Polish Bartender Makes Money While Drinking Beer

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Hello, hello, what's up, welcome. My name is Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to Side Hustle School on a mission to help you create a new source of income without quitting your day job. Now listen, have you ever used the words, "There has to be a better way"? You might be frustrated at something you encounter in daily life or just find something that's very inefficient, it could be done better.

I encourage you to pay attention to those observations. Because paying attention has led to a lot of side hustles. If there's something you're looking for and you can't find it, you're probably not the only one. And if you're frustrated by something, other people probably are too. Now today's story is about a Polish bartender living in the UK who sets up an online shop to sell cocktail equipment.

And before he started, he didn't know a whole lot about setting up an online shop, but he did know cocktail equipment and he was frustrated about something, but fortunately he didn't remain frustrated. He took action and created this growing asset for himself. And his story is coming up right after this brief message. [Music]

Some people bartend as a job or just something to do for a time to pay some bills, but some do it as a career because they love the art of mixology. Paul Bobiak was one of those professionals who truly enjoys mixing up a nice drink.

Whether it's a gin gimlet with Hendrix and cucumber or a prohibition era Sazerac with an absinthe rinse, he loved the research, the preparation and the interaction with customers. He's been doing it for nine years, both in his native Poland and his adopted country, the United Kingdom. These days he mostly does event bartending, meaning that he doesn't have a home bar, but rather travels around to various corporate parties, perceptions and weddings. He recently had the chance to open a bar in London's O2 Arena for Virgin Atlantic and Delta Airlines. This was a major project and it came with a lot of autonomy.

Paul was in charge of hiring and ordering all the supplies they needed. Paul is a naturally curious person and throughout his years of bartending, he often asked managers and bar owners about the best places to find supplies. But their answers were always vague. They said, go to Amazon, go to eBay, head to the market. Now that he was in charge of setting up a bar, he saw how difficult it was.

The supplier they were working with was out of stock and nearly a third of the items they needed. Their catalog and website had no photos, only one line descriptions of all the items. So he had to make his best guess without actually seeing anything. In one case, he needed four of an item, but it was only sold in packs of 12. He described the whole process as a nightmare.

And he said to himself, there has to be a better way. Paul decided to take matters into his own hands and open his own barware shop. He was new to the UK, didn't have a lot of contacts, hadn't made a website, but he was resourceful and figured all those things out step by step. It wasn't an overnight success at all. In fact, it was extremely slow in the beginning.

He didn't have any suppliers and he got stuck on a few things. But he did eventually set up that website, barcounterlondon.com. And on its about page, it displays a clear mission, to provide bartenders, cocktail lovers and enthusiasts with affordable bar tools and other supplies. The promise is you save money by skipping the middleman when you shop with us, since we work directly with suppliers and manufacturers. We even make some of the stuff ourselves, like wooden muddlers.

And here's a fun touch I noticed. If you read that about page carefully and scroll to the bottom, you get a free shipping coupon. So he's basically rewarding site visitors for learning about his business. Barcounterlondon is now up and running, serving customers throughout the UK. He's also experimented with setting up shop at London's famous Camden Market.

Paul is still bartending during the week, but he enjoys the passive income that's coming from the website. In fact, the best part of the experience has been a couple of times when he's checked his phone to see that he made a day's wages while he was out drinking beer with friends. He'd love for Barcounterlondon to become a full-time focus at some point, but he's not in a hurry and he feels like he's on the right track. Paul also relays this proverb he heard once. And it says, "If you want to start your own garden, what do you put there first?" The answer is your foot.

In other words, you have to do some work. This is like the Polish version of inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is better. So thanks for carrying my tagline for me, Paul, and congratulations on your side hustle success. [Music]

Side hustle school listeners, remember that phrase, "There has to be a better way." If in your life, your work, your travels, your adventures, you find yourself with this realization, something that frustrates you, something that could be done so much better or easier, and you're trying to figure out what's your side hustle, this is a great direction to go down. What could be made better, easier, cheaper, more efficient, or some other positive change in a marketplace?

That's a great thing to think about as you go about your day and especially as you're looking for what to do next. Show notes for today's episode are live at sidehustleschool.com/209. You can also get a free five steps to hustle course there, along with a bunch of other fun stuff. I will be back tomorrow. Until then, raise a glass to freedom, something they will never take away, just like your daily episode of "Side Hustle School." [Music]