business plan for conference centre

Event Venue Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Business Plan Outline

• Event Venue Business Plan Home
• 1. Executive Summary
• 2. Company Overview
• 3. Industry Analysis
• 4. Customer Analysis
• 5. Competitive Analysis
• 6. Marketing Plan
• 7. Operations Plan
• 8. Management Team
• 9. Financial Plan

Start Your Event Venue Plan Here

Event Venue Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your business plan.

We have helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their event venues.

Event Venue Business Plan Sample & Template

Below are links to each section of a sample plan that can be used as a template for your own plan:

Next Section: Executive Summary >

Event Space Business Plan FAQs

What is an event venue business plan.

A business plan is used to start and/or grow your venue. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan, and details your financial projections.

You can  easily complete your event venue business plan using our Event Venue Business Plan Template here .

What Are the Main Types of Event Venues?

There are many types of event venues. Some own one venue and rent it out for wedding receptions, corporate events, and other parties. Others have relationships with and rent out hotels, sports arenas, restaurants, and other venues which are desirable to their clientele.

What Are the Main Sources of Revenues and Expenses for an Event Space?

The primary source of revenue for event venues is booking fees paid by clients. Sometimes event spaces also generate revenue from catering events and providing entertainment at them.

The key expenses for event venues are the cost of leasing the venue(s) and staffing costs, particularly if they provide services during the events.

Read more about how to get funding: Seeking Funding from Angel Investors vs Venture Capitalists .

How Do You Get Funding for Your Event Venue Business Plan?

Event venues are most likely to receive funding from banks. Typically you will find a local bank and present your plan to them. Angel investors and credit card financing are other common funding sources.

What are the Steps To Start an Event Venue Business?

Starting an event venue business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop An Event Venue Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed event venue business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your event venue business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your event venue business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Event Venue Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your event venue business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your event venue business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Event Venue Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your event venue business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your event venue business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful event venue business:

• How to Start an Event Venue Business

Where Can I Get an Event Venue Business Plan PDF?

You can download our free  event venue business plan template PDF here . This is a sample event venue business plan template you can use in PDF format.

Other Business Plan Templates

Catering Business Plan Template

Bakery Business Plan Template

Coffee Shop Business Plan Template

Food Truck Business Plan Template

How to Write a Business Plan for a Conference Center

by Chris Lewis

Published on 26 Sep 2017

Every business should have a business plan, and a conference center is no exception. A well-written plan not only succinctly describes the business to an outsider, but also provides a reference document for the business owner to monitor progress toward the stated objectives. The process of actually having to think through every stage of the business plan is also useful in that it forces the author to consider every aspect from setting goals to the detailed financial cash flow. A business plan for a conference center faces specific challenges in that it has to rely on a range of services that enable it to function effectively all year around, including times when bookings may be sparse or nonexistent.

Industry information

Marketing plan

Financial projections

Prepare an outline of the plan so that it can act as a guide in building the detailed structure. A suitable plan for a conference center would consist of: Executive summary Mission statement, vision and goals Company background and description Products and services Market and demand analysis Operational plan Management and organization Financial plan * Appendices

Set goals for the business. These need to be defined in quantifiable terms, not just generalities. For instance, 'being profitable' is too vague an objective, a better goal would be: 'to generate pre-tax profits of $120,000 by the end of year two.' That gives the owner something very specific that can then be broken down into smaller targets such as monthly revenue.

Carry out detailed market research to confirm the demand for conference facilities and to review the competitive landscape. The services to be offered will range from the most basic--simply providing accommodation for meetings--to a full-fledged residential center with catering on site and hotel-style facilities. Whatever the size of the enterprise it will need to have meeting rooms and presentation equipment for hire, as well as the ability to provide at least hot and cold drinks and light meals. High speed Internet access is also virtually essential in today's market.

Review the target market and the competition. There are many prospects for a conference center, but some of the most important will be event planners and local companies. The business plan should expand on the demographics for these and describe how they will be made aware of the services provided. Methods will include press releases, a targeted website, networking with bodies such as Chambers of Commerce, as well as traditional print advertising. The competitive review should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of companies offering similar facilities and review their strategies.

Include a financial section giving projected revenues and a profit and loss statement,a balance sheet and source and application of funds. With a conference center, it is likely that the business will be cyclical and it should therefore show how it will cover costs in the quiet period; usually the winter months--perhaps it would offer facilities for private functions such as parties and wedding receptions at the times that company bookings are slow.

Prepare the presentation format. If it is a document primarily intended for internal use, a simple written document might suffice. But if it is to be provided to external investors, the more professional it looks, the better. In this case, it could be provided on a DVD, with photographs, video and audio included. It should be accompanied by a written document or PowerPoint-type presentation, and that would include all relevant information such as detailed statistical analyses and brochures describing the business.

• Customer Reviews
• Net 30 Account
• Wise Services
• Steps & Timeline
• Work at a Glance
• Market Research at a Glance
• Business Plan Writing Services
• Bank Business Plan
• Investor Business Plan
• Franchise Business Plan
• Cannabis Business Plan
• Strategic Business Plan
• Corporate Business Plan
• Merge and Acquisition Business Plan (M&A)
• Private Placement Memorandums (PPM)
• Sample Business Plans
• Professional Feasibility Study
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Pitch Deck Presentation Services
• Business Plan Printing
• Market Research
• L-1 Business Plan
• E-2 Business Plan
• EB-5 Business Plan
• EB-5 Regional Centers
• Immigration Attorneys
• Nonprofit Business Plan
• Exit Business Planning
• Business Planning
• Business Formation
• Business License
• Business Website
• Business Branding
• Business Bank Account
• Digital Marketing
• Business Funding Resources
• Small Business Loans
• Venture Capital
• Net 30 Apply

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Business Credit Cards
• Talk to Us 1-800-496-1056

Event Venue Business Plan: How to Start and Grow Your Event Space Business

Are you looking for a way to turn your passion for hosting events into a profitable business? Do you want to know how to create a successful event venue business plan that will attract investors and customers? If so, you are in the right place.

In this article, we will show you how to start and grow your event space business with a comprehensive and professional business plan. We will also provide you with a free business plan template and examples that you can download and customize for your own needs.

What is an Event Venue Business?

An event venue business is a company that provides a space for hosting various types of events, such as weddings, corporate meetings, social gatherings, sports events, and more. An event venue business can offer different services and amenities, such as catering, entertainment, equipment rental, security, parking, and more.

An event venue business can be a lucrative and rewarding venture, as it can generate multiple streams of income from different clients and events. However, it also requires a lot of planning, investment, marketing, and management to succeed in a competitive market.

Why Do You Need an Event Venue Business Plan?

A business plan is a document that describes your business goals, strategies, market analysis, financial projections, and operational details. It is essential for any type of business, especially for an event venue business, because:

• It helps you clarify your vision and mission for your business
• It helps you identify your target market and competitive advantage
• It helps you plan your marketing and sales strategies
• It helps you estimate your startup and operational costs
• It helps you forecast your revenue and profit potential
• It helps you attract funding from investors or lenders
• It helps you monitor and evaluate your progress and performance

Looking for business plan writers?

Hire a professional writer to write an event venue business plan?

How to Create an Event Venue Business Plan?

Creating an event venue business plan can be a daunting task, but it can be simplified by following these steps:

Executive Summary: This is a brief overview of your business plan that summarizes your business idea, goals, market opportunity, competitive edge, funding request, and financial highlights. It should be written last after you have completed the rest of the sections. Learn more on business plan executive summary .

Company Overview: This is where you introduce your company name legal structure (sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, etc.), ownership (who owns the company), history (when and how it was founded), vision (what you want to achieve) and mission (how you want to achieve it). Check our detailed guide on business plan company overview .

Industry Analysis: This is where you analyze the current trends and outlook of the event venue industry in your area or country. You should include information such as the size, growth, demand, supply, segmentation and profitability of the industry. You should also identify the opportunities and threats that affect your business. Read more on business plan industry analysis .

Competitive Analysis: This is where you identify and evaluate your direct and indirect competitors in the event venue market. You should include information such as their names, locations, services, prices, strengths, and weaknesses. You should also explain how you plan to differentiate yourself from them and gain a competitive advantage. Learn more on business plan competitive analysis .

Customer Analysis: This is where you define and describe your target market segments and customers. You should include information such as their demographics (age, gender, income, etc.), psychographics (interests, preferences, etc.), behavior (how they search for and book event venues), needs (what they want from an event venue) and pain points (what problems they face with event venues). You should also explain how you plan to reach them and satisfy them with your services. 

Operations Plan: This is where you describe how you will run your event venue business on a daily basis. You should include information such as your location (where your event space is located), facilities (what features and amenities your event space offers), equipment (what tools and machines you need to operate), suppliers (who provides you with goods or services), staff (how many people you need to hire and what roles they perform), processes (how you deliver your services) and quality control (how you ensure customer satisfaction). Do you want to explore more, find how operations plan works in business plan .

Marketing Plan: This is where you outline how you will promote your event venue business to attract customers. You should include information such as your marketing objectives (what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts), marketing strategies (how you will use the 4Ps of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion), marketing channels (where you will advertise or communicate with your customers), marketing budget (how much money you will spend on marketing) and marketing metrics (how you will measure the effectiveness of your marketing).Find our guide on what to include in  marketing plan in business plan .

Funding Request: This is where you state how much money you need to start and run your event venue business, and how you plan to use it. You should include information such as your funding sources (where you will get the money from), your funding needs (how much money you need for each purpose), your funding terms (what interest rate, repayment period, and collateral you offer), and your funding projections (how the funding will affect your financial performance).

Financial Plan: This is where you provide the financial statements and forecasts for your event venue business. You should include information such as your income statement (showing your revenue, expenses, and profit), your balance sheet (showing your assets, liabilities, and equity), your cash flow statement (showing your cash inflows and outflows), and your break-even analysis (showing when you will start making a profit). You should also include some financial ratios (such as profitability, liquidity, and solvency) and assumptions (such as growth rate, inflation rate, and tax rate) that support your financial plan. Read more on what to include in  business plan financial plan .

Appendix: This is where you attach any additional documents or information that support your business plan, such as market research data, customer testimonials, legal documents, resumes of key personnel, contracts, licenses, permits, etc. Check more details on what to include in business plan appendix .

Hire virtual assistant now!

Where can you get an event venue business plan template and example.

If you want to save time and effort in creating your event venue business plan, you can use a template or an example that has already been prepared for you. The following is a free event venue business plan template and an example that you can download.

• Event Venue Business Plan Template
• Event Venue Business Plan Example

These templates and examples are easy to use and customize for your own needs. They also include tips and guidance on how to write each section of your business plan.

Hire a professional who makes business plan!

Examples of event venue business plans that will assist you in writing yours.

I will give you an example with each section of Oren Co, which is an event venue business that specializes in hosting outdoor events. Here is an example:

Event Venue Business Plan: Oren Co

Executive summary.

Oren Co is a new event venue business that offers a unique and natural setting for hosting various types of outdoor events, such as weddings, corporate retreats, festivals, concerts, and more. Oren Co is located in Washington USA and operates on a 10-acre land that features a lush garden, a pond, a gazebo, a stage, a tent and other amenities. Oren Co aims to provide a memorable and enjoyable experience for its clients and guests, while also being environmentally friendly and socially responsible.

Oren Co has identified a growing demand for outdoor event venues in its area, as more people are looking for alternative and creative ways to celebrate their special occasions. Oren Co has also conducted thorough market research and competitive analysis and has found that it has a strong competitive edge over its rivals, as it offers a unique and natural setting, a variety of services and packages, affordable prices, and excellent customer service.

Oren Co is seeking $100,000 in funding to start and grow its business. The funding will be used for purchasing equipment, hiring staff, marketing and advertising, and working capital. Oren Co expects to generate $300,000 in revenue and $50,000 in profit in its first year of operation, and to break even in its second year. Oren Co also projects to increase its revenue and profit by 20% annually in the following years.

Company Overview

Oren Co is a sole proprietorship owned and operated by Mr. Oren Khan, who has over 10 years of experience in the event management industry. Mr. Khan has worked as an event planner, coordinator and manager for various companies and organizations, such as WiseBusinessPlans, Eventful Solutions and Washington USA Tourism Board. Mr. Khan has also organized and hosted several successful outdoor events for his own clients, such as weddings, corporate retreats, festivals and concerts.

Oren Co was founded in August 2023, after Mr. Khan acquired a 10-acre land in Washington USA that was previously used as a farm. Mr. Khan saw the potential of transforming the land into an event venue that could cater to the growing demand for outdoor events in his area. Mr. Khan invested $50,000 of his own savings to renovate the land and equip it with the necessary facilities and amenities for hosting events.

Oren Co’s vision is to become the leading provider of outdoor event venues in Washington USA and beyond. Oren Co’s mission is to offer a unique and natural setting for hosting various types of outdoor events, while providing high-quality services, affordable prices, and excellent customer service.

Industry Analysis

The event venue industry is a subset of the broader event management industry, which includes planning, organizing and hosting various types of events for different purposes and audiences. The event venue industry consists of companies that provide spaces for hosting events, such as hotels, resorts, convention centers, banquet halls, stadiums, theaters, etc.

According to IBISWorld, the global event management industry was worth $1.1 trillion in 2020 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 3.6% from 2021 to 2026. The growth of the industry is driven by factors such as increasing disposable income, urbanization, globalization, technological innovation and social media. The industry is also influenced by trends such as personalization, sustainability, diversity and creativity.

The event venue industry in USA is a growing and profitable segment of the event management industry. According to Market Research Future, the event management market in USA was worth $1.2 billion in 2019, and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 8.2% from 2020 to 2025. The growth of the market is driven by factors such as increasing population, economic development, cultural diversity, tourism and entertainment.

The event venue industry in USA is also experiencing a shift in consumer preferences and behavior, as more people are looking for alternative and creative ways to celebrate their special occasions. According to a survey by Eventbrite, 78% of USA consumers prefer to spend money on experiences rather than things, and 72% of them are interested in attending outdoor events. Moreover, according to a report by Event Industry News, outdoor events are becoming more popular and profitable in USA, as they offer more flexibility, variety and affordability than indoor events.

Competitive Analysis

Oren Co faces competition from other event venue providers in its area, both direct and indirect. The direct competitors are those that offer similar services and cater to the same target market as Oren Co, such as outdoor event venues, parks, gardens etc. The indirect competitors are those that offer different services but cater to the same target market as Oren Co, such as indoor event venues, hotels, resorts etc.

Some of the main direct competitors of Oren Co are:

Green Valley: This is an outdoor event venue that offers a green and spacious setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Lahore, about 50 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 500 guests, and offers services such as catering, decoration, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $2,000 per event. Royal Garden: This is an outdoor event venue that offers a royal and elegant setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Islamabad, about 100 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 1,000 guests, and offers services such as catering, decoration, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $3,000 per event. Dreamland: This is an outdoor event venue that offers a dreamy and romantic setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Faisalabad, about 150 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 800 guests, and offers services such as catering, decoration, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $2,500 per event.

