How to Start an Event Planning Business

Part 1 - How to start an Event Planning business - Background

Event planners help their clients organize and orchestrate events of all types and sizes. Everything from weddings and social gatherings to an industry-specific, professional soiree, an event planner’s job is to make sure everything runs smoothly, ensuring that any problems will be handled appropriately.

You may also be interested in additional low cost business ideas.

Our guide is in 3 parts:

• Part 1 - How to start an Event Planning business - Background
• Part 2 - Our planner tool to see if this idea is the right fit for you
• Part 3 - Action plan to get started

What are the costs involved in opening an event planning business?

An event planning business can have a fairly low overhead for start-up. If you are based from home, you will avoid rent and utilities costs. Other costs will include:

• Business website and site hosting

• High speed internet and phone service

• Advertising and marketing

• Payroll

• Equipment

• Business licenses and taxes

• Insurance

What are the ongoing expenses for an event planning business?

Re-stocking supplies, employee payroll and replacing damaged or broken equipment constitute much of the ongoing expenses. Other expenses can include:

• Event publicity and invitations

• Equipment rental

• Signage and flyers

Who is the target market?

Your target market will consist of clients wanting either social or corporate event planning. Social event age groups range between 25-60+ whereas corporate events are focused more on employees and other business entities, regardless of age.

How does an event planning business make money?

Event planners make their money from the service fees, paid by the client, for the planning and operations of the event.

How much can you charge customers?

Because events are priced on a sliding scale of size and supplies/workers needed, pricing can range quite a bit. Many event planners charge a percentage, say 15-20%, relative to the overall cost of the event. Therefore, if an event is $100,000, the event planner would be collecting between $15,000-$20,000.

How much profit can an event planning business make?

Profit margins depend on the size and number of events you pick up per year. A social event planning business can make between $10 – $75 per hour, whereas a corporate level event planning business could charge between $15-$150 per hour. An average salary for an event planner employee is around $35,000 annually, with an owner averaging $75,000-80,000.

How can you make your business more profitable?

As the event planning business becomes well-established, you may consider adding additional services, such as catering, bartending, or even photography to your customer options. By supplying in-house hospitality services, you are able to offer clients a full-service experience and, in turn, create more business revenue.

Day-to-Day and Growth

What happens during a typical day at an event planning business?

An event planning business makes its money from hosted events. This means interacting with current and potential customers is critical. Either one on one or through larger social media outlets, a successful event planner must constantly work to get their name and reputation known to the public. Additionally, the business will be:

• Reading and responding to customer e-mails

• Re-stocking event inventory

• Communicating with vendors or business partners, regarding upcoming jobs

• Marketing and PR work

• Employee training and continued education

What are some skills and experiences that will help you build a successful event planning business?

To begin, it is not necessary to obtain a degree or professional certificate of training for event planning. It may help you, but many successful event planners learned many of the skills needed from on the job training. A background in customer service or the hospitality industry can provide great experience.

You should also be familiar with or be able to:

• Communicate effectively, both in writing and verbally

• Possess strong organizational skills

• Be flexible and prepared to make adjustments to plans

What is the growth potential for an event planning business?

Event planning is steadily growing as an industry. With increased globalization in business, more and more companies are looking to host professional, well-organized events to grow their own businesses. And, as business grows internationally, event planning will continue to mirror this trend.

What are some insider tips for jump starting an event planning business?

Understand your client base and seek to create a niche for your business. A niche may be weddings and receptions only. Or events near the coast. If you carve out your own special place amongst the competition, the specialization should pay off in return customers and customer referrals.

• Market towards the demographics you’re most likely to see in your area.

• Join a professional event planner association. Networking with other professionals can garner excellent insider tips.

• Make your business as well known as possible through social media. Free advertising, especially for start-ups, is an excellent resource.

How and when to build a team

From the onset of starting an event planning business, you’ll need to consider who should be part of your team. It will be necessary to carefully select individuals who understand the multiple roles they will play in creating successful events. As your client list and event size and frequency grows, you’ll want to bring in more staff. You may even consider having an overflow pool of workers, who are pulled in for larger events or as needed, but aren’t full-time employees.

Part 2 - Is an Event Planning business the right fit for you?

Part 3 - Action plan to launch your Event Planning business in 90 days