The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
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The Alimond Show
David Barton Harris - From Music to Puzzles: Building Barton Smart LLC Trivia Empire
Ever wondered how a stand-up comedian could transform his passion for puzzles into a thriving business? Meet David Barton Harris, the creative force behind Barton Smart LLC, a trivia and entertainment venture that's taking local bars, breweries, and restaurants by storm. This episode is a captivating journey through David's unexpected career shift from music composition to puzzle creation, ignited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tune in to hear David's story of turning a casual bartending gig into a full-fledged business that not only draws crowds but keeps them coming back for more.
Discover the art and strategy behind crafting engaging trivia events with David as your guide. He shares the secrets behind his creative process, drawing parallels between composing music and designing multi-layered puzzles. From the importance of seasonality and topical relevance to the joy of witnessing participants' "aha" moments, this episode is packed with insights on building a loyal trivia community. David also reveals his savvy use of social media to keep fans hooked and the dual marketing approach that targets both trivia players and venue owners.
Dreaming of starting your own business? David's story is a testament to the power of passion and the fulfillment that comes from entrepreneurship. Listen as he discusses the flexibility of trivia events for various settings, ranging from corporate gatherings to private parties. His mantra of relentless improvement and genuine interaction with clients will inspire you to chase your own entrepreneurial dreams. Whether you're a trivia enthusiast, a budding entrepreneur, or someone seeking a fresh perspective on business, this episode promises to leave you motivated and ready to take the leap.
My name is David Barton Harris. My business is Barton Smart LLC, which came from a character I used to do a long time ago. I used to be involved in stand-up and had this character called Barton Smart. I started this trivia and entertainment business about three years ago for local businesses in the area and kind of brought back this character, Barton Smart, and it became the centerpiece of this business, the idea behind it. So you may have played trivia or something like that yes.
Speaker 1:Like a bar or a brewery or restaurant or something like that. And really my client started in the beginning as bars, breweries, restaurants in the area. As a way to get people to show up really on weeknights was kind of the issue. Especially coming out of like COVID, it was really hard for a lot of restaurants uh to to just have enough clients to stay open and so, uh, yeah, I, I I was advertised as this is an event I'm going to do, uh'm going to host this. Keep customers in a location for a couple hours. You'll make more money than it costs to hire me. And that was kind of the business model in the beginning. And the players around this area have just, they're just great, they play and they're committed, they come back weekly and so very quickly, like I learned, this can draw a regular returning customer base.
Speaker 1:I originally did it as almost like I was bored, like I was bartending somewhere and I was just bored with it, how dead it could be on weeknights. And it took off and I just poured effort into it. I used to be a teacher, a composer, and composing puzzles, which is a big part of what I do, is a lot like composing music. I realize I'm getting really into the weeds, but I really poured all this effort into creating games that are really engaging for a couple hours and before I knew it, I had more and more clients, the clients being these breweries and restaurants. And that's really the first type of client I had and as the business has evolved, it's gone into other stuff like just the team building, events for corporate things, stuff like that. I'll do private events. I did something for teachers yesterday, like teachers on a teacher work day.
Speaker 1:So it was like their team building, reward for showing up to school a week earlier than any of their students, so stuff like that. I've really shifted the business into and it's taken off. I'm just busy all the time. I feel like, um, that's good, yeah, so that is kind of how the business works. I think what separates me from other trivia is really that I love puzzles. Like I don't want it to just be about what you can recall in the moment, like what you know. Yeah, I feel like that limits how many people you can play for Definitely like ages.
Speaker 1:But I like not just what you know, but what you can solve, especially within a time frame.
Speaker 2:Oh gosh the pressure yeah.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit of a hopefully a good pressure.
Speaker 2:Yes, no, obviously a challenge that people like yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so one of my favorite things to do is write puzzles. I love writing crossword puzzles.
Speaker 2:Did you make this one?
Speaker 1:I write every crossword that I use. I just love them. I love doing them and it turns out I really like making them. You'll get something like this at the beginning of a of a night and you'll work on this, or you'll have some of your team kind of working on this while you're also answering other questions cool. I love this yeah, so you're staying engaged and hopefully for my clients, um ordering more drinks and food as you do it, and that's kind of the idea behind it.
Speaker 2:Very, very nice. If somebody wanted to like do some of your puzzles, would they be able to go online and find this too? Or is it only for the clients? These are specifically made for them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't want to tell some of the players that come that they can just go to a website and download it.
Speaker 2:Very true, very smart, I really want you know my clients.
Speaker 1:I still see my clients as the brewery owner and the restaurant owner.
Speaker 2:That makes sense.
Speaker 1:I want them to benefit from the people being there.
Speaker 2:So occasionally I do get requests, can you? Send me that crossword, not at this stage.
