ALFA EVENT PLANNER STARTUP
Many Event Planners start out working from home. This can be a great model for setting up an event planning business as it keeps overheads down in those critical early stages of trading and can maximise productivity. If you are considering whether it could work for you and how to make a success of it, here are some things to think about.
What is Event Planning?
Event planning is the process of managing a project such as a meeting, convention, tradeshow, ceremony, team building activity, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing timelines, selecting and reserving the event sites, acquiring permits, planning food, coordinating transportation, developing a theme, arranging for activities, selecting speakers and keynotes, arranging for equipment and facilities, managing risk, and developing contingency plans.
First things first. Generally speaking, special events occur for the following purposes:
Celebrations (fairs, parades, weddings, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries)
Education (conferences, meetings, graduations)
Promotions (product launches, political rallies, fashion shows)
Commemorations (memorials, civic events)
This list isn't an exhaustive one, but as the examples illustrate, special events may be business related, purely social or somewhere in between.
Now we move to the second question: What is event planning? Planners of an event may handle any or all of the following tasks related to that event:
Conducting research
Creating an event design
Finding a site
Arranging for food, decor and entertainment
Planning transportation to and from the event
Sending invitations to attendees
Arranging any necessary accommodations for attendees
Coordinating the activities of event personnel
Supervising at the site
Conducting evaluations of the event
How many of these activities your business engages in will depend on the size and type of a particular event, which will, in turn, depend on the specialization you choose.
Why Do People Hire Event Planners?
This question has a simple answer: Individuals often find they lack the expertise and time to plan events themselves. Independent planners can step in and give these special events the attention they deserve.
Who Becomes An Event Planner?
Planners are often people who got their start in one particular aspect of special events. Business owner Martin Van Keken had a successful catering company before he decided to plan entire events. Many other planners have similar stories. This explains why planners often not only coordinate entire events but may, in addition, provide one or more services for those events.
Event planners may also have started out planning events for other companies before deciding to go into business for themselves. Joyce Barnes-Wolff planned in-house events for a retail chain for 11 years and then worked for another event planning
Target Market
THE CORPORATE MARKET
Broadly speaking, there are two markets for event planning services: corporate and social. The term "corporate" includes not only companies but also charities and nonprofit organizations. Charities and nonprofit organizations host gala fundraisers, receptions and athletic competitions, among other events, to expand their public support base and raise funds. Thousands of these events occur each year, and although the large ones require specialized event planning experience, you may find smaller local events to start out with.
What's Inside
Introduction
Target Market
Startup Costs
Operations
Income and Billing
Marketing and Resources
More articles on event planning »
Companies host trade shows, conventions, company picnics, holiday parties, and meetings for staff members, board members, or stockholders. There is a huge market for these types of events. According to the Convention Industry Council’s 2012 Economic Significance Study, 1.83 million corporate/business meetings, trade shows, conventions, etc. took place in the U.S. alone.
THE SOCIAL MARKET
Social events include weddings, birthdays, anniversary parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, Sweet 16 parties, children's parties, reunions and so on. You may decide to handle all these events or just specialize in one or more of them.
The market for social events, especially birthdays and anniversaries, is expected to continue to increase over the next few years, as baby boomers mature. This group has children getting married, parents celebrating golden anniversaries, and their own silver wedding anniversaries to commemorate.
BENEFITS
Low Costs
An Event Planner can work from almost anywhere if you have a laptop, internet and mobile phone. Most important are your personality and event management skills. Starting out by working from home keeps costs lower as renting office space can be a huge outgoing for a fledgling business and you may not wish to be tied into a long-term rental contract from the outset
Au Revoir Work Commute!
Commuting to work every day can be time-consuming and stressful in terms of both time and travel expenses, and is a part of the day that fills many with dread. By working from home you are not only potentially saving on your monthly travel outlay but you are probably removing the big city temptations which are so easy to fritter away money on (coffee, cake, and other high street temptations). Most important though you become more time rich
Workspace
Set up a specific workspace which can be your dedicated work area. Ideally have a room that you can close the door on at the end of the day, rather than being reminded about the mounds of paperwork on your desk and hearing the phone ring after hours!
