5 Tips to Starting Your Event Planning Business

There is a lot to consider when deciding to start your event planning business. This video and article below make it simple for you by discussing the top 5 things you should focus on.

Be sure to watch the whole video and read the detailed article.

5 Areas to Think About First When Starting Your Business

1. Ask yourself – What do you want to specialize in?

What is going to be your niche? Do you have a love for weddings? Do you want to do social events? Do you prefer a more professional environment of corporate events?

You can read about the different types of events here and be sure to sign up for our free mini course where the first lesson goes into detail about social vs corporate planning.

2. Your Mission Statement

A mission statement is 1 – 2 sentences about what your business does and why you do it.

The mission statement should be clear, memorable and concise.

Here are a few examples of good mission statements you can model yours after.

Best Friends Animal Society: A better world through kindness to animals.

American Heart Association: To build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

The Humane Society: Celebrating Animals, Confronting Cruelty.

TED: Spreading Ideas.

Monterey Bay Aquarium: The mission of the non-profit Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.

charity: water: We’re a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

This is important because it will be the way you brand yourself. When someone asks you what you do, after you tell them you’re an event planner the next thing you say will be your mission statement.

You can also put your mission statement on your website and marketing material.

3. Your Business Entity

Creating your business entity is an operational necessity of any business. Depending on your goals, needs and office situation you might be fine with having a DBA designation (“doing business as”); or if you need a more robust set up you can create an LLC or S-Corp. Our business course goes into much more detail about creating your business entity but for now you can find a lot of this information on your state website or speak with an attorney.

In addition to deciding on your business entity you should decide on your business name; opening a business bank account; and business insurance.

If you are doing professional events, we recommend you look into event insurance. It is not too expensive and worth the piece of mind to cover yourself. There are many recommendations for insurance companies in our private group for event planners.

4. Marketing

We have one of the most thorough articles about marketing your business and you should read the whole article. You’ll find many different ways to get clients and get the word out about your business.

5. Networking

Everyone knows networking is important but doing it in a smart way is the key. Reaching out to local vendors and venues is the best place to start. Equally important is to find every local charity and fundraiser event in your local area and attend those. You can also attend events at local churches. Often times these events are open to the public and you can find good networking opportunities with other planners and potential clients at these events.

Another good place to look is on meetup.com for local groups of vendors and event planners to meet with. Lastly, new restaurants and hotels in your town are some of the best places to go meet the new owners and introduce yourself.

Offering to throw Grand Opening parties for new businesses is a method we teach that may of our readers have had success getting new clients.

Offering to volunteer or do internships for events is another great way to network.