Is A Party Decorating Business The Same As A Party Planning Business
A party decorating business is not the same as a party planning business. Party planners hire the party decorators! Party planners handle more than the theme and decor. They manage the guest list, renting the location, and cleaning up afterward.
In fact, it might be smart to find a local party planner and ask if you can partner with them as one of their go-to decorators.
If you discover that you enjoy more than just the decorating, its simple to grow into a party planning business.
How To Decide If Decor Sales Is For You
First off, self-motivation is key to running any home-based business effectively.
Know that you will be working your own hours, considering that most home decor sales parties take place in the evenings and on weekends. Are you willing to commit to nontraditional hours?
Now, you cant look at decor as strictly a job. Your enthusiasm for your products will show, so choose your products wisely.
Lastly, can you sell to others without buying for yourself? Note if you spend all your profits on your products, you wont make any money. Be careful not to purchase anything you dont truly need.
Start An A/v Equipment Rental
Buying AV equipment does not make sense unless you are an event organizer or your company runs multiple events annually. Instead, businesses prefer hiring AV equipment rather than investing thousands of dollars in buying the equipment for a single event.
An audiovisual equipment rental business offers event or party organizers the right equipment to make the events a hit. The AV equipment rental business offers bundled packages to add technical perfection to any type of events their customers are looking to host.
Starting an AV rental business can be capital intensive, but given the rising demand for AV equipment, it can be profitable. If you plan to start the AV equipment rental business, remember there is high competition. Therefore, you have to ensure aggressive marketing to attain the business objectives.
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Revisit The Business Plan And Goals Regularly
Your business plan should be a working document, particularly in the important first stages of starting out in business. The process of thinking about and creating your plan is what will give you a competitive edge. Check back and revisit your plan regularly. Let the plan grow with you and your business to keep you on the right path.
Do you want to add this PDF business plan template to your own website? If so email .
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How to Set Up an Event Management Company from Home
What Happens During A Typical Day At A Party Supply Store
A party supply store needs to be a preferred location during the holidays, due to its niche product stock. For this reason, day-to-day activities during holiday hours are drastically different than during non-holiday hours.
Over the holidays, a holiday supply store owner must handle rush orders, filing go-back items, handling costume fittings, managing increased product shipments, creating a custom return policy, and prioritizing customer service. During non-holiday hours, an owner must be able to conduct the regular responsibilities associated with any small business owner. In-house finances, marketing, management, promotion, and shop upkeep are important.
While owners shouldn’t focus on product upkeep too much, several items in part storesdue to their disposable naturemay need to be replaced over time. Party supply stores often face slow periods when holidays arent near. These time periods deserve extra attention, so as to keep the shop operational.
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How Much Your Should Charge For An Event Decoration
Pricing the services is a tedious and critical task which decides your business survival. Initially, for the purpose of making entry into the market you can adopt pricing strategies which is favorable to your customers. At later stages, pricing should aim survival and in the end when you have reached a firm position your prices will speak the quality of the service you offer. Pricing should not only fix a value for the service, but should also make promotion within it. Discounts and offers in prices will be a good promotional idea.
What Type Of Customers Will Buy Your Balloon Business
It’s important to first establish who you will be selling to, whether it’s to businesses or consumers.
Typically, in this industry, products are sold to B2C markets .
Let’s take a look at what this means for your balloon decor business:
B2C is a transaction where businesses sell their products or services to the consumer directly.
In this market, consumer behavior is the primary driver for your business decisions – so it’s important that you truly identify who your customer is, and what their buyer habits are when building your product/service.
The advantage
B2C is that you are able to cast a very wide net when targeting your customers. Your product may interest a large number of consumers or a specific niche.
The disadvantage
B2C is that consumers hold all the power – so if your website is not the most user friendly, or does not rank in the top search results on Google, chances are, your customer is going to shop elsewhere.
When building your balloon decor business, it’s critical that you hone in on who your target audience is, and why they need your product over your competition.
