According to recent research conducted by Dr. Joe Goldblatt, spending for special events worldwide is $500 billion annually. Goldblatt is the founder of International Special Events Society (ISES), the founding director of the Event Management Program at George Washington University, and co-author of The International Dictionary of Event Management.
“Suffice it to say, the marketplace is large enough to support and sustain your endeavour,” says Goldblatt. “If you’re working in one special events area, there are many directions in which you can expand.
If you’re just entering the profession of special events, there’s a lucrative market awaiting you on many fronts.”
According to Goldblatt’s research, profits in this industry continue to rise. Just a few years ago, Goldblatt says, the average profit margin for an event planning entrepreneur was around 15%.
What Is Event Planning?
This question actually breaks down into two questions: What kinds of events are we talking about? And, what is event planning?
First things first. Generally speaking, special events occur for the following purposes:
- Celebrations (fairs, parades, weddings, reunions, birthdays, anniversaries)
- Education (conferences, meetings, seminars)
- Promotions (product launches, political rallies, fashion shows)
- Commemorations (memorials, civic events)
This list isn’t an exhaustive one, but as the examples illustrate, special events may be business related, purely social or somewhere in between.
Planners of an event may handle any or all of the following tasks related to that event:
- Conducting research
- Creating an event design
- Finding a site
- Arranging for food, decor and entertainment
- Planning transportation to and from the event
- Sending invitations to attendees
- Arranging any necessary accommodations for attendees
- Coordinating the activities of event personnel
- Supervising at the site
- Conducting evaluations of the event
How many of these activities your business engages in will depend on the size and type of a particular event, which will, in turn, depend on the specialisation you choose.
Why Do People Hire Event Planners?
This question has a simple answer: Individuals often find they lack the expertise and time to plan events themselves. Independent planners can step in and give these special events the attention they deserve.
Who Becomes An Event Planner?
Stephanie Moss of Stephanie Moss Solutions started out as an advertising and promotions manager for an IT company and became involved in the conferencing side of the business.
She was drawn to the glitz and glamour of it all. In 1989, when she started her company, there were few event-focused agencies, and no one thought about booking their conferences through event managers.
Wedding planner Aleit Swanepoel took a circuitous route to the wedding industry, working in hospitality as a restaurant and conference centre manager at Oude Libertas, and then as the national functions and events manager for Distell, South Africa’s largest wine company.
This experience honed his organising skills. “I realised I was organising people’s weddings at the venues I worked at, free of charge really. In 2001 I must have coordinated in the region of 250 weddings,” he recalls. It was something he enjoyed and was exceptionally good at so starting his own business was a natural course to follow.
The Service Offering
What are the services that events planners offer their clients?
Here are the main tasks you’ll be completing as an event planner:
1. Research
The best way to reduce risk (whatever the kind) is to do your homework. For large events, research may mean making sure there’s a demand for the event by conducting surveys, interviews or focus group research. If you’re new to the event planning industry, research may instead mean finding out all you can about vendors and suppliers.
Research also may mean talking to other planners who have produced events similar to the one on which you’re working. Or you may find yourself reading up on issues of custom and etiquette, especially if you’re unfamiliar with a particular type of event.
Whatever kind of event you’re planning, research should include asking your client a lot of questions and writing down the answers. Interviewing a client may not be what you immediately think of as research.
However, asking too few questions, or not listening adequately to a client’s answers, can compromise the success of the event you plan.
2. Design
Your creativity comes most into play in the design phase of event planning, during which you sketch out the overall “feel” and “look” of the event.
This is the time to brainstorm, either by yourself or with your employees. It’s also the time to pull out and look through your idea file. (You do have one, don’t you? If not, read on and take notes.)
Don’t forget to consult your notebook for the client’s answers to the questions you asked in the research phase. These responses, especially the one regarding the event budget, will help you thoroughly check each idea for feasibility, preferably before suggesting it to the client.
3. Proposal
Once you’ve interviewed the client and done some preliminary brainstorming, you should have enough information to prepare a proposal.
