Start Your Own Event Management Business
Credit: Girls Globe
Planning an event can never be boring. From the white tulips not showing up, to the caterers doing exactly the opposite of what you had asked for, to the smallest technical glitch, event management is quite eventful. So if you love bargaining with the printer to charge you $10 per square feet instead of $12, setting up just the right kind of décor for a site, and an intense and fast paced life, event management is for you.
An event planner is equal parts practical and creative. While you must certainly be assertive and communicative, you must also learn to listen to useful ideas others around you may pitch. It includes a variety of aspects, beginning with creating an event design, conducting due research to find the ideal site, food, transport and entertainment arrangements, to supervising the on- site personnel and having backups in case of last minute crisis.
Planners are often people who succeeded in a particular type or aspect of event and then moved on to planning entire events. Their requirement arises from the simple lack of time and expertise that any major event would ask for. Starting out with event management involves the usual obstacles faced by any new business such as extensive research, start-up and operation costs, marketing, partnerships and networking etc. Specifically for event managers, some amount of prior experience will definitely come in handy when you venture out on your own. You can simply bag a position or even volunteer at a hotel, a wedding or a sports event.
Playing different kinds of roles also helps, including the ones that take you out of your comfort zone. Like any other business, it requires a thorough understanding of vendor, venue and client contracts and well targeted marketing, which you can easily build over time and by working with someone who has an idea of it. And last, but most importantly it is important to at least begin with event ideas that have worked in the past and will therefore do so in the future as well. That being said, quirky ideas work quite a few times too. Bestmansbestman.co.uk provides useful online tips for arranging stag parties, while The Spain Event help plan vacations and parties all over Spain.
All in all, event management is fast becoming a lucrative business, with companies investing heavily in training and resources, and is definitely worth going into.
