I spend a lot of time perusing message boards and forums dedicated to work at home mothers and women in business because, of course, I fall into this category and I like to see what others are doing. Many posts on these boards are from women who know that they want to work from home or that they want to start their own company but are unsure of what they want to do. My first piece of advice is this: Like what you do, because you are going to be doing it a lot in the beginning.
One business idea that I’ve read a lot about is that of event planning. In fact, I have a friend who had her daughter the same time that I had my first, and during the first year or so of her daughter’s life my friend decided that she wanted to open a company. Three years later and her company is going very strong. She plans events, including children’s birthdays, weddings and funerals. She is quite busy, which is the upside, but unfortunately is quite busy a lot on the weekends when her husband is off of work. This works well and not so well: great because her husband is there to take care of her daughter but, of course, they have little time together when the season is in and she is planning wedding after wedding.
While looking through my favorite business related websites the other day I found an article regarding event planning that stated the average profit margin has risen from 15% just a few years ago to nearly 40% today for event planners.
So what might your job as an event planner entail? Researching venues, creating the type of event that the client requests, finding people to cater the event or provide the flower arrangements and making sure that everyone involved in the event knows their responsibilities.
Some colleges offer educational opportunities for those interested in becoming an event planner, though you don’t need one in order to open an event planning business. If you are an event planner, check in with us and share details about your career: the good, the bad and the beautiful!