Cause
to Celebrate
On a steamy
July Saturday several years ago, I accepted an invitation to accompany
a friend to the bridal shop where she had chosen a gown. As I sat on the
sidelines, I watched groups of women arrive — brides-to-be with
mothers, grandmothers, sisters and friends in tow. The young women would
arrive in jeans or shorts, but moments later they'd be transformed into
fairy princesses. As they modeled their dresses for their families, there
were often tears, along with the smiles.
When we left
the shop, my friend commented that I had appeared spellbound by the process.
I agreed that I had found the experience surprisingly fascinating. "You
should open a bridal shop," she joked.
Amazingly,
her words stayed with me and for weeks I contemplated doing just that.
I couldn't get over what a happy atmosphere existed at the bridal shop
and I envisioned the fun it would be to share in that excitement day after
day. About the time my friend came to her senses and called off her engagement,
I came to mine and admitted that shopkeeping of any sort was not for me.
Nevertheless, I've never forgotten that helping people celebrate special
moments could be a joyous way to earn a living — and shopkeeping
is only one of the possibilities.
Our culture
is filled with events, holidays and family traditions that call for a
celebration. Sometimes those celebrations are intimate and follow a well-used
pattern; others occur only rarely and can cause panic. It's no wonder,
then, that all sorts of businesses exist to help us make the most of these
special times in life. If some holiday or special occasion makes your
heart beat faster, consider how it might become a happy profit center
for you.
What does
it take to launch a celebration business? An experienced party planner
says the main requisites are:
"Although
special times are exciting for the client," she adds, "there
is often plenty of stress, too. Part of your job is to make sure that
your client, who is throwing the party, has as good a time as his or her
guests. That frequently requires building rapport and trust, along with
staying calm when things go wrong. It's a wonderfully challenging, creative
and varied business and I can't imagine anything more fun!"
Find your
specialty. If you possess the necessary social and organizing skills,
it's time to decide what your specialty will be. Again, your own personal
interests will help you zero in on the sorts of events you'd enjoy working
on. There's no point in organizing children's parties, for instance, if
you can't bear being around kids. On the other hand, organizing corporate
events or class reunions might be a perfect fit. Or your niche may be
planning spectacular romantic evenings for couples or fantasy birthday
celebrations. Several companies specialize in staging murder mystery parties.
Look around your own community for ideas. In Minneapolis, where I live,
we have a thriving theater environment. A number of set designers and
construction people joined forces a few years ago to create backdrops
and sets for conventions and corporate parties — expanding their
talents in a lucrative new way.
Besides your
own creative and management talents, your network of suppliers and contacts
will become your business's biggest asset. Get to know as many caterers,
photographers, suppliers, florists, designers, musicians and entertainers
as possible. Keep building your talent bank. The more people you can call
on, the better. You'll need to know prices for all the services you'll
be hiring for each event so set up a system for recording pertinent information
for each of your suppliers.
Like most
personal service businesses, special events planners get much of their
new business from referrals from happy customers. As a newcomer, you can
get things rolling by advertising in the Yellow Pages plus having a brochure
and web site detailing your services. One memorable brochure I saw was
designed to look like an invitation, a natural promotion idea.
Another appropriate
way to start this kind of business is to throw a launch party for yourself
and let people see what a great job you can do.
A wedding
consultant summed up his business by saying, "Imagine this: I get
to share the happiest times with my clients, I get to attend beautiful
receptions every week, I get to wear terrific clothes, I meet all kinds
of people, and I go home knowing that my efforts made someone's special
day even more special." It's almost enough to make me think again
about opening that shop.
There's
more where this came from.
Order Winning Ways now!
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