Here’s How You Can Become A Party Planner

Are you someone who is always excited to arrange a party, whether it is a birthday party or a wedding or even a get together? Do guests rave about your planning skills and the well planned gatherings? Are you constantly thinking of events, right up to the minutest details such as the theme, the decor, the food, the entertainment, and even the clothes. Then it is the right time to make your passion your career, given the escalating demand for party planners. The steady rise in the growth of the event planning business is further validation of the popularity and scope of growth for this business. If figures are to be considered, the last few years have seen a substantial rise in the business, with the average annual spending on events worldwide being approximately $500 billion.

If you are an enthusiastic event organiser and looking for an event management business plan, you need to know some basics about how to start an event management business. This is because just being enthusiastic about the field does not suffice to help set-up and establish a business, however profitable the business idea might be.

How To Become A Party Planner

A party planner’s job might seem fun, where you get to dress up and attend a number of parties and meet so many interesting people. But running a business requires a lot more dedication and hard work to be put in for the business to be successful. However, fun the business must be, some basic essential factors need to be considered and taken care of while planning to become a party planner.

Decide Your Niche Market

The first step in starting a party planning business is to decide the niche segment that you want to work and excel in, because event and party planning could be a very broad term.

• You might want to excel as a birthday party planner, given that people are going all out nowadays to celebrate birthdays, whether it is the first birthday, 16th birthday, 40th birthday or even the 61st birthday. Birthday party planning too has further specialisations with you opting to only plan children’s birthday parties which is a much in-demand field. Children and their parents celebrate their birthdays with much fanfare now-a-days, having a specific theme around which the entire party is planned.
• Planning wedding parties is also another segment in which you can specialise. Weddings in our country are grand affairs spanning over several days and requiring extensive planning. Wedding planners are in high demand and you can learn all the nitty gritties of wedding planning to start a wedding planning business.
• If you love arranging family gatherings and the bonhomie of such events warms your heart, then you can specialise in personal event planning. This could be anything from a baby shower to a naming ceremony to a silver anniversary celebration or even a special festivity party. This type of party planning involves planning personal events for clients and families.
• However, if family gatherings and parties is not your cup of tea, you can choose to create a mark in the corporate sector by specialising in corporate events. This could include corporate parties, gatherings and even seminars and conferences. It could even consist of success parties or any other similar corporate events.
• Another specialisation in the corporate sector is choosing to be a product launch party planner where companies and organisations introduce their new products to a select few at a social event. The products could be anything from cars and automobiles, to mobile phones, watches and gadgets, to cosmetic products to even food and grocery products. To plan launch parties, you as an event planner need to ensure that the right kind of audience attends the party and the entire event is in sync with the product launched.
• Alternatively, you can be a social events planner, where you can organise social parties. This could even include exhibitions, fairs, bazaars and even festive celebrations such as holi parties, diwali parties, dandiya gatherings, etc. These events and parties are planned on a social level for a large and diverse audience.

These are just some event types in which you can specialise. You need to evaluate your likings, personality type and consider which party planning business ideas excite you and then choose your niche market accordingly.

Prepare For The Business

Once you have decided on the kind of party planning business you want to start, the next step involves preparing for the business. This involves taking various steps which are discussed here.

• You need to gain experience to start the party planning business. This experience is important because every event has a number of aspects that need to be known of and handled. Some of these aspects include deciding the appropriate venue, theme, decor, getting in touch with the catering services, decorators, ensuring engaging entertainment, preparations for the event, during the event and handling responsibilities post the event as well. The required experience can be obtained by obtaining a degree and a formal education in the field of event management and planning. Also, experience and knowledge can be gained via an internship or by training under established event companies. This experience and training helps you when you start off on your own.
• The next preparation involves registering the company officially for it to be recognised as an individual business entity. You can register the business either as a sole proprietorship or as a partnership. You can even consider going for a company registration for the business. This helps separate the business and its responsibilities from you as an individual.
• The next preparatory step involves making a business plan. The business plan is a written document that outlines the entire details of the party planning business, such 
  • How will the business be conducted and operated?
  • What is the approximate budget assigned for the business?
  • Where will the business be based out of? An office or from home?
  • If from an office then, how big will the office space be? Will the space be an owned property or a rented property?
  • If owned property, then where is the capital for the investment going to come from?
  • What are the criteria based on which the location for the office space will be selected?
  • What will be the method of operating the business? 
  • Will there be any employees to help with the managerial and other tasks or will the tasks be handled by you itself? How many employees will the business need and what will be their approximate salaries?
  • Where will the funding for the business be arranged from- bank loans or non banking financial institution loans?
  • What will the expected output for the business be in the first year and how will you go about meeting that figure?
  • What will be the future plans for the business?

These are just some of the details that will be included in the business plan

• The legal permits and registrations required for the party planning business also need to be known and applied for before starting the business.

Preparing for the business is paving the road for success and being prepared for any obstacles that the business might face. So these preparatory steps need to be considered and taken care while planning to become a party planner.

Marketing The Business

The next most important aspect of the party planning business is taking care of the marketing of the business as well as of the event in question. Marketing the event can be done through various mediums depending on the type of the event. If it is a social party then the marketing of the event can be done via print and radio advertisements. Additionally, tickets can be printed for the event, to market the event. Additionally, banners, leaflets, billboards, pamphlets can also be used for the event, in order to market it. Various social media platforms can also be used to talk about the event, both, before and after the actual event. Some common platforms that have a large following include Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and the platform appropriate for the event can be used.

Additionally, as a party planner, you need to market your business as well. This can be done via participating in related events, such as a wedding show and exhibition while marketing as a wedding planner. The best way to market the business is by showcasing previous work and by displaying the ideas you have. This can be done via photo sharing sites and platforms such as Pintrerst, Instagram, Facebook, etc. You can even start a blog to talk about your projects, ideas, themes, vision and even share party planning tips, etc. You can even download the digital marketing checklist to know of other ways and mediums to market the business.

Important Pointers To Consider While Planning An Event

While starting a party planning business, it is equally important to have a list of things to consider before the day of the event, on the day of and during the event and the day after the party. These pointers will help you come across as an efficient business person and also avoid any last minute goof-ups.

• • Factors To Consider Before An Event– There are several things to consider before a party, as the arrangement done before sets the mood for the party. Some of these essential factors include-
    • Picking the appropriate venue suitable for the party
    • Selecting the furniture and rental such as tableware, crockery, cutlery, linen, etc. for the event
    • Selecting the appropriate entertainment for the party depending on the type of party and getting in touch with them to finalise them for the party
    • Finalising the decor for the party, as per the theme of the party
    • Picking a catering service for the party for the food and beverages
    • Taking care of other aspects of the event such as the transportation, audio visual or accomodation. Even handling the  sponsorship and marketing aspects of the event.

• • Things To Remember During The Event- The things to consider during an event include being organised and stress free, having an emergency kit at hand for untoward incidents, and checking up on the above mentioned agencies to ensure that everything is in place and functioning well for the party. Additionally, as the party planner it is important to be prompt as well as presentable at the party.

• • Important Pointers After An Event- Post the event, the tasks include thanking the clients as well as the guests at the event, collecting feedback of the party and settling all the bills and receiving payments for the party.

These are the basic considerations to keep in mind while planning to start a party planning business. All the above pointers help you prepare to become an efficient party planner who will be prepared for the business aspect of their profession along with handling the party planning responsibilities too. However, for further details on how to become a party planner, how to finance the business, how to market the business digitally and or any other entrepreneurial queries can be cleared by connecting with the team at deAsra Foundation, who help make entrepreneurial dreams a reality.