Party Planning Business Idea

Mr&MrsSkint

Me - Stay-at-home mum to 3 children for the past 10 years and think it is high time I contributed to the monthly income. I have a business idea for a Party Planning/Event Management small business and would welcome some comments; i.e has this idea "got legs". Aiming primarily at the cash-rich, time-poor end of the market but also at those wanting to abdicate the administrative side of event organisation and finishing touches. We live in a fairly affluent town (we occupy the cheap seats!) and there is no-one currently providing this type of service. Any comments?

kimbatty

Well it sounds like you have done some research to ascertain it's a much needed service so now draw up a plan of action. What sort of research have you done so far ? It sounds like you feel you have a great idea so get the plan down and get going. You can always try a soft launch first just to really test the market out first and see how that goes.

Mr&MrsSkint

I have done some limited research via the internet indicating that this kind of service, so far, is aimed at those with money to spare. In the first instance I aim to tackle the middle ground for those that want something a little bit more than the usual jelly and ice cream party and also other milestone celebrations. Hopefully moving on to weddings as my main aim. I have the opportunity to test the market next month with a children's party and I am hoping that by chatting to people there, it might open some doors for me to see what I can do. I am at the planning stage of putting together a portfolio of entertainers, venues, themes etc but not sure where to go from there if there are no takers. I am full of grand schemes and ideas but need a boost of confidence to put myself in the arena once again.

Astaroth

First thing as ever to do is decide what your target market is, are you looking purely at personal events or also looking to break into the corporate/ business market? Market and competitor research comes next... most places do free consultations so no harm in pretending to be a prospective customer to see what sort of things your future competitors are doing (what services are they offering? How much do they charge? Are they charging hidden costs (classics such as charging a fee but also inflating the cost of venues etc)? What brouchers/ flyers etc do they give you?) Finally there is the key part.... what will differentiate your business from everyone else doing the same thing?

Then comes the easy part of a business plan

go4it

Nice idea. I've been looking into birthday parties. Bday parties are now so important for some parents - it's not just so that their kid had fun but it is a social statement to toher parents etc - i.e. who can put on the best party!

Don't think that parents etc will chuck money at you - they won't. They may be rich but many understand money and know the true cost of most things. What will get you bookings is your experience and skill - they want the best party, they can't do it themselves so they need your help!

Astaroth

Certainly true for the cash rich time poor market which I assume you would be aiming at (aka the mass-exclusive). Would need to make sure that everything you do is the sort of thing that will appeal to them (Pret Manger, Waitrose, Egg, John Lewis etc are all companies held up as being successful in this target customer area)

Mr&MrsSkint

Thanks to everyone for your comments so far. Yes, I certainly have a target audience in mind and imagine coordinating events far smarter than the usual church hall ensemble. (I have nothing against these, I have organised and been to many myself - but in order to make my idea profitable I need to up the ante.) I have an opportunity to showcase my creativity soon with a party I have organised for one of our children at a swanky hotel so I hope to generate some interest from that. If there is no interest here I may place a small ad locally just to see if there is a demand and take it from there. In the meantime I am collating a portfolio of service providers that I can draw upon. So here's the crunch question: If you had a special event looming, e.g. milestone birthday, silver wedding, graduation, christening, special kiddies party, (I will leave weddings for now), and had the money to pay someone to organise it for you, WOULD YOU? And what extra special something, over and above what you might do yourself, would you expect?

Astaroth

To be honest there isnt much "extra special something" that I would be expecting. The two reasons I would potentially use a service like this is 1) to take away the time/ stress of trying to arrange the thing 2) for ideas.

Personally I dont think that there is much that an events organiser can offer me which I could not get done myself assuming I had time to do it. What they can do however is suggest ideas which I wouldnt have thought of... I think that one graduate we had on placement with us had a slightly wrong idea about how much large companies spend on entertaining its members of staff but she was set on finding something "different" for entertainment at an evening event and found a company that did some talks/ tastings etc on diamonds and champaign and during it everyone had a glass of champaign with a "stone" in the bottom, 1 of which would be a certified diamond worth at least £2,000 and the rest being glass or semi precious gems. Needless to say way out of our budget for a staff event but perhaps suitable for a diamond wedding or such?

The risk of cause is that people use you (or even just your marketing material) for ideas and then dont place an order and arrange it themselves.

casinoman

I think the main thing you will need is Either A huge amount of luck, or lots of friends and relatives as this is a very competitive area to get into. We are in the event business and talk to other event people. They all say the same thing to much competition. I hope this helps.

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