Be aware that the production of a proposal is time-consuming and potentially expensive, especially if you include photographs or sketches. While it’s a common practice in the US, South African companies seldom charge a consultation fee.
Panaretos says there are too many events management companies chasing the business for them to start charging for a consultation.
“In many instances, you may be pitching to an existing client and charging a fee would really be inappropriate.”
You may run the risk of having your ideas poached but, he says, that is part and parcel of the events business.
4. Organisation
During this decision-intensive phase, you’ll rent the site, hire vendors and take care of more details than you might believe possible. You’ll be on the phone until your ear is numb.
But before you do any of this, make sure you have a contact person (either the client or someone acting on the client’s behalf) with whom you’ll discuss all major decisions.
Having a designated individual helps ensure that communication lines are kept open. Also, social events in particular sometimes suffer from the “too many cooks” syndrome.
Having one designated contact helps you avoid being caught in the middle of disagreements between event participants.
Generally speaking, the bigger the event, the more lead time that’s required to plan it. Major conventions are planned years in advance.
Although you may not be arranging events on such a grand scale, you do need to allow at least a few months for events like corporate picnics, reunions or large parties.
5. Coordination
After you’ve made the initial plans, turn your attention to each of the activities that form a part of the overall event. At this point, your goal is to ensure that everyone is on the same wavelength. Good communication skills are important.
Make sure all vendors have at least a general idea of the overall event schedule. Even more important, vendors should be clear about what’s expected of them, and when.
Vendor arrival times should appear in the contracts, but verify those times anyway. This is a “check and recheck” period. Make sure all your staff members know their roles.
6. Evaluation
The obvious, and in one sense the most important, test of an event’s success is customer satisfaction. The goal, of course, is to end up with a client who will sing your praises up and down the street, shouting it from rooftops.
This is the client who will hire you again, and who will provide that famous word-of-mouth advertising for you.
There are several other ways to evaluate the success of an event. You can hire an event planning consultant; have someone who hosts extremely successful parties observe your event; plan a roundtable post-event discussion with your employees; obtain feedback from other industry professionals working at the event, like the caterer or bartender; or survey guests at or after the event.
7. Pricing
The goal in pricing a service is to mark up your labour and material costs sufficiently to cover overhead expenses and generate an acceptable profit. First-time business owners often fail because they unknowingly priced their services too low.
8. Market segment served
Social events have a different fee structure than corporate events. In the social events industry, planners typically receive a fee for their services, plus a percentage of some or all vendor fees.
The two income streams produce enough revenue for a profit. In the corporate events industry, however, planners typically charge a fee for their services, plus a handling charge for each item they contract.
For example, a planner buys flowers from a florist, marks them up and charges that amount to the client. Another possibility is a flat fee, or “project fee,” often used when the event is large and the corporation wants to be given a “not to exceed” figure.
Training
How to become a certified event planner
Consider getting a diploma or certificate in event management. Another option is to choose a degree or diploma in marketing or public relations, both of which will give you a solid grounding to prepare you for a career in events.
- Damelin offers a one-year Certificate in Conference, Exhibition and Event Management at campuses throughout the country.
- Intec College has a one-year home-study Certificate in Events Coordination.
- If you are interested in something more in-depth, consider the University of Johannesburg’s three-year National Diploma in Hospitality Management, which offers Event Management as an elective in year three.
- One of the most exciting new courses available is the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s three-year National Diploma in Event Management.
You may also consider working to achieve certification. In June 2008 the South African Qualifications authority (SAQA) registered two professional designations for marketers: National Certificate – Chartered Marketing (Level 7), known as Chartered Marketer (SA), and National Certificate – Marketing Practice (Level 5), known as Marketing Practitioner (SA), allowing individuals who are assessed as competent against the outcomes specified in each designation to put CM (SA) or MP (SA) after their name.
They are both also recognised by the European Marketing Confederation (EMC), giving international recognition across Europe, with Australia to follow. Services SETA, as the lead professional body for marketers, has arranged the development of processes through which this professional status can be conferred on individuals who can provide evidence of competence.
