How To Start A Bartending Service Business

Mobile bartending, in which a company brings the drinks, mixers, glasses and bar itself to the customer, has exploded in recent years and is forecast for continued growth. The mobile bartender is frequently the most popular person in the room, so starting a mobile bartending business organization could make for a fun lifestyle and a nice moneymaker.

But before you start whipping upwardly those cocktails, you'll need to learn how to launch and grow a concern. Fortunately, this footstep-past-step guide is loaded with all the information you demand to go your mobile bartending business organization off the footing.

Fast Facts

Investment range

$6,050 - $12,100

Time to build

0 – 3 months

Revenue potential

$52,000 - $260,000p.a.

Profit potential

$46,800 - $104,000 p.a.

Step 1: Determine if the Business Is Right for Yous

Pros and cons

Starting a mobile bartending business has pros and cons to consider before deciding if it'due south right for yous.

Pros

Flexibility – Run the business from home
Fun Work – Enjoy parties for a living
Good Money – Make $$$ at each upshot

Cons

Stringent Regulations – You lot'll need a liquor license if you lot sell alcohol
Potential Liability – Over-serving tin lead to accidents; insurance is a must

Mobile bartending industry trends

Industry size and growth

There are no statistics for the mobile bartending industry, but it is closely related to the catering industry since the two services tend to go hand in hand.

Manufacture size and past growth – The U.S. catering industry is worth $16 billion in 2022 afterward expanding nearly xl% in the terminal decade. ^[1] https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/market-size/caterers-united-states/
Growth forecast – The U.S. catering manufacture is projected to grow 4.1% in 2022.
Number of businesses – In 2022, 144,560 catering businesses are operating in the U.S. ^[ii] https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/caterers-united-states/#:~:text=At that place%20are%20144%2C560%20Caterers%20businesses,increase%20of%204%25%20from%202021.
Number of people employed – In 2022, the U.South. catering industry employs 295,017 people. ^[3] https://www.ibisworld.com/manufacture-statistics/employment/caterers-united-states/#:~:text=There%20are%20295%2C017%20people%20employed,the%20US%20as%20of%202022.

Trends and challenges

Trends in the mobile bartending manufacture include:

People are seeking customized services from mobile bartenders, like unique cocktail options that the host can cull prior to the outcome.
Many mobile bartending businesses have trucks like to food trucks and so they tin can operate outdoors.

Challenges in the mobile bartending business:

The ascension popularity of mobile bartending is making the industry more competitive.
It's hard to rails how much booze guests take been served, increasing the potential for over-serving and thus greater chance of liability.

Demand hotspots

Well-nigh popular states – The well-nigh popular states for bartenders are Hawaii, Arizona, and California. ^[4] https://www.zippia.com/bartender-jobs/best-states/
Least popular states – The to the lowest degree popular states for bartenders are Utah, Alabama, and Oklahoma.

What kind of people piece of work in mobile bartending?

Gender – 60.3% of bartenders are female, while 39.7% are male. ^[5] https://www.zippia.com/bartender-jobs/demographics/
Boilerplate level of teaching – The average bartender has a bachelor's degree.
Average age – The average bartender in the Us is 34 years old.

How much does it cost to showtime a mobile bartending business concern?

Startup costs for a mobile bartending business organization range from $half-dozen,000 to $12,000. Costs include the mobile bar itself, glassware, and cocktail-making equipment, too as a vehicle to ship your bar.
If you need to learn bartending skills, you can find a bartending school in your local expanse, or you tin take courses online on a site similar Udemy.

Y'all'll need a scattering of items to successfully launch your mobile bartending business, including:

Mobile bar
Glassware
Cocktail making tools
Vehicle to transport bar

Start-upwardly Costs	Ballpark Range	Average
Setting upwards a business proper noun and corporation	$150 - $200	$175
Business licenses and permits	$100 - $300	$200
Insurance	$100-$300	$200
Concern cards and brochures	$200 - $300	$250
Website setup	$1,000 - $3,000	$two,000
Mobile bar	$2,000 - $3,000	$2,500
Equipment and supplies	$1,000 - $2,000	$1,500
Vehicle to transport bar and equipment	$ane,500 - $3,000	$ii,250
Total	$six,050 - $12,100	$9,075

How much tin can you earn from a mobile bartending concern?

Typically for an effect, you'll brand well-nigh $l per hour depending on the number of people attending. If you're selling the alcohol, y'all'll as well brand a markup on the liquor. If information technology'southward an open bar, the host volition pay for the alcohol. You lot'll too get tips. These calculations will assume that you'll make $500 per outcome. Your profit margin should be about 90%.

