Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Colby Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Colby thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I’m tremendously grateful and happy to be a business owner! I’ve been on both sides of the fence and I’d choose to be a business owner 10 out of 10 times. Some of the key differentiating factors between being a business owner and have a “regular job” are 1) Stability 2) Responsibility 3) Freedom.
We’ll start with the first factor, Stability. One thing that is never a certain being a business owner is well “business”. You’re never truly sure what the market/demand for your business will be from day to day, month to month and year to year. What that really boils down to is money; will you be making money or won’t you? With a regular job you are able to rely on the fact that you will have a pay check every month, and for the most part that will be a fixed amount, you know how much money you’ll have each month. Where that differs as a business owner is that you may never know how much earnings you will have in a given month. It could be great it could be not so great. What that ultimately does, is in a sense keep you on your toes as a business owner. You need to make sure that you have the drive and put in the effort to secure business. Which in the end can be much more rewarding that relying on a fixed income, both financially and mentally.

Next, we’ll talk about “Responsibility”. To keep it simple, if you have a regular job you know what your roles are going to be each day. Your work starts when you clock in and ends when you clock out. On the contrary owning a business is a 24/7 endeavor. You wake up thinking about your business and you go to bed thinking about your business. Many have the opinion that business owners never have to work or don’t have to work as much as those with a 9-5. Often times that is the exact opposite. Although we don’t have confined work hours, we are always working, whether it hands on or behind the scenes. This is a tremendous responsibility, and you have to keep yourself accountable.

Lastly, is the Freedom that comes with owning a business. What I think of first when is comes to the freedom of owning a business is the ability to create. You are the creative mind and facilitator behind your product or service. Have a great idea or want to try something new? Then you do it! You get to experiment, try new things and don’t really have any restrictions. In addition is the ability to make your own schedule and live your life the way you please. Sure our schedule bends around the work that we do, but the ability to manipulate, adjust, and really the ability to say “no” is one of the most underrated perks of owning a business.

Colby, 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?

Modern Bartender is a customer service company….that tends bars! That is our main focus as a team and our motive on every job is to provide great customer service! That is our key differentiator from the competition. Now a days there are a bazillion mobile bartending companies out there but very few like us. We realized at our companies start that anyone can toss together some drinks but few can toss together some drinks, be engaging, be happy and be proactive. This mission starts from the time that a client sends over an inquiry to the time that we are packing up and leaving the event. We strive to be as genuine, friendly and transparent as possible with everyone that we do business with. And one thing that you can always always count on from Modern Bartender is RELIABILITY!

When I first started Modern Bartender, over 5 years ago, it was just myself a car and a couple of coolers. I had a drive to provide great customer service and have fun alongside my clients and their guests. I had very little business, very little street cred and very little funds to promote the business. So the only thing I could do is be as responsive as possible to any and every inquiry; make sure that when I did get a job that I went above and beyond expectations and to keep my head down and not give up. With that I can now proudly say that we are now one of the premier vendors in our industry. Although we are still a smaller operation and team (by design) we have expanded throughout the state of Arizona and now offer services in southern California. Our drive to provide great customer service has no bounds!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I think that this is a great topic for anyone looking to start a business or who has just started. Funding is always a main deterrent from starting a business. Unless you are already wealthy or as I like to coin the term have “Mom & Dad money”. You’ve got to get creative on how you will obtain the funds to start your business. Now i’d like to start by saying that, its very very unlikely that the business you initially start will not be close to the vision that you ultimately have. What I mean by that and I’ll use myself as an example; If I initially thought that I needing funding to start a Mobile Bartending business that would be operating in 2 states, have 10 employees and service 10+ events per month, I would’ve probably given up or not even tried. Where would I even get the money to start that? So figure out how much you can manage at first, take small bites and have the belief that there will be growth. If you have no money to start a business, start with sweat equity!
Then when you do have some revenue be sure to put that back into the business to ensure growth.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Maintaining a team is absolutely one of the harder things to accomplish in business. I find it even more difficult than getting or performing the work itself. You’re team are your business, especially in the service industry. Do not be cheap or cut corners when it comes to your team, this is a fatal flaw. Keep mind to treat your team like humans, treat them with respect and make sure that they feel that respect. A couple of the best things that you can do as a leader is be reliable, be steady, and be available. Your team will recognize this and portray those same attributes in their work. That in itself will aid in morale, but another morale booster is ownership! If your team feels and has a sense of ownership in their work and they can see that in the outcome, you’ll maintain and or boost morale!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://modernbartenderco.com
• Instagram: modern_bartenders
• Facebook: modern_bartenders