HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON YOUR POP-UP
Hosting a pop-up can be an incredibly fun and wonderful learning experience. Whether you’re looking to test drive your restaurant concept with minimal commitment, raise money for a cause, or boost your visibility, pop-ups might be the next step in your journey.
They can also be ultimate tests of financial prowess, where you’re the one with the highest stakes. Being in charge of every decision is both liberating and a massive responsibility to bear. So how do you make sure you’re actually making money off it – or at the very least, breaking even?
To help you out we’ve gathered several case studies from a range of pop-up professionals detailing their events, what their aims were, how much they made, and the steps they took to get there.
Case Study #1: Rav and Terri
“For me, usually the main aim of a pop-up is never to make money (although you should never lose money either). I think that it should be a longer-term career goal, focused on building experience and visibility. But on this occasion we were obviously collecting money for charity, so we really needed to focus on that.
We did really detailed financial planning, which was essential, and we also did really detailed event sheets in terms of prep, staffing schedule etc, giving ourselves quite a lot of wiggle room in case anything went wrong.
Because it was drop-in rather than ticketed it was obviously more difficult to judge quantities, but we took surveys on instagram prior to the event to judge interest and that helped minimise wastage. We had a few difficulties on the day – half our staff called in sick and we had to draft in friends to help. There was also an extreme cold snap, not ideal for an open-air event, which meant that we had to spend time putting up heaters and gazebos. That meant that everything took way longer, and time is money in terms of staffing, or lost sales if people are waiting a long time.
At the end of the day though our product was great and we shouted about it a lot before hand so we made loads of sales in spite of the cold.
You have to remember that every single decision you make, every single unexpected thing whether that’s inside your control or outside your control, will have a knock-on financial effect. That might be wages, wastage, sales or additional costs – everything is cause and effect. The more you plan in buffers for error, the more protected you will be.”
Case Study #2: Jodi Strang
THE EVENT: Jodi’s first ever “86” supperclub at Greensmith’s
THE GOAL: First event to get some visibility, get a taste for how it works, ultimately a step in a longer-term plan to build a brand
THE PROFIT: £1,300 (less staffing when I worked out I’d made a profit!)
“The first thing I’d say is to not be afraid to ask for help and be honest about your situation with everyone. I roped in my friends from Fallow to help me FOH and BOH. I didn’t know how much I’d end up making so rather than paying them, the deal was that the leftover wine would get divvied up and that I’d take them out to the pub for a night out. When I realised a week later that I’d made £1.3k I gave them all some cash too.
The second thing was that the venue was so well fitted to my concept. I didn’t have to rent or buy any crockery or equipment, which can cost a lot and be wasteful, and went to the venue three, four times in the lead-up to the event to make sure my menu aligned with the kit they had and tweaked things if they didn’t.
There’s a lot that goes into menu planning and costing as well; you don’t realise how much even just five extra portions costs you wholesale price. I weighed out every course to the gram and did my ordering based on that so there was no waste, using some of the Fallow suppliers so I had a good cost price. Being creative with less premium ingredients, and balancing out where I spent my money, was also important. I spent more than 50% of my food cost on meat but then the rest of my menu was very vegetable heavy and less expensive.
Where you put the money really depends on what your end goal is, whether you’re planning on doing a series, or in my case establishing a brand. I didn’t just go and buy a handbag with those profits, I’m reinvesting it into the next one. For my second one I want to focus on getting more content and assets for social media so I’m spending some of that money on a photographer. I’ll also be paying my staff, but ultimately the cost of my menu needs to reflect those extra spends to make sure I’m not losing money.
Every single decision you make has to be calculated, which is where I think people go wrong by wanting to do everything without thinking it all through! The whole thing has to have a level of realism, there’s only so much you’re capable of. When you commit to doing the things that you know how to do really well, and set your ego aside a bit, it’s way better received.”