Some of the main indirect competitors of Oren Co are:

Pearl Hotel: This is an indoor event venue that offers a luxurious and modern setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Lahore, about 50 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 500 guests, and offers services such as catering, accommodation, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $4,000 per event. Grand Resort: This is an indoor event venue that offers a grand and elegant setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Islamabad, about 100 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 1,000 guests, and offers services such as catering, accommodation, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $5,000 per event. Paradise Hall: This is an indoor event venue that offers a simple and affordable setting for hosting weddings, parties, corporate events and more. It is located in Faisalabad, about 150 km from Oren Co’s location. It has a capacity of up to 800 guests, and offers services such as catering, decoration, entertainment, photography etc. It charges an average of $1,500 per event.

Oren Co has a strong competitive edge over its rivals, as it offers a unique and natural setting that appeals to the growing demand for outdoor events in its area. Oren Co also offers a variety of services and packages that suit different needs and budgets of its clients. Oren Co also offers affordable prices and excellent customer service that ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer Analysis

Oren Co’s target market consists of individuals and organizations that are looking for an outdoor event venue for hosting various types of events, such as weddings, parties, corporate retreats, festivals, concerts etc. Oren Co’s target market can be segmented into two main groups: personal customers and business customers.

Personal customers are those who are looking for an outdoor event venue for hosting their personal or social events, such as weddings, parties, anniversaries etc. These customers are mainly motivated by factors such as personal preference, emotional value, social status and word-of-mouth. These customers are mainly located in Washington USA and nearby regions, and have an average income of $10,000 per year.

Business customers are those who are looking for an outdoor event venue for hosting their business or professional events, such as corporate retreats, team building activities such as corporate retreats, team-building activities, seminars, workshops etc. These customers are mainly motivated by factors such as business objectives, cost-effectiveness, convenience and reputation. These customers are mainly located in Washington USA and nearby regions and have an average income of $50,000 per year.

Oren Co’s target market is large and growing, as more people and organizations are looking for alternative and creative ways to celebrate their special occasions. According to a report by Event Industry News, the outdoor event market in USA is expected to grow at an annual rate of 10% from 2020 to 2025. Oren Co’s target market is also profitable, as the average spending per event is $2,500 for personal customers and $5,000 for business customers.

Oren Co’s target market is also accessible and reachable, as Oren Co can use various channels and methods to promote its services and attract its customers, such as online platforms, social media, referrals, partnerships etc. Oren Co can also leverage its location advantage, as it is situated in a strategic and convenient location that is easily accessible by road and public transportation.

Marketing Plan

Oren Co’s marketing plan consists of four main elements: product, price, place and promotion.

Product: Oren Co’s product is its outdoor event venue that offers a unique and natural setting for hosting various types of events. Oren Co’s product also includes its services and packages that provide catering, decoration, entertainment, photography and other amenities for its clients and guests. Oren Co’s product is designed to meet the needs and expectations of its target market, as it offers flexibility, variety and affordability.

Price: Oren Co’s price strategy is to offer competitive and reasonable prices that reflect the value and quality of its product. Oren Co’s price strategy also aims to attract and retain its customers, as well as to generate revenue and profit for its business. Oren Co’s price strategy is based on factors such as market demand, competitor prices, cost of production and profit margin. Oren Co’s average price per event is $2,500 for personal customers and $5,000 for business customers.

Place: Oren Co’s place strategy is to distribute its product through its own physical location that serves as its outdoor event venue. Oren Co’s place strategy also involves using online platforms such as its website and social media accounts to showcase its product and communicate with its customers. Oren Co’s place strategy is intended to make its product available and accessible to its target market, as well as to create a positive image and reputation for its business.

Promotion: Oren Co’s promotion strategy is to use various channels and methods to advertise and promote its product and business to its target market. Oren Co’s promotion strategy also aims to create awareness, interest and desire for its product, as well as to encourage action and loyalty from its customers. Oren Co’s promotion strategy includes the following activities:

Online marketing: Oren Co will use online platforms such as its website, social media accounts, email newsletters, blogs etc. to showcase its product, share its stories, testimonials and reviews, offer discounts and incentives, and interact with its customers and potential customers.

Offline marketing: Oren Co will use offline channels such as flyers, brochures, banners, posters etc. to display its product, highlight its features and benefits, and provide its contact details and location. Referral marketing: Oren Co will use word-of-mouth and referrals to spread the word about its product and business, and to generate positive feedback and recommendations from its customers and partners. Oren Co will also offer rewards and incentives for referrals, such as discounts, vouchers, freebies etc.

Partnership marketing: Oren Co will partner with other businesses and organizations that are related or complementary to its product and target market, such as event planners, caterers, decorators, entertainers, photographers etc. Oren Co will also partner with local media outlets, influencers, celebrities etc. to gain exposure and publicity for its product and business.

Financial Plan

Oren Co’s financial plan consists of three main components: startup costs, income statement and cash flow statement.

Startup costs: Oren Co’s startup costs are the expenses that are required to start and launch its business. Oren Co’s startup costs include the following items:

Equipment: This includes the purchase of equipment such as tables, chairs, tents, stage, sound system, etc. The total cost of equipment is $30,000.

Staff: This includes the hiring of staff such as event manager, event coordinator, event staff etc. The total cost of staff is $10,000.

Marketing: This includes the expenses for marketing activities such as online marketing, offline marketing, referral marketing and partnership marketing. The total cost of marketing is $5,000.

Legal: This includes the fees for legal services such as registration, licensing, permits etc. The total cost of legal is $2,000. Miscellaneous: This includes the costs for other items such as insurance, utilities, maintenance etc. The total cost of miscellaneous is $3,000. The total startup costs for Oren Co are $50,000.

Income statement: Oren Co’s income statement is a summary of its revenue and expenses for a given period of time. Oren Co’s income statement for the first year of operation is as follows:

Revenue: This is the amount of money that Oren Co earns from its product sales. Oren Co’s revenue is calculated by multiplying the number of events by the average price per event. Oren Co expects to host 100 events in the first year, with an average price of $3,500 per event. Therefore, Oren Co’s revenue for the first year is $350,000.

Expenses: This is the amount of money that Oren Co spends on its business operations. Oren Co’s expenses include the following items:

Cost of goods sold: This is the cost of producing and delivering its product. Oren Co’s cost of goods sold is calculated by multiplying the number of events by the average cost per event. Oren Co estimates that the average cost per event is $1,500, which includes the costs of catering, decoration, entertainment, photography and other amenities. Therefore, Oren Co’s cost of goods sold for the first year is $150,000.

Operating expenses: This is the cost of running and managing its business. Oren Co’s operating expenses include the following items:

Staff: This is the cost of paying salaries and wages to its staff. Oren Co estimates that it will have 10 staff members in the first year, with an average salary of $1,000 per month. Therefore, Oren Co’s staff expense for the first year is $120,000.

Marketing: This is the cost of conducting marketing activities to promote its product and business. Oren Co estimates that it will spend 10% of its revenue on marketing in the first year. Therefore, Oren Co’s marketing expense for the first year is $35,000.

Legal: This is the cost of paying fees for legal services such as registration, licensing, permits etc. Oren Co estimates that it will spend 5% of its startup costs on legal in the first year. Therefore, Oren Co’s legal expense for the first year is $2,500.

Miscellaneous: This is the cost of paying for other items such as insurance, utilities, maintenance etc. Oren Co estimates that it will spend 5% of its revenue on miscellaneous in the first year. Therefore, Oren Co’s miscellaneous expense for the first year is $17,500.

The total expenses for Oren Co are $325,000.

Profit: This is the amount of money that Oren Co earns after deducting its expenses from its revenue. Oren Co’s profit is calculated by subtracting its expenses from its revenue. Therefore, Oren Co’s profit for the first year is $25,000. Cash flow statement: Oren Co’s cash flow statement is a report of its cash inflows and outflows for a given period of time. Oren Co’s cash flow statement for the first year of operation is as follows:

Cash inflows: This is the amount of money that Oren Co receives from its product sales and other sources. Oren Co’s cash inflows include the following items:

Revenue: This is the same as the revenue in the income statement. Oren Co’s revenue for the first year is $350,000. Loans: This is the amount of money that Oren Co borrows from banks or other lenders to finance its startup costs and working capital. Oren Co plans to obtain a loan of $40,000 with an interest rate of 10% per annum and a repayment period of 5 years. Therefore, Oren Co’s loan inflow for the first year is $40,000. The total cash inflows for Oren Co are $390,000.

Cash outflows: This is the amount of money that Oren Co spends on its business operations and other purposes. Oren Co’s cash outflows include the following items:

Startup costs: This is the same as the startup costs in the financial plan. Oren Co’s startup costs are $50,000. Expenses: This is the same as the expenses in the income statement. Oren Co’s expenses for the first year are $325,000. Loan repayments: This is the amount of money that Oren Co pays back to its lenders for its loan principal and interest. Oren Co’s loan repayments are calculated by using an amortization table. According to the table, Oren Co’s loan repayments for the first year are $10,200.

The total cash outflows for Oren Co are $385,200.

Net cash flow: This is the amount of money that Oren Co has left over after subtracting its cash outflows from its cash inflows. Oren Co’s net cash flow is calculated by subtracting its cash outflows from its cash inflows. Therefore, Oren Co’s net cash flow for the first year is $4,800.

Oren Co is a new business that offers an outdoor event venue for hosting various types of events in Washington USA. Oren Co has a strong competitive edge over its rivals, as it offers a unique and natural setting that appeals to the growing demand for outdoor events in its area. Oren Co also has a large and profitable target market that consists of individuals and organizations that are looking for an alternative and creative way to celebrate their special occasions. Oren Co also has a comprehensive marketing plan that uses various channels and methods to advertise and promote its product and business to its target market. Oren Co also has a realistic financial plan that shows its revenue and expenses projections, as well as its cash flow analysis. Oren Co expects to generate a profit of $25,000 and a net cash flow of $4,800 in the first year of operation.

Oren Co is confident that it can achieve its goals and objectives, as it has a clear vision, mission and values that guide its business decisions and actions. Oren Co also has a dedicated and experienced team that works hard to deliver high-quality products and services to its customers and guests. Oren Co also has a positive and optimistic attitude that helps it overcome any challenges or difficulties that it may face along the way.

Oren Co hopes that this business plan will convince potential investors and partners to support its business venture and help it grow and succeed in the outdoor event industry.

Learn how to write business plan!

Event venue business plan faqs.

Permits and licenses vary by location, but generally, you’ll need a business license, zoning permits, health and safety permits, and possibly a liquor license.

Use online platforms like your website and social media, offer competitive pricing, exceptional customer service, and network with event planners and industry professionals.

Effective strategies include having a visually appealing website, utilizing social media, collaborating with local event vendors, hosting open houses, and offering discounts for initial bookings.

Clear communication with clients, comprehensive event contracts, detailed checklists, and assigning a dedicated event coordinator or team are essential for managing event logistics.

Typical costs include rent/mortgage payments, utilities, insurance, maintenance, marketing, staff salaries, and event-specific expenses like catering and audiovisual equipment.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Quick Links

• Investor Business Plans
• M&A Business Plan
• Private Placement
• Feasibility Study
• Hire a Business Plan Writer
• Business Valuation Calculator
• Business Plan Examples
• Real Estate Business Plan
• Business Plan Template
• Business Plan Pricing Guide
• Business Plan Makeover
• SBA Loans, Bank Funding & Business Credit
• Finding & Qualifying for Business Grants
• Leadership for the New Manager
• Content Marketing for Beginners
• All About Crowdfunding
• EB-5 Regional Centers, A Step-By-Step Guide
• Logo Designer
• Landing Page
• PPC Advertising

• Business Entity
• Business Licensing
• Virtual Assistant
• Business Phone
• Business Address
• E-1 Visa Business Plan
• EB1-A Visa Business Plan
• EB1-C Visa Business Plan
• EB2-NIW Business Plan
• H1B Visa Business Plan
• O1 Visa Business Plan
• Business Brokers
• Merger & Acquisition Advisors
• Franchisors

Proud Sponsor of

• 1-800-496-1056

• (613) 800-0227

• +44 (1549) 409190

• +61 (2) 72510077

• Venue Management Software
• Event Management Software
• Event Floorplan Software
• GET STARTED
• Sales - 877-266-3885
• Email Sales Rep
• Testimonials

Planning Pod Blog

Fresh insights and best practices for event professionals.

How to Start an Event Venue Business: Two Experts Share 20 Secrets for Opening an Event Space

by Amanda Knaebel | Jan 13, 2021 | Best Practices , Business , Business Management , Catering , Event Vendors and Suppliers , Event Venues , Marketing , Sales , Tech , Tools and Software , Venues

Opening an event venue comes with a long checklist of items that must be in place for a successful launch … and chances are, as a new event space entrepreneur, you’ve probably already read a dozen or so articles that have run you through the basics.

But while these checklist articles can be helpful, they don’t answer the one vital question you should be asking: “What things do seasoned experts know that I don’t about how to successfully launch a venue and be profitable in Year 1?”

Of course hindsight is always 20/20, but when you’re in the midst of starting an event venue and you are new to this, you simply don’t know what you don’t know. 

To help you fill in those gaps and provide you with new insights that aren’t already on your to-do list, we interviewed two of our clients and long-time industry pros to tell us the secrets that helped them along the way and maybe a few things they wish they would’ve known when starting an event space business. 

Join us as Dianne Kohler, CEO of Camrose Regional Exhibition Center, and Michael Hallford, CEO of Hallford & Hallford event and venue management firm, open the vault on their most-valued industry secrets for launching a new venue.

Building out your processes and internal operations ahead of time is critical to generating revenue as you prepare to open your new venue. Planning Pod’s all-in-one platform gives new event facilities 20+ easy-to-use tools to set up systems for managing booking calendars, sales, client communications, contracts, billing, payments and more. Sign up for a free trial today!

#1 – Researching your target audience, competition and location area is easily the most important step in opening a new venue

Chances are you’ve come across plenty of articles that mention you should evaluate the competitive landscape and identify your ideal client base. But according to Dianne and Michael, this isn’t just another item on a list … in fact, it should take priority over just about everything else, because if you don’t get this right, your new venue won’t be in business long.

“Before you write out your business plan, you need to already know who your target audience is, and that’s who you build your venue for, so this starts with research long before you build or buy a venue,” said Michael. 

Michael also warns about automatically trying to go for the clients with the deepest pockets. 

“Keep in mind that your target audience doesn’t necessarily have to be your wealthy ‘Beverly Hills’ type client because that audience isn’t necessarily your highest profit margin,” he added. “Those luxury clients tend to be really demanding and expect a lot. And if they don’t get it the way they think they should get it, then you’re going to have issues afterward with PR. That’s just not something you want to have to deal with.”

