The thought being a wedding planner and starting your own business is very exciting, especially if you spent the summer planning your own fabulous wedding or the wedding of a friend. But, don’t jump into starting a business if any of the 5 statements below describe you:
1) You’ve only planned one wedding
Planning one wedding, doesn’t give you all the experience you need of working with vendors, timelines, budgets and knowing how to deal with wedding day emergencies. And, if the one wedding you planned was your own, you don’t have the experience of working for other brides and executing plans that aren’t your own and may not be what you would have chosen to do.
2) You’ve just had a major life event
If you’ve just gotten married, had a baby, bought a house or had another big change, starting a business will add extra stress to your life.
3) You’ve never had a business
Having a wedding planning business means more than planning weddings. You need to know how to do some bookkeeping and accounting, marketing, sales and customer service. These things don’t demand a business degree but knowledge and some prior experience is very helpful.
4) You don’t know anything about the wedding and event planning industry
There’s a lot more to know about the industry than you can get from wedding magazines. Until you plan more weddings and/or work with a seasoned industry professional, you may have trouble getting the information and cooperation of the other wedding vendors you’ll need to work with in order to succeed.
5) You don’t have a plan
You have to have a plan that includes the type of bride you want as a client, what she needs, what you’re going to offer, how you’re going to attract her and how you’re going provide excellent service and make a profit.
If these statements describe you, don’t despair, it just means you’re not ready right now. Take a little time to get some education and experience and you’ll soon be able to start a successful wedding planning business.
And if you want help to become a top wedding planner, sign in to get my ezine “Wedding Planner Tips.”