Getting to know your Market
What’s the best way to market an events company?
Events companies are most likely to grow their profile through their networks. Some event planners spend thousands of rand on big ads in business magazines and wait for the calls to roll in. Dr. Jeff Goldblatt says this is a mistake. Goldblatt advises new entrepreneurs in this industry to “stay away from the mass market.”
While a listing in the Yellow Pages may help potential clients find you, spending large amounts of money targeting the general public is usually not effective.
MD of SA events company Idea Lab, Peter Panaretos agrees. “The best marketing and advertising channel for anyone in this industry is Biz-Community. It’s the most recognised and the most read.
However, events companies are most likely to grow their profile through their networks, via word-of-mouth, and as a result of the success of their last event. It’s that simple. When people know you, they trust you.”
Networking can help your business in two ways. If people have met you and know what services you offer, they may refer business to you or use your service themselves. Furthermore, networking with hotels, caterers and so on will give you a chance to meet some of the people whose services you may need as you plan events.
Although networking and word-of-mouth are the most common industry strategies for acquiring clients, traditional forms of advertising do have their uses. A distinctive card or brochure sent to a mailing list or to local businesses may attract new clients. A small ad in a local business magazine can help build name recognition. A website on the Internet may allow you to attract customers unresponsive to other forms of media.
Panaretos also advises BEE-accredited consultancies to visit the website of the Department of Trade and Industry. “The government is always putting out events to tender, and this can be an excellent source of business.”
Where to find clients for an event planning business
Broadly speaking, there are two markets for event planning services: corporate and social.
The Corporate Market
The term “corporate” includes not only companies but also charities and non-profit organisations. Charities and non-profit organisations host fundraisers, receptions and competitions, among other events, to expand their public support base and raise funds. Thousands of these events occur each year, and although the large ones require specialised event planning experience, you may find smaller local events to start out with.
Companies host trade shows, conferences, client and staff functions, product launches and meetings for board members or stockholders.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the global events industry is worth an estimated $743 billion annually, with an expected growth rate of 3.7% per annum between 2008 and 2017.
Exact statistics on what the South African events industry is worth are hard to come by, according to Kevin Kriedemann, editor of The Event. The most widely circulated claim is that the local industry is worth an estimated R20 billion.
However, the highest figure is from the Exhibition Association of Southern Africa, which claims that the exhibition industry alone generates R74.3 billion in direct expenditure. The lowest figure comes from the Department of Arts & Culture; its research shows that the industry turned over at least R5 billion during the period Jan 2004 to June 2005.
The Social Market
Social events include weddings, birthdays, anniversary parties, bar mitzvahs, Sweet 16 parties, children’s parties, reunions and so on. You may decide to handle all these events or just specialise in one or more of them.
The market for social events, especially birthdays and anniversaries, is expected to continue to increase over the next few years, as baby boomers mature. This group has children getting married, parents celebrating golden anniversaries, and their own silver wedding anniversaries to commemorate.
How much money will you need to start your event planning business? That will depend on the cost of living in the area your business serves and whether you work from home or rent office space. It will also depend, to a lesser degree, on your own taste and lifestyle choices.
Keep in mind that while working from home will keep your costs low, you can’t start any but the smallest of event planning business on a shoestring. Peter Panaretos, MD of Randburg-based events company Idea Lab says that whether you choose to work from home or to set up plush offices depends on the type of clients you are chasing.
“There are low barriers to entry in this business as you can literally run an events company from your bedroom,” he says. “Because we sell intellectual capital and time, our clients do not pay much attention to our premises.
What is more important for us is to have some form of working capital so that we do not need to secure deposits from clients.
Waiting for a 50% upfront payment may cause you to lose a venue or a presenter, which can be very frustrating. Working capital definitely gives you some competitive advantage.”
Panaretos notes that his company leases seven storage facilities in which clients’ branding is kept. But there are other events management companies that outsource every aspect of the event and will therefore have no need for this type of space.