“Your best market is probably going to be whoever is the largest demographic in your area who is willing to pay for your services. But you need to plan for that. You’ve got to know what they want, how they want it, when they want it, and why they want it. Then, be prepared to meet those needs as you put together your business plan and buildout plan.”

Dianne agrees that assessing your target audience’s needs and what venue options are already in the area should be done long before you lay a single brick for your new conference center or event space.

“Knowing your market is the number one thing that’s most critical to succeeding with a new facility,” said Dianne. “Because if you don’t understand what the market expects or wants from you, how are you going to provide it? You do this by doing a market needs assessment on other existing venues and the population and demographics in your surrounding community of who you want to sell to.

She also credits thorough upfront planning as an indicator for an event center that will both launch successfully and survive the long term, a challenge for all new small business owners. 

“If you’re building a new venue, you’re building something based on your demographic’s needs for the next 10 years,” she said. “To do this, you need to reach out to your target market and ask them questions and collect data, because the more data you can get before you build or buy a venue, the better.”

“The type of venue you buy or build depends on their needs and the needs of the community you serve. Yes, maybe nobody in the area has a ballroom that’s 30,000 square feet. But are there events that require a ballroom with 30,000 square feet? These are the things you need to consider.”

“All this market research and data is then going to drive your marketing engine for when you’re getting ready to launch.”

#2 – Devising a business plan makes the process of launching an event space business vastly smoother

Once you’ve narrowed in on your audience, you should focus next on developing your business plan. This document can be quite lengthy and in-depth because it fleshes out every detail regarding your venue business – from facility and organizational structure to finances, budgets and marketing. And just like with your target audience, it should be well-researched and realistic if you want it to be useful.

“A business plan is a must, and your plan must budget for covering your first six months of business expenses with zero or little income, just in case,” said Michael. “You should also plan for overages in construction, like around 30%, as that’s just normal.”

In addition to understanding how you’re going to build a special events venue for your ideal client (and what that’s going to cost), you should narrow in on how you will market them.  

“Along with your business plan you have to have a marketing plan that outlines your marketing, branding, PR goals and expenditures, including the few months prior to opening day,” added Michael. 

#3 – Getting your pricing right will prevent lost business and vanishing margins

Before scheduling your first customer walkthrough or booking your first party, make sure your pricing is dialed in properly. Are you charging too much? Are you charging enough? Dianne says that understanding your target audience’s needs, your competitors’ price points and your cost of operations (overhead, mortgage/rent payments, staffing, food and beverage costs, utilities, cleaning, out-of-pocket rentals, etc.) will help you develop the perfect price point that will make your customers happy and keep your venue in business.

“An important part of your business plan is setting your pricing and this goes back to knowing your market,” Dianne reminds us. “What are your clients willing to pay for your services and how are you going to provide real value to them?

“Your market survey and research should include your competitors’ pricing to make sure your pricing is in line with what others charge for similar services. If you want to charge a premium, justify why you can charge it. If you charge less or at a discount, why would you do that and why will it serve the business better?”

One tactic that some new business owners of venues take is to start out by setting their prices lower in order to land more event clients out of the gate (but not so low that you are losing money) and then adjusting their rates upward once cash is flowing regularly.

However, these are all questions you need to ask yourself before pricing and pitching your space.

#4 – Planning out your space thoroughly before you build will add value for your customers

Designing a banquet hall may seem straightforward (just provide ample room for social events and corporate events, right?) but Michael warns that not thoroughly thinking through your design pre-construction can leave you wishing you would have made different decisions.

“If you are in pre-build, the most important step is that you really need to plan your space,” said Michael. “You have to have a plan for adequate storage, proper ingress and egress, about what your fire marshal and local building codes are going to require, how much office area you will need, and if you are going to need a full kitchen or prep kitchen.”

You should also consider what are going to be the biggest elements of your design with regard to ergonomics and those areas where clients and guests expect high quality. 

“An example of this is that people really care a lot about venue washrooms and want them to be bigger, clean and nice. So you should invest more there,” suggests Michael. “If you are going to have food and beverage on site, those are probably two of the biggest things that customers will remember after they leave the event, so those should also take priority in your building and preparation.”

Michael stresses that thinking through these things before you engage a construction contractor will save you many headaches during operations and prevent a remodel down the line. From capacity minimums and maximums down to the number of doorways you will need, “It’s really getting to those fine details, before you actually even design a space. You have to plan for how the space is going to be used.”

And while you’re planning, be sure to add in a little extra room for storage. 

“Surprisingly, you actually need a lot of storage,” exclaimed Michael. “Tables, chairs, linens, staging, dance floors, even just your daily products like cleaners and mop buckets, all of that has to go somewhere. And the worst thing to do is to build a venue and not have enough space for your items.”

#5 – Surprise your clients with unique and flexible design elements

When building and designing your space, Dianne recommends giving it a unique element while leaving room for flexibility for all types of events and setups. She mentioned that over the last five years, more and more event planners and their clients have been searching for places that are unique and new.

“One thing with venues that has been trending for the last five years and will continue is the demand for unique spaces,” said Dianne. “Clients don’t want to book events in empty, spare looking ballrooms or meeting rooms. They want a unique space that is maybe shaped differently or has interesting grounds or flexible decor. So you should consider far in advance what could you add into your space to make it unique for your audience. It doesn’t have to be crazy and cost crazy money. Maybe it’s interesting paint choices or programmable uplighting or downlighting.”

With people really looking to bring the wow factor to their event and to post it on social media, they need an event space that is unique enough to stand out amongst the sea of conference centers, but is also flexible enough to be completely reimagined to meet an event planner’s vision.

“You also want to make your space sizable and flexible for different sizes of groups so you can host groups of 25 as easy as you can 500,” said Dianne. Which means you may need to consider dividable spaces that you can partition off for smaller groups or for hosting multiple parties that can overlap.

#6 – Decide early on if you are a venue rental business or event producer (or both)?

If you’re running a wedding venue or party venue, you’re going to have slower off seasons – times when your event space may sit empty. So, you’ll need to account for how you will handle those empty calendar days.

“As a venue manager, you understand that it’s normal that you’re going to have dark periods where nobody’s renting,” said Dianne. “So, you have to make the determination early. Are you going to rent? Are you going to just ride through the dark areas? Or are you going to get into self production as a way to fill the space on typically dark nights and boost overall revenue? It’s part of the planning process to consider this.”

Some venue owners do decide to cushion their wedding receptions and private events bookings with their own productions (like music performances, seasonal parties and staged shows) on days that their venue tends to sit unoccupied. It can be a great way to cushion income and even perhaps draw in new business, but will take additional resources, marketing and event planning.

Also, if you offer full catering services, you may want to consider offering off-premise catering to maximize revenue from your full-service kitchen (but remember that this comes with its own costs and challenges like maintaining a full-time kitchen staff, marketing, delivery, etc.).

#7 – If something isn’t right with your buildout, speak up with your contractor now (or risk living with elements that turn off your clients)

“Once you’re in the building phase, be very, very picky with your contractors,” said Michael. “If it’s not done exactly the way you want it done, have them redo it. This has got to be part of your contract with each vendor, whether you’re using a general contractor, or you’re contracting things out yourself.

“So if you’ve got a trim carpenter who’s doing crown molding, and there’s a little gap, well that needs to be filled and resanded and repainted. You don’t pay them their last dollar until every single thing is done to your liking.

Reserving the right to thoroughly inspect the work of your contractors, and even stop them in their process to change or correct something, will ensure that your build is completed exactly how you (and your potential clients) envision it. Remember, even if you aren’t being nitpicky, your guests and customers will be, and shoddy workmanship can lead to clients taking a pass on leasing your space.

#8 – Design your venue to impress your most difficult client

When designing, building and finalizing your event venue, you have to oversee the buildout or remodel with the eye of your most difficult customer in mind, says Michael. 

“You’ve got to think about what your most discriminating client is going to look for when they walk through your doors, and you must have that covered,” says Michael. “Because you’re going to have event planners and very discriminating clients who are very picky — whether it’s about the decor, floral arrangements, or food options — and they’re going to nitpick it all.”

Without research, it can be difficult to know exactly what elements are turning potential clients away, and that’s because, as Micheal says, “if they walk through and see something that’s not right for them, they’re not going to say anything to you. They’re just going to take you off their list and move on.”

To avoid this, you may want to have your architect or venue designer create a few different mockups and show them to your target audience members as well as local event planners to get their opinions and feedback.

#9 – Full kitchen or prep kitchen? Decide which is going to work best for your space, your audience and your bottom line

Most venues either opt for a full-service kitchen that they either staff themselves or reserve for their preferred caterer, or they go with the less expensive option of a prep kitchen that outside caterers can use to stage pre-cooked cuisine. Our experts have some slightly different preferences and insights on both of these options, both equally illuminating.

“In our venue, we currently have a prep kitchen,” said Michael “We’ve got the refrigerator, ice maker, two hot boxes, plenty of counter space, sink space, the whole nine yards. All a caterer has to do is come in, bring in a few specialty pieces that they need and they are set.”

“A full service kitchen ideally would be my preference because you get the freshest food,” Michael adds. “If you’re building a facility from scratch, I would recommend planning an actual full kitchen, but it takes a little more prep work in advance because you have to know what kind of grease hold you need to have, what kind and size of venting you need to have in place and things like that. But that sets you up so you can either offer the kitchen space to an outside vendor as a prep kitchen or to an in-house vendor as a full kitchen.”

Dianne counters, “If all you’re doing is banquets and you have a large banquet hall, invest in the full kitchen. But I’m not a fan of full kitchens unless you know you’re going to book out 300 catered events a year in your event center. Remember that kitchens are costly, and your gross margin on a kitchen and food is almost always going to be razor thin. Ask yourself ‘If you build it, do you have all the business to support it?’”

“For example, we closed our staffed commercial kitchen in 2019 because we had been losing money,” said Dianne. “It has now been turned into a prep kitchen. And honestly, unless you have a hotel or conference center with restaurants and room service and you can make money outside of the event space with those other options, a full kitchen requires lots of staffing and the food costs are only going up, which cuts your margins even more.”

Dianne also offers that there are many great caterers in practically every market that your clients can choose from, so if you take the prep kitchen route it can lower your costs on your kitchen build (one time) and staffing (ongoing) and also provides more flexibility for your clients and event planners.

“By having a prep kitchen that we let any client bring their caterer into, it opened up a whole new revenue stream for our private events [as opposed to requiring clients to use our food and beverage services],” added Dianne. “And anyways caterers are going to have better pricing than you, the venue, because it’s all they do and they usually have less overhead and lower staffing costs.”

#10 – You can still make money outsourcing to caterers, too. 

“Our relationship with our in-house caterer and our preferred beverage vendor is that they give us a specific percentage back on the back end of their food and beverage sales,” said Michael. “In exchange for that, they are our in-house provider.”

This partnership means that Michael consistently recommends and sells his catering partner to her clients, only relenting when clients are persistent on bringing in their own food vendors to fit their vision.

Micheal has also established a similar partnership with his beverage vendor, which he doesn’t budge on because this in-house vendor also carries the proper alcohol licensing that covers Michael and his facility from a liability and regulatory standpoint, giving him peace of mind. 

Dianne does have a different viewpoint and finds value in her choice to leave catering options completely open to her potential clients. 

“I’m not a big person for official suppliers, especially caterers,” said Dianne. “I kind of buck the trend on that one, because I want the client to come in and bring in who they trust and who they work with as opposed to me telling them that they have to work with an in-house caterer. You lose the bigger piece of the business – the space rental – over providing food, which is usually making little to no margin.”

Reviewing your target audience can help you decide whether partnerships will be right for your client base. If your ideal customer isn’t an expert at planning their own corporate or social events, they may appreciate the simplicity of choosing from a preferred vendor list. However, if you frequently cater to professional event planners and event production firms, it may be a smarter choice to allow your customers to bring in their own vendors.

#11 – Establish vendor relationships early on

If you’re building an in-house team of preferred vendors, then building relationships with quality vendors can be extremely helpful to a venue startup when launching a wedding venue or conference space. 

“Before you’re even in the facility, it’s all about your networking, starting with who your preferred vendors are and what kind of relationships are you going to set up with them,” said Michael. “Do you want to do a cross referral back and forth with commissions you send each other’s way? That’s not a bad thing at all, but you do need to establish good business boundaries and respect for each other. And you really need to have vendors who are going to go above and beyond for you whenever you need it.”

When searching for and selecting the vendors you want to work with, Michael suggests trying to find a vendor for each category that you don’t already serve in house (catering, beverage, floral, DJs, AV, etc.) then narrowing it down to who has the best reputation. Try to create and build on those relationships well before opening so you already have a team of vendors who understand your business and your facility, and who you can refer clients to.

Even if you decide not to have preferred or in-house vendors, simply compiling a list of reliable local vendors for your clients (so they can choose their own) is a great value-add … and it also helps ensure that the vendors coming through your doors are responsible and committed to delivering on behalf of your clients.

Making vendor connections can happen anywhere, but our experts recommend that venue owners start with attending local networking events for event planning professionals as well as asking around about vendors that stand out in your local hospitality industry.

“Visit the bridal shows, look for vendors who have the best setup and talk with event planners there because they’re going to give you the 411 about who you need to know vendor-wise,” said Michael. “Then, take them to lunch, take them to dinner, send them a gift, show them the progress on your space. They will love it because they’re excited about creating that relationship and that new potential business.”

#12 – Hire flexible, multi-skilled staff who can do everything

In addition to acquiring a list of quality vendors you can lean on, you should also build a team of multi-talented employees who can serve in multiple functions in your event business. 

“Our full time staff members don’t have job titles,” said Dianne. “Because today you may be doing marketing, tomorrow you’re creating an event, the next day you might be answering the phone, the day after that you’re working as a bartender … because all our staff are certified to serve alcohol.”

Dianne suggests that, instead of filling each slot with a specialized person, you should create a “lean-and-mean” team of generalists who are interested in learning the industry and enjoy the flexibility and freshness of an ever-evolving position.

“Even though my staff could probably go out and get any variety of jobs, they love working here because they’re not doing the same thing over and over again and we pay them good money,” said Dianne. “This way it keeps them learning and engaged and there’s always a challenge for them.”

She also warns against overextending yourself and your staff by trying to run full-time, night-and-day event operations with a part-time staff. Instead, try to build a solid crew of reliable full-time employees and supplement where needed. See where and how you can stretch your resources without creating staff burnout.

#13 – Start your marketing efforts long before opening your event space (at least six months out)

When you open the doors to your new event space, you already want to have your event and meeting rooms pre-booked with as many weddings, birthday parties, corporate events, conferences and festivals as possible. The way to do this is by marketing and building an audience before cutting the ribbon on opening day.

Michael says that venue owners who haven’t created a venue website and built a following online via social media platforms (especially Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest) prior to opening have a harder time filling their calendar and tend to have a slower start. 