You can design the space based on your work preferences. Perhaps you want to use a room with a view or perhaps staring at a brick wall would be better for your concentration. Think about what furniture you will need to work – desk, chair, phone, answer machine, shelves/filing cabinet, etc.
Discipline
Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you should be any less disciplined. As well as working set office hours some people still choose to dress as if they were still going to an office job every day. In a creative industry such as the event industry, I don’t necessarily agree with this – it makes sense for me to dress more casually on non-client facing days at the office – but do whatever works for you.
When working from home the most frequent questions I used to get asked is “how do you concentrate on working from home with the lure of daytime television?” and “do you work in your pajamas?”
I think people that asked these questions completely missed the whole point that you are WORKING from home. If you are working for yourself it means that if you don’t work, you don’t get paid! It is up to you but no one else is going to pay your salary for you. Furthermore, in my experience running your own business keeps you busy, busy, busy. Organizing events is a time-consuming operation and organizing events and running your own business doesn’t give any time for slacking!
Storage
One of the things we struggled with as our business grew was storage space. We invested in bigger and better printers, event equipment, marketing materials, banners and so forth, but this investment also takes up space. Furthermore, our regular clients increasingly wanted us to hold some of their materials and branded items between events which put a further strain on storage space.
Client Meetings
I find that many of our clients prefer us to travel to their offices to meet but if you ever need a space to meet and your home office isn’t large enough/suitable enough there are plenty of coffee shops, hotels and meeting places which offer a convenient place to meet face to face - so this need never be a concern
Flexibility
One of the biggest perks of working from home is the productivity element. As event deadlines get close hours are often long for an event planner and it is great to feel safe in your own home and able to carry on working for as long as you need to. Likewise, if you have international conference calls across time zones it is convenient to be able to do this from the luxury of your home office.
Home Working Perks
Don’t forget to update and take out the relevant insurance policies as you should with any business working from a home or office base.
There are however many other perks to working at home too – for example paying no or reduced business rates, tax relief and off-setting a percentage of your household running expenditure through the business. These elements will, of course, vary from country to country so do look into the realities of this before you take the plunge.
Information you should include in your business plan:
· Your Vision for the Company
· Mission Statement
· SWOT Analysis
· Financial Plan
· Marketing Plan
Starting an event management company generally has low set up costs compared to many other types of business. The essential equipment/elements you will need are:
· A computer or laptop
· Phone
· WiFi access
· Desk (or table) and chair
Your Network
If your event business is new or struggling, the easiest and least expensive way to grow it is through referral marketing. You never know who you know. Don’t assume your friends and family have no use for your services. Ask them if they need any help. Sometimes, someone has taken on more than they can handle and they need someone to finish the project. Other times, they have someone in their network who needs help with an event.
Most people would be willing to hire an event planner that a good friend referred them to, so get happy clients and attendees to talk about you. Our friends know us and know what we like. They wouldn’t steer us in the wrong direction. But it may surprise you to know that people will even make hiring and buying decisions based on reviews by people they don’t know. According to a study from Ogilvy, Google and TNS, 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influence in their purchasing decision
The Top Ten Steps to Plan Any Event
1. Develop Your Event Goal and Objectives
2. Organize Your Team
3. Establish Your Budget
4. Create an Event Master Plan
5. Set the Date
6. Book Your Venue
7. Brand Your Event
8. Identify and Establish Partnerships & Sponsors
9. Create a Publicity Plan
10. Determine Day-Of Processes
Bonus: Post-Event Review
WORKING HOURS
Work from home at the time of epidemic
Number of members (4 to 5)
as per the need
· HR Domain
· Finance department
· Planner
· Marketing /digital marketing/social media marketing
· Event manager
IN CONCLUSION
Starting an event planning business can be daunting and overwhelming as there are a lot of things to think about and decisions to make. If after reading this post you are just as passionate and determined as before then we encourage you to follow your dream and don’t look back.