Here are some items to consider when identifying your buyer persona:
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Learn More About The Local Party Planning Industry
First of all, define is it a red or a blue ocean. The red one? Great! Therefore, do some research. Try to grasp as much information as possible. Understand your competitors` strategies, positioning, occupations, targeted audiences, special propositions, etc. Look carefully at caterers, suppliers, entertainers, and other professionals they are collaborating with. Later on, you`ll definitely need reliable and highly professional ones.
Officially Launch Your Business
When all these elements are in place the time has come to officially launch your business. People need to know that you are now open for business. Plan well ahead for this day and try to have clients on board even before your official launch.
The hardest step is getting your first client. With every client that you work with you are building a portfolio of achievements which can help you to gain further business.
Launch with a bang:
- Re-contact everyone and anyone that you have spoken to during this process and let people know you are now officially open for business.
- Get on Facebook, target your geographic area, start an ad campaign with $20.
- Plan the best launch party you will ever plan and invite along potential clients. Show them what they are going to get if they work with you.
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How Much Do I Need To Start A Decorating Business
A party decorating business can cost anywhere between $2,000 and $5,000 to get started. A website and marketing budget are the most common expenses. Because the customer will pay for all décor items, there is no need for inventory. If you want to improve your party planning skills, you can also enroll in an online party planning course, such as Udemy.
Secrets To Nail Your Business Name Without Delay
Picking a name for your new business venture is highly important, as you want to get it right and select an epic company name that encapsulates your vision for the business. Deciding on event planning business names may be one of the final decisions you make, as working through your business plan will help you to define the vision of your new entity and therefore impact on the name.
Choose the right company name and ensure that your message and ethos are successfully catchy and well marketed and memorable for the right reasons.
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Confirm Your Pricing Strategy And Fee Structure
Thought needs to be given to your pricing and fees so you know how to answer questions about your costs. Although you need to know the specific details of an event project to quote accurately you still need to know your hourly and daily rates and to share them confidently. Consider whether you will quote on a fee basis or a time-charge basis. Other pricing methods you might consider are taking a fee as a percentage of the total event budget and taking a commission on any items booked related to the event. You may also want to offer set packages or have an introductory offer to entice people.
Get your price right:
- Research your competitors to find out how they charge and an idea of pricing. It can be very difficult to gain this information but if you can get an understanding of how your closest rivals price their services it will be very revealing indeed
- When you get an inquiry, make sure you ask lots of questions and get all the details you need to understand the project before quoting. Every event is different
- Create a list of questions to prompt you to ask anyone interested in your services. Take down all the details to enable you to calculate and create a proposal to share with them
How To Start A Party Supply Store
Party supply stores offer supply rentals, costumes, party favors, seasonal items, balloons, decorations and disposable silverware items. Theyre a one-stop-shop for anything seasonal, often revamping entire product lines to take care of seasonal crowds. Theyre often prioritized providers on Halloween, Christmas and birthdays due to their niche products and services.
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Step : Register For Taxes
You will need to register for a variety of state and federal taxes before you can open for business.
In order to register for taxes you will need to apply for an EIN. It’s really easy and free!
You can acquire your EIN for free through the IRS website, via fax, or by mail. If you would like to learn more about EINs and how they can benefit your LLC, read our article, What is an EIN?.
Learn how to get an EIN in our What is an EIN guide or find your existing EIN using our EIN lookup guide.
Small Business Taxes
Depending on which business structure you choose, you might have different options for how your business will be taxed. For example, some LLCs could benefit from being taxed as an S corporation .
You can learn more about small business taxes in these guides:
There are specific state taxes that might apply to your business. Learn more about state sales tax and franchise taxes in our state sales tax guides.
Create A Thorough Business Plan
You may be tempted to jump into action and start pursuing those dream clients, but taking the time to write a well thought out plan is an essential step for any aspiring entrepreneur, including party decorators. This step will help you think through all of your small business details and give you a chance to catch flaws in your plan, such as an unsustainable pricing structure before they become a problem.
Legal compliance on auto pilot
Spend less time worrying about paperwork, and more time running your business
Another reason to create this document before you start an event or party decorating business is to access funding. Banks, creditors, and granting organizations will typically want to see that you have put thought into your operation to help them make sure they want to fund your small business. They also want to see that youve considered your budget and can operate within it. A business plan allows you to demonstrate your knowledge of the industry, the market size and opportunity, an overview of your services, how you will go to market, and how your business will turn a profit.
