Wine on Wheels – A Pandemic Fueled Mobile Bar Event Business
SO…welcome to our first publication off of SUBSTACK! Long story (hmph) but we are now on a completely self-controlled platform because ya know, platforms suck. Welcome to all you hooligans who joined us. We see you!
A hairdresser and a physical trainer walk into a bar…
Pause. In this joke, the only thing they walk out with is six figures.
BUT FIRST A RANT:
I do a daily tweet called, Contrarian Take. I’m not sure I’m going to continue (comment your thoughts) because it gets so troll-filled.
BUT – my point is not to be right, but to make people think. To question narratives and to have constructive dialogue. Which may be an oxymoron these days. That’s why we started this whole Contrarian journey.
When someone asks me what WE, all of us who read this which means YOU, are doing here. I usually respond with something like this:
- We wake people up with words
- We free minds and bank accounts
- We make critical thinking cool again *Wink*
But in doing so you better be careful for as Oscar Wilde said,
“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.”
Back to trolls, this week my doozy was this one:
I triggered an entire population of men who prefer wallflowers & those who think I have an arranged marriage.
What I find fascinating is, 40-50% of marriages end in divorce. I should know, I’ve been there and got the ribbon. The idea of L-O-V-E is beautiful, but expectations unset are the foundation of unhappiness. So my man and I, we get specific.
We share where we want to go, what we want, and why it’s important to us. If he wants kids and I don’t. Probably not going to work well. If I want to travel the world non-stop but he would prefer to homestead and never leave, no bueno. If he’s really into throuples like Warren Buffet… He is unequivocally dead.
Ahem, I mean since that would be premeditated, that’s a No for me.
If we believe that the MOST IMPORTANT decision you can make is who to partner with in life, I’d love to know…
- How did you know your person was your person?
- What tools do you use to keep steering together?
NOW BACK TO WINE & CASH
Meet Julia & Melissa.
They got a set of Boston accents and knee high boots to match. They are after all from Worcestershire (pronounced Wooster, which pretty much sums up Bahhston).
But these ladies did a fun thing. And we love the relatable, girl next door, scalable nature of it.
The skinny… one of their gym businesses wasn’t booming (ya know Covid), the other one couldn’t get her hands on any locks in need of highlights (ahem pandemic).
So they decided to go all in on their love of salad:
- Ok, fruit salad
- Ok, grapes
- Ok, f-ing wine
They bought an old vintage trailer.
Then volun-told one husband to rehab and kitsch it out for a wino on wheels mobile.
Meet Winona, their 1970s wine camper. Winona, travels to homes and businesses, hosting wine-focused outdoor events at Decanted Wine Trucks.
It makes sense because between the pair of them, they literally have 52 kids. IDK we lost count past 5, or was it 7? Thus, a wine truck makes sense. #becausekids
Jokes aside.
They have a heck of a story. So this week giving you the short and sloshy version of how to start a wine truck business and get to 6-7 figures in revenue.
Or maybe smarter just get these ladies to franchise their model out to you, or invest. I can picture soccer moms everywhere celebrating.
Mobile & Wine Fast Stats:
- Americans spend $15 Billion+ on wine a year
- $1.1B spent on Mobile Food Trucks
- Food trucks growing at a 10% CAGR
- Women are the predominant purchasers of wine
That’s A LOT of cash, and growing by double digits each year.
Okay, the IDEA:
- Melissa & Julia like wine
- Other moms like wine
- People want to go outside
- People want to hang out
- Parties were in the home, not in restaurants
Here’s what they did.
Their main customers come to them for happy hours, Friday fun nights, event planning, micro weddings, festivals, and corporate events.
Customers book out packages, and Winona drives to them to host. The ladies take care of the whole set up, decor and all (so they can charge a premium).
The guests enjoy a few hours of carefully curated wines, matching small snacks, music and social fun. Word started to spread, moms are killer referral sources and they are now overbooked.
With Decanted’s packages ranging from $650-$5000 per event, them being able to do two per day, and demand increasing on the daily…they were profitable in 4 months.
With an investment of about $30,000 in start-up capital, based on their costs and prices, on their way to a 6 figure profit year.
**Sidenote – I think they’re undercharging. I would up the prices and offer super luxury. I’d also get like 3 other trucks asap and hire. As well as white label wine for better margins & eventual CPG play. Grab the bull by the MFing horns.
The Contrarian Team sat down with this dynamic duo to get some insider info on the idea.
THE HOW: BREAKDOWN: Starting a Wine Mobile in 10 Steps
In our keep it stupid simple method, here’s how they did it. How we’d do it and how we are going to talk them into doing more and maybe even invest in these two blondes.
