Event Planning Business Plan Sample

Event planning business plan for starting your own agency

Are you thinking about starting an event planning business? Well, if you have what it takes to properly plan and manage an event, you can certainly jump in this field. The biggest benefit of starting this business plan event planner is that it requires the least capital investment as compared to many other businesses. You can start an event planning business in a small office with a small team and minimal inventory, consisting mostly of office and stationery supplies.

Secondly, an event planner business starts yielding a profit as soon as it is launched as compared to most of the businesses which need months or even years to yield the desired rate of return. Another important aspect is that, unlike other businesses, an event planning business has the least amount of risk associated with it provided that you plan and market it successfully.

So before you move on to starting this venture, you will have to prepare a comprehensive event management business plan which will establish the basis of your company’s future operations and decisions. If you are wondering how to write a business plan for event planning then here we are providing you the event management plan company business startup named ‘Godi Events’.

Executive Summary

2.1 The Business

Godi Events will be a bonded, insured and licensed event management business plan, located in the Manhattan borough of the New York City. We aim to serve the nearby residential community and the corporate sector of Manhattan by proving them the best services for managing their important and memorable events of life.

Godi Events will be owned and operated by Anna Godi. Anna has been associated with the hospitality industry for more than 6 years. She has been working at executive positions in various event planning companies and premium brands throughout the United States to create memorable and unique events. She wanted to establish a name for herself in this industry that’s why she thought, ‘why not starting my own event planning business’? Hence, she decided to start this venture.

2.2 Management

The main office of Godi Events will be located in Manhattan borough of the New York City. A 200 square feet office has already been acquired on lease in the center of the main commercial district of downtown Manhattan. Anna will manage the overall operations of the company while she will be assisted by some of her friends for the startup.

The success of a startup heavily depends on its staff and management. Likewise, management will play a great role in making this venture successful, so make sure to plan it before thinking about how to start a business in event planning.

2.3 Customers

Our target market is the corporate sector located in the Central Business District of the Manhattan and the community living nearby at the 10 minutes’ drive from our office. This residential community will need our services for planning and managing their weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and parties. On the other hand, companies and businesses also need to organize work sessions, retreats, team meetings, seminars, workshops, and conferences multiple times in a year.

Our biggest competitive edge over other competitors will be our mobile app business plan which can be used for online booking, selection of food plans and venues, making payments and much more. We have strategically built this app to facilitate the ever-busy working class of the society. Our second competitive edge will be our unparalleled customer service which will be the best in town. We will treat every customer with utmost respect and make sure that they get more than what they had expected from us.

2.4 Target of the Company

The target of the company is to become the best business plan for event planning company in the New York City within next five years of our startup. This target can only be achieved by growing the sales at the forecasted rate. We also aim to balance the initial cost of the startup with earned profits by the end of the first year, to achieve the net profit margin of $10k per month by the end of the first year, to open up two more offices in different cities of the United States by the end of five years.

Franchise Business Planning 

Helps the franchisee get business case approval from the franchisor

Company Summary

3.1 Company Owner

Godi Events will be owned and operated by Anna Godi. Anna has been associated with the hospitality industry for more than 6 years after completing her Masters in Human Resources Management from Loyola Marymount University – College of Business Administration. Since then, she has been working at executive positions in various event planning companies throughout the United States, working primarily with premium companies and brands for creating memorable and unique events.

Anna is a philanthropist and celebrated Event Planner, best known for planning some of the New York City’s most important events. Stylish and discriminating, she believes in working only with the very best. From photographers and set designers to budgeting and booking artists, she has formed an exceptionally collaborative team for her venture.

3.2 Why the event planning business is being started

Anna has always been a planner. Since her high school days, she has been planning, organizing and executing school events. Afterwards, she started her own event management business plan society in college to plan and manage the college events organized by the student body. She was born to be a planner and her planning skills are praised by all and sundry.

After completing her studies, Anna pursued her passion by serving in some of the biggest event organizers of the United States but soon she realized that she can establish her name in the hospitality business only by her own setup. That’s when she decided to start business plan event planner completely by herself. She knows that she can bring radical changes in the hospitality industry by following her natural instincts.

3.3 How the event planning business will be started

You have to consider many aspects before you think about how to start your own party planning business. Fortunately, during her 5 years’ experience in the hospitality industry, Anna made many friends some of whom will join her in this venture and will help her through every step.

