Business, Your Event Career

Pros and Cons: Partnering with Other Event Planning Businesses

Have you graduated from your event planning course and want to start your own business? Or maybe you already have a couple years of experience but your business is at a plateau. It’s a tough world out there! But just because it gets a little sticky doesn’t mean that you can’t improve your prospects!

Planners can expand their reach to garner new clients and generate new income streams in many different ways. Rewarding referrals and attending conventions are at the top of the list. Not to mention volunteering your time and skills to get your name out there!

One avenue you may not have considered is forming partnerships. And yes, we mean with another event planning businesses! It seems counter-intuitive to work so closely with your competition, we get it! But you could stand to benefit. Don’t just take our word for it! Here’s a list of the pros and cons of teaming up with other event planning businesses. After this, you’ll be ready to make an informed choice!

The Pros:

• Hit the ground running: If you’re a new business owner, a partnership with an established company means avoiding some growing pains. The other business may have experience in other areas you simply don’t have…yet! They could offer you valuable advice or make up for any of your potential weaknesses.
• Larger markets open up: You may not have the experience or time to organize large-scale, 500 person events. If you’re partnered with another planning business, you don’t have to pass up on any opportunities. Don’t worry about having too much on your plate to oversee every detail through. Instead, you’ll have an extra set of hands!
• Increased creativity: More great minds mean more creative event ideas. This, in turn, can lead to great client experiences and potentially more revenue!
• Sharing resources: Close partnerships mean sharing information, resources, and industry secrets. Both parties can improve their chances of success!
• Networking opportunity: You’ll gain access to your partnering company’s client base, vendors, and suppliers and vice-versa. Cold-calling planners and asking for referrals is a bold move. It’s one that might not even pay off. But when you’ve actually worked with another planner, they’ll see your work ethic and creativity first hand. If they ever need to pass up an opportunity to another planner, you’d be at forefront of their mind. After all, they’ll know that they can trust you to uphold the same standard of service as them!
• Mutual support: Having others who understand your situation and stress is downright awesome!

The Cons:

• Competing for interests: Anytime you have more than one person working on a project, disagreements will happen. Planners are their own creative forces with their own interests. If you experience bad communication with a company—you might want to stay away!
• Liability: If your contracts aren’t detailed or you don’t have the appropriate insurance, you might be swept up in a crisis.
• Lose a client to your partners: There’s a possibility that you’ll lose a client to the other business after you dissolve a partnership. But this isn’t likely if you offer great service and show an appreciation for your partners.
• Element of uncertainty: It’s impossible to know if your partner is hiding something until it comes to light. An example would be if they’re less reliable than you expected.
• Losing a valuable relationship: If something goes awry, you may have a falling out with your partner. At worst, close relationships might dissolve bitterly. You’ll need to be proactive with your communication. Don’t let a bad situation overshadow your business’ reputation!

Your priorities:

We’ve highlighted the major pros and cons of teaming up with other event planning businesses. Your choice depends on your needs. What’s your top priority? If business growth is number one, you may want to consider collaborating with another business.

This partnership could be with any size of a company. Freelancers are also good options. Choose a business that matches your ambitions, target market, and creative approach. If they are located in the same area as you, even better. They’ll have connections to vendors you may want access to!

If you want to increase revenue, a partnership could work for or against you. In a partnership, you’ll share initial costs potentially saving you a lot of money. But that means you’ll also have to split the revenue! You could potentially rise to the top on your own terms without partnering with another business. But you may also miss out on large-scale opportunities due to the size of your own business.

Or, perhaps you started your business to fill a hole in the market. Partnering with other planners can help your utilitarian cause! You’ll have more resources to target issues in the local market.

Remember whatever choice you make doesn’t have to be permanent. That is if you don’t want it to be! You can team up with another business for a single event or time period. You might even like them enough to merge companies! The choice is yours depending on your priorities and ambitions. Just make sure the other planning business knows your intentions!

So, have you made a decision?

How else can you ramp up business this year? Check out our post on 4 goals you should set for your event planning business!

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