“If you want to control more aspects of your business and offer elements for which you can bill extra, you will obviously provide more of these services in-house. At Idea Lab, for example, we offer advertising and design services as well as pure event management.”
Few, if any, event planners have 9-to-5 jobs. By its very nature, event planning tends to involve evenings, weekends, holidays and sometimes even specific seasons.
How much time you must commit to working will depend, once again, on the specialisation you choose. As a general rule, social events involve more weekends and holidays than corporate events do. Some areas of the country and some types of events have “on” and “off” seasons.
However, no matter what your specialisation (with the exception of parties for young children), you can count on working at least some evenings as you coordinate and supervise events. The planning of those events, however, will be done mostly during business hours.
How to calculate fees to charge clients for event planning services
If you’re just starting out in the industry, it’s reasonable to charge less for your planning services while you gain expertise.
How, you may ask, do you calculate fees for your services? Event planners such as Randburg-based Idea Lab price their fees-for-service (the total cost to the client) using a “cost-plus” method.
They contract out the labour; supplies and materials involved in producing an event and charge their clients a service fee of about 15% to 25% of the total cost of the event.
“The actual percentage depends largely on how hungry you are to get the business,” says Peter Panaretos, MD of Idea Lab.
“Also, some clients want to see all the supplier invoices, while others will agree to your cost estimate and pay in accordance with that.”
How to start and run a recognised contest
The first port of call is researching your market, concept and viability. Here are a few guidelines:
You will need to do some research:
- Who the contest serves (ages, sex, other conditions for being contestants)
- When and where the contest be held
- What will your contestants gain from entering the contest (scholarship, prizes etc)
- What will sponsors gain from the event (name recognition as a supporter, logos advertisement, etc?)
- Decide on the amount needed for entry fees
- You should have some experience related to these kinds of contests
- For more guidance on assistance, visit the Research & Preparation section on this website
The First Steps
Trademark Registration
Beauty competitions around the world all have protected themselves and need a set of exclusive rights that apply to the contest. These rights can be licensed through registering a trademark. Registering a trademark is not mandatory.
Having a trademark notifies an individual that you own the idea. It allows you to take court action if someone else tries to infringe on your business.
Protecting your intellectual property is done through the Company Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro) in Pretoria.
You can also contact an attorney to assist you.
Legal Considerations
It is recommended that you seek legal advice to draw up terms and conditions for the contest. You need to cover yourself against indemnity and non-liability.
This means that you are covered against loss or damage arising from acts or omissions on the part of the entrant, have the right to withdraw entries, or to reject any entry.
Terms and conditions include the fact that you can charge entry fees. You need to ensure that the entrants can prove their country of domicile (they are South African) and so on.
Speak to an expert
Before you go ahead speak to experts in the industry. You can contact Wendy Futcher who deals with the Miss SA beauty pageant by sending her an email. She will be able to provide you with more information.
Guidance on Writing Your Business Plan
Once this is done, you need to draft a business plan. For more information on how to write a comprehensive business plan, read Entrepreneur’s guide: How to Write a Business Plan: Step-by-Step Guide.
Where to find more info on starting an event planning company?
Books
- Behind the Scenes at Special Events: Flowers, Props and Design by Lena Malouf
- The Business of Event Planning: Behind-the-Scenes Secrets of Successful Special Events by Judy Allen
- Dollars and Events: How to Succeed in the Special Events Business by J. Goldblatt and F. Supovitz
- Events, Fundraising Galas, Conferences, Conventions, Incentives and Other Special Events by Judy Allen
- The International Directory of Event Management by J. Goldblatt and K. S. Nelson
- Special Events: 21st Century Global Event Management by J. Goldblatt
Books Specific to the SA market
- Event Planning: The Ultimate Guide to Successful Meetings, Corporate Event Management: A Professional and Developmental Approach by D Tassiopoulos
Event Planning Software
Summit Event Manager Pro: www.summitsoftware.co.za