Start An Event Management Company - Business Ideas
Do you have a basic understanding of events, possess great communication skills, and aren’t afraid to talk to C-suite executives, event attendees, donors, brand sponsors, and vendors?
Event management is a profession that is growing rapidly. Experts estimate that the event management and planning industry will experience a growth rate of 10% in a few years.
You can use your skills and passion by starting an event management company. Event management is not only an exciting career, but it is also a profitable business opportunity, with endless opportunities, you can focus on social and entertainment events, and corporate events, or become a general event management company.
Starting an event management company requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell event management service, or selling event management service online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Key Stats
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $0 | $7,000 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $151 | $352 |
| Website Costs | $223 | $7,215 |
| Business Formation Fees | $600 | $4,700 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $66 | $1,200 |
| Software Expenses | $162 | $2,770 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $75 | $4,786 |
| Total Startup Costs | $1,277 | $28,023 |
Case Studies
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$50K/mo
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$400K/mo
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$108K/mo
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$40K/mo
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
ACTIVE.com | active.com | #9,520 |
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staff.am | staff.am | #22,481 |
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Hubilo | hubilo.com | #34,010 |
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MemberClicks | memberclicks.net | #37,533 |
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EventsAIR | eventsair.com | #40,693 |
|
smg.com | smg.com | #65,799 |
|
Everbridge | everbridge.com | #135,261 |
|
Lanyon | lanyon.com | #165,424 |
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Aventri | aventri.com | #170,549 |
|
Eventtus | eventtus.com | #183,048 |
|
Management One | management-one.com | #197,463 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a event management company. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| Pick & choose the clients you work with | Event Management Companyes have the ability to choose the clients they work with. You have the freedom to work with only a few loyal clients or with hundreds of clients! |
| Control of workload | With starting an event management company, you have the unique ability to choose how little or how much you want to work. You also have the freedom to decide which projects you want to work on, and can turn down the ones that do not interest you. |
| Gain exposure and experience | This career allows you to gain experience working for multiple different businesses - which will benefit your resume and also keep things interesting for you! |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Finding The Right Supplier | Most businesses in this space go the supplier/manufacturer route, which isn't a bad thing! However, finding the right supplier can take a lot of time, energy and trial/error. If done properly, this process can save you months (if not years) of time and energy. More on this below in the "finding a supplier" section. |
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Longer Sales Process | A event management company can be a big time and money investment for your customer, so it's important you plan and predict a longer conversion funnel and stay in communication with potential customers. |
| Low margins | The gross margins for your event management company are typically around 27%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
| High employee turnover | In the event management company, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
| Taxes | As a event management company, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
Marketing Ideas
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1
Affiliate Program
Affiliate marketing is a great way to bring in a new revenue stream, especially when you don't sell products or services.
Simply put, an affiliate program is an agreement where a business pays another business or influencer ("the affiliate") a commission for sending traffic and/or sales their way.
The affiliate typically gets a unique link where clicks and conversions can be tracked.
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2
Direct Sales
Direct sales strategy implies a direct contact between a seller and a consumer without the involvement of any third party. Direct selling is popular in sectors where sellers communicate with their clientele personally. The sales technique occurs at non-store locations which include at home, work, or online.
For direct selling to succeed, hire a few (or many) salespeople to support the sales conversion process. It's critical that you assign them specific roles and responsibilities to nurture the client and provide excellent support.
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3
Word of mouth
Word of mouth is when a consumers reflects their interest in a company’s product or service in their daily dialogues.
Therefore, word of mouth advertising is essentially a free advertising triggered by the customers experience.
According to Nielsen, 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family.
Therefore, in today’s hyper-connected world, a single recommendation through a word of mouth can have a huge impact to your business.
Hey! 👋 I'm Pat Walls, the founder of Starter Story.
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