In your starting time yr or 2, you could do ii events per calendar week, bringing in $52,000 in annual acquirement. This would mean $47,000 in profit, bold that ninety% margin. As you get echo business concern and referrals, sales could climb to 10 events per week. At this phase, you'd hire staff including other bartenders, reducing your profit margin to around 40%. With annual acquirement of $260,000, you'd make a handsome profit of $104,000.

What barriers to entry are there?

There are a few barriers to entry for a mobile bartending business. Your biggest challenges will be:

The skills required to be an outstanding bartender
Contest from caterers and other mobile bartenders

Stride two: Strop Your Idea

Now that you know what's involved in starting a mobile bartending business, it's a good idea to hone your concept in preparation to enter a competitive market.

Why? Identify an opportunity

Inquiry mobile bartending businesses in your surface area to examine their services, price points, and customer reviews. You're looking for a market place gap to make full. For example, possibly the local market is missing a mobile bartending service that offers signature cocktails or a mobile draft beer system.

You might consider targeting a niche market place by specializing in a certain attribute of your industry, such as corporate events or weddings. This could jumpstart your word-of-mouth marketing and attract clients right away.

What? Determine your products or services

You'll need to determine if y'all want to provide the alcohol for your events, or have the hosts provide the alcohol. You could also offer snacks and develop a list of specialty cocktails.

How much should you charge for mobile bartending?

Typically, a mobile bartender makes about $50 per hour. If it'south a greenbacks bar and you provide the alcohol, you can accuse a markup on the alcoholic beverages. You lot'll likewise brand tips. Your profit margin should be about 90%.

Once yous know your costs, you can use this Stride By Step profit margin calculator to determine your mark-up and final price points. Call back, the prices you utilise at launch should exist subject to change if warranted by the market.

Who? Identify your target market

Your target market volition tend to exist more established people and businesses for corporate events. Yous should market to those people on Facebook and LinkedIn. You could as well try to partner with catering businesses to handle bartending for the events they cater. You tin can find them on Google or Yelp and call them direct.

Where? Cull your business premises

In the early on stages, y'all may want to run your business from habitation to keep costs depression. Just as your concern grows, yous'll likely demand to hire workers for various roles and may need to rent out an role. Yous can detect commercial infinite to hire in your surface area on sites such equally Craigslist, Crexi, and Instant Offices.

When choosing a commercial infinite, yous may want to follow these rules of thumb:

Central location attainable via public transport
Ventilated and spacious, with good natural calorie-free
Flexible lease that can be extended as your business concern grows
Set-to-employ space with no major renovations or repairs needed

Should you start a mobile bartending business

Stride 3: Brainstorm a Business organisation Name

Your business name is your business identity, and then cull one that encapsulates your objectives, services, and mission in just a few words. Yous probably want a proper name that's short and easy to remember, since much of your concern, and your initial business in item, will come from discussion-of-mouth referrals.

Here are some ideas for brainstorming your business organisation proper noun:

Brusk, unique, and catchy names tend to stand out
Names that are easy to say and spell tend to do better
Name should be relevant to your product or service offerings
Ask around — family, friends, colleagues, social media — for suggestions
Including keywords, such as "mobile bartender" or "mobile bartending", boosts SEO
Proper name should allow for expansion, for ex: "Jim'due south Bakery" over "Jim's Cookies"
Avoid location-based names that might hinder future expansion
Employ online tools like the Step past Step Business Name Generator. Merely type in a few keywords and hit "generate" and you'll take dozens of suggestions at your fingertips.

One time y'all've got a list of potential names, visit the website of the US Patent and Trademark Office to make sure they are available for registration and check the availability of related domain names using our Domain Name Search tool. Using ".com" or ".org" sharply increases credibility, so it's best to focus on these.

Finally, brand your choice amongst the names that pass this screening and become ahead with domain registration and social media account creation. Your business organization proper name is ane of the key differentiators that sets your business autonomously. Once you option your company name, and first with the branding, it is hard to change the business name. Therefore, information technology's important to carefully consider your selection before yous start a concern entity.

Footstep four: Create a Business Plan

Every business needs a plan. This volition function as a guidebook to take your startup through the launch process and maintain focus on your key goals. A business concern plan besides enables potential partners and investors to better understand your company and its vision:

Executive Summary: Brief overview of the entire business plan; should be written after the programme is complete.
Business Overview: Overview of the company, vision, mission, buying, and corporate goals.
Production and Services: Describe your offerings in item.
Market place Assay: Assess market place trends such as variations in demand and prospects for growth, and do a SWOT assay.
Competitive Analysis: Analyze main competitors, assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and create a list of the advantages of your services.
Sales and Marketing: Examine your companies' unique selling propositions (USPs) and develop sales, marketing, and promotional strategies.
Management Team: Overview of management team, detailing their roles and professional background, along with a corporate hierarchy.
Operations Plan: Your company's operational plan includes procurement, function location, fundamental assets and equipment, and other logistical details.
Fiscal Program: 3 years of financial planning, including startup costs, interruption-fifty-fifty analysis, profit and loss estimates, cash flow, and balance sheet.
Appendix: Include whatever additional fiscal or business concern-related documents.