“You’re going to be paying rent or a mortgage, all these utilities, employee expenses, and if you don’t have a following yet, you won’t be able to start covering all these expenses out of the gate,” said Michael.

“Six months out from opening day, you need to begin your social marketing,” added Michael. “You want to show your progress, announce new relationships with vendors and get them to reciprocate via social media.

“You will need a website built with search engine optimization and with pictures, and if you don’t have pictures yet you can at least have architect renderings and staff pictures.”

Of course, all of these tactics should line up with your overall marketing strategy outlined in your business plan.

#14 – Hire a sales manager six months prior to opening

When you launch your marketing campaigns, you’ll need to have a sales manager in place who can speak with potential clients as well as start an outbound sales effort.

“If you’re not planning six months in advance with hiring a sales manager, then expect your first 90 days in business to be really hard because you’re not going to have those immediate bookings that can begin to pay your bills after your opening,” said Michael.

Some venue owners may assume responsibility for generating sales themselves to stay lean, but Michael suggests that hiring someone to cover this task while you focus your energy on getting your startup venue in shape is a wise investment.

“Unless you can generate sales yourself while you oversee all the details of your construction and all of the other obstacles you will face … and there will be a many … your best bet is to hire a sales manager to focus on getting clients in the door when you open,” said Michael. 

Michael suggests leaning on existing networks and checking out local Facebook groups to find talented salespeople who aren’t already attached to a property and may be interested in your vision. Just don’t poach staff from other venues, which will create a bad first impression and negative word of mouth in the industry, something you don’t need before you launch.

FYI … Here’s a great resource with expert insights for growing event sales for venues .

#15 – Don’t skimp on venue management software and tools … and have them in place when you hire your sales manager

Once you have your marketing and sales team in place, ideally, you’ll start to receive bookings. This means that you should also have your software and systems in place. Trying to piece it together as you go can create a chaotic flow and disjointed processes for you, your staff and your clients and can cause some costly mistakes early on. 

Michael suggests getting a Planning Pod account set up as soon as possible so that you can begin to manage your bookings, business, sales and marketing efforts. Planning Pod also allows you to build reusable templates for contracts, proposals, invoices, BEOs and floor plans so that you can create these ahead of time before you launch.

Micheal also recommends setting up a voice-over-IP phone answering service so your personal cell phone doesn’t become the business phone … which you will regret as your business grows. He also stresses that you should get your important legal documents in order before you start booking events and have an attorney draft your contract so that it’s ironclad with regard to cancellation, refund and damages policies (a painful lesson learned by many special events venues during the coronavirus pandemic).

#16 – Don’t forget to institute safety measures and policies … and don’t try to save by not insuring yourself

“Safety is a huge priority when considering operations,” said Dianne. “Whether it’s food safety, setting up furniture or stages, guest safety, fire safety or capacity requirements. If you’re not an expert on facility safety, hire a consultant, because if you don’t get this right it will bite you in the bum faster than anything else.”

Dianne also mentioned that human resources and insurance policies should be things that you put in place very early on (general business, property and liability policies are a must).

#17 – Have all your furnishings, equipment and supplies on-hand and available three months before opening day

As part of your timeline for opening an event venue, you’ll need to determine when you should order all your supplies and furnishings so that it’s on premise in plenty of time for your opening.

“Three months before you open is when you want to make sure that you have all of your furnishings on hand and in the facility,” said Michael. “This includes all of your tables and chairs, tableware, plateware, silverware, chargers and linens.”

Some pieces can be outsourced, and Michael actually recommends looking into using a linen service at first, which can save you money as you start a venue business. However, he emphasizes that, “tables and chairs should be bought upfront because within just four to six months you will have paid in rental costs what it would have cost you to purchase initially. Just think of this as an investment of getting started.”

And if you aren’t sure which style chair to go with, Michael has an affinity for Chivari chairs, simply because they are very classic. He warns against wooden chairs, which typically need to be replaced in less than a year’s time due to wear-and-tear.

“You can opt for the resin-over-steel-frame version, but I would recommend the clear polycarbonate resin because they have a much longer life and they’re not going to change color,” said Michael. “It’s a much better investment long term. Also make sure the tables and chairs you buy can stand up to tough cleaning products, because you are going to be cleaning these quite often.”

If you plan on having a busy rental business side of your venue, you may also want to purchase items like dance floors, stages, podiums and decor, as you will end up saving money much like you would by purchasing chairs and tables upfront.

Whatever style you choose, just make sure to order them in time. Some items may take longer to fulfill than expected, and things can get backstocked, lost in transit or arrive damaged. When your items do come in, you should inspect each piece and log them into your inventory system, especially if you’re planning on leasing items.

#18 – Practice makes perfect and mock-ups can help sell new clients

Dianne believes that new and seasoned venue owners alike should take advantage of dry runs. Running through a dummy event can help you and your team iron out kinks in your processes and also makes clients feel more confident knowing that you have rehearsed things.

Setting up your room in various styles also helps potential clients visualize your space and gives them an idea of how flexible you can be in realizing their vision.

“I would go in and set up rooms and spaces with tables, chairs, decor and drapes, all in various styles – classrooms, banquets, whatever,” said Dianne. “Then, I’d create floor plans based on these setups and take pictures so you can show your customers and put them on your web site. That way, they can realistically see what things will look like.”

That last idea is a great tip, because these dry-runs and mock-ups give you photos and images that can be shared on your social media profiles and posted on your website until you have photos of actual events.

#19 – Make the most of your grand opening 

Your grand opening needs to be so much more than sending out some email invites and putting out a few appetizers and beverages for whoever stops by. It’s really about making valuable and necessary connections in your industry and community while showing off everything you have to offer. You are an event venue, after all, so your grand opening should be extremely well planned, immaculately executed and heavily attended.

“Always, always do an open house,” said Dianne. “Invite industry people in to snoop around, because they love it. If you’ve got food and beverage in house, this is when you’re highlighting the new menu and getting people to savor it.”

She also said to make sure to chat up all the local event planners, meeting planners and people who produce big events. She encourages venue owners and sales managers to join local associations way ahead of time, even if you have to sign up as a supplier (which is usually more expensive), just to get your name out there and to get these key contacts to attend your event.

“Long before your grand opening gala, you need to get involved with your local Chamber of Commerce, a local Rotary Club, local chapters of industry associations like ILEA [ International Live Events Association ], NACE [ National Association for Catering and Events ] and MPI [ Meeting Professionals International ] and local wedding association chapters like ABC [ Association of Bridal Consultants ],” agreed Michael. “And don’t just sign up, but be actively involved with them and make those relationships. That way, when it comes time to announce your open house, they are all on your invite list and eager to attend.”

Michael also recommends sending out a press release about 30 days prior to your grand opening gala, and he swears by using an experienced PR firm that will have the experience and media connections to help capture the attention of local reporters. 

Dianne’s insider secret is to “invite politicians, like your mayor or city council members to your grand opening, because they will let every media outlet in the area know that they will be attending. It’s a good news story for them, and you’d be amazed at how many other people will attend if they know a politician is showing up.”

#20 – Become a integral part of your community and it will pay huge dividends

“Your mindset prior to and long after your launch should be how you can serve and immerse yourself in your community,” said Dianne. “The more you put into the community, the more you will get back in goodwill, word of mouth and bookings.”

Dianne recommends building business by becoming a community staple, and to do that, you may want to consider offering some spiffs and freebies early on.

“Think about how you can participate in your community, in organizations and on boards, and how you can promote other businesses in your community, because they will reciprocate if you become their trusted partner and promoter,” said Dianne. “If you get involved in the community and be a good community member, I practically guarantee you’ll have success.”

Some tactics she has used before include using dark nights or unbooked days to let speakers host engagements for free or offering her facilities or meeting rooms as a monthly meeting space for local nonprofit groups.

“When you first start out, you simply want boots through the door to check out your new space and kick the tires,” said Dianne. “The more people see it, the more they get familiar with it.

Donating unused, un-rented space to help the pillars of your community doesn’t cost much and can lead to much bigger returns.

“These groups may only have 20 or so people at their meetings, but they all have social networks, and because you are doing them a favor, they will spread the word into the community about you. You’d be amazed how many community group organizations that we’ve helped out have promoted us on social media, and that became another big marketing channel in driving clients through our doors.”

Starting an event space? Don’t forget to talk to seasoned pros like Dianne and Michael

Launching any new business comes with its fair share of learning curves. However, relying on the advice and experience of industry experts can go a long way in helping you gain insights from their successes and prevent making the same mistakes that they did. Experts like Dianne and Michael come with decades of experience of hosting all types of events (and the hard-earned lessons that come with it).

At Planning Pod, as a venue management software solution used by hundreds of venues, we come across our fair share of experienced venue owners, from L.A. to New York and everywhere in between, who wish they knew what they know now before they opened an event space.

As such, we encourage you to reach out to other venue owners and pick their brains about what you should (and shouldn’t) be doing as you move forward with your event space startup. This might require you to join a professional organization like ILEA or MPI, to reach out to hospitality business owners outside of your area or to even hire a venue consultant to help you through the process.

In the end, all this preparation is worth it because it starts you down the right path to success. Having the right tools and processes in place is part of this preparation, and that’s where Planning Pod comes in. Our all-in-one venue management software provides everything you need to manage your bookings, sales, billings, communications and more. Sign up for a free trial.

Most Recent Posts

• Ad landing pages for event businesses: selling more through optimized pages
• A/B testing: Best practices and tools for marketing your event business
• 6 Steps to finding the right digital ad platforms for your event business
• Five must-have social media marketing strategies for the busy event professional
• How to build a content marketing machine that resonates with customers

This is an excellent guide!

Very thorough and practical advice. One of the best resources I have come across so far – thank you!

This was amazing content. Easy to understand. I learned a lot of new things I never thought to consider. Thank you!

Excellent!!! A very easy guide – all things I feel are doable! Thank you!

Awesome step by step content! I loved the part where you mentioned to design your venue to impress your most difficult client! Very informational article – Thanks!

WOW!!! Just WOW!!! Can’t even imagine what this info would’ve cost! I’m 10x more excited to break into the event venue bus in. Now. THANK U THANK U THANK U!!!

Wow! Great. The content is very very informative. Thank you.

Very detailed explanation, I gained so much insight into this new project and I am really excited about it

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Submit Comment

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for industry-relevant news and insights.

You won't regret it ;)

How To Write a Business Plan for Conference Center Hotel in 9 Steps: Checklist

By alex ryzhkov, resources on conference center hotel.

• Financial Model
• Business Plan
• Value Proposition
• One-Page Business Plan
• SWOT Analysis
• Business Model
• Marketing Plan

Welcome to our blog post on How To Write a Business Plan for a Conference Center Hotel! If you're interested in entering the highly demanded market of conference center hotels in the US, you've come to the right place. According to the latest statistics, the event space rental industry is experiencing a steady growth rate of 3.5% annually, making it a profitable venture for entrepreneurs like yourself.

The key to success in this industry lies in a well-crafted business plan. By following our 9-step checklist , you'll be well on your way to launching your own conference center hotel and capitalizing on the consistent demand for event spaces. Let's dive right in!

1. Conduct market research: Start by gathering data on the demand for event spaces in your target location and identifying any gaps in the market.

2. Define your target audience: Determine who your ideal customers are, whether it's corporate clients, wedding planners, or convention organizers.

3. Analyze competitors: Study your competitors to understand their offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics.

4. Determine the ideal location: Find a location that is easily accessible, has ample parking, and is convenient for your target audience.

5. Calculate start-up costs and funding requirements: Determine how much capital you'll need to acquire or build the necessary infrastructure for your conference center hotel.

6. Develop a financial plan: Create a comprehensive financial plan that includes projections for revenue, expenses, and potential return on investment.

7. Create a marketing strategy: Determine how you'll promote your conference center hotel and attract clients through effective marketing tactics.

8. Establish partnerships and alliances: Collaborate with event planners, caterers, and other service providers to enhance the offerings of your conference center hotel.

9. Outline operational logistics: Plan the day-to-day operations of your conference center hotel, including staffing, event scheduling, and customer service.

By following these steps, you'll be well-prepared to write a comprehensive business plan for your conference center hotel. Stay tuned for our upcoming posts, where we'll delve deeper into each step and provide you with valuable insights and tips. Best of luck on your entrepreneurial journey!

Conduct Market Research

Conducting thorough market research is a critical first step in developing a business plan for your conference center hotel. Market research helps you gain a deep understanding of the industry, target market, and competition, allowing you to make informed decisions and position your business for success.

Start by identifying the current trends and demand for conference center hotels in your target location. This will provide insights into the market potential and help you assess the demand-supply gap. Determine the size, growth rate, and profitability of the industry to validate the viability of your business idea.

Next, define your target audience to tailor your offerings and marketing strategies accordingly. Identify the types of events and customers your conference center hotel will cater to, such as corporate clients, wedding planners, or conventions. Understanding your target audience's preferences, needs, and budget constraints will enable you to create customized packages and services that meet their specific requirements.

Market Research Tips:

• Utilize online resources, such as industry reports, market studies, and economic data, to gather valuable insights about the conference center hotel industry.
• Survey potential customers to identify their preferences, booking patterns, and expectations.
• Analyze customer reviews and feedback of existing conference center hotels in your desired location to identify common pain points and areas for improvement.
• Conduct competitor analysis to understand the strategies and offerings of key players in the market.

By conducting comprehensive market research, you will be equipped with the knowledge and understanding necessary to make informed decisions throughout the business planning process. This research will serve as the foundation for identifying opportunities, differentiating your conference center hotel, and ultimately achieving success in the competitive event space rental market.

Define Your Target Audience

Defining your target audience is a crucial step in writing a business plan for a conference center hotel. Identifying who your ideal customers are will enable you to tailor your services and marketing efforts to meet their specific needs and preferences.

When determining your target audience, consider the types of events and clients you aim to attract. Is your conference center hotel primarily focused on hosting corporate meetings and conventions, or do you also target weddings and other social events? Understanding the nature of your target audience will help shape the design and amenities of your conference rooms and ballrooms.

Additionally, think about the location and accessibility of your conference center hotel. Are you targeting local businesses and organizations, or are you aiming to attract clients from out of town? This will influence your marketing strategy and the level of convenience you provide to your guests.

Tips for Defining Your Target Audience:

• Conduct market research to identify the specific needs and preferences of your potential customers.
• Consider the demographics, such as age, income, and occupation, of your target audience.
• Define the industries or sectors that are most likely to require conference spaces and event planning services.
• Identify any niche markets or untapped opportunities in the area.

By clearly defining your target audience, you can tailor your business plan to effectively attract and retain customers. This understanding will also guide your marketing efforts and allow you to develop compelling messaging and promotions that speak directly to your ideal clientele.