Speaker 1:Yes, as the business grows, it may turn into a subscription service. There you go to a subscription service with the idea that, um, you know, you could be a brewery in Denver or something like that and pay a monthly fee to have my content streamed, so that you could you could play that in any, any bar.
Speaker 2:That would be so brilliant.
Speaker 1:Well, it's good right.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:See the little help getting there, yes, right. It's, it's been uh, it's been a one man show for the longest time, and then I started to hire people when I would be double booked. I love to go out and host. I really love the relationships with the players, so it always breaks my heart a little bit when that happens and I can't be there, but I've been able to hire other hosts when I personally can't be there.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:But they're using my content.
Speaker 2:Nice. I love that, and can you give me a little bit of a background of how you got into this industry, like what started all this? Were you just a kid, just solving puzzles and knew this is what you wanted to do?
Speaker 1:I wish I could, liliana. It's just so weird I feel like I yes, I was always that kid. I loved puzzles. I came, I got a master's degree from 2019 to 2020 in music composition, which I've always loved, and I really thought at this stage in my life I'd be a music professor. And I think COVID switched things up enough that it kind of threw me off, but in a good way. And now writing puzzles kind of scratches that itch of composing and the feedback's incredible. Like I can spend a couple of days working on a puzzle and give it out to people and immediately get response from it, whereas if you're a composer, you kind of spend weeks or months just by yourself and your works may never even get heard. So that, I think, is where it came from me, personality wise. But it was a bit of a fluke just how it worked out.
Speaker 1:Like I said, I was bartending at a place and you know I'd make all you know I was. It was. It was like we were coming out of COVID, I wasn't ready to start a PhD program and so I was in the area and I just started bartending and I'd have good nights and then there might be a weeknight where just nobody shows up. I was about to quit when I asked the owner you know, have you ever thought about doing some events? He was like, of course, what do you have in mind? It kind of put me on the spot to create a little business model for trivia and when I started I was like, honestly, I had no idea what it would become. I just thought I'll look up some questions online before I go out and you know, I'll just not put very much work into this. It turns out I just loved it, so I just started pouring so much time into it.
Speaker 2:Work into it. Yeah, started pouring so much work into it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that it only made sense to like use that content to maximize what I could get out of that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that's so cool. I love that. Sorry, I love how you're just like I was bored, I was about to quit, but then by some divine power within me, I was like hey, I got a plan for you and then you ended up loving it. Now, here we are today, right.
Speaker 1:It was a little bit of like a little bit of a bluff, like I was about to quit and you know he was like, do you have something in mind? And I said, yeah, you know, bluffing a little bit to do it to start, but it's a weird business and I often think, how did I get into this? But now, just being a business owner, I love. I don't think I'll ever stop having my own business, just being able to kind of set your own parameters and answer to just clients.
Speaker 1:That's my boss now or my clients, so I really like that.
Speaker 2:That is great. Can you tell me about the process of how you come up with the puzzles Like how are you coming up with this? What do you do to get inspired? What references do you use? Tell me about that.
Speaker 1:So seasonality is a big part of it. So I'll look at calendars and be like, okay, it's back to school time. You know, vacations are over. When we're doing this now it's mid-august, so, uh, you know, um, I'll try to tie in seasonal stuff to give certain categories like a flair, so I might come up with a puzzle that's about back to school shopping or something like that, and then I'll look for ways to sort of tie it in. And this is where I I really do feel like it's an art and you craft it. And it's very similar to, like I said, like writing music, where you're looking for form and structure and trying to provide structure for this stuff. And yeah, I don't know, themes have changed. Obviously they change week to week, but I try to cast kind of a wide net. I want you, when you come out to play trivia and puzzles, to invite as many friends as you can and have your sports friend and your world history friend.
Speaker 2:Your music friend, your music friend.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that the people who do well at it are kind of the most diverse group typically, and a lot of times it's ages as well. You invite Grandpa and you have some kids there.
Speaker 2:the likelihood that you're going to do better is higher.
Speaker 1:But in terms of inspiration, I don't know. I think, just as an artist, a lot of the training that I've had in music and I've done theater and acting and stuff like that kind of led me to this point where you're looking to be inspirable and those skills in terms of like you know how you get ideas or how you develop ideas are used in the business world, which I love. I'm not sure if that answers.
Speaker 2:No, yes, that does. I get all your references and how you want everybody to be a part of it. You don't just want just one type of knowledgeable person on a subject to be in that Totally, you totally want to get everybody involved and make sure that you're hitting all those niches of subjects and all that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And, like I said, what I really like is being at the events and watching these aha moments. It's like an escape room, it's like people, oh, oh, oh. I figured it out and I love seeing them do that.
Speaker 2:You're like that's my puzzle that they're reacting to. Yeah, they're like they get it.
