Building Your Own Business: How to Become an Event Planner

Business Overview:

If helping people plan their big affairs—think weddings and product launches—is your favorite hobby, take this chance to learn how to become an event planner. The event planning business is not only exciting, it’s also a lucrative enterprise with limitless possibilities for success. The steps involved to be successful with this business idea are easier than you might expect. While there are international college-level programs and event planning certification courses available, you don’t actually need these to begin your business. What you do need is liability insurance to protect yourself and your business plus a host of top-notch service providers that you can call upon to make the events you plan unforgettable. That means you need to have your go-to florists, caterers, entertainment, and decoration companies on speed dial in your phone. Then you will need to seek out your clients, which initially might require a bit of leg work; after all, you need to establish your reputation as an event planner who makes people’s party dreams come true. You can also launch your own website, making it easier for your clients and your service providers to see what you’re all about and contact you with any questions. Finally, you can decide if you want to plan any event that a client might need (grand or small), or if you would prefer to be an expert special event planner who specializes in a few specific events. The most important ingredient for success in the event planning business is for you, the owner, to be prepared and willing to provide stellar service with a smile and to ensure every event you plan is precisely what your client envisioned. As your business grows you might want to hire staff so that you can take on more events and have your employees handle the many details that arise.

A Day in the Life of an event planning business owner:

In this business, your days will always be full of phone calls, meetings, and taste-tests, but your really busy days will be those with a planned affair. You will begin each day with a scan of your upcoming events and your “to do” checklist. You will want to secure all of your service providers—food, flowers, music—and be sure you or your staff have met with them and they fully understand what service they will be providing for your party and when. You will want to have legally binding contracts with them all so that they are as eager to please as you are, so in-person visits might be required on a daily or weekly basis. Next you will have to look over your client list to see who requires a phone call and to make sure no one has any concerns or questions. If you have hired employees this will be the time to delegate the parts of the event that you want them to handle. Remember, your clients might have a lot riding on the event you’re planning and they may be nervous as the date approaches. Finally, you will want to do your marketing and finance paperwork, ensuring you’ve got potential clients for future events and that all your bills are paid and invoices collected. On the day of an event, you will have to do your final check on your service providers, don the appropriate attire, and get your event running on time and smoothly. Most important: smile!

About Your Customers:

Your customers will run the gamut from engaged couples to new parents to business CEOs, which is why you will have to make sure you can provide the type of party a wide variety of clients might desire. You will wear many hats in this business, and the best event planner should be able to throw everything from a super Sweet 16 to an international business product launch party.

What You Need to Start:

• Liability insurance
• A website
• Contracts for new clients
• Financial-tracking software
• A two-year calendar
• A people-oriented, detail-oriented personality

The Good:

• Your events will always be new and exciting.
• You get to meet a lot of new people.
• You have the freedom of owning your own business.
• The business itself can be extremely profitable.
• Initial investment can be low and entirely accessible.

The Bad:

• You might work with very demanding clients who expect a lot from you.
• You can run into a difficult situation that will require fast and creative thinking if a service provider doesn’t show up for a scheduled event.

Resources:

• Bureau of Labor Statistics on Meeting and Convention Planners
• Event Planners Association
• International Special Events Society
• Wikipedia on Event Planning

About The Author

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