Analyze Competitors

When starting a conference center hotel, it is essential to analyze the competition in your target market. Understanding your competitors' strengths, weaknesses, and strategies can help you position your business and identify opportunities for differentiation. Here are some key steps to effectively analyze your competitors:

• Identify the major players: Begin by identifying the conference center hotels that are already successful in your target market. Look for hotels with a similar business model and catering to a similar target audience.
• Research their offerings: Examine the range of conference rooms, event spaces, and amenities offered by your competitors. Take note of their pricing structures and any additional services they provide, such as event planning or catering services.
• Analyze their strengths and weaknesses: Assess the areas where your competitors excel and where they may be lacking. This will help you identify opportunities to differentiate your conference center hotel. For example, if one competitor offers state-of-the-art technology in their conference rooms, you could focus on providing exceptional customer service or unique event themes.
• Study their marketing and branding: Evaluate your competitors' marketing strategies, including their website, social media presence, and advertising campaigns. Pay attention to their brand positioning and messaging to understand how they attract and engage customers.
• Assess customer reviews and feedback: Read reviews and customer feedback on platforms like TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google reviews. This will give you insights into what customers appreciate about your competitors and areas where they may be falling short.
• Visit your competitors' websites regularly to stay updated on their latest offerings and promotions.
• Attend industry events and conferences where your competitors may be present to learn more about their strategies and network with professionals in the industry.
• Consider conducting a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for each of your main competitors to further understand their positioning.

Analyzing competitors is an ongoing process as the market evolves and new players enter the industry. By thoroughly understanding your competition, you can develop strategies to differentiate your conference center hotel and attract customers effectively.

Determine The Ideal Location

Choosing the right location for your conference center hotel is crucial to its success. The ideal location should be easily accessible to your target audience, offer ample parking and transportation options, and be in close proximity to businesses, tourist attractions, and amenities. To determine the ideal location for your conference center hotel, consider the following:

• Demographics: Research the demographics of the area, including the population size, income levels, and business presence. Ensure that there is a sufficient demand for conference spaces in the area.
• Accessibility: Evaluate the accessibility of potential locations in terms of major highways, airports, and public transportation options. This will make it easier for clients and attendees to reach your conference center hotel.
• Competition: Identify any existing conference centers or hotels in the area. Assess their offerings, pricing, and reputation to determine if there is room for another player in the market.
• Amenities: Consider the availability of nearby amenities such as restaurants, shopping centers, and entertainment facilities. These amenities can enhance the overall experience for your guests and make your conference center hotel more attractive.
• Infrastructure: Look into the infrastructure of potential locations, including the availability of sufficient electrical power, internet connectivity, and other necessary utilities. Ensure that the infrastructure can support the demands of hosting large events.

Tips for Choosing the Ideal Location:

• Visit potential locations in person to gather firsthand impressions of the surrounding area and its suitability for hosting events.
• Consider the local business climate and economic growth potential to ensure a steady stream of potential clients.
• Consult with real estate agents or location experts who can provide valuable insights into the suitability of specific locations.
• Take into account any zoning or regulatory requirements that may impact the establishment of a conference center hotel in certain areas.

By carefully assessing these factors and conducting thorough research, you can determine the ideal location for your conference center hotel. The location you choose can greatly impact your business's success and profitability by attracting the right clientele and creating a convenient and enjoyable experience for event organizers and attendees.

Calculate Start-Up Costs and Funding Requirements

Before launching your conference center hotel, it is crucial to accurately calculate your start-up costs and funding requirements. This step will help you determine the amount of capital you need to secure to cover various expenses associated with starting and operating your business.

To calculate your start-up costs, you should consider the following:

• Property and Renovation: Determine the cost of acquiring or leasing a suitable property for your conference center hotel. Include expenses for renovation, remodeling, and any necessary upgrades to meet industry standards.
• Equipment and Furnishings: Make a comprehensive list of all the equipment, furniture, and fixtures required to set up your conference rooms, ballrooms, and other event spaces. Research prices and factor in any installation or setup costs.
• Licensing and Permits: Research the necessary licenses and permits required to operate a conference center hotel in your jurisdiction. Determine the associated fees and include them in your start-up costs.
• Insurance: Contact insurance providers to obtain quotes for the relevant coverage, including property insurance, liability insurance, and workers' compensation insurance.
• Staffing: Estimate the costs associated with hiring and training your team, including salaries, benefits, and any additional expenses related to human resources.
• Marketing and Advertising: Budget for marketing materials, website development, online advertising, and other promotional activities to create awareness and attract clients.
• Operational Expenses: Include ongoing expenses such as utilities, maintenance, office supplies, and software licenses that are required for the smooth operation of your conference center hotel.

Tips for Calculating Funding Requirements:

• Seek professional advice: Consult with accountants or financial advisors who specialize in the hospitality industry to help you accurately estimate your start-up costs.
• Consider a contingency budget: It's essential to have a contingency fund in case of unexpected expenses or delays during the start-up phase.
• Explore funding options: Research various funding sources, such as business loans, investors, or grants, to determine the most suitable financing option for your conference center hotel.
• Review financial projections: Once you have calculated your start-up costs, incorporate them into your financial plan and conduct a thorough analysis to determine your funding requirements for at least the first year of operation.

By carefully calculating your start-up costs and funding requirements, you will have a clear understanding of the financial aspect of establishing your conference center hotel. This knowledge will enable you to approach potential lenders or investors with a comprehensive business plan and increase your chances of securing the necessary funding to turn your vision into a reality.

Develop A Financial Plan

Developing a comprehensive financial plan is essential for the success of your conference center hotel. This plan will serve as a roadmap for managing your finances, determining your profitability, and securing necessary funding. Here are the key steps to creating a strong financial plan:

• Evaluate start-up costs: Begin by carefully estimating all your initial expenses, including property acquisition or lease costs, renovation or construction expenses, purchasing furniture and equipment, obtaining necessary permits and licenses, and hiring staff. Having a clear understanding of your start-up costs will help you determine the amount of funding you will need.
• Assess revenue streams: Identify the various revenue streams your conference center hotel will generate. This may include room rentals, event space rentals, catering services, event planning fees, and other ancillary services. Conduct market research to estimate the potential demand and pricing for each revenue stream.
• Create a comprehensive budget: Develop a detailed budget that encompasses both fixed and variable costs. Factor in expenses such as salaries, utilities, maintenance, marketing, insurance, and other overhead expenses. Consider using financial management software or hiring a professional accountant to assist with this process.
• Project revenue and expenses: Based on your market research and business projections, create realistic revenue and expense forecasts for the first few years. This will help you understand the financial viability of your conference center hotel and identify potential challenges or opportunities.
• Establish pricing strategies: Determine the pricing structure for your conference center hotel's services. This should be based on a thorough analysis of your costs, competitors' pricing, and the value you provide to clients. Consider offering competitive packages or promotional discounts to attract clients during the initial stages of your business.
• Secure funding: Once you have a clear understanding of your financial needs, explore various funding options such as loans, investors, or grants. Prepare a compelling business plan and financial projections to present to potential financial partners who can help you kickstart your conference center hotel.
• Regularly review and update your financial plan as your conference center hotel evolves and grows.
• Consider conducting a sensitivity analysis to assess the impact of different scenarios and variables on your financial projections.
• Do thorough due diligence when seeking funding partners to ensure they align with your long-term goals and values.
• Seek advice from professionals, such as accountants or financial advisors, to ensure your financial plan is accurate and realistic.

Create A Marketing Strategy

When it comes to the success of your conference center hotel, a well-defined marketing strategy is crucial. Not only does it help you attract your target audience but also differentiate your business from competitors and drive bookings. Here are a few key steps to consider when creating your marketing strategy:

• Identify your target audience: Begin by understanding who your ideal customers are. Are they corporate event planners, wedding planners, or individuals looking for a venue to host large events? By defining your target audience, you can tailor your marketing efforts to reach the right people.
• Develop a strong brand: Your conference center hotel should have a powerful and cohesive brand identity that resonates with your target audience. Create a compelling logo, choose a color scheme that reflects your brand values, and develop a consistent tone of voice in all your marketing materials.
• Utilize digital marketing: In today's digital age, having a strong online presence is vital. Invest in building a user-friendly website that showcases your conference center hotel's amenities, event spaces, and services. Implement search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to rank higher in search engine results, and actively engage with potential customers on social media platforms.
• Utilize traditional marketing channels: While digital marketing is important, don't underestimate the power of traditional marketing channels. Consider advertising in industry publications, participating in trade shows and exhibitions, and distributing brochures and flyers to local businesses or event planning agencies.
• Offer special promotions: Create enticing promotional offers, such as discounted rates for early bookings or packages that include catering and event planning services. These promotions can help attract customers and encourage repeat business.

Marketing Strategy Tips:

• Develop partnerships with local businesses or event planners to expand your reach and attract more clients.
• Collect customer testimonials and showcase them on your website and marketing materials to build trust and credibility.
• Monitor and analyze the performance of your marketing efforts using tools like Google Analytics to make data-driven decisions for future campaigns.
• Regularly update your marketing strategy to adapt to changing market trends and customer preferences.

Establish Partnerships and Alliances

Establishing partnerships and alliances is crucial for the success of your conference center hotel. Not only can partnerships help you expand your reach and attract more clients, but they can also provide additional resources and expertise to enhance the overall experience at your venue. Here are some important steps to consider when establishing partnerships and alliances:

• Identify potential partners: Research and identify businesses and organizations that align with your target audience and can complement your services. Look for catering companies, event planners, audio-visual equipment providers, and relevant industry associations.
• Reach out and engage: Once you have identified potential partners, reach out to them and start building relationships. Attend industry events, conferences, and trade shows to connect with potential partners and showcase your conference center hotel.
• Negotiate mutually beneficial agreements: When approaching potential partners, highlight the benefits they can gain from collaborating with your conference center hotel. Seek mutually beneficial agreements that can include cross-promotion, revenue sharing, and shared resources.
• Develop a partnership agreement: It is essential to have a formal partnership agreement in place to outline the terms and expectations of the collaboration. This agreement should cover areas such as responsibilities, revenue sharing, branding guidelines, and dispute resolution.
• Cultivate strong relationships: Building strong relationships with your partners is essential for long-term success. Regularly communicate, provide support, and collaborate on joint marketing efforts to ensure the partnership remains fruitful.
• Continuously seek new partnerships: As your conference center hotel grows, continue to seek new partnerships and alliances. Explore opportunities to collaborate with local businesses, industry influencers, and event organizers to expand your reach and attract diverse clientele.

Tips for Establishing Partnerships and Alliances:

• Be selective when choosing partners and ensure they align with your brand values and target audience.
• Regularly evaluate the performance of your partnerships and assess their impact on your business.
• Consider offering exclusive incentives or discounts to customers referred by your partners to encourage mutual growth.
• Attend industry conferences and networking events to connect with potential partners and stay updated on industry trends.

Outline Operational Logistics

When it comes to running a successful conference center hotel, mastering the operational logistics is crucial. This step involves mapping out the day-to-day operations and processes that will ensure smooth and efficient functioning of your business. Here are some key areas to focus on:

1. Facility Management: Determine how you will manage the conference rooms, ballrooms, and other event spaces. This includes scheduling and reservations to avoid double bookings, maintaining the cleanliness and upkeep of the facilities, and addressing any maintenance or technical issues that may arise.

2. Staffing: Hire and train a dedicated team of professionals to handle various aspects of your conference center hotel. Consider event coordinators, technical support staff, catering personnel, and administrative staff who can assist in delivering exceptional customer service and executing events seamlessly.

3. Catering and Event Services: If you plan to offer catering and event planning services, outline the logistical details such as menu selection, food preparation, and service arrangements. Ensure that you have skilled and experienced staff to handle these operations efficiently.

4. Technology and Equipment: Invest in modern technology and equipment to enhance the overall experience for your clients. This may include state-of-the-art audiovisual systems, high-speed internet connectivity, and reliable event management software.

Tips for optimizing operational logistics:

• Establish clear processes and protocols for handling event inquiries, bookings, and event execution.
• Train your staff to provide excellent customer service and handle any challenges that may arise during events.
• Regularly update and maintain your facilities and equipment to meet the evolving needs of your clients.
• Stay abreast of industry trends and best practices to continuously improve your operational processes.
• Consider outsourcing certain operational tasks, such as maintenance or marketing, to specialized service providers if it makes sense for your business.

By outlining and fine-tuning your operational logistics, you will ensure that your conference center hotel functions efficiently, delivering exceptional services and experiences to your clients. A well-executed operational plan will contribute to your business's success and reputation within the industry.

Writing a business plan for a conference center hotel is essential for setting a strong foundation and maximizing success. By following the nine steps outlined in this checklist, you can effectively plan and execute your business strategy.

Conduct thorough market research to understand the demand for event spaces and identify your target audience. Analyze competitors to identify unique selling points and differentiate your conference center hotel. Determine the ideal location that is accessible and appealing to your target market.

Calculate start-up costs and funding requirements to ensure financial stability. Develop a comprehensive financial plan to track income and expenses. Create a marketing strategy to promote your conference center hotel and attract potential clients.

Establish partnerships and alliances with vendors and service providers to enhance your offerings. Outline operational logistics to ensure smooth operations and exceptional customer service.

By following these steps, you can create a detailed and effective business plan for your conference center hotel, setting yourself up for success in this highly demanded industry.

$169.00 $99.00 Get Template

Related Blogs

• Starting a Business
• KPI Metrics
• Running Expenses
• Startup Costs
• Pitch Deck Example
• Increasing Profitability
• Sales Strategy
• Rising Capital
• Valuing a Business
• How Much Makes
• Sell a Business
• Business Idea
• How To Avoid Mistakes

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Please note, comments must be approved before they are published

Event Planning Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Event Planning Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their event planning businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through an event planning business plan step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is an Event Planning Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your own event planning business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for Your Event Planning Company

If you’re looking to start an event planner business or grow your existing one you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your event planning business to improve your chances of success. Your event planning business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Source of Funding for Event Planning Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of secure funding for an event planning business are bank loans, personal funding, credit cards, and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable. But they will want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Another common form of secure funding for an event planning business is angel investors. Angel investors are wealthy individuals who will write you a check. They will either take equity in return for their funding or, like a bank, they will give you a loan. Venture capitalists will not fund an event planning business.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for event planning.

When you write a business plan, you should include the following 10 key aspects:

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each important component of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of event planning business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have an event planning business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of businesses.

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the event planning business industry. Discuss the type of business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target audience. Provide a snapshot of your marketing strategy and plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types:

• Corporate Events : this type of event planning business caters to businesses, charities, nonprofit organizations, and the like to plan fundraisers, receptions, conventions, trade shows, competitions, award ceremonies, product launches, and other types of meetings.
• Social Events : this type of event planning business targets middle- to upper-income individuals and families to plan events such as weddings, birthdays, reunions, and other types of celebrations.
• Niche Events : some event planners specialize in just one of the above event types.

In addition to explaining the type of event planning business you operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include sales goals you’ve reached, new contracts, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your business structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the event planning business.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the industry educates you. It helps you understand the target market in which you are operating. 

