Event planners are everywhere. Think about how many weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, company parties, and graduations occur in a given month. An event planner is a broker of sorts, getting a lot of different businesses together to create the event. The demand is high and so are the profits.
If you are outgoing and love organizing multiple groups of people at the same time, event planning may be your small business niche. With so many events available, you can specialize or generalize.
This is a great business to build up a list of testimonials and repeat customers. You can market to different demographics (the affluent, new brides, teen birthdays etc.) and really carve a niche for yourself in your particular location.
You can also be a corporate event planner. Some events, such as grand openings, happen overseas, where 99% of the event is planned over the telephone. However, you should assume that no matter what event you plan, you will probably be attending it at least for the beginning and for the tear-down.
Weddings are a permanent part of our culture and appear to be quite recession proof. If you are willing to work with bride-zillas and the like, this may also be a good niche to take. However, for many people this can be a very unforgiving event and if the napkins aren't the right color or the flowers weren't exactly as planned, you may never see another referral.
There are quick and dirty events, like kids parties, where you might have to arrange for a caterer, a tent, and a pony ride.
In all of these events you will be establishing a set of caterers, florists, designers, and other contractors that will become your elite team. Some will stay and some will go. You will need to develop a basic contract with a lawyer, but besides that, the start-up costs are low. The person that hires you pays for all of the deposits up front. Very little money should come out of your pocket for the set-up, and you will get a large fee in the end.
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