The main office of Godi Events will be located in Manhattan borough of the New York City. A 200 square feet office has already been acquired on lease in the center of the main commercial district of downtown Manhattan. The place was formerly used as an office for a small IT firm. Some changes and interior designing woodwork are also required and a contractor has been hired for this purpose.

Anna has planned everything about her event management plan including the required personnel and inventory and has hired experts from various fields to help her craft a detailed map about it. The financial experts have forecasted following costs for expenses, assets, investment, and loans for the Start-up.

The detailed start-up requirements, start-up funding, start-up expenses, total assets, total funding required, total liabilities, total planned investment, total capital and liabilities as forecasted by experts, is given below:

Services for customers

The success or failure of a party planner business entirely depends on how it provides its services to the customers. A party plans business must be extremely customer-oriented and should provide a wide variety of services to survive in the modern day competitive environment. So before you start your own event planning business, do some research about what kind of event management business plans are most in demand nowadays. In order to excel in the competitive field of event planning, Godi Events will provide the following event planning services to its esteemed customers:

• Corporate Event Planning: We will provide a majority of services to the corporate sector. Some of those services include but are not limited to corporate event planning, corporate retreat planning, team meetings planning, training and work sessions planning, conferences and workshops planning.
• Party Planning: We will provide a majority of party planning services which include but are not limited to anniversaries planning, birthday events planning, graduation and other parties planning.
• Wedding Planning: We will also provide wedding planning services and other inclusive events such as reception and shower planning.
• Social Events Planning: We will provide a wide range of social events planning which include but are not limited to social gatherings planning, banquets and social dinners planning, award ceremonies and other similar events planning.

Our events will be completely customized, reflecting the brand personality of every client. Whether we will act for a product, a family, or a company, our work will integrate innovative designs with the finest in wine and cocktails, dining, music, entertainment and—most important of all—that intangible element of surprise.

Our group of seasoned professionals understands that breakthrough ideas are only as good as the discipline supporting them. At Godi Events we believe that there is a sublime connection between the mastery of logistics and the creation of astonishment. Specializing in the creation of exceptional events for private and corporate clients, we will design, plan and manage every project from conception to execution.

We will be responsible for planning, executing and managing everything needed to make an event successful. We pay great attention to even the tiniest bit of details as this is the key to the success of any event. Whether we are planning a company retreat, a social event or a wedding, we will be responsible for planning and managing of its every aspect such as audio / visual, budget planning, catering consultation, décor selection, entertainment, evening program, floral, guest gifts, hotel room blocks, invitations, lighting and sound, on-site management, photography, rentals, stationery, tenting, timelines, transportation, venue selection & management, videography etc.

In addition, to provide the planning services, we will also sell resource manuals and step-by-step guides. These resource manuals and step-by-step guides can be either purchased directly from our office in Manhattan or they can be downloaded from your official website by making an online payment via PayPal and Payoneer.

Similarly, the step-by-step guides include the detailed guidelines for planning out the birthdays, meetings, retreats, parties, vacations, and special occasion celebrations such as graduations, holidays, showers, weddings, and receptions event. It will guide the readers on what is needed for and how to put together a successful, worry-free and successful event with popular refreshments, recipes, games. By using these resource manuals and step-by-step guides, anyone can easily plan the small-scale events for themselves.

Marketing analysis of business plan for event planning company

The most important component of an effective event planning business plan template is its accurate marketing analysis that’s why Anna acquired the services of marketing experts to help her through this phase. It is only after this stage that a good event management business plan could have been developed. After identifying the local market trends in the New York City, the marketing experts and analysts also helped her to select the best site for establishing the main office of the company.

The success or failure plan totally depends upon its marketing strategy which can only be developed on the basis of accurate marketing analysis. There are four main steps to carry out an accurate marketing analysis which are to identify the current market trends, identify your target audience and potential customers, set out the event management business targets to achieve, and finally set the prices of your products and services. Marketing analysis is a must-do thing before you move on to event planner business plan because the planning of many subsequent components depends on it. Therefore, it must be considered before developing a party planner business plan.

5.1 Market Trends

The event management industry is hardly a couple of decades old and has already experienced unprecedented growth. It is estimated that it is experiencing an unprecedented growth of more than 25% per year making it one of the fastest growing industries today, along with the travel and hospitality sectors. Today, event management is not just limited to planning and organization but much more.