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy particularly if your research identifies market trends. For example, if there was a trend towards events that adhere to social distancing guidelines, it would be helpful to ensure your plan details what approach you would take (suggested venues, creative solutions for inclusion, etc.).

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section:

• How big is the event planning industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your business. You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section must detail the clientele you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: private and corporate clients, high-income households, medium-income households, engaged couples, etc.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of event planning company you operate and the event services you offer. Clearly, businesses would want a different atmosphere, pricing, and product options, and would respond to different marketing promotions than engaged couples.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, including a discussion of the age groups, genders, locations, and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most event planning companies primarily serve customers living in the same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target market. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do to attract customers and retain your existing customers.

With Growthink’s Ultimate Business Plan Template you can finish your plan in just 8 hours or less!

Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other planners and businesses that offer event planning services.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from you that aren’t direct competitors. This includes caterers, venues, and customers planning events on their own. You need to mention such competition to show you understand that not everyone who throws a party hires an event planner each time.

With regards to direct competition, you want to detail the other businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be other businesses that offer event planning services very close to your site.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What planning services do they offer (wedding planning, baby showers, birthday parties, social events, etc.)?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. 

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide superior event management options (e.g., more cuisine types, better venue options, etc.)?
• Will you provide event options that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you make it easier or faster for customers to book your services (e.g., utilizing event planning software, etc.)?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For an event management business plan, your marketing strategy should include the following:

In the product section, you should reiterate the type of business that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products/services you will be offering. For example, in addition to designing the event, locating the venue, arranging vendors, coordinating personnel, and supervising the event, will you offer services such as catering, decor, and entertainment?

In this section, document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place refers to the location of your event management business, conference centers, and/or venues in which you own and/or have a relationship. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success.

The final part of your event planning business marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your site. The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Social media marketing
• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local bloggers and websites 
• Partnerships with local organizations (e.g., getting on the list of recommended vendors with local venues)
• Local radio advertising
• Banner ads at local venues

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your event planner business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your event planning business such as interviewing clients, making arrangements, keeping the store/studio clean, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to serve your 100th customer, or when you hope to reach $X in total sales. It could also be when you expect to hire your Xth employee or launch in a new market.

Management Team

To demonstrate your own event planning business’ ability to succeed as a business, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company. 

Ideally, you and/or your team members have direct experience as event planners or in the industry. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act as mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in event planning and/or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you plan one event per week or several events? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : While balance sheets include much information, to simplify them to the key items you need to know about, balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. For instance, if you spend $100,000 on building out your business, that will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $100.000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt. For example, let’s say a company approached you with a massive $100,000 event contract, that would cost you $50,000 to fulfill. Well, in most cases, you would have to pay that $50,000 now for supplies, equipment rentals, employee salaries, etc. But let’s say the company didn’t pay you for 180 days. During those 180 days, you could run out of money.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key startup costs needed in starting or growing your business:

• Location build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• The total cost of equipment and furnishings like decor, sound systems, etc.
• Cost of maintaining an adequate amount of supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your store design blueprint or location lease.

  Event Planning Summary Putting together your own event planner business plan is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the event planning sample template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the business, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful event planning business.

Event Planning Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my event planning business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your Event Planning Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of event planning business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have an event planning business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of event planning businesses.

  OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.

Click here to see how Growthink’s business plan consulting services can create your business plan for you.   Other Helpful Business Plan Articles & Templates

How to write a business plan for a business center?

Creating a business plan for a business center is an essential process for any entrepreneur. It serves as a roadmap that outlines the necessary steps to be taken to start or grow the business, the resources required, and the anticipated financial outcomes. It should be crafted with method and confidence.

This guide is designed to provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary for creating a business center business plan, covering why it is so important both when starting up and running an established business, what should be included in your plan, how it should be structured, what tools should be used to save time and avoid errors, and other helpful tips.

We have a lot to cover, so let's get to it!

In this guide:

Why write a business plan for a business center?

• What information is needed to create a business plan for a business center?
• What goes in the financial forecast for a business center?
• What goes in the written part of a business center business plan?
• What tool can I use to write my business center business plan?

Having a clear understanding of why you want to write a business plan for your business center will make it simpler for you to grasp the rationale behind its structure and content. So before delving into the plan's actual details, let's take a moment to remind ourselves of the primary reasons why you'd want to create a business center business plan.

To have a clear roadmap to grow the business

Running a small business is tough! Economic cycles bring growth and recessions, while the business landscape is ever-changing with new technologies, regulations, competitors, and consumer behaviours emerging constantly.

In such a dynamic context, operating a business without a clear roadmap is akin to driving blindfolded: it's risky, to say the least. That's why crafting a business plan for your business center is vital to establish a successful and sustainable venture.

To create an effective business plan, you'll need to assess your current position (if you're already in business) and define where you want the business to be in the next three to five years.

Once you have a clear destination for your business center, you'll have to:

• Identify the necessary resources (human, equipment, and capital) needed to reach your goals,
• Determine the pace at which the business needs to progress to meet its objectives as scheduled,
• Recognize and address the potential risks you may encounter along the way.

Engaging in this process regularly proves advantageous for both startups and established companies. It empowers you to make informed decisions about resource allocation, ensuring the long-term success of your business.

To anticipate future cash flows

Regularly comparing your actual financial performance to the projections in the financial forecast of your business center's business plan gives you the ability to monitor your business's financial health and make necessary adjustments as needed.

This practice allows you to detect potential financial issues, such as unexpected cash shortfalls before they escalate into major problems. Giving you time to find additional financing or put in place corrective measures.

Additionally, it helps you identify growth opportunities, like excess cash flow that could be allocated to launch new products and services or expand into new markets.

Staying on track with these regular comparisons enables you to make well-informed decisions about the amount of financing your business might require, or the excess cash flow you can expect to generate from your main business activities.

To secure financing

Whether you are a startup or an existing business, writing a detailed business center business plan is essential when seeking financing from banks or investors.

This makes sense given what we've just seen: financiers want to ensure you have a clear roadmap and visibility on your future cash flows.

Banks will use the information included in the plan to assess your borrowing capacity (how much debt your business can support) and your ability to repay the loan before deciding whether they will extend credit to your business and on what terms.

Similarly, investors will review your plan carefully to assess if their investment can generate an attractive return on investment.

To do so, they will be looking for evidence that your business center has the potential for healthy growth, profitability, and cash flow generation over time.

Now that you understand why it is important to create a business plan for a business center, let's take a look at what information is needed to create one.

Need a convincing business plan?

The Business Plan Shop makes it easy to create a financial forecast to assess the potential profitability of your projects, and write a business plan that’ll wow investors.

Information needed to create a business plan for a business center

Drafting a business center business plan requires research so that you can project sales, investments and cost accurately in your financial forecast, and convince the reader that there is a viable commercial opportunity to be seized.

Below, we'll focus on three critical pieces of information you should gather before starting to write your plan.

Carrying out market research for a business center

Carrying out market research before writing a business plan for a business center is essential to ensure that the financial projections are accurate and realistic.

Market research helps you gain insight into your target customer base, competitors, pricing strategies and other key factors which can have an impact on the commercial success of your business.

In particular, it is useful in forecasting revenue as it provides valuable data regarding potential customers’ spending habits and preferences.

Your market research might reveal that there could be a demand for new services such as virtual office space or conference room rentals. It might also indicate that customers may be looking for more flexible space solutions, such as coworking or hot desking.

This information can then be used to create more accurate financial projections which will help investors make informed decisions about investing in your business center.

Developing the sales and marketing plan for a business center

Budgeting sales and marketing expenses is essential before creating a business center business plan.

A comprehensive sales and marketing plan should provide an accurate projection of what actions need to be implemented to acquire and retain customers, how many people are needed to carry out these initiatives, and how much needs to be spent on promotions, advertising, and other aspects.

This helps ensure that the right amount of resources is allocated to these activities in order to hit the sales and growth objectives forecasted in your business plan.

The staffing and capital expenditure requirements of a business center

Whether you are starting or expanding a business center, it is important to have a clear plan for recruitment and capital expenditures (investment in equipment and real estate) in order to ensure the success of the business.

Both the recruitment and investment plans need to be coherent with the timing and level of growth planned in your forecast, and require appropriate funding.

Staffing costs for a business center might include wages for receptionists, administrative staff, and technical support personnel. Equipment costs for a business center might include computers, printers, copiers, and other office supplies.

In order to create a realistic financial forecast, you will also need to consider the other operating expenses associated with running the business on a day-to-day basis (insurance, bookkeeping, etc.). 

Once you have all the necessary information to create a business plan for your business center, it is time to start creating your financial forecast.

What goes into your business center's financial forecast?

The objective of the financial forecast of your business center's business plan is to show the growth, profitability, funding requirements, and cash generation potential of your business over the next 3 to 5 years.

The four key outputs of a financial forecast for a business center are:

• The profit and loss (P&L) statement ,
• The projected balance sheet ,
• The cash flow forecast ,
• And the sources and uses table .

Let's look at each of these in a bit more detail.

The projected P&L statement

The projected P&L statement for a business center shows how much revenue and profits your business is expected to generate in the future.

Ideally, your business center's P&L statement should show:

• Healthy growth - above inflation level
• Improving or stable profit margins
• Positive net profit

Expectations will vary based on the stage of your business. A startup will be expected to grow faster than an established business center. And similarly, an established company should showcase a higher level of profitability than a new venture.

The projected balance sheet of your business center

The balance sheet for a business center is a financial document that provides a snapshot of your business’s financial health at a given point in time.

It shows three main components: assets, liabilities and equity:

• Assets: are resources owned by the business, such as cash, equipment, and accounts receivable (money owed by clients).
• Liabilities: are debts owed to creditors and other entities, such as accounts payable (money owed to suppliers) and loans.
• Equity: includes the sums invested by the shareholders or business owners and the cumulative profits and losses of the business to date (called retained earnings). It is a proxy for the value of the owner's stake in the business.

Examining the balance sheet is important for lenders, investors, or other stakeholders who are interested in assessing your business center's liquidity and solvency:

• Liquidity: assesses whether or not your business has sufficient cash and short-term assets to honour its liabilities due over the next 12 months. It is a short-term focus.
• Solvency: assesses whether or not your business has the capacity to repay its debt over the medium-term.

Looking at the balance sheet can also provide insights into your business center's investment and financing policies.

In particular, stakeholders can compare the value of equity to the value of the outstanding financial debt to assess how the business is funded and what level of financial risk has been taken by the owners (financial debt is riskier because it has to be repaid, while equity doesn't need to be repaid).

The projected cash flow statement

A cash flow forecast for a business center shows how much cash the business is projected to generate or consume.

The cash flow statement is divided into 3 main areas:

• The operating cash flow shows how much cash is generated or consumed by the operations (running the business)
• The investing cash flow shows how much cash is being invested in capital expenditure (equipment, real estate, etc.)
• The financing cash flow shows how much cash is raised or distributed to investors and lenders

Looking at the cash flow forecast helps you to ensure that your business has enough cash to keep running, and can help you anticipate potential cash shortfalls.

It is also a best practice to include a monthly cash flow statement in the appendices of your business center business plan so that the readers can view the impact of seasonality on your business cash position and generation.

The initial financing plan

The initial financing plan, also known as a sources and uses table, is a valuable resource to have in your business plan when starting your business center as it reveals the origins of the money needed to establish the business (sources) and how it will be allocated (uses).

Having this table helps show what costs are involved in setting up your business center, how risks are shared between founders, investors and lenders, and what the starting cash position will be. This cash position needs to be sufficient to sustain operations until the business reaches a break-even point.

Now that you have a clear understanding of what goes into the financial forecast of your business center business plan, let's shift our focus to the written part of the plan.

Need inspiration for your business plan?

The Business Plan Shop has dozens of business plan templates that you can use to get a clear idea of what a complete business plan looks like.

The written part of a business center business plan

The written part of a business center business plan is composed of 7 main sections:

• The executive summary
• The presentation of the company
• The products and services
• The market analysis
• The strategy
• The operations
• The financial plan

Throughout these sections, you will seek to provide the reader with the details and context needed for them to form a view on whether or not your business plan is achievable and your forecast a realistic possibility.

Let's go through the content of each section in more detail!

1. The executive summary

The executive summary, the first section of your business center's business plan, serves as an inviting snapshot of your entire plan, leaving readers eager to know more about your business.

To compose an effective executive summary, start with a concise introduction of your business, covering its name, concept, location, history, and unique aspects. Share insights about the services or products you intend to offer and your target customer base.

Subsequently, provide an overview of your business center's addressable market, highlighting current trends and potential growth opportunities.

Then, present a summary of critical financial figures, such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

You should then include a summary of your key financial figures such as projected revenues, profits, and cash flows.

Lastly, address any funding needs in the "ask" section of your executive summary.

2. The presentation of the company

In your business center business plan, the second section should focus on the structure and ownership, location, and management team of your company.

In the structure and ownership part, you'll provide an overview of the business's legal structure, details about the owners, and their respective investments and ownership shares. This clarity is crucial, especially if you're seeking financing, as it helps the reader understand which legal entity will receive the funds and who controls the business.

Moving on to the location part, you'll offer an overview of the company's premises and their surroundings. Explain why this particular location is of interest, highlighting factors like catchment area, accessibility, and nearby amenities.

When describing the location of your business center, you could emphasize its proximity to major highways and other transportation links, as well as potential customers. You may also want to highlight the access to a highly skilled workforce, as well as the availability of quality resources. Additionally, you could point out the potential for growth in the area, as well as the potential for your business center to become a hub for businesses in the area. This might convince a third party financier of the potential of your business center and its strategic location.

Finally, you should introduce your management team. Describe each member's role, background, and experience.

Don't forget to emphasize any past successes achieved by the management team and how long they've been working together. Demonstrating their track record and teamwork will help potential lenders or investors gain confidence in their leadership and ability to execute the business plan.

3. The products and services section

The products and services section of your business center business plan should include a detailed description of what your company sells to its customers. 

For example, your business center might offer customers the use of a shared workspace, printing services, and meeting rooms. This can enable customers to have access to resources and professional tools that they may not have access to otherwise, such as high-speed internet, printers, and other equipment. It also provides them with the opportunity to meet with colleagues and clients in a professional space.

The reader will want to understand what makes your business center unique from other businesses in this competitive market.

When drafting this section, you should be precise about the categories of products or services you sell, the clients you are targeting and the channels that you are targeting them through. 

4. The market analysis

When you present your market analysis in your business center business plan, it's crucial to include detailed information about customers' demographics and segmentation, target market, competition, barriers to entry, and any relevant regulations.

The main objective of this section is to help the reader understand the size and attractiveness of the market while demonstrating your solid understanding of the industry.

Begin with the demographics and segmentation subsection, providing an overview of the addressable market for your business center, the key trends in the marketplace, and introducing different customer segments along with their preferences in terms of purchasing habits and budgets.

Next, focus on your target market, zooming in on the specific customer segments your business center aims to serve and explaining how your products and services fulfil their distinct needs.