CONTACT
Many Event Planners start out working from home. This can be a great model for setting up an event planning business as it keeps overheads down in those critical early stages of trading and can maximise productivity. If you are considering whether it could work for you and how to make a success of it, here are some things to think about.
What is Event Planning?
Event planning is the process of managing a project such as a meeting, convention, tradeshow, ceremony, team building activity, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing timelines, selecting and reserving the event sites, acquiring permits, planning food, coordinating transportation, developing a theme, arranging for activities, selecting speakers and keynotes, arranging for equipment and facilities, managing risk, and developing contingency plans.
First things first. Generally speaking, special events occur for the following purposes:
Celebrations (fairs, parades, weddings, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries)
Education (conferences, meetings, graduations)
Promotions (product launches, political rallies, fashion shows)
Commemorations (memorials, civic events)
This list isn't an exhaustive one, but as the examples illustrate, special events may be business related, purely social or somewhere in between.
Now we move to the second question: What is event planning? Planners of an event may handle any or all of the following tasks related to that event:
Conducting research
Creating an event design
Finding a site
Arranging for food, decor and entertainment
Planning transportation to and from the event
Sending invitations to attendees
Arranging any necessary accommodations for attendees
Coordinating the activities of event personnel
Supervising at the site
Conducting evaluations of the event
How many of these activities your business engages in will depend on the size and type of a particular event, which will, in turn, depend on the specialization you choose.
Why Do People Hire Event Planners?
This question has a simple answer: Individuals often find they lack the expertise and time to plan events themselves. Independent planners can step in and give these special events the attention they deserve.
Who Becomes An Event Planner?
Planners are often people who got their start in one particular aspect of special events. Business owner Martin Van Keken had a successful catering company before he decided to plan entire events. Many other planners have similar stories. This explains why planners often not only coordinate entire events but may, in addition, provide one or more services for those events.
Event planners may also have started out planning events for other companies before deciding to go into business for themselves. Joyce Barnes-Wolff planned in-house events for a retail chain for 11 years and then worked for another event planning
Target Market
THE CORPORATE MARKET
Broadly speaking, there are two markets for event planning services: corporate and social. The term "corporate" includes not only companies but also charities and nonprofit organizations. Charities and nonprofit organizations host gala fundraisers, receptions and athletic competitions, among other events, to expand their public support base and raise funds. Thousands of these events occur each year, and although the large ones require specialized event planning experience, you may find smaller local events to start out with.
What's Inside
Introduction
Target Market
Startup Costs
Operations
Income and Billing
Marketing and Resources
More articles on event planning »
Companies host trade shows, conventions, company picnics, holiday parties, and meetings for staff members, board members, or stockholders. There is a huge market for these types of events. According to the Convention Industry Council’s 2012 Economic Significance Study, 1.83 million corporate/business meetings, trade shows, conventions, etc. took place in the U.S. alone.
THE SOCIAL MARKET
Social events include weddings, birthdays, anniversary parties, bar and bat mitzvahs, Sweet 16 parties, children's parties, reunions and so on. You may decide to handle all these events or just specialize in one or more of them.
The market for social events, especially birthdays and anniversaries, is expected to continue to increase over the next few years, as baby boomers mature. This group has children getting married, parents celebrating golden anniversaries, and their own silver wedding anniversaries to commemorate.
BENEFITS
Low Costs
An Event Planner can work from almost anywhere if you have a laptop, internet and mobile phone. Most important are your personality and event management skills. Starting out by working from home keeps costs lower as renting office space can be a huge outgoing for a fledgling business and you may not wish to be tied into a long-term rental contract from the outset
Au Revoir Work Commute!
Commuting to work every day can be time-consuming and stressful in terms of both time and travel expenses, and is a part of the day that fills many with dread. By working from home you are not only potentially saving on your monthly travel outlay but you are probably removing the big city temptations which are so easy to fritter away money on (coffee, cake, and other high street temptations). Most important though you become more time rich
Workspace
Set up a specific workspace which can be your dedicated work area. Ideally have a room that you can close the door on at the end of the day, rather than being reminded about the mounds of paperwork on your desk and hearing the phone ring after hours!
