PanamaExpat
Got Wood.
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2013
- Location
- Ciudad...
I have been self employed all of my life and the part about PAYING YOURSELF is very important. If you are not doing it for the money then why waste your time.
That's the key right there. And this is what so many people miss, especially early on. Everyone wants to cover food costs, and other direct and indirect costs, but paying for your time is often an oversight.
Think about it. Say you made 150 bucks, net of all direct costs, at the end of the day. What's that really worth if all the advance prep time, shopping time, travel time, cooking time, cleaning time, packing up time, took 15 hours in total? Is busting your ass for 10 bucks an hour worth it? If you made even less, or spent even more time on the gig, is doing all of that for practically minimum wage worth it?
The answer is obviously different for everyone, but you need to factor in the idea of paying yourself as well rather than just relying on any cash in the till at the end of the event is good enough.
Even small gigs. Is it worth it to bust your butt for an entire Saturday just to make 50 bucks instead of spending the afternoon fishing, golfing, or taking your kids to the zoo?
Part of your pricing structure should include what you want to pay yourself for your time. Your time isn't worthless, and even though it's a ton of fun to cook BBQ and feed people who end up with smiles on their faces after eating your food, it isn't a charity event. You need to make sure you're making enough money to pay for your sacrifice of time so that you can continue to enjoy it and not just get stuck in a rut of doing it for the sake of doing it.
Just my very honest two cents.
If you get your name out for serving cheap que, that is what you will be known as and those are the customers you will attract. Google around for all the retailers who thought offering a groupon deal would get them more exposure and the type of customers these deals actually brought.
I want to be known for awesome food, great service, and a fun atmosphere. I use the best stuff, and take great pride in what I do, and my attitude shines through to my members who agree.
Just my opinion, and I am sure there are some guys out there who do well being the cheap guy working on huge volume.
Thanks for the info. I took your advice and raised prices. I've had 3 people call wanting me to cater events since I did my first 2 vending deals. I told them all that if they are looking for run of the mill BBQ at a low price, I'm not the guy you need. If you want the best BBQ you've ever eaten and you don't care to pay for the best, then we can talk. Not exactly in those words but they got my drift. Thanks again for the insight.
Cool. Next thing you need to do is work on your online presentation. I do web design/consultation, check out my site. I try and put up some enticing photos of my stuff. Heck, look at the writeup I did for the burger we serve, you can see what I mean by giving your food the appearance of being special. I have video clips where we actually pulled random people at my party and asked them to say a few words about TGJ and they gave great testimonials. You want to give the perception of quality, something special. Nobody wants to serve cheap or average food to their friends or family.
Hope it all works out for you!!
Let us know how that goes!You guys have great insight and I am taking it all in as I am doing a very small but first event this evening