For example, your target market might include busy professionals who travel frequently for work. They need a place to meet with colleagues, print documents, and have access to a conference room or other amenities. These customers value convenience and quality when it comes to business centers as they are often pressed for time and need to maximize their efficiency.

Then proceed to the competition subsection, where you introduce your main competitors and highlight what sets you apart from them.

Finally, conclude your market analysis with an overview of the key regulations applicable to your business center.

5. The strategy section

When crafting the strategy section of your business plan for your business center, it's important to cover several key aspects, including your competitive edge, pricing strategy, sales & marketing plan, milestones, and risks and mitigants.

In the competitive edge subsection, clearly explain what sets your company apart from competitors. This is particularly critical if you're a startup, as you'll be trying to establish your presence in the marketplace among entrenched players.

The pricing strategy subsection should demonstrate how you aim to maintain profitability while offering competitive prices to your customers.

For the sales & marketing plan, outline how you plan to reach and acquire new customers, as well as retain existing ones through loyalty programs or special offers.

In the milestones subsection, detail what your company has achieved thus far and outline your primary objectives for the coming years by including specific dates for expected progress. This ensures everyone involved has clear expectations.

Lastly, in the risks and mitigants subsection, list the main risks that could potentially impact the execution of your plan. Explain the measures you've taken to minimize these risks. This is vital for investors or lenders to feel confident in supporting your venture - try to proactively address any objection they might have.

Your business center could face a number of risks. For example, there may be a risk of a data breach, which could result in financial loss and reputational damage. Additionally, your business center could face the risk of equipment failure, which might lead to disruption in the business operations and could cost money and time to repair.

6. The operations section

In your business plan, it's also essential to provide a detailed overview of the operations of your business center.

Start by covering your team, highlighting key roles and your recruitment plan to support the expected growth. Outline the qualifications and experience required for each role and your intended recruitment methods, whether through job boards, referrals, or headhunters.

Next, clearly state your business center's operating hours, allowing the reader to assess staffing levels adequately. Additionally, mention any plans for varying opening times during peak seasons and how you'll handle customer queries outside normal operating hours.

Then, shift your focus to the key assets and intellectual property (IP) necessary for your business. If you rely on licenses, trademarks, physical structures like equipment or property, or lease agreements, make sure to include them in this section.

You could have a key asset such as a good location, which could attract customers and give your business center a competitive advantage. Additionally, your business center might have intellectual property (IP) such as business plans, customer lists, or marketing materials, which could help you stand out from the competition.

Lastly, include a list of suppliers you plan to work with, detailing their services and main commercial terms, such as price, payment terms, and contract duration. Investors are interested in understanding why you've chosen specific suppliers, which may be due to higher-quality products or established relationships from previous ventures.

7. The presentation of the financial plan

The financial plan section is where we will include the financial forecast we talked about earlier in this guide.

Now that you have a clear idea of the content of a business center business plan, let's look at some of the tools you can use to create yours.

What tool should I use to write my business center's business plan?

In this section, we will be reviewing the two main options for writing a business center business plan efficiently:

• Using specialized software,
• Outsourcing the drafting to the business plan writer.

Using an online business plan software for your business center's business plan

The modern and most efficient way to write a business center business plan is to use business plan software .

There are several advantages to using specialized software:

• You can easily create your financial forecast by letting the software take care of the financial calculations for you without errors
• You are guided through the writing process by detailed instructions and examples for each part of the plan
• You can access a library of dozens of complete business plan samples and templates for inspiration
• You get a professional business plan, formatted and ready to be sent to your bank or investors
• You can easily track your actual financial performance against your financial forecast
• You can create scenarios to stress test your forecast's main assumptions
• You can easily update your forecast as time goes by to maintain visibility on future cash flows
• You have a friendly support team on standby to assist you when you are stuck

If you're interested in using this type of solution, you can try The Business Plan Shop for free by signing up here .

Need a solid financial forecast?

The Business Plan Shop does the maths for you. Simply enter your revenues, costs and investments. Click save and our online tool builds a three-way forecast for you instantly.

Hiring a business plan writer to write your business center's business plan

Outsourcing your business center business plan to a business plan writer can also be a viable option.

Business plan writers are skilled in creating error-free business plans and accurate financial forecasts. Moreover, hiring a consultant can save you valuable time, allowing you to focus on day-to-day business operations.

However, it's essential to be aware that hiring business plan writers will be expensive, as you're not only paying for their time but also the software they use and their profit margin.

Based on experience, you should budget at least £1.5k ($2.0k) excluding tax for a comprehensive business plan, and more if you require changes after initial discussions with lenders or investors.

Also, exercise caution when seeking investment. Investors prefer their funds to be directed towards business growth rather than spent on consulting fees. Therefore, the amount you spend on business plan writing services and other consulting services should be insignificant compared to the amount raised.

Keep in mind that one drawback is that you usually don't own the business plan itself; you only receive the output, while the actual document is saved in the consultant's business planning software. This can make it challenging to update the document without retaining the consultant's services.

For these reasons, carefully consider outsourcing your business center business plan to a business plan writer, weighing the advantages and disadvantages of seeking outside assistance.

Why not create your business center's business plan using Word or Excel?

Using Microsoft Excel and Word (or their Google, Apple, or open-source equivalents) to write a business center business plan is a terrible idea.

For starters, creating an accurate and error-free financial forecast on Excel (or any spreadsheet) is very technical and requires both a strong grasp of accounting principles and solid skills in financial modelling.

As a result, it is unlikely anyone will trust your numbers unless - like us at The Business Plan Shop - you hold a degree in finance and accounting and have significant financial modelling experience in your past.

The second reason is that it is inefficient. Building forecasts on spreadsheets was the only option in the 1990s and early 2000s, nowadays technology has advanced and software can do it much faster and much more accurately.

And with the rise of AI, software is also becoming smarter at helping us detect mistakes in our forecasts and helping us analyse the numbers to make better decisions.

Also, using software makes it easy to compare actuals vs. forecasts and maintain our forecasts up to date to maintain visibility on future cash flows - as we discussed earlier in this guide - whereas this is a pain to do with a spreadsheet.

That's for the forecast, but what about the written part of my business center business plan?

This part is less error-prone, but here also software brings tremendous gains in productivity:

• Word processors don't include instructions and examples for each part of your business plan
• Word processors don't update your numbers automatically when they change in your forecast
• Word processors don't handle the formatting for you

Overall, while Word or Excel may be viable options for creating a business center business plan for some entrepreneurs, it is by far not the best or most efficient solution.

• Using business plan software is a modern and cost-effective way of writing and maintaining business plans.
• A business plan is not a one-shot exercise as maintaining it current is the only way to keep visibility on your future cash flows.
• A business plan has 2 main parts: a financial forecast outlining the funding requirements of your business center and the expected growth, profits and cash flows for the next 3 to 5 years; and a written part which gives the reader the information needed to decide if they believe the forecast is achievable.

We hope that this in-depth guide met your expectations and that you now have a clear understanding of how to write your business center business plan. Do not hesitate to contact our friendly team if you have questions additional questions we haven't addressed here.

Also on The Business Plan Shop

• How to write a business plan to secure a bank loan?
• Key steps to write a business plan?
• Top mistakes to avoid in your business plan

Do you know entrepreneurs interested in starting or growing a business center? Share this article with them!

Founder & CEO at The Business Plan Shop Ltd

Guillaume Le Brouster is a seasoned entrepreneur and financier.

Guillaume has been an entrepreneur for more than a decade and has first-hand experience of starting, running, and growing a successful business.

Prior to being a business owner, Guillaume worked in investment banking and private equity, where he spent most of his time creating complex financial forecasts, writing business plans, and analysing financial statements to make financing and investment decisions.

Guillaume holds a Master's Degree in Finance from ESCP Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Business & Management from Paris Dauphine University.

Create a convincing business plan

Assess the profitability of your business idea and create a persuasive business plan to pitch to investors

500,000+ entrepreneurs have already tried our solution - why not join them?

Not ready to try our on-line tool ? Learn more about our solution here

Need some inspiration for your business plan?

Subscribe to The Business Plan Shop and gain access to our business plan template library.

Need a professional business plan? Discover our solution

Write your business plan with ease!

It's easy to create a professional business plan with The Business Plan Shop

Want to find out more before you try? Learn more about our solution here

See how Cvent can solve your biggest event challenges. Watch a 30-minute demo.

What You Haven't Learned About Marketing a Conference Center

Conference centers are often confused for hotels or convention centers. If you have experience selling or marketing a conference center, you are already well-aware that planners (both seasoned and new) have a misconception about what makes each of these venues distinct and unique in their own way.

To establish an understanding of your venue's capabilities, start at square one with clients and external meeting planners. Define the difference between a conference center, convention center and hotel along with the value and benefits of each as a starting point. Then, check out the best ways to help differentiate your conference center marketing from hotel and convention centers below.

Explore top conference center marketing ideas:

1. maximize your conference center’s photo gallery..

First and foremost, the conference center’s website photo gallery should have photos of the ballroom, classroom and board room set-up. If possible, label the photos with captions of the different meeting room names; planners, facilitators and trainers appreciate the added detail to understand the room layout, especially if they have booked the particular space. These photos should be professionally shot and highlight the spaces’ best attributes to appeal to planners. In all cases, consider that you want to set your property apart and show sets that are specific to conference centers, using conference center and IACC-criteria furniture. Try to avoid “standard” (theater or schoolroom) sets

Learn more about easier conference center marketing with helpful tools

2. “Walk” planners through the differences.

Using the conference center’s website gallery, “view” the photos with the planner over the phone and sell him or her on coming in for a site-tour based on your narration, along with other selling tactic). Market the venue and promote the conference center concept by pointing out some of the differences. For instance, some of the features in a meetings focused venue include ergonomic seating, special lighting for individual task based work and sometimes room shape and natural light through windows. Show your excitement and passion when you demonstrate the ability for their group to move about in the space and the capability for different meeting settings.

3. Stop hiding what you think is a big deal.

In a Meetings Focus webinar by well-known planner and trainer, Joan Eisenstodt, she points out that venues should sway from the standards and dare to be different. Eisenstodt is an advocate that conference centers should have pictures with people in them, rather than just empty meeting rooms. She also recommends not hiding a room’s view with drapery, but to show off the view. Joan says, “Respect the learner – they may want to be outside, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t engaging.” At The National Conference Center , meeting space with natural lighting is becoming more important to planners as they learn to respect their attendees’ needs for a view of the outdoors.

4. Highlight the bonuses in your conference center marketing.

Other criteria of a certified conference center such as the complete meeting package and continuous break-stations are some of the many added benefits that will help promote your venue. An idea for creative sales managers is that he or she could even consider making a Pinterest board dedicated to showing what makes their conference center different.

5. Share your classification as one of “the best meeting facilities in the world."

If your conference center is certified by the International Association of Conference Centers (IACC), explain the benefits of being classed with “the best meeting facilities in the world” and the 32 universal criteria to being an IACC conference center. By better understanding IACC’s 32 universal criteria of a certified conference center, marketers can successfully promote their conference center’s strengths and values to planners. A case study by IACC revealed that planners were indifferent about booking group business at a conference center… until they were taught about the criteria and became advocates. By helping planners understand your product, you’re already developing a return on investment.

Improve your conference center marketing today

Taking the time to teach meeting planners about the conference center concept will either increase group bookings for your venue or help market IACC meetings both which help reinforce the value of booking at a conference center facility. So, educate planners without being obtrusive and “walk” them through the difference with visuals. Up next, learn more about chatbot marketing for events .

Better conference center marketing starts here

Written by Sarah Vining.

Cvent Guest

Cvent is a market-leading meetings, events, and hospitality technology provider with more than 4,000 employees, ~21,000 customers, and 200,000 users worldwide.

More Reading

How to market to corporate event planners, what is a hotel business plan, and why you need one, 12 ways to use hotel ai to improve your business.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Event Venue Business Plan Template [Updated 2024]

I. Executive Summary

This Section's Contents

Business Overview

Products served, customer focus, management team, success factors, financial highlights.

[Company name] is an event venue company that offers a wide range of ballrooms and meetings spaces available for rent for all kinds of occasions. Located at the center of the city, it serves private businesses, government departments, schools , wealthy individuals, and even religious organizations. [Company name] aims to give its clients an accessible, but beautiful venue that offers different spaces at reasonable rates with the best services. Also specializing in event management, [Company name] is connected with major suppliers and vendors that can help clients pull off a stress-free, and memorable event.

[Company Name] offers the following event spaces: Small Party venues, Ballrooms, Social Events and Banquet Hall, Conference Rooms, and Seminar Rooms. We provide spaces that can hold from 30 up to 300 people. Each room can be designed according to the clients’ theme or preference. We also have event management consultants that clients can consult with to help them with the overall preparation of their events.

[Company Name] will primarily serve businesses, organizations and wealthy individuals within the [location] area that are looking for venues for their events. We will primarily target the corporate market, private market and the non-profit market.

[Company Name] is led by [Founder’s Name] who graduated from the University of ABC where he majored in Hotel and Restaurant Management. He pursued a career in the event management industry for 20 years.

While [Founder] has never started an event venue business before, he has worked in the event management industry most recently as a general manager, and has organized various events. As such [Founder] has in-depth knowledge of the operations and the management (e.g., scheduling, organizing, marketing, etc.) of events.

[Company Name] is uniquely qualified to succeed due to the following reasons:

• There is currently no high-quality event venue in the community we are entering. In addition, we have surveyed the major corporations with local offices and determined that they have off-site events from time to time.
• Our location is central to the downtown, airport, and corporate district of the city.
• The management team has a track record of success in the event management industry.

[Company Nameis seeking a total funding of $3,000,000 to launch the event venue. The capital will be used for funding capital expenditures, manpower costs, marketing expenses and working capital.

Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

• Event venue design/build: approximately $2,500,000
• Working capital: approximately $500,000 to pay for Marketing, salaries, and lease costs until [Company Name] reaches break-even

Comments are closed.

Event Venue Business Plan Home I. Executive Summary II. Company Overview III. Industry Analysis IV. Customer Analysis V. Competitive Analysis VI. Marketing Plan VII. Operations Plan VIII. Management Team IX. Financial Plan

1. Make sure the venue aligns with the event 

Alternative venues can lend unexpected flair to a conference. Locations like museums, historical sites, theaters, libraries, and sports arenas have all hosted conferences. But consider the needs of your group: A venue should set the stage for the conference to do its work, not steal the show. Make sure are comfortably sized spaces for the big group seminars or breakout sessions your group requires, that there are adequate restrooms for the event size, catering meets special dietary needs, and that the venue is ADA compliant . 

Hotels and conference centers are purpose-built to meet these needs and allow people to concentrate on the content of the proceedings, so don’t discount these traditional venues. Conferences that draw out-of-town attendees are particularly well-served by the convenience of hotel accommodations, group pricing, and the enhanced networking opportunities of having everyone in one place. 

