how much is a event planning business

Do you ever wonder how much to charge clients for your event planning service? Have you ever felt like you might be charging more/less per hour to plan an event? How often do you say “yes” to working with a low paying client and then regret it later?

Charging for your event planning service pinterest

Pricing can be a complicated thing to figure out for event planners. But it doesn’t have to be. What you charge will vary according to the event, the demand for your service, and your location (to name a few). My goal is to help event planners build, launch and grow their businesses. I’m here to show you exactly how to win the pricing game and finally be able to charge your clients with confidence.

I’ll be showing you step-by-step how to determine an hourly rate for your event planning service.

The most important thing to know when pricing, is that charging for your event planning service is not magic, it’s math.

Also included is a handy worksheet that will help you to develop a baseline for creating other pricing structures such as flat rate pricing and event planning packages. Here are the exact steps to get started:

STEP 1: Research what your Competitors are Charging

Just like you price match when shopping, event planning customers do the same. What your competitors are charging will affect how much customers are willing to pay for your services. The idea here is to not copy your competitor’s pricing but to use this information to inform your own pricing calculation. This is one of the best ways to gauge where your fees should start.

How can you confidently say you are the most reasonably priced or the best value if you are not aware of what you’re up against? Here’s what you’ll need to do.

Before you settle on a price for your services, call around and find out what other event planners in your area are charging.

According to industry expert Patty Sachs , event planners make anywhere from $12 to $75 per hour, plus vendor commissions.

Once you have done your research list the three (3) most common prices quoted by event planners in your area.

Now that you have your three (3) comparison prices, sit with these prices for a moment and try to determine where your price should fall. Think about the ranges above, your skills, experience, and knowledge, and pick a price.

You read correctly, just select a number that would work for you – I promise you there is a method to this madness.

Remember to never price your services lower than the range above. It might seem like a good idea if you are new to the industry; however, it takes just as much effort to plan a wedding at $25 per hour as it does at $75 per hour.

STEP 2: Determine Your Ideal Salary

Even if you don’t end up using an hourly pricing structure, you should always be able to easily answer the question:

“How much is an hour of your time worth?”

To determine this, start by asking yourself how much you want (or need) to make each year. From there, you can easily determine what your ideal hourly rate should be.

The average event planner works 50-60 hours per week. That is equal to approximately 3000 hours in a work year, assuming a two (2) week vacation.

(50 weeks x 60 hours per week = 3000 hours)

To determine your minimum hourly rate, take your ideal annual salary and divide by 3000. For example, if you want to earn $75,000 a year, you should charge a minimum of $25/hour. This would be the lowest price you could charge.

($75,000 / 3000 = $25)

Go ahead and try it out on your own. Take the ideal salary number in the second column below and divide it by the number of hours in the first column to calculate your hourly rate. Try a few different options to see where your idealy hourly rate should fall.

STEP 3: Determine your Realistic Hourly Rate

Now that we have calculated the lowest satisfactory rate that sufficiently values your time (Step 2), let’s take it up a notch.

If you are a single-person operation it will be almost impossible to work on events for 60 hours a week, 10 hours per day (assuming 1 day off during a 7 day work week). In fact, most entrepreneurs find that only about 50% of their time is actually billable (at 10 hours that is equal to 5 hours per day), while the other 50% is spent looking for new business, managing clients and taking care of the administration of the business. That means if you still wish to make $75,000/year, you will need to increase your rate, you should be charging at least $50/hour.

(3000 x 50%) = 1500 x ($50) = $75,000

Go ahead and try it out on your own. Take the ideal salary number in the second column below and divide it by the number of hours in the first column to calculate your realistic hourly rate. Try out a few ideal salary options to get a better idea of where you would like to be.

You now have the formula needed to determine your rate and obtain your ideal salary, or set your ideal work hours and use this to determine your best rate. Now let’s adjust for costs.