Moreover, this industry is one of the few that consistently sees revenue growth along with an increase in the number of event venues. It has been estimated that event industry contributes more than a hundred billion dollars to the annual GDP of the United States. The number of event planners has increased exponentially over the past few years. After identifying these market trends, it is clearly evident that the party planner industry is always blooming and can be immensely profitable provided you plan your business plan event planner successfully.

5.2 Marketing Segmentation

Our target market is the corporate sector located in the Central Business District of the Manhattan and the community living nearby at the 10 minutes’ drive from our office. The community consists of all types of people from varying backgrounds. As per the financial position, nearly half of the community has a monthly income ranging from $40k to $50k while nearly 10% people have incomes even around $100,000.

The corporate sector also provides many opportunities to us since the Downtown Manhattan houses many local, national and multinational businesses and companies. On average, these businesses make millions of dollars every year and can easily spend extravagantly on their events for the sake of promoting their brands. That’s why they present many prospects for event planners like us.

In order to develop a good event planning business plan sample it was crucial to analyze the market segmentation of the future customers of our services. A successful and efficient marketing strategy can only be developed after we completely know our potential customers. Our experts have identified the following type of target audience which can become our future consumers:

The detailed marketing segmentation of our target audience is as follows:

5.1.1 Corporate Sector:

The biggest consumer of our services will be the corporate sector located in Downtown Manhattan. There are hundreds of local, national and multinational businesses and companies located within 15 km radius of our office. These corporations organize company retreats once or twice a year to increase team building between their employees and to take a break from the hectic and monotonous office routine. Similarly, these companies need to organize work sessions, team meetings, seminars, workshops, and conferences multiple times in a year.

Most of these businesses make millions of dollars every year and can easily spend extravagantly on their events for the sake of promoting their brands and for entertaining their high-profile guests. They will contribute the biggest portion of our revenue and hence our marketing strategy will be specifically tailored to attract this customer group.

5.1.2 Government Institutions:

The second category comprises of various government institutions in addition to schools, colleges, and universities located in Manhattan. These institutions frequently host many public events and gatherings such as award ceremonies, educational events, conferences and seminars, alumni meet up events etc.

5.1.3 Residential Community:

The third category includes the community residing in the residential zones of the city at a 10 minutes’ drive from our office. The residential community is extremely diverse comprising of people belonging to various age groups and varying needs. This customer group will need our services for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and parties. As discussed earlier, we are strategically located in one of the richest neighborhoods in the United States where the residents have monthly incomes up to a hundred thousand dollars. That’s why this group will contribute the second biggest chunk of revenue after the corporate sector.

The detailed market analysis of our potential customers is given in the following table:

5.3 Business Target

We aim to become the best event planners of the New York City within next five years of our startup. Our main event management business plan targets to be achieved as milestones over the course of next three years are as follows:

• To achieve the net profit margin of $10k per month by the end of the first year, $15k per month by the end of the second year, and $25k per month by the end of the third year
• To balance the initial cost of the startup with earned profits by the end of the first year
• To open up a second company office by the end of three years in San Francisco, and a third office by the end of five years in Los Angeles

5.4 Product Pricing

Product and service pricing is one of the most important factors in deciding the strategy for a business plan for event planning company. Selecting the price for the services is a difficult task, especially for the startups, because one has to attract customers while yielding a profit at the same time. These two things cannot be achieved at the same time and the only way out is to select a compromised trade-off or balance between the two.

After considering the market demands, we have priced all our services in the similar ranges as of our competitors. The reason behind our pricing policy is to achieve the minimum attractive rate of return which would not be possible in case of offering our services at low prices.

The strategy of business plan for event planning company

Like marketing analysis, sales strategy is also an important component of an event planning business. After identifying the market trends, the market demand, and the potential customers of the startup, the next step is to develop an ingenious strategy to attract those customers toward us. Anna carried out an extensive research about various marketing and advertising strategies before she moved to start a party planning business.

6.1 Competitive Analysis:

Event planning industry is one of the biggest industries of the United States contributing $115 Billion to the annual GDP of the United States. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there is over 100,000 party planner business plan in the United States and their numbers are increasing exponentially. Likewise, there are hundreds of established event planners in the New York City that’s why we have a really tough competition ahead of us. Considering the immense competition in this field, one has to introduce something innovative before even thinking about how to start event planning business.

