STARTING YOUR EVENT MANAGEMENT COMPANY pt.2

Last time, we started looking at starting an event company and we stopped at carving a niche market. Today we will finish that and discuss more. We were discussing analyzing competitors. Below are more points to note in analyzing your completion. Doing this help you to design you Unique Selling Point (USP).

Competitor’s Analysis

- Market value (i.e. what is their reputation in the market)

- Market share (i.e. how much business they have occupied)

- Turnover (i.e. annual sales)?

- How many events they organize in a year?

- Why people attend their events?

- What is so special about their events?

- How do they get clients and sponsors for their events?

THEN YOUR SWOT ANALYSIS.

You SWOT analysis define your STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS. Doing this helps you to know what you are bringing into the industry, what is available there for you, what can either make you or mar you in the industry.

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS	WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES	THREATS

 Strengths

Determine your resources and capabilities and how they can be used against your competition and in favour of your target audience. What advantages do you have? What you can do better than the others?

Weaknesses

Determine the resources you lack. Determine the advantages your competitors have. What could you improve? What you should avoid?

Opportunities

Look at your strengths and determine which opportunities are opened for you. Determine how you can open up even more opportunities by eliminating some of your weaknesses.

Threats

Changes in external environment (like changes in economy or market trends) or any unfavourable situation can pose threat to your company or business. Determine all present and possible threats to your business venture. It can be the presence of a very powerful competitor or new or innovative ways of organizing events or a heavy tax on entertainment

4. GET REGISTERED

You need to get registered. Get your Event Management Company registered, either as a business name or a limited liability company. There are clients you meet that won’t pay you cash and they won’t pay into your personal account if your company is not registered. You will also not be able to open a company account anywhere in this country if you are unregistered. Not being registered limits what you can do. There is a lot riding in doing business without being registered but then who says you still can’t do business?

BUSINESS PLAN

You need a business plan, no matter how simple it is, you need one. I find it difficult writing a business plan because I am too restless to start putting into written perspective all these bright ideas in my head but that’s what getting down to actually writing the business plan has done for me. It has helped to put into perspective what I want to do. Anytime I need to know the next line of action, I consult my business plan. My business plan  is very easy to understand by me because I wrote it and editing it is not a challenge. I once thought of employing a professional to do it for me, however, I found no one could define my business like I could and I actually had fun doing it.

The business plan won’t make you a successful business owner overnight but it will help you as a guide. With it you can avoid business pitfalls such as undercapitalization. It also helps you spot common business pitfalls that you can avoid very easily. You can follow these simple guidelines to write a business plan for your event management company;

There are three primary parts to a business plan.

The business concept, where you discuss the industry, your business structure, your product or service and how you plan to make your business a success.

Outline your business objectives. What do you want to achieve in short term and in long term i.e. what is the mission and vision of your event planning company? However don't stick too much with long term objectives as they may become meaningless after a long time or changes in market situation.

Determine your staffing needs and what should be their skill sets.

In this case, your vendors. As a start up Event Manager, you do not need so much staff unless you are starting big. However, if you are starting small, all you need are just your vendor needs. Look forward to our article on vendor selection and management. I promise it will enlighten you.

Meanwhile for the purpose of planning the growth of your event management business you need to develop the organizational structure of your event management company as part of your business plan. Outline your own skills, knowledge and experience and determine how they can be used to achieve business success. Prepare resume of yourself and all of the people who will like to be involved in your business. These resumes will come handy when you will look for partners/investors and employees later on.

 The marketplace section, in which you describe and analyze potential customers: who and where they are, what makes them buy and so on. You'll also describe your competition and how you'll position yourself to beat it.

Determine how exactly you will find clients. How you will approach them and how you will sell your services. How you will expand your business? What will be your rules, regulations, policies and procedures regarding payments, reimbursement, penalties, cancellation and behaviour?

The financial section contains your income and cash flow statement, balance sheet and other financial ratios, such as break-even analysis. This part may require the use of a spreadsheet. An excel platform will do. If calculating the costs gets your mind muddled up like it does to me, help from an accountant friend of yours will be helpful.

Estimate your capital requirements for one whole year. Determine how you will manage the cash flow? You also need to prepare a contingency plan i.e. what strategies you will adopt in case of capital loss, economic crisis or market downturn or a business exit plan if somehow, you got tired and you want out. 

 Next week, we will start with getting your first client . . .