How to Run a Successful Fireworks Stand

How to Make Money Running a Fireworks Tent

So you have started in the fireworks business or are a seasoned professional who is looking for ways to maximize the money they are going to make. Included are some of the ways we have found to maximize our money while minimizing our time and effort. 

Be Organized

Organization is key for any business but it is especially easy to be disorganized running a fireworks tent because the tent not permanent. Be organized with the amount of money you are taking in. Know where it is, where it needs to go, and what day you made the money. This is key because tracking what days people are buying fireworks is important for staffing reasons. Be organized with the fireworks. We use bins with the set up of our fireworks because it allows
use to determine an area for each item and also keeps the tables looking neat. Be organized with your employees. Each employee needs to have a job and needs to understand what that job entails to get the most out of them and therefore the most out of your stand.

Tell people what you actually like

When people ask what you really like you need to tell them that item and not what you have the most of. Most people are smart plus if you actually like an item you are more likely to talk about it with energy as opposed to another item. Plus telling the truth is part of your job. Finally if you like an item then the person buying the fireworks is more likely to like the item as well (since you know what you are doing and what each firework does) and therefore come back to your stand in the future.

Get a water cooler 

You will be amazed how much you drink when working in the hot stand and how much you spend on those drinks. The easy alternative to this is getting a water cooler like the ones used for sports. Bring water and ice from your home everyday and Dixie cups to drink out of and you have something to drink all day almost for free.

Set up TV's

TV's are key for two reasons. The first being having something to do while you are there. This will be talked about more later. The second being showing off your fireworks to potential buyers. People buy more fireworks then they meant to because of two reasons. They understand and are comfortable purchasing their fireworks or you are a really good sells man or sells woman. Getting them comfortable involves giving them knowledge which is what the TV is for. You need to ask the company you are working for to get you a DVD on what each firework does. Then show the customers. Also the more TV's you have going with the purchasing DVD then the more people who can watch the fireworks and therefore become comfortable with what they are purchasing.

People are key

A business is only as good as its people. So therefore you need to recruit great people to help you in your tent. After you have found a group of people you can trust then you need to have them into the tent before the 2^nd so you can find out what they are good at.

So you have started in the fireworks business or are a seasoned professional who is looking for ways to maximize the money they are going to make. Included are some of the ways we have found to maximize our money while minimizing our time and effort. 

Don't Spend the Night

You should be the most important person in your fireworks tent so therefore you need to be the most productive during the peak hours. Therefore you do not need to be spending the night because no matter how hard you try and get comfortable you will not sleep as well as at your house. Also you need some time away from the tent for your own sanity and therefore going home at night makes sense.

Have something to work on while you are there

Most of the time spend in a fireworks tent is spent without any customers so you are going to need something to do while you have nothing to do. If you have brought some TV's then it is a whole lot easier. We spending time in our tent we played on our Xbox's and rented movies from Redbox to keep us entertained. If you like to read bring a book, if you like to work bring something from your other job to work on, the key is having something to do.

Throw your trash away 

This sounds like a really obvious one but it is harder than you think. The first couple of days there is not a whole lot going on so it is really easy to do. When it gets busy it is a whole other story. My suggestion is to tie up trash bags wherever trash is likely to occur. This means definitely put trash bags in the rockets section and in the firecrackers/non-fireworks section as this is where the most packing has to be taken off. The goal is on the 5^th to not have to spend several hours cleaning up the trash that was just thrown on the ground.