That’s why we have already made preparations for entering the competitive industry of event management. Our biggest competitive edge over other competitors will be our mobile app which can be used for a variety of purposes such as online booking, choosing a venue from different venues, selection of different menu plans or create a customized one for your event, selection of different activities for the event, making online payments, and much more.

We have strategically built this app to facilitate the ever-busy working class of the society. Our second competitive edge will be our unparalleled customer service which will be the best in town. We will treat every customer with utmost respect and make sure that they get more than what they had expected from us.

6.2 Sales Strategy

After carrying out a detailed analysis, our experts came up with the following brilliant ideas to advertise and sell ourselves.

• We will carry out a large-scale social media campaign for our advertisement.
• We will introduce a smartphone app which you can use for online booking, selection of food delivery by business plans and venues, making payments and much more.
• We will offer a 25% discounts on our services for the first three months of our launch.

6.3 Sales Forecast

Considering our innovative app, the quality of our services, and our unparalleled customer service, our sales pattern is expected to increase with years. By analyzing our market segmentation strategy, our experts have forecasted the following sales on a yearly basis which are summarized in the column charts.

The detailed information about sales forecast, total unit sales, total sales is given in the following table:

Personnel plan

Personnel plan, like all other plans, is an important component of an effective event planning business plan example. Its importance is due to the fact that success of any business significantly depends upon its employees. It is never easy to estimate the number and type of staff needed for a company before it is even launched therefore it is always better to seek the help of HR experts to get through this phase. Anna acquired the services of experts to help her develop the following personnel plan for her company.

7.1 Company Staff

Anna will act as the General Manager of the company while Carl John will serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the company. The company will initially hire following people:

• 1 Accountants to maintain financial records
• 2 Sales Executives responsible for marketing and discovering new ventures
• 1 Venue coordinator to procure the venues
• 4 Decorators to decorate the venues
• 3 Caterers for preparing food for the event
• 2 Photographers to capture the beautiful moments of the memorable events of our customers
• 1 Inventory Manager to manage the merchandise needed for events
• 2 Drivers for moving the event managing team between different places
• 1 Front Desk Officer to act as a receptionist
• 1 Security Officer

To ensure the best quality service, all employees will be selected through vigorous testing and will be trained for a month before starting their jobs.

7.2 Average Salary of Employees

The following table shows the forecasted data about employees and their salaries for next three years.

Financial Plan

After deciding the strategy and personnel plan of the company, the next step is to develop a detailed map about the financial projections covering all aspects of the company. Just like the planning of other aspects, you must also prepare a financial plan before you start thinking about how to start your own event planning business. The financial plan should craft a detailed map about the cost of startup, inventory, payroll, equipment, rent, utilities and how these costs will be covered by the earned profits.

Before getting to think about starting an event planning company business plan, make sure to carry out a detailed profit and loss analysis. The Godi Events financial plan outlines the development of the company over the next three years and is specifically developed to achieve both the company’s short-term and long-term objectives.

8.1 Important Assumptions

The company’s financial projections are forecasted on the basis of following assumptions. These assumptions are quite conservative and are also expected to show deviation but to a limited level such that the company’s major financial strategy will not be affected.

8.2 Brake-even Analysis

The following graph shows the company’s Brake-even Analysis.

The following table shows the company’s Brake-even Analysis.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

The following charts show the company’s expected Profit and Loss situation on the monthly and yearly basis.

8.3.1 Profit Monthly

The following graph shows the monthly profit, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.2 Profit Yearly

The following graph shows the yearly profit, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.3 Gross Margin Monthly

The following graph shows the monthly gross margin, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

8.3.4 Gross Margin Yearly

The following graph shows the yearly gross margin, as forecasted by the company’s financial experts.

The following table shows detailed information about profit and loss, and total cost of sales.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

The following column diagram shows the projected cash flow.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table shows detailed data about pro forma cash flow, subtotal cash from operations, subtotal cash received, sub-total spent on operations, subtotal cash spent.

The following projected balance sheet shows data about total current assets, total long-term assets, total assets, subtotal current liabilities, total liabilities, total capital, total liabilities and capital.

8.6 Business Ratios

The following table shows data about event management business plan ratios, ratio analysis, total assets, net worth.

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