If you've never created a business plan, it can be an intimidating job. Yous might consider hiring a concern program specialist at Fiverr to create a top-notch business programme for you.

Footstep five: Register Your Business

Registering your business is an absolutely crucial step — it's the prerequisite to paying taxes, raising capital, opening a bank account, and other guideposts on the route to getting a business concern up and running.

Plus, registration is exciting because it makes the entire process official. Once it'south complete, you'll accept your own business!

Choose where to annals your company

Your business location is important considering information technology tin affect taxes, legal requirements, and revenue. Most people will register their concern in the state where they live, just if you're planning to expand, you might consider looking elsewhere, equally some states could offering existent advantages when it comes to mobile bartending businesses.

If you're willing to move, yous could really maximize your concern! Go on in mind, it's relatively easy to transfer your business to another country.

Choose your concern structure

Concern entities come in several varieties, each with its pros and cons. The legal structure you cull for your mobile bartending business volition shape your taxes, personal liability, and business registration requirements, so choose wisely.

Here are the chief options:

Sole Proprietorship – The most common structure for minor businesses makes no legal distinction between company and owner. All income goes to the owner, who's also liable for any debts, losses, or liabilities incurred past the business. The possessor pays taxes on business income on his or her personal tax return.
General Partnership – Similar to a sole proprietorship, but for ii or more than people. Again, owners continue the profits and are liable for losses. The partners pay taxes on their share of concern income on their personal taxation returns.
Limited Liability Visitor ( LLC ) – Combines the characteristics of corporations with those of sole proprietorships or partnerships. Again, the owners are not personally liable for debts.
C Corp – Under this structure, the concern is a distinct legal entity and the owner or owners are not personally liable for its debts. Owners accept profits through shareholder dividends, rather than directly. The corporation pays taxes, and owners pay taxes on their dividends, which is sometimes referred to as double taxation.
Southward Corp – An S-Corporation refers to the tax nomenclature of the business organisation only is non a business entity. An S-Corp can exist either a corporation or an LLC, which just demand to elect to be an Due south-Corp for tax status. In an South-Corp, income is passed through straight to shareholders, who pay taxes on their share of business income on their personal tax returns.

We recommend that new business concern owners choose LLC every bit it offers liability protection and pass-through revenue enhancement while being simpler to form than a corporation. You can form an LLC in as lilliputian equally five minutes using ZenBusiness's online LLC formation service. They volition check that your business concern proper noun is available before filing, submit your articles of system, and reply any questions yous might have.

Pace 6: Register for Taxes

The final step before you lot're able to pay taxes is getting an Employer Identification Number, or EIN. You tin file for your EIN online or by mail or fax: visit the IRS website to learn more. Proceed in mind, if you lot've chosen to be a sole proprietorship yous can only use your social security number as your EIN.

One time you take your EIN, y'all'll demand to choose your revenue enhancement twelvemonth. Financially speaking, your business volition operate in a agenda year (January–December) or a financial year, a 12-month flow that can kickoff in any calendar month. This volition determine your tax bike, while your business concern structure will determine which taxes you'll pay.

The IRS website too offers a tax-payers checklist, and taxes tin can be filed online. It is of import to consult an accountant or other professional to help yous with your taxes to ensure yous're completing them correctly.

Step seven: Fund your Business

Securing financing is your next step and there are plenty of ways to enhance capital:

Banking company loans: This is the nigh common method merely getting canonical requires a rock-solid business plan and strong credit history.
SBA-guaranteed loans: The Small Business Administration can act as guarantor, helping gain that elusive banking concern approval via an SBA-guaranteed loan.
Government grants: A handful of fiscal assistance programs aid fund entrepreneurs. Visit Grants.gov to learn which might work for yous.
Friends and Family unit: Attain out to friends and family to provide a concern loan or investment in your concept. It'due south a good idea to have legal communication when doing so considering SEC regulations employ.
Crowdfunding: Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo offer an increasingly popular low-risk pick, in which donors fund your vision. Entrepreneurial crowdfunding sites like Fundable and WeFunder enable multiple investors to fund your business concern.
Personal: Cocky-fund your business via your savings or the sale of property or other assets.