Speaker 1:They're getting on the same wavelength I was on when I was making it.
Speaker 2:Oh that's awesome, and I just find that really satisfying. I'm sure that it, and I just find it really satisfying. I'm sure that's great. Yeah, I love it. Thanks for sharing that. As an entrepreneur or business owner, how are you using social media or marketing or, if you do, to get the word out about your services and what you provide and just like maybe giving them little sneak peeks of what they could get?
Speaker 1:You said it Like I realized early on that I could use social media to embed hints and clues for the content for that week. It's almost like a ploy to get people to follow me Addicted to it right. So, like on my answer sheets, it might say you know, follow Barton Smart Trivia on Instagram for more clues, and the people who kind of stay engaged through that will look for hidden things.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's so engaging. It is engaging.
Speaker 1:It gives them a reason to watch the whole video. So yeah, so every week I announce what the categories are going to be. I try to sneak in clues where I can. Typically, instagram has been kind of the most the easiest channel, I would say, for the players, um, but again, that group of players I'm definitely beholden to, but they don't. They're not the direct customer. My customer is the brewery.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's a little different, like how you specifically market to them, but it basically comes down to let's both make money. Yeah, you'll pay me a percentage of the sales for this night and we'll make more money together than you would. Yeah, not hiring me.
Speaker 2:I think also maybe you're if you have like people who like your stuff, maybe they, maybe they're out of state, maybe they're in another city. If they like your type of content or the type of puzzles that you do that they've seen, or maybe they've gone to one of your previous trivia shows and they know that you were the the creator of it, they could request it in their town and right they could spread the word of that or be like hey, ask your local brewery bar, wherever to bring me in if you want some of this content.
Speaker 2:Rally up your friends and see if I can come over there and bring more stuff. It'll be a party, something like that, I think. Maybe that would be cool.
Speaker 1:It's definitely a pretty portable model. It could be in different places. That said, I've benefited from getting a reputation in this area and building up, you know good good relationships with a lot of people.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So hopefully other people who are listening, who own breweries because we've had some people exactly who do have wineries, breweries, and they're looking for something to spice up their night or for their clientele or switch it up a bit, who have not had, maybe, a trivia night yeah, hit, barton, smart Trivia and. Puzzles Up. Love the shirt.
Speaker 1:shirt helps me so much yeah, okay, yeah, because it's like a cue card for you yes, that's right, that's right the back of this shirt is a crossword puzzle okay, love that.
Speaker 2:I'll have to check the back out later, because right now we're in a situation where we can't. That's fine, thank you yeah I understand. Thank you very much. And now, where do you hope to see yourself in the next five years with your company? I know we talked about the subscription, but maybe anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, scaling it. There's kind of two main ways that it could scale, and one would be to think locally and hire a staff that can go out and get as many places in the area as possible, and it's not my favorite way. I would rather kind of leapfrog that to using technology to scale it. So in five years I'd really like there to be a show of the week's content that you could see on YouTube. So I would love to turn this into an actual kind of live show, with a small film crew that could come by and film each week, almost kind of like a gritty Jeopardy. You know where you could watch at home. This would be a week after the content had been made available to you know all the restaurants.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And, and just use that to build up this platform of. You know, this is a brand now that people can request in different cities or something like that. So, yeah, I would love to, to, to, to turn this into essentially a. Youtube channel or a web series or something like that, or, who knows, maybe pitch it to a bigger type of production company. That could, uh, uh, like I said, turn it into a grittier jeopardy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that you would play along, you know at home or whatever, um, and that that would drive this experience, um, that people want to experience live.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, this experience that people want to experience live. Yeah, no, that sounds fun. I feel like I'd want to do one, but like a horror movie one. Have you done one of that? Oh, yeah, for sure that would be fun.
Speaker 1:Halloween is on the horizon.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is You've got to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've got to be thinking seasonally.
Speaker 2:That's right no-transcript.
Speaker 1:And so yeah, like I said, now it's all Northern Virginia for those regular events, but I'll go as far as DC for like corporate stuff.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, very nice, very nice Okay. So when you have clientele, what is the process like? Do you figure out first if it'll be a good match, or how would that work?
Speaker 1:Yeah, a meeting. I'll go look at their space. Sometimes it's just not going to functionally work in the space. They may not have enough room. My content is very multimedia so they need to have some type of screens or televisions or I need to work with them in a way to have the place that's ideal visual. Yeah, uh, it's also um, there's a lot of audio involved, you know.
Speaker 1:so I I've had the experience of playing trivia before, where you kind of hear number four and it's just hard to hear and I really like that you can hear me and also read questions and use video and imagery to help with puzzles, which is cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Sometimes there'll be like whole riddles that you're kind of trying to solve. So you're looking for clues like that Okay, no, that's cool.
Speaker 2:Thank you for answering that.
