How to Start an Event Planning Service

How to Start an Event Planning Service

By Jose Miguel Chirinos

An article from Entrepreneur Magazine published on Feb 22, 2001 explains that the industry of special events has grown immensely in the past decade. Moreover, the article defines what event planning is, what questions you should answer in order to be an entrepreneur in event planning.

There are two markets for event planning: social and corporate.

Corporate means its corporate oriented and also for non-profit organizations. In contrast, social market includes birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and parties. This article also mentions and explains how to create a Startup Cost for any event. It shows a startup cost chart list for a hypothetical event-planning services company including: rent, equipment, inventory, licenses and taxes, payroll, advertising/ promotion costs.

Startup Expenses	Low	High
Rent	$0	$2,300
Equipment	$5,000	$17,000
Inventory	$0	$500
Licenses and Taxes	$250	$350
Communications	$100	$250
Payroll	$0	$4,000
Advertising/Promotion	$500	$2,000
Legal Fees & Accounting	$650	$1,500
Insurance (1st Quarter)	$800	$1,700
Miscellaneous	$750	$1,500
Total	$8,050	$31,100

Afterwards, Entrepreneur Magazine recommends to follow a series of tips be successful as an event planner. First they suggest to do extensive research because is the best way to reduce risks, including interviews and surveys. Secondly, they talk about paying attention to design, make sure your creativity is put on play when doing event planning. Always remember clients advises or preferences. The next step according to the article is the proposal, a fundamental piece of the process. You need to interview with the client. Afterward a similar process needs to be followed in order to hire the appropriate consultant that would actually draft the proposal. Finally, organization, coordination and evaluation need to be part of the process in order to assure success. Most of these require skills like good communication, good controllers, etc.

“The goal in pricing a service is to mark up your labor and material costs sufficiently to cover overhead expenses and generate an acceptable profit.”

Furthermore, Dr. Jow GoldBlatt mentioned on this article, three aspects that typically determines fees: geographic location, experience and reputation of the event planner.

“The following are a few helpful links to websites with very helpful event planning related information”

Resources

Associations

• Convention Industry Council

• International Special Events Society

• Meeting Professionals International

• National Association of Catering Executives

• Professional Convention Management Association

Magazines and Publications

• Corporate Meetings and Incentives

• The Meeting Professional

• Special Events Magazine