Banking company and SBA loans are probably the best option, other than friends and family, for funding a mobile bartending business. Y'all might also endeavor crowdfunding if you have an innovative concept.

Step 8: Utilize for Licenses/Permits

Starting a mobile bartending business requires obtaining a number of licenses and permits from local, state, and federal governments. If you lot're providing the booze, you'll need a liquor license.

Federal regulations, licenses, and permits associated with starting your business include doing business organization as (DBA), health licenses and permits from the Occupational Safety and Wellness Administration (OSHA), trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other intellectual properties, as well every bit industry-specific licenses and permits.

Y'all may also need land-level and local county or city-based licenses and permits. The license requirements and how to obtain them vary, so bank check the websites of your state, city, and county governments or contact the appropriate person to learn more.

You could besides cheque this SBA guide for your state's requirements, only we recommend using MyCorporation's Concern License Compliance Package. They volition research the exact forms you lot need for your business and country and provide them to ensure you're fully compliant.

This is non a step to be taken lightly, as failing to comply with legal requirements can upshot in hefty penalties. If you lot feel overwhelmed past this step or don't know how to begin, it might be a good idea to hire a professional to help y'all check all the legal boxes.

approved document permit business concept

Stride 9: Open a Business Bank Account

Before you start making money, you lot'll need a place to keep it, and that requires opening a bank account.

Keeping your business organization finances dissever from your personal account makes it easy to file taxes and rails your company'due south income, so it'south worth doing fifty-fifty if you're running your mobile bartending business organization as a sole proprietorship. Opening a business bank account is quite simple, and like to opening a personal 1. Near major banks offer accounts tailored for businesses — just inquire at your preferred bank to learn about their rates and features.

Banks vary in terms of offerings, so it'due south a good idea to examine your options and select the all-time plan for you. In one case y'all choose your bank, bring in your EIN (or Social Security Number if y'all decide on a sole proprietorship), articles of incorporation, and other legal documents and open up your new account.

Pace 10: Get Business organisation Insurance

Concern insurance is an area that often gets overlooked yet it tin be vital to your success as an entrepreneur. Insurance protects you from unexpected events that can take a devastating bear upon on your business concern.

Hither are some types of insurance to consider:

General liability: The most comprehensive type of insurance, interim as a catch-all for many business organization elements that require coverage. If you get only one kind of insurance, this is it. It even protects against bodily injury and holding impairment.
Business organisation Property: Provides coverage for your equipment and supplies.
Equipment Breakdown Insurance: Covers the cost of replacing or repairing equipment that has broken due to mechanical issues.
Worker'southward compensation: Provides compensation to employees injured on the chore.
Property: Covers your physical space, whether it is a cart, storefront, or office.
Commercial machine: Protection for your company-owned vehicle.
Professional liability: Protects against claims from a client who says they suffered a loss due to an error or omission in your work.
Concern owner'due south policy (BOP): This is an insurance plan that acts every bit an all-in-one insurance policy, a combination of the above insurance types.

Stride 11: Prepare to Launch

As opening day nears, set up for launch past reviewing and improving some key elements of your concern.

Essential software and tools

Being an entrepreneur often means wearing many hats, from marketing to sales to accounting, which tin be overwhelming. Fortunately, many websites and digital tools are available to help simplify many business concern tasks.

Yous may want to utilize industry-specific software, such as HoneyBook, tripleseat, or Planning Pod, to manage your leads, bookings, and invoicing.

Bookkeeping

Popular web-based accounting programs for smaller businesses include Quickbooks, Freshbooks, and Xero.
If you lot're unfamiliar with basic accounting, you lot may want to hire a professional, especially equally y'all brainstorm. The consequences for filing incorrect taxation documents tin can be harsh, so accuracy is crucial.

Marketing

Some of your business volition come from the casual online visitors, but yous should still invest in digital marketing! Getting the discussion out is especially important for new businesses, as it'll heave customer and brand awareness.

Once your website is up and running, link it to your social media accounts and vice versa. Social media is a great tool for promoting your business considering you can create engaging posts that advertise your products:

Facebook: Great platform for paid advertising, allows you to target specific demographics, like men under age 50 in the Cleveland area.
Instagram: Same benefits as Facebook but with dissimilar target audiences.
Website: SEO will help your website appear closer to the top in relevant search results, a crucial element for increasing sales. Make sure that you optimize calls to action on your website. Experiment with text, colour, size, and position of calls to activity such as "Book At present". This tin can sharply increment purchases.
Google and Yelp: For businesses that rely on local clientele, getting listed on Yelp and Google My Business concern can exist crucial to generating awareness and customers.