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Develop Your Business Opportunities
Be sure to dedicate plenty of time to developing and growing your business, otherwise, you will find that you complete your first projects and then have no more work on the horizon. Managing cash flow and the peaks and troughs can be difficult as you get to grips with being your own boss.
Think about the next steps for your event planning business:
- Set up alerts or systematically check websites for relevant opportunities and tenders and get out there to network and meet people
- Develop template marketing content and wording for proposals so you are ready to respond quickly as you find out about opportunities
- Refine your pricing structure, fees and charges as you go along
- It can be very lonely starting out in business so make sure that you have the opportunity to talk to other business owners, compare notes, solve problems and share inspiration
- Get a business mentor to help guide you through this tricky beginning period
How Are You Doing Today And What Does The Future Look Like
The future of the company looks great. We have found the perfect niche and it is working for us. Our growth margins have increased year after year and our return on our costs of ads was getting covered. I always kept track of how the customer found us so I knew what was working and what was not. Our average ticket price is around $2,000 and we have added more upgrades and tiers in quality to make the average ticket higher.
We also signed up with a web designer and a host so we can keep track of how many people visit the site and the amount of time they spend on it. We noticed if you have a design center online that helps the clients they will spend more time on the site.
We also offer a FAQ which also helps because many of their questions get answered quickly and efficiently. We are always expanding and getting more inventory so we can have a more diverse clientele that is the main goal. You always want to be on track and ahead of the game. We always have the newest and best equipment in town because times are changing.
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Write A Marketing Plan Packed With Ideas & Strategies
When you are drafting your marketing ideas and strategies for your party rental company, you must be meticulous to ensure that all the details are well spelt out, and it is catchy enough. Here are some of the platforms you can utilize to market your party rental company
- Advertise your business in relevant business magazines, TV and radio station and also make yourself available for security related talk shows and interactive sessions on TV and Radios)
- List your business on local directories / yellow pages
- Leverage on the internet to promote your business
- Join local chambers of commerce around you with the main aim of networking and marketing your private security company.
- Introduce your business by sending introductory letters alongside your brochure to all the corporate organizations, community leaders, schools, hospitals, hotels and government offices in your target area.
- Promptness in bidding for contracts
- Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets.
- Engage in direct marketing, referral marketing and also email marketing.
Build A Solid Business Plan
I cant tell you how many small event planning businesses fail because the founder didnt put together a business plan in advance.
Start by researching successful plans and businesses that are similar to your scope of work. Then reach out to others in the events industry who may be able to guide you!
Even if youve never seen a business plan, there are plenty of resources and templates online that can get you started. Additionally, when you look to grow your business, an up-to-date business plan is vital to secure any kind of investment.
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Carve Out Your Niche: Proven Strategy To Increase Your Business Earnings
Businesses need to know who they serve and what problem they solve. Building your event business is critical to paying the bills but if youre selecting the wrong clients, numbers wont matter. Attract the right clients and youll create a business you love. Attract the wrong ones and you might not be in business much longer.
A successful event business is about more than just numbers. Yes, numbers make the difference between a red balance sheet and one thats in the black but theres more to building an event business than just getting people who will pay you money. If getting bookings for events was all that mattered, everyone would be in business for themselves.
However, having the right type of client is as important as having projects that pay the bills because without good clients, youre more likely to return to working for someone else. The wrong kind of client can be one heck of a headache so you want to make sure you attract the kind that you enjoy working with.
Purchasing Inventory For Your Balloon Decor Business
When first starting out, it’s important to start small with your overhead to get a gauge for what people want.
Just remember – if you order a line of items that don’t sell, it’s nearly impossible to recoup the money lost.
Buying the right inventory takes research and planning in order to get it right.
Pro-tip: It’s easy to become biased based on your own fashion preferences on what types of shoes/apparel to purchase. This is where a lot of fashion businesses go wrong. It’s important to base purchase decisions on current buyer behavior, trends in the market, and specific to your niche.
Erin Hooley, founder of Bailey’s Blossoms tells us how poor inventory projections led her to lose over $2M
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