It is something that Bethany White has been working on for over three years. This summer she launched her app Lunar, named after her daughter. "My daughter's name is Luna and then kind of like moonlighting, so it was like we got to go with lunar."

The app aims to make it easier for bars and restaurants find staff to fill last minute shifts or help with bigger events. She got the idea from her own experience working in hospitality.

"My specific job was finding people to work if we had somebody call in, or if we had a big event and that's where I spent most of my time was digging through names and numbers of people that had worked for us in the past and it was so time consuming.”

White says the coronavirus pandemic slowed down her work on the app but she says getting pushed back to launch it now has actually led to a major response from businesses.

"Staffing is so hard to find right now, people don't want to work full time. Restaurants are shutting down; restaurants are closing down for a day if somebody can't come in and so it's I think it's really causing an issue from the top down. People are struggling."

She is keeping the app local for now, opening it to business in Wichita at first while she and the others that have helped her work out the kinks. "We're asking now is just people to give us feedback so we can better serve their needs. So, there's there might be some trial and error as we move forward, but it is functioning.”

However, she does want to expand it as much as possible as it gets more use and she can improve its functionality. 

She says ultimately, her app is "an insurance policy almost if, if you know, you know, you're having a Superbowl party and you need one extra person or two extra people in the door, so you have, you know, better customer retention, or you don't have a line out the door. It's just something temporary, it can solve so many problems, but just having that available and having that, you know, in the back of your mind, if you need it is, you know, kind of where my mind is with it.”

If you are a business or server that wants to sign up for the app, you can find out more information on the website here. You can also find the app on the Apple or Android app store, just search Lunar - Bartender or Lunar Bar manager.