We recently connected with Bridgette Baldwin and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Bridgette thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

The biggest challenge is the cost of goods right now. With the pandemic and how it has affected the economy, supplies that used to cost us $100 an event are now upwards of $300. To find the balance with cost and profitability without price gouging our consumers has been quite the challenge. We are doing our best to maintain reasonable pricing, integrity and quality of goods and service. Hopefully it balances out soon!

Bridgette, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well my name is Bridgette and I own The Hive mobile event and bartending services. I am proud to be one of the only black owned, woman owned mobile bar services in Arizona and I pride myself on employing women and minorities just to show that we can run a quality business and grow at an unbelievable rate. What makes us difference is our focus on attention and detail. We always put our clients first and will think outside the box to make their vision come true.

I am most proud of our growth and that most of our clients are referred to us, which means our reputation precedes us.

Our business focuses on the full bar experience and we have teamed up with other woman owned businesses in the valley to really create an experience and positive addition to events, rather than just be a cookie cutter vendor.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The lesson that I had to unlearn is that not every client is a good fit for you. While we strive to reach a wide array of clients, we are set to provide a quality experience and there are a lot of working parts that go with that. We have learned to stand firm on what we provide and at what rate. That has allowed us to raise the bar and create a great experience every time as we are not wavering on the quality of our products,

Can you talk to us about your experience with buying businesses?

I recently acquired another business but I cant tell you the details just yet, just know that you’ll love it. I actually met with another woman business owner and she was expanding and I wanted to be a part of it! It was more of a franchising move but it involved a lot of training, a lot of contracts and a lot of transparency.

In being a business owner, it is not uncommon to want to keep your ideas and thoughts to yourself for fear of someone duplicating. This business move taught me that its ok to partner and that people aren’t in competition with you and that there is room for everyone to win!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thehiveaz.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thehivemobilebartending

Image Credits
Tor Hawley Photography