What Type of Event Can You Plan? Tap Into Event Planning!

Are you are an active individual who posses a lot of creativity? Are you an organized person with great people skills? Do you love to organize events? Interested in earning a living out of doing what you love? Then event planning is the perfect venture for you!

At present, an increasing number of organizations and individuals depend on event planners to organize their special events. From the task of creating the theme of the event to the task of supervision of the event itself, all these are now carried out by the event planner. The number one reason for outsourcing these events are the constraints in time, resources and energy. Organizing an event involves a lot of hard work and hassle, and many people would rather outsource it to the capable hands of event planners and enjoy the special occasion with their guests.

To establish a successful event planning venture it doesn’t cost you a fortune. But it helps to have some past experience in this profession. For example if you have organized events at your office or neighborhood that experience would yield benefits for you. In addition to the skills you already posses, consider obtaining a degree or a certificate in this area to make your venture more beneficial since some people look for designations when hiring planners.

Event planning can be divided into two main market segments. Social events segment will include informal or simple celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, children’s parties, reunions, etc. while the corporate events segment would include events owned by private organizations, corporations, businesses, charities, non-profit organizations and political parties. Some of the events which fall under this category are conferences, product launches, company parties, trade shows, company trips, fundraises, meetings and so on.

You can select the market segment you would cater your services to. Also for a given segment you can focus your services in all these events or one or two of them. For example if you select to cater your services to the social events segment then you could specialize in weddings only.

The start up cost for this venture will mainly depend on the cost of living in your area. Equipment such as a high speed computer, color printer and fax machine are essentials for this profession. Also you should obtain an internet connection, a telephone connection, a mobile phone and other equipment to maintain a steady stream of correspondence with your clients and suppliers.

Event planning is not a 9 to 5 job. You would be required to work evenings, holidays and weekends as well. It is a job which requires you to constantly be on alert and be accessible 24/7. When starting up your business the best way to reduce risks is to research and educate yourself regarding the industry, demand for events, vendors and suppliers and the competition you may face.

Once you have undertaken an event you would be required to research and find out exactly what the client is expecting from you. The next step would be to organize and coordinate the event. You will need to rent a site, hire vendors for food, décor and entertainment, plan transportation, send invitations, arrange any necessary accommodations, coordinate activities of event personnel, etc while keeping contact with the client to ensure that everything is working out according to his/her interests. On the day of the event you would be responsible to oversee all activities in order for the event to work out successfully. Once an event has been completed you should conduct an evaluation and find out whether it was a success. The goal is to end up with highly satisfied clients and guests who will happily spread the word regarding your services.

When fixing a price to your service you should ensure that it covers all the costs you have endured and it leaves you with an acceptable profit. Your fee will depend on factors such as the market segment to which you are catering, locality, the demand for services, your qualifications and experience. There are mainly four methods of pricing in this profession, by the hour – where an hourly rate is set for your service, by percentage – where a percentage is selected out of the total budget, by fee for services – where each specific task would have a set rate or by commissionable rates/ add on’s – where a handling fee will be charged to all the services provided.

The best marketing methods in this profession is networking and word of mouth advertising. In addition to this you can also utilize business cards, brochures, ads in the local papers/magazines and a website to market your services.