Are you making plans for 2023 yet? Sure, you’re knee-deep in planning events right now and focusing on finishing the year strong. But if the goal is to grow and scale your event planning business, you’ll want to be laying in some framework and objectives now for next year. Ideally, you can align your efforts now to do both, finish out 2022 with a bang, and be in a prime scalable position come January.
Prioritizing the Must-Haves
When you start pivoting your event planning company to a scalable model, it’s generally best to separate the nice-to-haves from the must-haves. You have to align your goal with your actual resources. This is a strategy you can take with an individual event, as well as your company trajectory overall. For example, if one of your newest goals is to land 20 more clients in 2023, you’ll likely also need more staff, more vendor partnerships, and improved technology to make it happen. Start by planning to grow from where you are, and make sure you add only those resources you need to scale.
Optics and Logistics
Growth and scaling can imply two very different metrics. Growth can mean generating more revenue with the same resources you have now. Scaling means taking your existing model and making it more robust to keep doing what you're doing at a much higher frequency and on a bigger stage. Prepare now by creating a list of resources, processes, and methods that will need to be enhanced to handle more volume of business. This might include internal scheduling software, better marketing strategies, and improved communication channels.
Automations and Efficiencies
Most companies struggle to scale because of time-consumer tasks and bottleneck processes. If you really want to magnify your event planning business in a substantive way, you’ll need to start upgrading automation and exploring better efficiencies. Adopt programs that will allow you to one-click invite guests. Leverage platforms that provide you the mechanism to email thousands instead of hundreds with the same efforts. Try chatbot services to improve customer service. Change up how you budget for events with smart software solutions. Start exploring these efficiencies now, so you can have everything you need in place come 2023.
Keep Researching
If you aren’t sure that you’re ready to scale just yet, or you feel you still need to lay plans and processes in place, you can still advance your efforts with research. Always be collecting and seeking industry data that makes sense to your goal. For example, Event MB data showed that 71% of event planners last year said they planned to keep and grow their ability to offer virtual event planning services or some digital strategy moving forward. Using data like this can help to reinforce your goals and prepare to grow with an emerging industry, not against it.
Attend The Event Planner Expo 2022
If you’re serious about scaling your event planning business in 2023, one step you can take right now is to get your tickets to The Event Planner Expo 2022 this October 11th through 13th. It’s the #1 events industry conference of the year, where thousands of event professionals, C-Level executives, venue representatives, decision-makers, and marketers come together to network, learn, and grow. Get the advice you need. Get in the room to form strategic partnerships with those who help you succeed!
So, what are you doing now to plan for 2023? Start by getting your tickets to The Event Planner Expo!
