How to Start an Event Management Business in India
What is Event Management and its types:
There are different types of events being held nowadays where the services of an event management company are needed :- Weddings
- Fashion shows
- Parties
- Meetings
- Conferences
- Exhibitions
- Music concerts
- Choosing the perfect site for staging the event
- Handling the main attendees like celebrities in case of entertainment shows and speakers if it is a conference or a seminar
- Coordination with vendors
- Managing the entire event while it is going on
Steps to be taken in order to start an event management business
Deciding on the services
As has been stated above, there are plenty of services where an event planning company can focus. It is better to choose the one in which the owners have a lot of control and knowledge and where a lot of revenue can be generated. Experts think it is better to not focus on all at once. They also feel it is better to not venture into the corporate meetings sector because of its immense viability.According to analysts, this sector is a lot different from events such as wedding with regards to preparation, assessment, and execution. Since various corporate events are planned in different ways, it is tough to be successful in this initially.
Doing market research, SWOT analysis and evaluating the competition
There are two groups of people that an event management company should focus on while doing the market research – people who are interested in the sort of services it does and potential clients who might actually employ the services.It is better to find out, in the initial phases, if the immediate community is interested in their services or not as they are most likely to avail them. The following points should be given top priority while doing research in this regard:
- Age group
- Income
- Sex
- Preferences
- Qualification
- Customs
- Profession
- Religion
- Lifestyle
- Traditions
- Number of employees
- Yearly sales
- Amount of clients
- Number of people at their events
- Market reputation
- Specialty of their events
- Market share
- Methods for attracting sponsors and clients
- Resource determination
- How to use these for the target audience
- Ascertaining capabilities
- Advantages
- How to employ these against competitors
- Ways of improvement
- Resources that are yet to availed
- Areas that need to avoided
- Advantages of competitors
- What are the positive points and how can they be utilized to improve the market position
- Which weaknesses have to be removed in order to get more opportunities
- Changes in market trends
- Strong competition
- Economic changes
- New methods that may be used by competitors
- Unfavorable situations
- Taxes
Preparing a business plan
The business plan is normally prepared on the basis of the following:- Market research
- SWOT analysis
- Analysis of competitors
Business objectives:
what does the company want to achieve in the short and the long term. Experts feel that it might be foolhardy to adhere to the long term goals for a substantial period as they often lose their meaning after a few years or due to external conditions like market changes.Staff recruitment:
an event management entity should have a proper organizational structure in place. The business plan should properly mention the following qualities of the owners:- Skills
- Experience
- Knowledge
Getting clients:
the event management organizations need to determine how they will approach a client and market their services. In the later stages they need to determine how the business can be expanded. They also need to fix the rules, policies, regulations, and procedures for the following purposes:- Payments
- Cancellation
- Reimbursement
- Behavior
- Penalties
Financial aspects:
the first factor to be considered in this area is cash flow management. The companies also need to figure out the strategies that have to be adopted in the following cases:- Capital loss
- Market meltdown
- Economic crises
The business plan should also include the logo and name of the company. It should also highlight how a company will operate – as a company, establishment, or firm.
Initial business procedures
To start with, an event management company needs to rent an office space, employ workers, and purchase stationery to be used for official purposes. It should also create an attractive website that offers all the details of the services.It is better to employ professional internet marketers to promote the website. As and when the website becomes popular, the company will get a lot of visibility as well as some clients, which should help it get started on the right note.
Company registration
It is necessary to get the entity registered in India as per the following legislations:- Company's Act – if it is a company
- Shops and Establishment Act – if it is an establishment
- India Partnership Act – if it is a firm
Registration for paying taxes
An event management company needs to pay different types of taxes and they need to register to pay them properly. The various forms of taxes may be mentioned as below:- Income tax
- Entertainment taxes
- Taxes deducted at source
- Taxes for moving merchandise and goods between locations
- Service taxes
List of Leading event management companies in India
Following are the most prominent companies of the event management sector in India:- 360 Degrees
- Sita Conferences
- Percept D Mark
- E-Factor
- Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd
- Sercon
- DNA Networks Pvt Ltd
- Tafcon Group
- Cineyug Entertainment
- TCI Consultancy Services and ‘e’ Events
- Fountainhead
- Cox and King
Challenges in the event management business
The first question that entrepreneurs looking to start an event management business should ask themselves is if they are prepared for the challenge or not. The essential skills needed to make it big in this domain are business development and social networking.Only a lot of knowledge and experience will not be sufficient for an event management company to last for the long haul – some other factors will also be needed to succeed:
- Public relations
- Marketing skills
- Negotiation skills
- Entrepreneurial skills
- Getting the job completed
- Management of cash flows
- Time management
- Accounting for fiscal transactions
- Prioritization of tasks
- Understanding team formations
- Finding better and newer ways to solve problems
- Leadership capabilities
- Decision making
- Motivational skills
- Option evaluation
- Analytical capabilities
- Interacting with clients
- Attending to details
- Finalizing deals
Last Updated on May 15, 2015
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