I took on Sundays at the bar for the month of February, partially because I took Wednesdays off in January and needed the money boost, but also to prove that I could make it a more profitable night in four weeks. Sundays are the most pathetic night of the week and have been for years. The only way to get them awesome is to find a big group of people who would enjoy having the place to themselves. Industry folk are perfect for this -- one former bartender convinced the entire staff from Chili's to party at our place after they all got off work, and being industry, they tip well -- as are bands that have a decent following. I thought about hosting a late afternoon barbecue for a for-fun-only sports team, softball or ultimate frisbee or something, or for the local scooter club to end up in Goleta after a long ride, but that requires more effort than I was willing to put in. I'm not lazy, just efficient.
The first Sunday, I planned nothing, just to see what I was dealing with, and also because it was Superbowl Sunday. It was dead. To say the least.
The second Sunday, I told my boss I was going to have a game night, and she rallied her friends and I rallied mine. Kristie bought a few games to add to our collection, and we all had a great fucking time with a Connect 4 tournament, some sort of a dice game (I won $20, woo!), and Apples to Apples. Profits doubled from the previous Sunday.
The third Sunday, I called a friend and asked his band to play, knowing he would get all his friends out to Goleta. He found another band to open the show, they did all the advertising, and with one phone call, I increased gross sales by 650%.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do for next Sunday, but that little feat, in addition to my new biggest fans who have sworn to come in every night that I work (these are the platonic guy friends I was writing about), have me flying pretty high on the job front.