We believe you want to start your own event management company and make a good livelihood. In that case, first and foremost you need to make sure where you stand today. The two things that you must have to succeed in this cut-throat business are social networking skills and business development skills.
Once you make up your mind to venture into the event management business you will have to work really hard and tirelessly. It is not only your experience and knowledge which shall determine your success but besides it also largely depends on your contacts (public relations), marketing, negotiating and entrepreneurial skills.
We present the most important aspects you need to look into before you venture out and start your own event management company.
Event Management in India
Event Management Industry
Event management as an industry is on the roll. It is a very broad industry. Broadly, this industry serves to personal, organizational, cultural, and leisure event categories, which can be further categorized into social and corporate events. The market is customer-specific since clients have more purchasing power coupled with low brand shifting cost.
There is tremendous growth in segments such as marathons, music concerts, exhibitions, fashion shows, trade fairs, and talent-hunt competitions. The current growth in these event segments is facilitated by the growing company and household incomes, as well as the increasing number and rate of TV and sports events, reality shows, corporate conferences and awards, etc. As people’s incomes grow, people increase their expenditure on parties, weddings, among other social and personal functions.
The booming Indian economy has sent out a sudden spike in the number of events taking place nowadays. This situation has fuelled the demand for talented event managing personnel. Eventually, in the days to come, the demand for creative and hardworking, result-oriented event managers is only going to escalate. Lack of entry barriers has greatly multiplied the number of players thereby increasing the competition making this industry one of the most competitive industries in India.
It is better to organize smaller events and gain experience to organize better and larger events in the future. More than half of the event industry is unorganized. However, due to the ubiquity of print media and television, the advertisers use experiential marketing to connect to their customers instead of merely reaching them on different social media channels.
Event Management Business
That was all about the event management industry. Let’s now understand what are the various types of event management businesses in the event management industry.
- Entertainment, art and cultural events.
- Concerts
- Sports events, marathons
- Commercial, marketing, and promotional events
- TED talks
- Families Weddings, anniversaries, birthday celebrations and even Funerals
- Festivals
- Religious festivals
- Wine and Food Festivals
- Harvest festivals
- Fundraising fairs.
- Wedding planning
- Race management
- Entertainment company
- Professional conference organizer.
Event management organizations can assist in the following ways:
- Selecting an appropriate property for staging the event
- Managing the VIPs with special attention. For example, celebrities attending entertainment events and speakers in case of a conference and seminar.
- Developing and synergizing with vendors.
- Managing the event while it is live.
It has been observed that the concerts, TED talks, and marathons perform really well in India – so you can consider these event segments to begin with.
HOW TO START?
Areas you need to begin with
- Creating a business plan is very important before starting up any business. A business plan includes everything from the idea of what business you want to start, to the execution plan, implementation of strategies, financial analysis, competitive analysis, marketing strategies, setting and achieving targets, and attaining profits.
- It is very important to define your vision and mission statement.
- Perform a proper SWOT analysis to understand your strengths and weaknesses and also to unveil your threats and opportunities from outside.
- Plan your budget wisely. It is a must to perform an ROI calculation. This would help in having a proper financial plan.
- Research on your competitors. Find out their strengths, weaknesses and the strategies that they follow.
Another important thing is to know about your target audience and the market in which you’re planning to set up your event management business. Make sure you learn about the best marketing practices.
Office Space:
You need to consider various things while choosing the right workspace for your Event Management Company. One major point is to consider choosing a place which is not crowded. There should be enough space for people to move around and work comfortably.
Be ready with an estimate for the number of people you are expecting to work at the office. Furthermore, make sure there are proper arrangements in place to make them comfortable.
Business Plan
Your event management business should bring in a unique value for your clients as well as the event. Do a reality check of your capabilities and resources and see how you can optimally use them to compete with your contemporaries and in favor of your target audience. Identify your strengths and your weak links and make the most of it.
E.g. If you want to become a marathon organizer then you should check out for cities that are growing and are not very crowded at the same time.
Verticals in which you can make an event management company
You will find events happening around you everywhere. Research in your target audience and their needs play a vital role in the success of the event. E.g. Organizing a Christmas carnival in a place which has very few or no Christians will lead to less footfall. Thus, resulting in an unsuccessful event. You need to know the taste of the target audience and then decide on the events you take up.
There are various events that an event management company organizes like a marathon, entertainment – concerts, gigs, conferences, start-up events, fashion shows, exhibitions, seminars, etc.
You also need to decide whether you want to open an event planning service to host events for other companies with their brands or you want to start your own brand of Event Management Company like Wizcraft, Percept, Cineyug, etc.
Alliances and Partnerships
Remember to establish a partnership with your service providers before providing service to your clients. Contact the hotel chain, travel providers, caterers to develop a long-term partnership. This will help you build a relationship and get you offers on your future contracts. This will, in turn, lower your expenses and maximize your profits.
You must also attend exhibitions, seminars, and trade shows to grow and expand your network and contacts. It is also critical to attend events managed by the people already in business to create contacts, such as suppliers, and potential sponsors.
MARKETING STRATEGY
Market Research
Before you organize an event, find out whether there is a market (i.e., audiences) for your intended event. For example, if you’re organizing a fashion show in a city where people are less interested or not interested in fashion shows then it makes no sense to organize such an event.
There are two types of people or groups you need to focus on while doing the market research. People who are interested in the type of service that you’re providing and people who can become your potential clients. Below are a few things you need to consider while performing market research.
| Demographic Research Parameters | Psychographic Research Parameters |
|---|
| Age Group & Gender | Interests |
| Income Level | Lifestyle |
| Religion | Customs |
| Qualification & Profession | Traditions |
Market Analysis
Once you know your market, do a proper market analysis. In this analysis, you will try to find out more about your market, your target audience their beliefs, age, income level, gender, cultural background, etc.
Market analysis is important because this will help you in not hurting the audience’s beliefs unknowingly through your event. Find out where does the majority of your target audience lives, so that you can project your marketing activities in that direction.
For example, it makes no sense to do effective marketing in the whole of India if your target audience is from Rajasthan. This way you can also cut down your marketing expenses.
Competitor’s Analysis
An analysis of competitors supported by market research would help you set your business more logically, helping you to know what and how should your future goals be aligned.
Research about their promotion and execution strategies, their return on revenues, sponsors, partners, their experience in the industry, what brings people to their events, etc. To understand all this, you must attend events organized by your competitors. Further, you may consider the following aspects to analyze your competitors more profoundly.
- Knowledge level and experience
- Number of full-time employees
- Annual Revenue
- Quality and quantity of clients
- Footfall per event
- Brand and Market value
- Event USP
- PR & Market share
- How does the competition attract clients and sponsors? What are their methods?
- How do they promote and execute event?
Opportunities
Opportunities address everything that works in favor of your business. Any external factor like:
- underserved market
- little competition
- the emerging need for the particular service and
- media coverage are a few examples of opportunities. Never miss on these opportunities.
