Community, Comedy, and Not Commbank: The Winning Mix for this Darwin Bar

“When the owner approached us, our first thought was, why would we want a bar? That's a terrible idea,” laughs Monica. But, buoyed by the fact that their comedy and pasta class events were already attracting good numbers, they decided to take up the challenge. “We signed the paperwork on Monday, paid the money on Tuesday, got the keys on Wednesday and opened on Thursday,” explains Monica, “We hit the ground running,” says Briant. 

In just three days, Monica and Briant needed to get set up with a solution for taking payments and managing their money. Their natural first step was to open a business bank account with Commbank. “They really messed us around,” says Monica, “We had to go into a branch, we waited an hour for an interview, and then they wanted all this paperwork,” she continues, “We were already customers of theirs, and we simply wanted an account to deposit money into. They just couldn’t make it happen in time.”

That’s when they researched their options and found Zeller. “Monica literally just jumped online, and opened a Zeller Transaction Account,” says Briant. They bought Zeller Terminals, and set themselves up with virtual debit cards on their phones straight away. “Setting up Zeller was very easy. We were able to provide all the company paperwork once we were already up and running. It was just so easy. So then we thought, well, why change?” Since then, they have continued to use Zeller as their primary financial management tool, incorporating a Zeller Savings Account to earn interest on idle funds, Zeller App to monitor sales when they’re not on site, and Zeller Virtual Terminal to take deposits for large bookings. 

The benefit of launching a business in today’s age means being able to build a tech stack with all the latest innovations, rather than dealing with incumbent solutions. From day one, Monica and Briant have sought to “work smarter not harder”, integrating a number of other platforms into the business. “As well as Zeller, we use TryBooking for our events, Wix, for our website and to manage reservations, Swift POS is our point-of-sale, and soon I’ll use it for managing our takeaway orders too. Plus we use Harvest for time tracking, Deputy for rostering, and Xero for accounting,” explains Monica. 

Using technology to keep their operations efficient, has given Monica and Briant more time back in their day to work on the strategic aspects of the business. “A lot of what we do is about building community and connection,” Briant says, “Events are a big part of our business.” Indeed, The Last Supper’s ‘What’s On’ page offers an impressive line up, with no less than 46 events running over the last three months of the year: from comedy and karaoke nights to painting and cooking classes, gastronomic-themed parties, reading clubs, concerts, and more. “At the events, we walk around and talk to our customers. It’s quirky, it’s inviting. People love coming here and hanging out,” Briant says, “Some people who came in on the weekend for one of our Pasta Parties ended up making friends and stayed here for eight hours!” Briant laughs. 

By building a strong local following, Monica and Briant have avoided being reliant on the seasonal tourist trade that dictates the success of many hospitality venues in Darwin. “We thrived through the wet season, when the tourists weren't here,” says Briant. But the popularity of their events didn’t just happen overnight: Monica’s carefully defined marketing strategy has been instrumental in keeping people coming back. “We do a lot of paid socials. We've got an e-mail database that we've built up through events and through our website. We're very active on our Google Business Profile and that helps our SEO. And we’re part of a number of organisations, such as Tourism Top End and Hospitality NT,” explains Monica. 

While Monica and Briant have harnessed a variety of modern tools to help alleviate their workload and speed up operational tasks, it hasn’t resulted in a hands-off approach. On the contrary, it has enabled them to be even more hands-on in the areas that matter the most: getting to know their customers, building a community, and creating experiences that serve them again and again. Having just celebrated the anniversary of their first year in business, you can rest-assured, their last supper it most certainly isn’t.