- #1 – Create a budget and business plan
- #2 – Research your area for permits needed, etc
- #3 – Buy the truck and other needed equipment
- #4 – Renovate it
- #5 – Secure all of your needed licenses and permits
- #6 – Source your food and wine
- #7 – Set your packages and prices
- #8 – Determine customer acquisition source
- #9 – Soft launch, heavy on branding and experience
- #10 – Plaster the experience over social media and snag some PR!
TAKEAWAYS: Hot Takes
1 – Mobility is good.
They travel wherever they want…to events, corporate locations, festivals, etc. They say when they drive downtown, people are shouting at ‘Winona’ like she’s a moving billboard. Talk about word of mouth.
Takeaway: Flexibility is good… what if mobile wine trucks for HHs are like Zoom for meetings?
3 – The experience.
They want you to EXPERIENCE a good time, more than just the wine. SO they have additions to help with that. Curated tasty wines to match, food tasting, and decor, which is switched up to match the demographics of their event. All cost less than $1-2k at Home Goods and Michaels but allow for $1-2k etc in profit.
Takeaway: Make it an experience with sights, sounds, tastes… especially as an event business. This is where you’ll find a heavy differentiator.
4 – Licensing.
This is the most difficult part. They live in Massachusetts, but you’ll have to pull up legalities for your area. There’s a lot of red tape to jump through, especially if you include alcohol and food. There are also certifications for their crew, TIP Cert, Allergy, etc.
Takeaway: Do your research. Pro tip: Use the SBA license guidelines process and here. We’d probably just call them and ask them to walk us through it, then get an attorney to finish the gig.
The ladies needed (in addition to links provided by the SBA) or your city:
- Alcohol Permit
- Food Permit
- Alarm Permit
- Business License and Tax Permit
- Health Permit
- Signage Permit
- Zoning Permit
5 – The goods.
Winona, the camper, is 1970s super retro, adorable, and easily decorated. As these types of campers are competitive to purchase, she was bought entirely off-market. They got her for $1500 but put $10kish into the renovation. They could be found for $50k+ completed.
Takeaway: shop around, message sellers you see to get on top of their next trailer for sale before hitting the market. Check niche buy/sell/trade sites, Facebook, Craigslist. Look for those moderately renovated… if you don’t have a handy hubby, of course.
6 – Business model/pricing.
Decanted offers packages at different cost points that include a certain amount of tasting, as well as other accessories. They source their wine directly from the distributor. Each package includes variable and fixed costs and ranges from $650-$5k and everywhere in between.
Takeaway: At first, be flexible with your offerings until it’s more lucrative to focus on 2-4 core packages. Charge more for a premium offering, showcase your brand as very valuable.
7 – Costs.
- Licensing was $2000 and lots of time. (Cut this time by hiring an attorney, but be prepared to pay more).
- The truck was $1500, add time and money for renovation.
- Accessories like tables and linens, flowers, $5,000.
- Sourcing the wine from a distributor has great margins, around 50%, $6000/month.
- They source the food wholesale, only a 20% margin $5000/month
- Budget also for additional storing and housing when your food, wine, and track aren’t being used.
In total, they have about $30k invested as start up capital.
They’ll make back their money in four months and move to 5 digits in revenue with 50% profits in months 4-5. This is only with 1 truck. They’re completely booked solid for the summer, multiple events per day, and are looking into licensing for another location. This will be where external capital comes into play because they need more equipment.
Sidenote: Mom if you’re reading this, I’m going to need you to up your productivity.
8 – Marketing.
Superpowers. They went local, hitting up their local news outlet to tell the story of something good coming out of the pandemic, and from 2 moms no less. Love the PR angle. They put out a press release to make it look official, anyone can do that on PR Newswire for a small fee. They only have 999 followers on IG, so you don’t need to be Gary Vee to clear 6 figures in this.
- Drop notes at local big businesses.
- Contact all the local wedding planners.
- List on Airbnb curated experiences.
- PTAs, book clubs, maybe even Costco parking lots?
MORE MONEY TO BE MADE IN THE MOBILE?
On another more Java-like note, a model without alcohol permits?
A c built tiny home on wheels where 3/4ths is livable space, and the other 1/4th? A traveling coffee shop.
The owners wanted a way to travel AND make money. So, the Red Byrd was born. However, they’ve since become a local TN coffee shop, traveling to some in-state events and festivals.
A happy combo of mobile food businesses like Decanted and fun use cases of Tiny Homes like Rob’s.
Complacency kills, stay mobile,
Codie and the CT team