Speaker 1:That's the first conversation I would have with a client and just make sure that works. My ability to make money off the event will be limited if they can't get enough people there just due to space.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Sometimes that I'd rather have a bigger space where we can both make more sales than do it in a smaller. Smaller more enclosed place Right right, right yeah no, that makes sense.
Speaker 2:And plus, I feel like it's also better in a bigger space because you just feel the environment is more lively than a smaller space sometimes not that I'm saying that small spaces can't be as lively, but I just feel like the ambience is completely different when it's bigger and it's fuller and you get like more engagement, right yeah.
Speaker 1:yeah, it's weird that the bigger that, the more numbers of people there. They tend to do better on the trivia as well. It's interesting. It's almost like something's in the air, yes, when people start to solve things.
Speaker 2:Or they get competitive.
Speaker 1:Oh for sure, yeah, some of the competition has been a surprise to me.
Speaker 2:Really Talk to me about that, tell me. I want to know.
Speaker 1:I mean, in the beginning I'm like this is just something to do with, just to have fun. You're with, you are winning, because you're here with your friends, you're having a drink. That's the point. Yeah, you know. So I was kind of surprised at how serious people got the yeah, pull, pull it out the blue ribbon is is has a high. Oh, did I must have dropped it? Oh, here it is, it is, here it is.
Speaker 2:You got it Yay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I started making these blue ribbons and I'm like these are.
Speaker 2:That's so awesome.
Speaker 1:This is a minor thing.
Speaker 2:No, I love it.
Speaker 1:And people.
Speaker 2:Give me that blue ribbon. I want it.
Speaker 1:They'll collect them and sew them into.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. You know shirts and jackets or a vest or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, so it's, I think, something to embody the pride they have for, you know, putting in the effort to solve all these challenges.
Speaker 2:I absolutely love that. I feel like I'd be using this for my bookmark as a reminder. Oh, okay, yeah yeah, as a reminder and like let me fill in Of how smart you are, I'm so smart and I'm reading this book, and this is my reminder to keep reading more books so I can fill my knowledge up.
Speaker 2:you know That'd be cool, since I have you here. Did I touch on something that I guess a highlight? Let me reword that that's horrible. Did I touch on everything that you wanted to share with our audience? Is there something, maybe, that I'm missing, that you would like to have our listeners know?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think if anyone is listening who is interested in or sees a way that this could be good for their company or whatever their restaurant, maybe a team building thing you can reach out to me on my website, which is bartonsmarttriviacom. There's a little contact form and there is quite a lot of flexibility. So I would just encourage listeners who think that this might be effective to just reach out and, uh, even if you don't own a restaurant or something like that, there's kind of a lot of cool stuff we can do yeah, like, what about weddings or birthday?
Speaker 1:parties. I'm just gonna say that, yeah, say it our minds. We're in sync I did this wedding in uh, july. It was uh, it was great. It was uh, it was so fun. It was the. The content was specifically themed to the couple, so it was oh wow, so you customized that yeah, yeah, I'll definitely customize stuff.
Speaker 1:You know, how well do you know the bride and groom? Uh, and so did interviews with them ahead of time, collected information. How fun turn that into content. Yeah, with stuff sometimes it can be more like a game show than you're sitting at a desk. You know filling stuff out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. So sometimes you'll be very active.
Speaker 1:Come on down, buzzers, you know stuff like that.
Speaker 2:I'm sure best friends or like bridesmaids are just like I was supposed to know that.
Speaker 1:How did you know that? I didn't know. You spent a summer in.
Speaker 2:Portugal. Where's my invite Right?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like why does Trixie know that? About you I thought we were best friends. This game is just going to cause drama. I'm kidding. No, it's not fun, obviously.
Speaker 1:No, it just brings people together.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely All right. And so for my last question is there maybe a motto or a mantra that you like to live your life by, that you maybe find inspiring and would like to share with our listeners?
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's see if I can boil down this sentiment into a mantra.
Speaker 2:Okay, give it to us.
Speaker 1:I think that being a business owner has allowed me to work every single minute of every single day, that I am working towards improvement because there's so much accountability for it. And I think just I guess this is geared towards people who may be considering their own businesses I would say do it. I think small businesses especially allow you to pour yourself into a livelihood in a way that it's been far more satisfying to me than any type of, I guess, corporate job I've had. Okay. So I guess it kind of comes down to it doesn't feel like work, it's all your passion, yeah.
Speaker 2:No, absolutely, and it shows, I can see, like, the passion in your smile when you talk about, when you come up with something, and you see those people's faces when you're like, yep, that's exactly it, I wrote it just for that and you got it. Thanks, homie there. So seen, validated, I'm validated there you go. No, but thank you so much for being on the podcast thank you yeah, absolutely appreciate it.