STEP 4: Add in your Costs

Once you have determined how much you want to make each year, you will have to do a little math and calculate your operating costs. Take a moment to think about all of the costs that you will have to cover, from indirect costs such as your Internet, website operating cost, software or programs, electricity and phone, to direct costs such as office supplies and event insurance (Grab this info from your business plan !). Once you have broken down all of the costs, remember to add those to your final rates. For example: Let’s say it costs you a total of $10 per/hr to operate your event planning business.

You will need to add this to your realistic hourly rate to determine your NET HOURLY RATE.

And that’s the Math.

With this formula, you can calculate the best price for your event planning service. This will help you to determine without a doubt what you should be charging clients.

BEFORE YOU GO…

Remember the “random” number you selected in STEP 1 after reviewing your competitor’s pricing?

How does this compare to your Net Hourly Rate from STEP 4 above? If it is fairly close your pricing guessing game is over!

If the price you believe you should be charging is significantly lower than your Net Hourly Rate, I would like you to explore why.

Time to get your thinking cap on!

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[…] to develop your event planning business processes as well. For example, If you were unsure of how to price your event planning service. Use this experience to track the number of hours it takes to plan each event for your future […]

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[…] See an updated version of this post here. […]

5 Items to Include in Your Event Planning Proposal – Event Planning Templates · at

[…] If you need help pricing your event planning services, check out this pricing guide. […]

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[…] For a more in-depth look at how to effectively charge a fee for your event planning services be sure to check out our blog post and Workbook. […]

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[…] 1. A Step By Step Guide to Charging For Your Event Planning […]

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How to Start an Event Planning Service

Want to be an event planner but not sure how to start your own event planning service? Discover how to start this business in our step-by-step guide.

Feb 22, 2001

Some people get a lot of personal and professional joy out of making big events and special days even better for their attendees. If you have the hosting itch, and if you love to tackle complex problems and make big days go smoothly, you might have a future as a professional event planner.

But whether you choose to work alone or with a small team, starting an event planning service is no small task. Today, let's break down how to start an event planning service step-by-step.

What are the basics of event planning?

Event planning is the art (and sometimes science) of event ideation, planning, coordination and operation. When a big, important event needs to go smoothly, it's time to call an event planning service or coordinator.

Event planners are key service providers who can ensure event production and execution happens smoothly. They perform these duties for trade shows, senior events, nonprofit galas and much more.

Related: Find Your Event-Planning Niche

Event planning is most often used for purposes like:

Event planning is highly important to make sure the above and other major events go off without a hitch, especially so that the most important guests can enjoy themselves.

The primary duties of full-time or part-time, on-site event planner jobs include:

The events industry, both for wedding planning and other events, requires good communication skills. Additionally, obtaining a bachelor's degree in public relations or related areas can be helpful but is not absolutely required. Let's look closer at this job type and business.

Why do people hire event planning services?

People primarily hire event planning services for two reasons:

Imagine a typical example of a wedding. Many engaged couples hire event planners or event planning services to coordinate, organize and carry out their wedding plans. In this way, the couples can enjoy their special days and focus on getting married rather than worrying about things like catering, parking and kicking out rowdy guests. Instead, the wedding planner takes care of that stuff.

Furthermore, some events are so complex – particularly those with hundreds of guests or more – that it's almost impossible to properly plan and organize them without the help of a specialist. Knowledgeable, experienced event planners know how to organize groups of people, how much food to provide and other details that can make or break an important event.

Who should become an event planner?

You might consider becoming an event planner if you love hosting parties and the thrill of organizing a complex event and running it without an issue. Planners often have to handle many moving parts at once. Many event planners have histories as managers or coordinators in other industries. You should become an event planner or start your own event planning service if you feel that you would enjoy this kind of work.

