Starting an event venue requires planning and consideration of key factors that would impact the business. In many occurrences, people tend only to consider factors such as capital while sidelining other equally important aspects. While the monetary aspect is central to owning an event venue, other factors, such as time, industry knowledge, sales and marketing, along with partnerships, play a critical role in success as an event venue owner.
Capital is the first factor that anyone wanting to own an event venue must consider. One of the most challenging aspects is estimating or determining the cost of any startup business. For the event venue, the capital is majorly consumed in five expenses, which can serve as the budget’s basis (Grave, 2018). The first expense, physical assets, includes the building that one can prefer to own or lease from an existing property owner. Operating expenses include regular business expenses such as internet and Wi-Fi services, security systems monitoring services, and cleaning fees. Operational assets are items required in running the place, such as furniture, dance floors, audiovisual equipment, and building signage. The team expense includes the resources paid to those helping set up the venue and run it, such as venue managers. These employees also require additional expenses for healthcare, taxes, and other benefits. Additionally, the estimated monthly income projection is critical in determining the number of months before the profits accrued match the initial capital used to set up the business. Capital is thus a vital factor that must be prioritized in owning an event venue.
Time is the second factor to be considered by an events venue owner. Starting any serious business requires a time commitment and a comprehensive work schedule (Wen, 2020). The time it will take to kick off the exercise can be divided into three categories: general pre-venue research, location-specific licensing research, and event venue selling timeline and season research. The general pre-venue research could involve benchmarking with existing event-planning trade organizations and recording the findings, which can be used as reference materials (Grave, 2018). Many of these industry giants have earned respect due to their services, thus having sufficient information regarding event venue challenges. It would also be essential to research the licensing requirements in the given area for owning an event venue. These could include licenses, alcohol permitting, fire code policies, and noise ordinances. Additionally, it is important to know the seasonality and events booking cycle in the given area to identify the best times to step up and optimally reap from the influx in the business. Therefore, time is an important factor that can provide immense business benefits when adequately considered.
Having sufficient industry knowledge is another factor that any potential event venue owner must consider. With extensive experience in the event industry, it will be easier to manage the business and determine its course. Having enough industry knowledge entails identifying the various opportunities in the industry and knowing when to take advantage of them (Grave, 2018). It also involves having the ability to identify the gaps that exist so that one can advance on the business and avoid challenges that others have undergone in the past setting up an events venue business. Having extensive knowledge of this industry requires time and commitment to learning. Various sources of knowledge are available, including written sources such as event industry-related blogs and event industry consultants. One can also attend various networking events recommended by various experts in the industry.
When one wants to own an event venue, sales and marketing is an important factor to consider. Spending significant time learning how to market an event venue is essential. Even though one might successfully obtain capital and set up the business, it would be in vain if only a few customers knew of the place. It would be inherently difficult for the profits to match the initial capital. Succeeding in event marketing, therefore, is something planned and primarily involves using current technology. The marketing tools include social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Social media has become essential as it reaches an expansive customer base quickly (Quesenberry, 2020). Since proper venue promotion can be highly time-consuming, it is invaluable to know where to focus the attention and the preferable consumer segment to target. Moreover, having a better understanding of the venue’s business planning process, which enables one to identify a winning sales and marketing approach, can help create a significant competitive advantage, beating all the competitors. Therefore, any event venue owner must consider sales and marketing as critical determinants of the business’s success.
The last factor which plays a significant role in successfully owning an event venue is partnerships. It is important to have connections with people to count on early in the process so that things work a lot easier. Creating an event venue is not a one-person affair but involves many people, including the staff, employees, and external consultants. Even though one might be at the helm as the sole proprietor, all the other connected individuals must be involved in decision-making. Partnerships encourage teamwork, thereby sharing diverse knowledge and experiences, which, if integrated, help the business obtain ground much faster (Grave, 2018). Additionally, partnering with various individuals provides flexibility, making the business easy to manage and enabling efficient decision-making devoid of bureaucracy. Making critical decisions can sometimes prove difficult when setting up such a serious business. However, with various experts, a decision is arrived at with minimal input of resources and time. Therefore, it is important to engage with internal and external stakeholders as partners in starting the business. They play an essential role in setting up the business and its overall course.
Therefore, capital, time, possession of sufficient industry knowledge, sales and marketing and partnerships are the five factors that play an important role and must be considered when one wants to be an owner of an event venue. After satisfying all these factors, one can move from the pre-planning phase to the doing phase. Since many people see less necessity in these pre-planning stages, they often encounter problems in the business that they cannot solve. The result is often an unproductive business that makes the event venue owner incur significant losses. Therefore, the pre-planning stage is a critical phase that must be exhaustively indulged in to ensure a successful endeavor in the event venue business. Upon satisfying all the needs on the stage, one can continue to own the venue and start reaping profits from it. Devoid of planning, however, attempts to navigate through a direct route to being an event venue owner must be resisted as the results are detrimental.
References
Grave, C. (2018). 5 important questions: Is owning an event venue right for you? Medium. Web.
Quesenberry, K. A. (2020). Social media strategy: Marketing, advertising, and public relations in the consumer revolution. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Wen, H. (2020). Writing a business plan? Do these 5 things first. Business News Daily. Web.