You can design the space based on your work preferences. Perhaps you want to use a room with a view or perhaps staring at a brick wall would be better for your concentration. Think about what furniture you will need to work – desk, chair, phone, answer machine, shelves/filing cabinet, etc.
Discipline
Just because you are working from home doesn’t mean you should be any less disciplined. As well as working set office hours some people still choose to dress as if they were still going to an office job every day. In a creative industry such as the event industry, I don’t necessarily agree with this – it makes sense for me to dress more casually on non-client facing days at the office – but do whatever works for you.
When working from home the most frequent questions I used to get asked is “how do you concentrate on working from home with the lure of daytime television?” and “do you work in your pajamas?”
I think people that asked these questions completely missed the whole point that you are WORKING from home. If you are working for yourself it means that if you don’t work, you don’t get paid! It is up to you but no one else is going to pay your salary for you. Furthermore, in my experience running your own business keeps you busy, busy, busy. Organizing events is a time-consuming operation and organizing events and running your own business doesn’t give any time for slacking!
Storage
One of the things we struggled with as our business grew was storage space. We invested in bigger and better printers, event equipment, marketing materials, banners and so forth, but this investment also takes up space. Furthermore, our regular clients increasingly wanted us to hold some of their materials and branded items between events which put a further strain on storage space.
Client Meetings
I find that many of our clients prefer us to travel to their offices to meet but if you ever need a space to meet and your home office isn’t large enough/suitable enough there are plenty of coffee shops, hotels and meeting places which offer a convenient place to meet face to face - so this need never be a concern
Flexibility
One of the biggest perks of working from home is the productivity element. As event deadlines get close hours are often long for an event planner and it is great to feel safe in your own home and able to carry on working for as long as you need to. Likewise, if you have international conference calls across time zones it is convenient to be able to do this from the luxury of your home office.
Home Working Perks
Don’t forget to update and take out the relevant insurance policies as you should with any business working from a home or office base.
There are however many other perks to working at home too – for example paying no or reduced business rates, tax relief and off-setting a percentage of your household running expenditure through the business. These elements will, of course, vary from country to country so do look into the realities of this before you take the plunge.
Information you should include in your business plan:
· Your Vision for the Company
· Mission Statement
· SWOT Analysis
· Financial Plan
· Marketing Plan
Starting an event management company generally has low set up costs compared to many other types of business. The essential equipment/elements you will need are:
· A computer or laptop
· Phone
· WiFi access
· Desk (or table) and chair
Your Network
If your event business is new or struggling, the easiest and least expensive way to grow it is through referral marketing. You never know who you know. Don’t assume your friends and family have no use for your services. Ask them if they need any help. Sometimes, someone has taken on more than they can handle and they need someone to finish the project. Other times, they have someone in their network who needs help with an event.
Most people would be willing to hire an event planner that a good friend referred them to, so get happy clients and attendees to talk about you. Our friends know us and know what we like. They wouldn’t steer us in the wrong direction. But it may surprise you to know that people will even make hiring and buying decisions based on reviews by people they don’t know. According to a study from Ogilvy, Google and TNS, 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influence in their purchasing decision
The Top Ten Steps to Plan Any Event
1. Develop Your Event Goal and Objectives
2. Organize Your Team
3. Establish Your Budget
4. Create an Event Master Plan
5. Set the Date
6. Book Your Venue
7. Brand Your Event
8. Identify and Establish Partnerships & Sponsors
9. Create a Publicity Plan
10. Determine Day-Of Processes
Bonus: Post-Event Review
WORKING HOURS
Work from home at the time of epidemic
Number of members (4 to 5)
as per the need
· HR Domain
· Finance department
· Planner
· Marketing /digital marketing/social media marketing
· Event manager
IN CONCLUSION
Starting an event planning business can be daunting and overwhelming as there are a lot of things to think about and decisions to make. If after reading this post you are just as passionate and determined as before then we encourage you to follow your dream and don’t look back.
CONTACT