Case Study #3: Makes Miso Hungry
THE EVENT: Yoko’s Makes Miso Hungry supperclub
THE GOAL: To connect to Japanese food loving foodies face to face; to do something I love and grow brand awareness
THE PROFIT: I was happy!
“For me, supper clubs are such a great way to connect with other foodies. Everyone is there exploring new food and open to meeting new people. I’ve always been a feeder so I love creating that opportunity for myself to cook for people and growing my cooking skills. It’s also about getting your name out there as a small business cos that’s how you grow!
Financial planning is definitely a skill you grow with practice (I didn’t make any money in my first couple of supperclubs), but it’s all in the menu creation stage for me. It’s figuring out a menu that you think everyone will love, thinking about what’s in season (in season also = cheaper) and the overall balance of the dishes. Supper clubs are usually easier to calculate the costs, as you have a set number of seats with a set menu. BUT the tricky part, which you’ll learn as you do a few, is knowing what the right grams are of things for starter, main etc so that you can do the math accurately. It’s never quite as simple as that either as you have to think ahead to wastage and unexpected costs too!
It’s also a collaboration with the venue and it’s important to listen to their aims too and work together to get the right price point with them.
So for me, it’s not a primary goal at all to make money at these things for the reasons I say above, but I’ve also allowed myself to stop feeling guilty about charging my time for all the hard work and time that I put into it – and so should you!
Lastly just some tips I’d like to share are: the more you cook for, the better the profit (economies of scale); keep to a lean team (2 helpers for 35 people is a good rule of thumb – this comes with practice though so get a few under your belt first); and plan your cooking schedule ahead of time, to avoid unproductive time.”
Case Study #4: Empress Market
THE EVENT: Empress Market’s Koyla Supperclub, June 2022
THE GOAL: To showcase my summer menu, while still covering costs (including time worked) with ticket sales.
THE PROFIT: I was happy
“The Empress Market supperclubs are an opportunity to create visibility and develop long term connections with my community. I really enjoy seeing regular guests at my events, it is also an opportunity for me to grow creatively. I describe the supperclubs as my test kitchen, the moments where I can play with ingredients and technique.
The events aren’t big profit making opportunities but it’s important to make it worth my while too. I usually make a forecast budget during prep, and measure against it as things progress. Don’t forget to include the cost of your time as well, how else are you going to pay your bills? I’ll be implementing the same principles for my next supperclub in April.
Planning and delegating to a team is key for pop-up events and my experience in catering comes in handy here. It’s important to have good chefs and FOH support. I always like to keep a balance of some new people I can train and more experienced team members who I trust. I do get that this is a work in progress for all of us, especially in the beginning. I was lucky to have friends and family who helped out at my first events, my mum flipping rotis while I plated food.
At the Koyla supperclub, the entire menu was cooked on an open fire, so there was more risk than usual of things going wrong! I drafted a detailed schedule, for prep and service, making sure I was ready to greet guests and get the food out on time. I held a meeting to brief my team ahead of time, giving each one clear instructions of their duties on their copies of the schedule. Some of my notes read like a HACCP document (!) but I needed to ensure they had the tools to operate the event and overcome challenges without having to seek me out.
Hospitality is really all about people. I wouldn’t be able to host my Empress Market supperclubs without my fabulous team. I aim to create unique experiences, and whilst I can plan and prep all I want I only have two hands. It takes a village to get things done, a team to rally round you and make sure your guests have a night they won’t forget. Make sure you have people you can trust and a plan to communicate to them clearly.”
Being clear about your ultimate goal will help you determine how to spend your money, what you can prioritise, and where you can compromise.
Ultimately, the more you plan ahead the better position you’ll be in to deal with last minute crises.
And finally, think about how to get creative with the resources you have available. Flexibility is paramount; don’t be afraid to change your original plan if it doesn’t fit the circumstances, and don’t be afraid to ask for help! Your loved ones want to see you succeed too, and might just be willing to offer an extra pair of hands.