It's also worth noting that event planning often requires you to work on weekends or holidays (since these are the days when people have free time to schedule and hold events), as well as handle chaotic, sometimes confusing work and competing agendas. You should also consider acquiring certification for your event planning service, as it can help you acquire relevant professional skills and attract more job opportunities . Meeting Professionals International (MPI) is an association that offers a list of degrees and certificates from colleges and universities. The right degree or certification can lead to more job opportunities and even pave the way to a higher salary.

Alternatively, try to become a CSEP or Certified Special Events Professional or CMP or Certified Meeting Planner. Both of these are given out by the MPI or the ISES (International Special Events Society), which also highlight your skills and designate you as an expert event coordinator.

Now that we've covered the basics, let's get into the steps you need to take to start an event planning service:

Step 1: Make your company

Your first step involves making your company and filing the right paperwork. You should first draw up a business plan, which will include details like:

You'll also want to get an EIN, or employer identification number. This will allow you to hire employees for your event planning service if you desire later down the road.

Step 2: Choose your target market

Next, do market research and pick the target market you want to work for. For instance, if you want to primarily work with weddings, you need to research that target market to know how much to charge for your services, what's involved and what you need to be experienced in.

By doing some research ahead of time, you won't find running your first events to be too overwhelming. You'll also know how much to advertise your event planning service to be competitive relative to other services in the area.

Step 3: Consider startup costs

When you start an event planning business, you'll have to consider startup costs. Working from home or primarily by yourself will keep costs low as opposed to hiring employees (who will require salaries).

However, if you want to expand your event planning business, you'll eventually need extra equipment, business premises like an office or warehouse and more. All of these things can add up, impacting the kind of business you begin.

Note that you can always scale your business after acquiring steady work. For instance, you can start off as a one-man event planning service that only provides services to small events you can tackle by yourself. After you save up some money from some successful jobs, you can hire a few more employees and rent out a warehouse for your equipment, like cameras, chairs and more.

Step 4: Understand the work involved and hire employees (optional)

For your event planning service to be successful , you need to fully grasp the nature of the work involved and understand whether you should hire employees.

Planning and executing an excellent event generally involves:

There's a ton of work that goes into planning even the smallest event. Fortunately, as you acquire experience, you'll be more adept at anticipating and completing this work.

Generally, the larger the events you want to manage and coordinate, the more employees you need to hire. At a certain point, you can't be everywhere at once! Consider hiring employees when you have the cash to do so; this will allow you to plan events for larger groups of people and make more of a profit.

Step 5: Settle on a price structure and fee basis

How you price your event planning business will impact how often you get requests. You can determine your pricing structure and fee basis by things like:

Step 6: Start marketing your event planning service

Once you have all of your ducks in a row and you know how to charge your clients, you can start marketing your event planning service. Do this online through Google PPC (pay-per-click) ads, social media marketing and other efforts. Don't hesitate to use in-person marketing materials, like posters or TV ads, as well.

As you can see, starting an event planning service is a matter of preparation and deep consideration. If you plan everything properly, your event planning service will launch smoothly, and you'll get your first batch of clients in no time.

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Event Planner Fee Structure

Whether you’re starting an event planning business for social events, business events or a combination of both, you should know how to charge for services.

Several factors go into determining your rate, including event planning and operating expenses, salaries, and profits. Rates vary based on where you operate your business, types of projects you take on, and what the market is willing to pay.

Ways Event Planners Structure Their Fees

If you want to start a part-time or even full-time business, there are roughly five ways to structure your event fee and quote your fees to your clients:

For the following explanations and examples, let's assume you want to earn an average of $75 per hour for your services.

Fees Based on a Flat Project Rate

Many clients prefer to know how much a project will cost, inclusive of all fees.

Flat project fees are typically used for packaged events, such as those found with sports marketing programs, and may be calculated on a per-person basis with many stipulations and caveats. In this scenario, the client may contract directly with the event planner to coordinate all logistics, catering, venue, lodging expenses, etc.

For example, assume you are being hired to organize a one-day historic city tour for 15 guests. Your client wants you to quote a flat fee for transportation, a private guide, lunch and any/all admission fees to venues. However, they also ask that you provide a high-level breakdown of each expense item.

