvest a portion of your profit into your business so that it will continue to grow.
So what are we looking at here?
What does low start-up costs mean? Well, in The Bartend-4-Profit System’s Home Study Course, I include a detailed list of everything you need and how to get it at the best price. In this post, I have given you a brief list of your most important items and their costs. Remember, in the service industry, people are paying for you…not a physical product!
(In order of importance-in my opinion)
- Business Cards ($100-150)
- A Uniform (all black, or tuxedo shirt, vest, etc…you should already have something)
- Bartending Tools (shaker, wine key, bottle opener, speed pourers, coolers, garnish tray,etc) (less than $100)
- A Portable Bar (you can do events with out one, but you can charge more if you have one…and you can get one anywhere from $50-$1500, I give you a list of all of the different bar options in the home study course of Bartend-4-Profit)
- A Website (your best marketing tool…and you can get it for under $300…don’t worry, I show you exactly how to have one made asap in the Bartend-4-Profit System)
I hope this helps give you an idea of just how EASY it is to get started! PLEASE use the comment form below to address any aditional questions you may have! THANKS GUYS!
James Wedmore
www.Bartend4Profit.com
How a Bartender made $1,000 in Tips in One Night!
July 1, 2008
…I know I’m being “bragadocious,” but there is a lesson here!
Well…last Saturday happened to be another successful night for myself! I was hired to bartend a wedding reception of over 125 guests. I brought with me another bartender and we had a tip jar out. Within 5 hours, that tip jar had seen $987.00! Needless to say, it was a great event!
In this article, I am going to discuss some of the principles and techniques that I put into use in order to make this ordinary night into an extraordinary one.
It’s a Wedding
Most importantly, this was a wedding and they can be your most lucrative events. Why? Because everyone is happy, loves to drink, and you can almost always expect to have a tip jar present. At this particular event, I had a large tip jar on the bar that I baited before hand, and never let get more than ½ full!
A Second Bartender
To handle the large crowd of 120 drinkers, I brought along a second bartender (of course I charged extra for this). But there are two reasons why a second bartender will help you: first off, he/she will take off a lot of the workload and the wait-time for drinks will be much shorter. This means you don’t have any unhappy (and thirsty) customers!
But more importantly, if you choose the right bartender, you can have a partner whose energy you can bounce off of! When you have someone else who is also outgoing and very personable, your confidence levels will increase and you will perform much better behind the bar.
Establish Rapport
By establishing rapport, we were able to loose the image of “hired help” and become more like another guest at the party. There are several techniques we used to do this, including using names, physical contact (handshakes, high-fives, hugs, etc) and coming out from behind the bar to talk with our guests.
We would prepare a bunch of shots for our guests and then make a toast for everyone and drink! This works well because it really brings the group together and creates a sense of belonging. We are controlling the environment by ordering the shots, calling the toast, and drinking first.
We also strike up interesting conversations with our guests that show we are very personable and (hopefully) intelligent. Either way, our guests are impressed and can’t leave the night without showing their gratitude one way or another!
Shameless Solicitation
If none of the above worked, we would resort to what I like to call “shameless solicitation.” We would say things to our guests such as, “If you think your drink is good now, just wait until you tip us…I’ll hook you up!” Nine times out of ten, the guest would reach into his/her wallet/purse and hand us cash!
Or, if someone just tipped, we will make a big scene! We grab his drink and add more liquor, or a few extra limes, etc and make sure the rest of the guest sees what we are doing! “This is what you get when you tip!” In this instance, we are setting the social norms for the party: if you want a drink, you gotta tip!”
Flair/Magic
And lastly, we performed a few flair and magic tricks at our event to keep our guests entertained. The flair is all easy and quick moves that you can do when you are slammed at the bar and can actually help you work faster.
The magic is designed for times later in the night when the line at the bar is slow and the guests are drunk. Both the magic and the flair are excellent crowd pleaser’s and always result in added tips into the jar!
In Conclusion:
There really are a myriad of principles and techniques that I implemented last Saturday, and this is just a brief summary. If you are interested in learning more about the methods described above plus many, many others, you can discover more on my website: www.TipAttraction.com. This is a website for bartenders who want to learn more about how to increase their tips!
I hope you enjoyed my post and that you can use some of the principles suggested during your events! If you have any great tactics, techniques, or tricks that you use to get more tips, don’t hesitate to post them in the comment section and share them with the group! Thanks!
Cheers,
James Wedmore
Bartend-4-Profit
www.BartenderforProfit.com
Bartenders Guide to 4th of July
June 9, 2008
It’s Time to Raise your Rates:
I just got off the phone with a client who booked me for the 4th of July. In fact, this is the third event I have booked for this 2008 holiday. I figured I should send out a quick note letting everyone know that if you havn’t already increased your prices for the 4th of July…DO IT!
What I charge:
I hope you are taking notes, because this is extremely valuable information: I am now charging $250.00 for the 4th of July…and all three of my clients have accepted my increased rates…I even tell them that I upped my prices! This means, they are paying me $250.00 to get into the door for just 4 hours of work. That is $62.50 for per hour! What bartender job pays that well?
But wait! It get’s better:
Out of those three clients, I was able to “upsell” two of them on a portable bar rental for $39.95…and on one of those two clients, I was able to tack on an additional $125.00 for providing rented glassware for the event. YES! I am charging one client a total of $414.95 to bartend for 4 hours…that’s over $100 AN HOUR! This is assuming that they don’t ask me to stay an extra hour (they always do!) and I always charge MORE to keep me longer.
..and now for the Gratuity:
This is just to get into the door my friends! I will also have a tip jar on my bar with a party that has 60+ guests! Even if I only manage to squeeze a $1.00 from every guest, that is AT LEAST $60.00 in cash tips! But I am extremely confident that I will have some big-hitters throwing twenties in my jar. I also have several surefire techniques I use every night that GUARANTEE I will get more tips!
So instead of whining that I won’t be able to enjoy this 4th of July holiday…I am going to be making $500-600.00 at a great party!
Your Take-Away:
So…what? What can you learn from this? Let’s break it down:
- Charge More when you/your services are in MORE DEMAND
- Charge More on Holiday (or days that you are less inclined to work)
- Don’t be afraid to tell your clients that you are charging them more…and tell them why!
- MOST IMPORTANT: Don’t be discouraged by prospects who do not book you due to your high prices! The 4th of July is still weeks away!
- Up Sell all of your clients with additional products and services
- Don’t forget gratuity: Your performance dictates how much money you get in your jar
I hope this information was helpful. Don’t hesitate to post comments with your questions and I will answer them ASAP! Thanks everyone!
To your Bartending Success,
James Wedmore
The Bartend-4-Profit System
www.BartenderforProfit.com
