By Joye Speight
Picture this- you are sitting at your desk at your corporate
job daydreaming about what you would be doing if you owned your own business.
You think to yourself that you would be able to work in your passion and work
out at the gym in the middle of the day, make a lot of money and have much more
time to spend with friends and family. That’s the picture that most people have
entrepreneurs but the reality is far from that “perfect picture” that I just
painted. Everyone wants to work doing what their passionate about and having
experienced this firsthand let me tell you that the satisfaction that you get
from it is indeed intoxicating. But aside from the “lightheaded” feeling, you
must consider this one this thing “what about your passion brings profits”?
When you are considering leaving your day job to open your
own event planning firm, there 5 things that you must do in order to get on the
“path to profit” in your business:
1. Find
Your Niche: What specific type of event do you want to plan?
Event planners are becoming a dime a dozen
these days, so figure out what will make you different and stand out from among
the masses. Creating your own niche will help you start thinking about the
specific types of events you enjoy planning. Are you more interested in kid
parties, multi-cultural events, weddings, or social events? Don’t make the
mistake of opening your business without knowing which specific services you
offer, because you will find yourself planning events that don’t contribute to
your business model. If you enjoy planning kids parties, chances are you shouldn't open a meeting planning firm, they are two polar opposites and you
will find yourself being frustrated and uninspired.
2.
Find
Your Target Market
For every niche, there is a market.
Once you determine the specific niche that you want to provide you need to find
the market that will pay for that service and that’s where your profits come
from. Without this important step, you
will find yourself running the “rat race” trying to stay in business. You will
need to know your ideal customer back and forth: where do they live, how much
do they make, how often do they use your product and/or services, what
associations are they members of, do they have kids, are they married, what is
their age range, etc. The more detailed that you are about your ideal customer,
the more targeted you can be when you develop your marketing plan to reach
them.
3.
Research
your Competitors
Who are your competitors? What
services do they provide? Where are they located, and what are customers saying
in their testimonials? These are all of the things that you want to consider
when you are analyzing your competition. This same information can help you as
you create and design your marketing and sales materials. Conducting this research will also help you
solidify the niche that you are interested in pursuing. Afterwards, you should
know everything that there is to know about your competitors and what’s the
most important is to know how you differ from them.
4.
Set
SMART Goals
Setting effective goals and
objectives is a science. We have all set goals that haven’t been executed but
if you are seriously considering starting your own business, you have to be
able to follow through on your goals and objectives. Setting SMART goals means that you set goals
that are Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. Specifically list out your goals for your
business, for example a great goal is: “To acquire 10 new event leads per month
as a result of networking events.” The more specific the goals are, the more
likely you are to accomplish them. Measurable, by listing the number of leads
you want you acquire it gives a specific number that you can track on a monthly
basis. Attainable; is 10 too many people to connect with or can you do more? Relevant,
how does that contribute to your business model and revenue stream? If the task isn't relevant then it may not help you meet your objectives. Timely; is the
amount of time that you give yourself to accomplish your goal?
5.
Develop
a Marketing Plan
Now that you know what specific
niche of the hospitality industry you’re interested in and your target market
you can start developing marketing materials that connect with your
demographic. You also know what your competitors are offering and who their customers
are so it should be very easy to differentiate yourself from the masses. You’ve set SMART goals to connect with
networks, and key people that can help you get the word out about your
business. Now all you have to do is create a marketing plan with clear,
concise, and targeted content to make you an authority in your field. All of
your marketing materials should be consistent: Your cards, your website, and
all of your social media should be reflective of each other. Marketing is
defined as, “ the action or business of promoting and selling products and
services.” So unless you both promoting
and selling your marketing plan isn’t effective. Go back to the drawing board
and develop a plan that targets your ideal customer.
All of these steps contributes to
the initial success of your business so make sure that you do your due
diligence to set yourself up for success before you open your business. Passion
alone does not produce profit. It takes passion, knowledge, networking,
strategy and marketing to give you success.
Spend the extra time developing your business before you actually launch
it so that you can indeed profit from your passion. With the proper planning your passion will
ultimately pay your bills!
Passion + Knowledge+ Network+
Strategy+ Marketing = Success
O: 866-845-8845 | M: 704-492-9144
joye@virtueevents.com
www.virtueevents.com
Don't forget to link up your events on this month's Linky Party Hop. Link up here.
Stay tuned for more insights on the event planning business from fellow event planners each week in May on the blog. So stay in the loop by subscribing here.
Check out KG Style Design's gallery of children's parties:
**I LOVE LUCY**
**SUPERMAN**
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