As an event planner , to offer this, you must come up with a flat fee by determining how much all aspects of the project will cost. You must negotiate and calculate the cost of all services, including your time, and quote a combined total for expenses.

This puts the responsibility of managing to a budget directly on you and requires anticipating a variety of scenarios in which circumstances may change. It's your responsibility and risk to identify required deposits, pay for all services, and hold responsibility for all service agreements.

Fees Based on a Percentage of Expenses

On average, event planners should charge between 15-20% of the total cost of an event as part of their fee. Depending on the complexity of the program and the amount of time it takes to plan and execute an event, sometimes this is enough to cover a planner’s entire cost and source of profit.

For example, assume you are being hired to organize a private dinner at an exclusive restaurant for 40 guests with an average of $175 per person. Let's estimate that it takes you a total of 15 hours to meet with your client, plan, attend and complete all follow up on this event. If you charge a rate of 18% of total expenses, you will earn just a little more than your targeted hourly rate of $75/hour:

$175 x 40 guests = $7,000 x 18% = $1,260 15 hours x $75/hr = $1,125

If the client is contracting with you for all services directly, the subtotal event expense charge to the client would be a total of $8,260.

Fees Based on Hourly Rate

Some clients prefer the event planner to quote an hourly rate for services and to estimate the total number of hours to manage and execute a given client program. It may seem similar to the flat project rate, but it allows for more flexibility on the part of both parties to adjust to changes that may be needed along the way.

Many business event planners will bill hourly for services. It allows a client to know just how much it will cost to hire your services and allow them to calculate a reasonable budget. Frequently, the reason for this is because the client wants to have a better handle on any unexpected expenses.

Always remember to define careful parameters around expectations so that both parties are in agreement as to what services will be provided. As an event planner, you should include a reference to billing for all reasonable business expenses that may be incurred.

Some event planners may mark up operating expenses such as shipping, car rentals, and other miscellaneous expense items by as much as 15-20%. If you do, you should disclose such markups and obtain agreement with your client in advance.

When it comes to hourly event planning rates, it is also important to determine how frequently you may bill for your time.

For example, let's assume that a client is hiring you in October to organize a one-day seminar in March. Your services are being contracted to source and negotiate for the venue, catering services , A/V, and contribute to the content creation for a limited number of communications items (i.e., invitations, agenda, evaluation forms, etc.).

Your client is also hiring you to provide on-site management. You establish an agreement upfront that you will bill for identified services at different times, and will submit invoices for all services performed to date on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis.

Under this agreement, you and your client should both work out a detailed statement of work that includes the expected responsibilities of both parties. Then, you may estimate a total budget of so many hours plus reasonable expenses (be clear on what those details may include).

Fees Based on Percentage of Expenses Plus Flat Fee/Hourly Rate

Sometimes you’re being hired to organize an event, and for whatever reason, the client prefers a rate based on a percentage of expenses. However, this isn't enough to cover the cost of your total time and services. In these situations, it is reasonable to present your fees at a combined cost in two different categories.

For example, a client hires you to organize events associated with a conference. Your assignment is to organize two private dinners and a golf outing, each with 50 guests. The total cost for these combined events run approximately $20,000, but it requires about 60 hours of your time, and the complexity of this project may justify a higher profit margin. Keeping that in mind, you may come to your final flat fee and hourly rate with the following calculations:

Percentage of Expenses Estimate: $20,000 x 18% = $3,600 Hourly Rate Estimate: 60 hours x $75/hr = $4,500 Hourly Deficit: $3,600-$4,500 = -$900

If you come to a deficit, as we did in the example above, you may choose to quote 15 hours to manage the logistics of multiple outside vendors. Your quote then may reflect the following:

Subtotal Event Expenses: $23,600 Flat Fee: $1,125 (based on 15 hours at $75/hr)

In this scenario, you will need to carefully determine that you have estimated your hours appropriately (an account to cover non-standard operating expenses such as personal travel). As expected, few clients are pleased to see increases in expenses later on unless justifiable reasons are provided.

