How to Price Out Events for Your Photobooth Company When Traveling
Running a photobooth company can be an exciting and lucrative business. However, pricing out events where you need to travel requires a bit more consideration. Factoring in costs like food, hotel, gas, airfare, and more will require some investigating, especially when considering the time of year or peak seasons within your business. In this blog post, we'll discuss how to price out events that require travel and how to build it into your standard cost.
Factors to Consider
When pricing out events that require travel, there are several factors you need to consider. Here are some of the most important ones:
Transportation
The first and most obvious factor is transportation. You need to consider how you'll be getting to the event. What you need to consider is your means of transportation: will you be flying or driving? Driving may take more time, but if it’s a more cost effective means for you to transport your equipment and team there, sometimes this is the smartest option. driving costs you need to consider are paid employee travel time, gas and tolls.
When flying with your equipment and team, it’s important to factor in not only ticket prices, but also baggage fees. Some airlines may have higher ticket prices, but free checked bags. When it comes to your media equipment, that can make all the difference. Additional expenses to consider will be renting a car or using a ride sharing app to get yourself and your equipment around. Take a look at our previous blog on how to save on baggage fees with a media pass.
My recommendation is to always travel a day or two before your event. Typically morning flights, 5AM-8am tend to be the most on time. while flights later in the day have the most potential for running late. Always factor in time to be able to fix a problem should something arise.
my favorite app of the moment is FLIGHTY! It’s a great way to keep track of you and your friends flights.
Accommodation
Once you've arrived at your destination, you'll need a place to stay. You'll need to factor in the cost of a hotel or other accommodations such as Airbnb or VRBO. Depending on the length of the event, you may need to stay for several nights. Make sure you choose a hotel that's close to the event venue to minimize transportation costs. Some ways to minimize your cost is selecting an accommodation that has free breakfast, possibly free shuttle service to and from the airport and a location close to your venue to reduce transportation costs.
Food
Don’t forget the food budget! You'll need to eat while you're on the road and while you're at the event. If you're driving, you can pack snacks and sandwiches to save money. If you're flying, you'll need to budget for meals at the airport and during your stay.
Food is fuel, especially for your photo booth team! Making sure you’re not going to go hungry or break the bank, you’ll want to scope out some easy-to-grab meals for event or full travel days. Some things to keep in mind when finding that venue to curb your appetite: event venues usually have higher cost of food and drink. If you and your team can, eat prior to an event or pack food. Sometimes, your clients will offer vendor meals during their events.
A couple ways to track food expenses and minimizing cost is setting parameters for your team. For example, implementing a per diem amount, a trip amount and ensuring your staff isn’t purchasing alcohol on their company cards or expensing alcohol to the trip. All companies are different, so find out what works best for you and your team!
PAYROLL
A common question i get asked is for pay for employees during travel periods. Should employees be paid while TRAVELING. The answer is, yes. the pay will vary from company to company, however our attendants are paid an hourly rate for drive time while they are on their way to the event. for events they are flying to, they aren’t paid for the flight time, however they do receive a flat fee for each city they go to. all meals are also all paid for while they are on their trip. it may seem like a lot, however if you’re charging your client appropriately this cost should be negligible.
Building the Costs into Your Standard Pricing
Once you've calculated the costs of transportation, accommodation, and food, you'll need to build them into your standard pricing. i would recommend against a SEPARATE line item on your invoice for a travel fee. typically larger entities will be more inclined to hire someone locally. building in the cost of your travel into your photo booth experience will result in the likelihood of your client booking.
Conclusion
Pricing out events that have a travel component can be challenging, but tracking this information is a key factor in running a successful photobooth business. While building all of the travel cost into your standard pricing, you can ensure you’re making a profit on every event you book. Remembering to choose your accommodations wisely, pack food and beverages if you are driving, and investigating other savings considerations for your trip you will be sure to positively impact your bottom line and have a successful photobooth company that can travel anywhere.
