The event industry is like a huge fun-making machine that unites people from different spheres and with different skills. Starting an event planner business requires hard work, but this work can easily grow into a money-making machine for you.
If you have ever been responsible for the organization of any event at least once in your life, be it a birthday party or a family holiday, you can understand all that pain and headache of being ‘an event planner’.
To bring people together at a planned time and place, under any circumstances making them have fun and controlling everything is not that easy as it seems from the start.
And I was always wondering why so many people start an event planning business.
Only when I started it myself, I understood that it is a business that can be started with zero investment.
So, I am very excited to write about the event planning business for a number of reasons.
Firstly, as I mentioned above, this is the first startup project I am proud to launch with my partner in 2008. The period of world economic crisis… perfect time for business! Why not? 🙂
Secondly, all you need to start an event planning business is your desire, persistence, and, maybe, some creativity.
And, finally, it is a very interesting business. It is a perfect investment in your networking. Also, you can always be at the center of events, involving lots of creative people and getting huge management experience very fast. And, of course, you can visit so many parties you have never even imagined in your life.
So, here are the 5 easy steps on how to start an event planning service business in 2021:
1. Define the type of events you would like to organize
Surely, you can learn how to organize any event. But as far as you may know riches are in the niches. It is better to select the sphere you either have experience in or it is very interesting to you.
There are the following types of events you can consider:
corporate events – conferences, seminars, team buildings, press conferences
marketing events – press conferences, product launches
public events – sports events, concerts
theme parties, and VIP events
weddings and family events
2. Define who is your client
This step is closely connected with the previous one.
Make sure you know your target audience. In this case, your marketing will be more effective.
So, business people and companies, or students, or maybe families?
The better you know your target audience the easier it is to find clients and promote your event planning business.
Think about the audience you understand better. Think about the value and service you can offer to your client.
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I remember our first client. We were excited to organize a wedding for a very nice couple and it was our first experience of such an event. Neither I nor my friend was not married at that time. So, I should say that was a huge responsibility to create a magic for the people who trusted us one of the most important events in their life. But we had no time to be scared. We had to get everything done perfectly and we did it. Definitely, we analyzed our weak points, but we managed to make our clients happy. And that was the goal!
One of our first events (me on the left, my partner on the right)
3. Collaborate with people from the sphere of show business
You need to google a lot to create a very cool contacts base for your future events. The same concerns the number of calls you should make in order to connect with all those people and tell about your awesome project, so they could know about you and would be ready to participate in your events once you get a new order.
4. Learn to estimate projects
Plan your collaboration with the client beforehand. Create a commercial offer template and think about pricing. Probably you should think about it before starting to call all of your contacts.
The price you can sell your project at depends only on your professional approach. The sphere of show business doesn’t dictate fixed prices, so one event can bring a good profit.
But if you fail the project, it won’t be easy to find a new client and involve cool performers again.
So, there are two key variants of how to estimate the event projects and present them to your client:
- Variant 1. Show the price for each event performer to be involved in the event and add your company commission for the service you provide.
- Variant 2. Show only the price for each event performer with zero commission. In this case, the price for event performers will be higher for the client, but entertainers will be perceived by a client as your company team, so they are paying for the staff only. Do not forget to add the project management commission.
Both variants are working. You should select the one that suits better for your target market.
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5. Marketing
People hire companies with recommendations. It often happens that people need event planning services but they feel unsure about trusting their important events to the very first company they see on the internet.
Nevertheless, if you are starting with a local event planning company, marketing won’t require a lot of your efforts. The first thing you should do is sharing your idea with your close people. You have all the chances to get your first client from people you know.
It will bring invaluable experience to you as an event planner and, what is more important, open a door to a number of new clients who will be the guests at your first event.
Conclusion
So, as far as you can see, it is quite easy to start an event planning business. All you need to do is to define your niche and tagger audience, work with your networking and learn how to promote your business.
So, let’s get the party started!