Fees Based on Commissionable Rates

Another way that event planners may collect fees for services is by securing event space through venues that offer a commissionable rate. These are fees typically provided to travel agents for booking tickets, hotel rooms, and other forms of transportation.

For example, many hotels may extend a commissionable rate up to as much as 10% for guest rooms and other expenses.

Although some event planners will embrace commissionable rates as a source of income for themselves, savvier clients may question the event planner’s sense of loyalties when commissionable rates are involved. For that reason, many seasoned planners will limit any planning selections that include a commissionable rate or negotiate non-commissionable pricing for their programs and pass that source of savings directly to their client’s bottom line.

Further, some clients may be aware that commissionable rates exist and do not expect their outside consultants to bill using any of the other identified billing methods we've outlined and still pay a commissionable rate. In general, it isn’t considered good form by many event planners to essentially “double-dip” their revenue stream this way.

If accepting commissioned rates, it's best not to charge your client fees for your services using alternative billing methods.

There are scenarios when commissionable rates do make the most sense, such as a smaller nonprofit or association that may be hiring your services for a membership event or meeting and the bulk of the fees are paid directly by the attendees rather than the organization.

Another scenario may be if your client is purchasing client gifts from you, and you may also offer promotional items distribution services. In that case, simply negotiate for the promotional items and do not charge for your services on an hourly basis unless your client is aware of all charges upfront.

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IMAGES

Event Planning Business Plan [2020 Updated]Executive Summary
How to Start an Event Planning Business at Home with No Money in 21 Steps
How Much Does an Event Planner Cost?
Perfect Planning For A Corporate Event [Infographic] ~ Visualistan
What is a ‘typical’ event planner salary? Pricing your event planning services correctly is
Event Planning Landscape #infographic ~ Visualistan

VIDEO

[Reboot] Ice Lightning Mage Culvert
Event Planning 101: Measuring Success Post Event
Monika Michelle Events on Brunswick Biz
New Business Planning
PROMOTING YOUR ALBINISM BUSINESS
Event Management business idea

COMMENTS

How Much Does It Cost To Start an Event Planning Business?
In total, you should expect to spend at least $850-$1000 per month on commercial office space rental expenses in order to start an event
How Much Does It Cost To Start An Event Planning Business? (In
How Much Does It Cost To Start An Event Planning Business? (In 2023) · The minimum startup costs for an event planning business: $62 · The maximum
How To Start An Event Planning Business
An event planning service can gross between $85,000 to $250,000 per year depending on the structure of the business. How much do event planners charge? The size
6 To-Dos Before Starting an Event Planning Business
You should plan to set aside at least $15,000 to $25,000 to start a small event planning business. Is an event planning business profitable? Event planning can
2023 Event Planning Prices (with Local Costs) // Fash
The average cost for a event planner is $650. Hiring a event planner to help plan your party, you will likely spend between $500 and $900.
2023 Average Party Planner Cost (with Price Factors)
Hourly rates for event planners range from under $50 to over $150 on national average. Many party planning companies offer consulting and
A Step-by-Step Guide to Charging for your Event Planning Service
My goal is to help event planners build, launch and grow their businesses. I'm here to show you exactly how to win the pricing game and finally
How to Start an Event Planning Service
Step 3: Consider startup costs ; Inventory, $0, $500 ; Licenses and Taxes, $250, $350 ; Communications, $100, $250 ; Payroll, $0, $4,000.
How to Charge a Fee for Your Event Planning Service
Ask yourself what you think you are worth and decide on a set hourly rate. The amount of experience you have will play a role in your decision.
Event Planner Fee Structure
On average, event planners should charge between 15-20% of the total cost of an event as part of their fee. Depending on the complexity of the