Based in Surrey, Grown Up Magic is a bespoke magician that caters for a wide range of events from birthday parties to children's parties. With years of experience, they guarantee an unforgettable and magical experience.
What do you need to know from an organiser in order to provide a comprehensive quote?
The basic information of date, time, number of guests, where it is, what the client had in mind, how long, type of function and the mix of adults and children all help, however, this is only the start. Once you have an idea of what you want we can then easily give you a price. This does, of course, take into consideration your budget, it doesn't mean expensive, but is much more likely to work better for you.
What advice would you give to a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?
There are three vital things you need to do, to find the right act for you and your event. Firstly, check reviews - see what other clients have written about their experience. Secondly, check the qualifications of the acts, the higher up in The Magic Circle they are the more likely they are to have the right experience for you. Thirdly, do they offer a comprehensive guarantee, so you only have to pay if you are entirely happy with their service and performance? If an act offers a really good guarantee you know they have confidence in their own ability.
Next, I urge you to talk to entertainers, they are experts in their field and should have your best interests at heart. Finally, having spoken to an entertainer they should be able to provide you with a detailed proposal drawn up to meet your specific needs based on your conversation, I urge you to read it as it should help you decide on the best act for you. With magician's, as with many things in life, the cheapest is rarely the best and the best is rarely the cheapest, you are probably only doing the event once, so seriously consider investing a little more cash as you usually get a lot more bang for your buck.
Please tell us a little bit about how and why you started the business.
I installed a policy which I call 'Best Friend'. Treat everyone - client's, suppliers and staff as your very very very best friend. This allows me to go the extra mile to make sure the client has the result we agreed and promised and importantly they want, and then do that little bit more. I started my own business as this allows me to set the rules, as customer service is important to me and sadly lacking in almost every business in this country. Only when you spend a lot of time in the USA do you find out what customer-service should be like and that's what I offer here at Grown Up Magic.
Please tell us about a booking you've had through Add to Event, how did it go? Would you recommend us to others?
Things started slowly for us but as we started to pick up a few gigs, we asked the client to leave a review, the more good reviews we got the more bookings followed. I remember one event from last Christmas, a house party on the south coast, I had such a great time and so did the audience, they left a lovely review and I am sure that has helped bring in more bookings. I purchased a large batch of credits right at the start and they lasted a year. That year brought in enough quality work to allow me to buy another big batch of credits for year two, even more than I bought in year one. I doubt they will last the year this time around as the platform is bringing in more inquiries that interest me.