Kickstart Marketing

Have advantage of your website, social media presence and real-life activities to increase awareness of your offerings and build your brand. Some suggestions include:

In-Person Sales – Offer your mobile bartending services to local caterers.
Post a video – Mail service a video about your mobile bartending. Apply humor and maybe information technology will go viral!
Email marketing/newsletter – Send regular emails to customers and prospects. Make them personal.
Start a blog – Start a blog and post regularly. Change up your content and share on multiple sites.
Seek out referrals – Offer incentives to generate client referrals to new clients.
Paid ads on social media – Choose sites that will attain your target market and do targeted ads.
Pay–per-click marketing – Apply Google AdWords to perform meliorate in searches. Inquiry your keywords first.
Influencer marketing – Pay people with large social media followings to promote your mobile bartending. You lot can detect micro-influencers with smaller followings and lower rates.
Testimonials – Share customer testimonials almost how your mobile bartending helped them

Develop your website

Website development is crucial because your site is your online presence and needs to convince prospective clients of your expertise and professionalism. They are unlikely to find your website, however, unless yous follow Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices. These are steps that help pages rank higher in the results of top search engines like Google.

You lot tin can create your own website using services similar WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. This route is very affordable, but figuring out how to build a website can be fourth dimension-consuming. If yous lack tech-savvy, you can hire a web designer or programmer to create a custom website for your business.

Focus on USPs

Unique selling propositions, or USPs, are the characteristics of a product or service that sets it apart from the contest. Customers today are inundated with buying options, so you'll have a real advantage if they are able to apace grasp how your mobile bartending business organization meets their needs or wishes. Information technology's wise to exercise all yous can to ensure your USPs stand out on your website and in your marketing and promotional materials, stimulating buyer want.

Global pizza chain Domino'south is renowned for its USP: "Hot pizza in 30 minutes or less, guaranteed." Signature USPs for your mobile bartending business could be:

Signature cocktails for your adjacent corporate event
Keep your guests happy! Lightning-fast bartending for big events
Full bartending, including table service, for your next major event

Networking

Yous may not like to network or use personal connections for business gain. But your personal and professional networks probable offer considerable untapped business potential. Maybe that Facebook friend you met in college is now running a mobile bartending business, or a LinkedIn contact of yours is continued to dozens of potential clients. Peradventure your cousin or neighbor has been working in mobile bartending for years and can offer invaluable insight and manufacture connections.

The possibilities are endless, then information technology'due south a good idea to review your personal and professional person networks and attain out to those with possible links to or interest in mobile bartending. Yous'll probably generate new customers or discover companies with which you could establish a partnership.

Pace 12: Build Your Team

If you're starting out small from a abode office, you may not need whatsoever employees. But as your business grows, you lot will probable need workers to fill various roles. Potential positions for a mobile bartending business organisation include:

Bartenders – bartend at events
General Director – scheduling, ordering, bookkeeping
Marketing Pb – SEO strategies, social media

At some point, y'all may need to rent all of these positions or only a few, depending on the size and needs of your business. You might also hire multiple workers for a unmarried function or a single worker for multiple roles, again depending on need.

Free-of-charge methods to recruit employees include posting ads on popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Jobs.com. Y'all might likewise consider a premium recruitment option, such as advertisement on Indeed, Glassdoor, or ZipRecruiter. Further, if you have the resources, you lot could consider hiring a recruitment agency to help you observe talent.

Step 13: Offset Making Money!

Events are back on after the pandemic, and people love cocktails. Mobile bartending is becoming increasingly popular and potentially very lucrative. If you take bartending skills, you could build a seriously successful mobile bartending performance.

You've learned the business side of things now, so it's time to milk shake it upwards and launch your mobile bartending business.

Mobile Bartending Business organisation FAQs

How much does information technology cost to start a mobile bartending business?

You can start a mobile bartending business concern for most $half dozen,000. Costs include your mobile bar, glassware, and cocktail-making supplies.

Can a mobile bartending business be profitable?

Yes, a mobile bartending business can exist very profitable. Yous'll brand about $fifty per hour plus tips, and a markup on drinks if you supply the alcohol for a cash bar.

Do I need a license to beginning a mobile bartending business?

If yous supply the booze, y'all'll need a liquor license. Y'all may also demand diverse business licenses and permits at the state and local levels. Check with your local governments for requirements or visit MyCorporation'south Business License Compliance folio.

How can I larn bartending skills?

If you need to learn bartending skills, you tin can find a bartending school in your local area, or you can take courses online on a site similar Udemy .