I know couples who have both a successful wedding planning business and a happy relationship. It can be done! In my Q&A today I offer tips to help you if you and your significant other are considering starting a wedding business together.
Question
My fiancé and I are planning to set up a wedding planning business of our own. Currently my partner has a few contacts with decorators and DJs. I am a designer by profession and he is a hotelier, sales manager. He is a graduate in hotel management and has an executive business MBA.
We really want your guidance on how we can go about this. What do we need to do?
Answer
Both you and your fiancé have great credentials and sound very ambitious. You’re taking on a lot if you’re planning to start a new life together and a new business at the same time. However, if you both feel you can do it, here are 7 steps to starting a wedding planning business that I think you and your fiancé should take:
1) Determine if you have the right business and marketing skills
Will you be able to write your own business plan? Successfully market your own services and products? Keep your business finances in order?
If there are gaps in what you know how to do regarding starting and running a business, you’ll need to hire people who can help you.
2) Assess the knowledge, skills and experience that you have to offer
You mentioned you’re a designer but not in what area you specialize. Have you done wedding and event design? Have you planned any weddings? If not, start by working for an experienced planner and/or start planning weddings for family and friends without pay. Don’t start a wedding planning business until you’ve had experience planning weddings other than you own.
3) Agree on a vision for your company
The two of you need to share the same vision of what the company will look like, how big you want it to grow and how much you’re both willing to do to make it successful.
4) Know what role each of you is going to take in the business
Being life partners and business partners can be wonderful or put a strain on your relationship. Decide, in advance, who is going to handle the various business and marketing tasks as well as the how you’ll work with your brides and grooms.
5) Find out all you can about the couples you want to serve
Learn who they are, what their wedding budgets are and the wedding planning problems they have that bother them so much, they would hire a wedding planner to help them.
6) Create services and products to offer your target market
Match you knowledge and skills to the needs of the brides and grooms you want to reach and create the services and products they will want and buy.
7) Commit to spending 80% of your working hours marketing your business
When you have a new wedding planning business, spend a majority of your time and energy finding new clients and building your vendor network. Do this both online and offline, in other words, create your website and social media accounts and get out and meet people.
And if you have a pressing question about starting or running your wedding planning business, you can send me an email at [email protected]. I’ll answer them on this blog or in my ezine, “Wedding Planner Tips,” which you can subscribe to here.