Bring incredible conferences to life, no stress

Get Started Free

2. Give every attendee a leg up on networking  

Get your conference name badges ready: Networking is a top reason people attend conferences. And in a job search, face-to-face networking is several times more effective than networking online. These events allow people to talk and build connections with those who share their career interests or personal passions”facilitate their success.  

If you are using or developing a conference app, think about ways the app itself can support networking: 

• Before the conference: Allowing attendees to import their LinkedIn profiles instead of needing to create an event-specific profile; letting people mark their interests and specialties and displaying other users interested in the same topics or attending the same sessions
• During the conference: Providing in-app messaging; making it easy to connect with attendees at the same social function or follow up with users who posted on the Social Wall
• After the conference: Supplying contact information so that attendees can easily maintain the connections they made

Be sure to provide good old-fashioned offline opportunities as well. There’s always the sponsored social mixer, but you can also brainstorm ways to dovetail with other wellness trends: yoga, outdoor activity, healthy cooking. Design opportunities that include introverts in networking , too, and see an event-satisfaction bump from up to half of your attendees.

3. Build a detailed content plan with unique takeaways

If attendees are coming to your conference to deepen their knowledge, follow a clear plan to source your content.

First, if possible, poll your audience about topics, sub-topics, and depth of subject matter knowledge. This might seem like a Catch-22: If you’re drawing an audience with your content, how will you have an audience to poll before you have content? Don’t worry; there are some workarounds: If this is a recurring event, get in touch with previous attendees. Set up an event Facebook group, which offers a straightforward polling feature. And if all else fails, poll a selection of people likely to come, or whose career/interest demographics put them squarely within your target audience.

If polling isn’t an option, talk with stakeholders in your company or your client’s company. The business development and marketing teams should be up-to-date on subject matter issues and trends currently drawing the most interest.  

With these insights in hand, recruit and confirm relevant speakers. After your core speakers are confirmed, check your original plan against the lineup. If there are missing topics (e.g., a pet dog training seminar with no one addressing the latest techniques in addressing separation anxiety) reach out to experts in that niche arena and fill in the gaps.  

4. Create your conference marketing tree 

Your conference website is the trunk of your marketing tree”it’s easy to spot, supports the entire event, and helps people find what they need. 

The event website must be optimized for search engines so people will find it online. Think about what attendees might search for when looking for a conference related to their interests or industry”those are your main keywords. (As it gains traction, your conference name will be a keyword itself.) Include your conference name and other keywords in your page titles and throughout your content. Have a logical structure that lets visitors easily find your ˜About’ page, the conference agenda, registration information, a link to tickets, and other important information.

Social platforms, email marketing campaigns, and pay-per-click strategies are the branches and leaves of your marketing tree. Reach your audience on the social platforms that make the most sense for their demographics and your event. (Professional event? LinkedIn is a shoo-in. Young professionals? Try Twitter.) Check out the general tips on putting together a comprehensive social media strategy for an event .

5. Spare yourself the most common conference planning headaches

Headaches will arise, there’s no getting around that. But look out for these common trouble spots: 

• Clarify your cancellation policy: The policy itself can be whatever you decide. (No refunds? Refunds up to 2 weeks in advance? Full refund at any time, even a year after the event?) Just make sure it’s crystal-clear and highly visible. 
• Schedule extra time for speaker outreach: The truth is, not everyone is as organized or responsive to emails as you. Getting all the necessary information from multiple speakers can be a scramble that requires repeated outreach, so build in a buffer for that. Yes, in a perfect world this would not be necessary. When you get to that world, send us a postcard. Until then, pad this section of the timeline.
• Train your event check-in staff: Long lines and constant hiccups at registration give attendees a first impression that’s not so hot. Pick out an event check-in tool that’s easy to use and schedule a time to get your registration staff familiar with it before event day.  
• Loop security in early : Gone are the days when security was an afterthought, if that. If your event will have security, get their initial input early in the planning process, so that you can integrate it seamlessly from the beginning, instead of rearranging later. 
• Establish team communication pathways: There’s no reason to deal with layout version confusion or neverending hunts for the right email thread these days. Use project collaboration tools, such as Slack or Trello, and give team members access to your event layout tool , so everyone has the latest version. 

6. Take a walk in the shoes of all conference stakeholders

Get out that conference planning timeline again, and schedule several times for a metaphorical walkthrough of the conference from the point of view of:  

Look for pain points and problems, and also for ways to improve the experience for each group. Maybe you’ll find that attendees in certain sessions don’t have much time to go to the bathroom between sessions on the first day, so you shave a few minutes off each session. Maybe volunteers who arrive on the second day don’t have a coordinator to deliver their assignments. Or perhaps you’ll realize you have the time to schedule a short networking meetup for the event speakers”a great way to show your appreciation and show them you value their participation. 

No matter how experienced you are, this step almost always uncovers opportunities to make your conference better!

7. Increase app engagement

According to IACC, increasing attendee engagement is still a meeting planner’s #1 priority. The more engaged they are with the app, the stronger the benefits. A conference app delivers all the benefits of traditional paper-based conference information, while achieving three essential goals: 

• Understanding attendee wants, needs, and interests.
• Connecting with attendees.
• Helping attendees connect with each other.

To elevate engagement before the conference even starts, encourage attendees to use the app for schedule planning: Include an easy-to-use calendar feature that makes all the necessary info readily accessible. Give people a way to find detailed agenda information, speaker bios, and even a way to submit questions to speakers. 

Once the conference starts, attendees should be familiar with using the app. Keep them engaged with content such as speaker slides and networking opportunities. You might even present the chance to fill out speaker evaluations in-app at the end of each session, with respondents entered for a prize drawing right there at the conference.

8. Take a deep dive with leading-edge conference insights

Want to grow along with the latest trends in participatory meetings? Check out books making a big splash in the space. They cover the ins and outs of meeting design in depth.  Start with Into the Heart of Meetings by Mike van der Vijver and Eric de Groot, or The Power of Participation: Creating Conferences that Deliver Learning, Connection, Engagement, and Action by Adrian Segar.

If books are your bag, check out our other top recommendations for books that help event planners level up.

Create conference diagrams in minutes

Conference planning checklist.

To stay on track with the basics, follow this 11-step conference planning checklist (with links if you need to brush up on your skills in a particular area): 

• Assemble your team. Cover all the basic roles, and consider hiring for these emerging event planning jobs .
• Set the goal. Networking? Product launch? Education? Set your goal right from the start for maximum impact”here’s a quick video on event goals . 
• Hash out a budget . Get specific and watch out for this hidden event planning fees . 
• Approach sponsors. Put your best foot forward with a top-notch event sponsorship proposal . 
• Select your date(s) and…
• Book your venue. Learn how to evaluate venues online , and keep your dates flexible so you can negotiate lower venue costs. 
• Book your vendors. You’ll may need A/V, food trucks, security, or furniture vendors. Get tips for hiring catering vendors .
• Finalize your conference agenda. Explore these event agenda examples for guidance. 
• Establish your post-event feedback plan. And learn how to boost post-event engagement . 
• Market your conference. Get inspired with these amazing event marketing examples .
• Register attendees. Enlist check-in apps to streamline the day-of registration process. 

Now you’re ready to design an exciting and smooth-running conference that wows your clients!

Your conference planning is sure to be a success with your new checklist & tips!

Don’t forget that this year’s fantastic conference is an excellent opportunity to improve the next one! After the conference, use that post-event feedback in the ways you determined pre-event. And find out how to increase your event budget with tips from our event budget ebook .

• Free Planner Tools
• Event Seating Software
• Event Check-In Software

Venue Tools

• Event Diagramming Software
• Interactive Floor Plans
• Photo-Realistic 3D
• Lead Capture Tools
• Event Planning
• Guides & Webinars
• Customer Stories
• Contact Sales: +1 (877) 973-2863
• About Cvent
• Cvent Community
• Help & Support
• Training & Certification
• Status & Uptime
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Your Privacy Choices
• +1 (877) 973-2863 - Option 1
• [email protected]

Copyright 2024 Cvent Inc. All rights reserved.

Choose from These 13 Corporate Conference Floor Plans to Get the Most Out of Your Guests

The room layout you choose for an event can have a significant effect on its success. The right set up facilitates the flow of traffic around the event, helps people feel more comfortable, and encourages collaboration and discussion. There are many conference set up options, so what choices work best in different situations?

What Are Your Room Layout Options?

Some aspects of event planning are more difficult than others. While deciding on a room layout might seem to be one of the easy parts, it’s harder than it seems. When you’re planning a multi-room event, it gets even more difficult. Why? Because room layout doesn’t only depend on the function of the room. It also depends on the number of attendees you’re expecting, the number of people you expect to use each room at any time, and how they’ll be using them.

This means you have several factors to consider. In addition to the function and layout of each room and the total number of guests, there’s also:

• Traffic flow
• Event schedule
• The nature of the event itself

There are several conventional and widely used room layout options. They’re suitable for a range of corporate functions, including conferences, training and education sessions, corporate parties, and other events. There are also non-traditional layouts that provide alternatives to the traditional versions.

1. Theater Style

In the theater floor plan, chairs are arranged in straight horizontal rows in front of a staging area. The staging area may be an actual stage, a panel, conference table, or other focal point. Generally, the staging area is situated at one end of the room, and rows of chairs extend towards the opposite end.

When to use it: This is a useful style when trying to fit the maximum number of people into a room for a performance, lecture, presentation, or panel discussion. It’s not a good fit when you need a layout that encourages discussion and collaboration.

2. Classroom Style

The classroom style is similar to the theater-style room. The difference is that in the classroom style, rows of attendees sit at chairs and tables or desks. A room that’s laid out in the classroom style won’t fit as many people as it would in theater style.

When to use it: Desks provide space for note-taking and computer use, as well as room for refreshments. This style works for conferences, training sessions, and tests, for instance. It can also be useful when you want to encourage small-group collaboration; however, it’s not always as good for this purpose as boardroom- or world-café set ups.

3. Boardroom Style

In the boardroom style, chairs are positioned around a single square or rectangular table. The table should be small enough that every seated person can comfortably talk with anyone else at the table.

The main purpose of the boardroom style is to encourage collaboration and interaction between participants. This is why the size of the table is important. If it’s too large, it inhibits collaboration, either because there are too many people or because the table is too large to allow everyone to talk comfortably.

When to use it: This style is perfect for business meetings, brainstorming sessions, and smaller training groups. It’s also a great conference room layout for breakout sessions.

This is like the boardroom style, but chairs are positioned only on three sides of the main table. The fourth side is open and faces a second smaller table.

The U-shape is great for small-group settings with a session leader or facilitator. The leader uses the smaller table, and attendees are grouped at the main table. This ensures everyone can comfortably talk to everyone else, and with the facilitator.

When to use it: Use this conference floor plan for facilitated discussions, such as meetings, small conference set ups, debates, education sessions, and workshops.

5. Cabaret Style

Chairs are placed in a half-moon arrangement around circular tables. The tables themselves are positioned in front of a staging area, such that everyone can see that area without having to turn around. The main downside of this set up is that up to half the table space is wasted, since people are sitting only on one side.

When to use it: Cabaret style is useful for meal events where presentations are to be made; for instance, award ceremonies, full-day workshops, and banquets featuring entertainment.

6. Banquet Style

In in the banquet style, chairs are arranged around circular tables. The tables are arranged at intervals around the room, leaving enough space in between for movement. This is more efficient than the cabaret style, as it allows maximum capacity for each table.

When to use it: Banquet style is best used for sit-down meals and evening events that don’t have an awards or entertainment component . It’s not a good fit if attendee focus is consistently drawn to a particular part of the room. This forces some people to sit in an inconvenient or uncomfortable position.

7. Reception/Cocktail Style

When attendees are encouraged to mingle freely, a reception- or cocktail-style floor plan works well. This generally means that refreshment tables are placed around the outside of the room, along with a small number of chairs. Standing-height tables can also be added to provide places for attendees to stop for discussion. The layout is kept as open as possible for freedom of movement.

When to use it: The reception style is best used for social and networking events.

Non-Traditional Layouts Can Improve on Conventional Styles

The seven traditional layouts outlined above aren’t the only possibilities! There are ways to modify these arrangements to make them work for other purposes. Some alternate arrangements include:

1. Clusters

This is an informal alternative to banquet style, where a small number of tables are placed in a random configuration across the room. It allows people to sit, stand, and move around as they like. This can be an effective substitute for a reception-style layout, providing plenty of room for movement, as well as seating for those who prefer it. It’s also good for conference breakout sessions.

2. Herringbone

This modified classroom or theater layout arranges chairs in angled, staggered rows in front of the staging area. It takes up more room than the traditional layouts but makes discussion and collaboration a little easier.

3. Open Circle

Chairs are arranged in a circle, with no other furniture used. With a good leader, this can be excellent for team-building and discussions, as there’s literally nothing standing in the way of open communication.

4. World Café Style

In this format, square or round tables are arranged at regular intervals. Tables are smaller than in banquet or cabaret style, seating around four people. It’s good for training, networking, and other group sessions, and it allows people to move freely from table to table.

5. Mixed-Use Seating

This option provides a mixture of different table sizes, including standing tables, along with different seating arrangements. Anything goes, including bean bags or inflatable furniture if that works for your company culture. Informal meetings, team-building, workshops, and retreats can work in this format.

6. Walking Floor Plan

This is less of a layout and more of an open room. It’s the most appropriate style for an exhibition floor plan or any situation where you need plenty of empty space for tables, displays, and exhibits. Add small groupings of chairs around the perimeter, so people can sit for discussions, as needed.

The Right Layout Is One Key to a Successful Event

So much thought goes into planning an event , it’s easy to overlook how important room layout really is. It’s only when you see how many options there are for a corporate event or conference set up that you understand why the right layout can make such a difference. As you search for the perfect venue , keep this list handy, and try to visualize a few conference floor plans that you like in the venues you’re vetting. With an effective layout, everyone gets more out of your event, including guests, attendees, and your company.

ProGlobalEvents

• Virtual Events
• ProExhibits Achieves Remarkable Milestone: 11th Consecutive Year in Event Marketer’s Fab 50
• Introducing Jack Connolly, the New Creative Director at ProGlobalEvents

Successful Event Marketing Strategies: Examples and Best Practices

Want to Narrow Down the Perfect Venue for Your Next Event? Do These 7 Things

• Event Planning Tips
• Event Technology
• Press Releases
• Tradeshow Tips

Jack Connolly

Executive Creative Director

As an experiential creative director, Jack prefers to draw outside the lines. He tells stories with original content and impactful design to ignite meaningful conversation.

Jack brings 20 years of event industry knowledge to ProGlobalEvents. He specializes in building live & virtual platforms for audiences to connect, engage and immerse themselves in the power of a shared experience. His skills range from ideation and concept development to defining an attendee journey through storytelling and design.

Jack understands the creative process is not linear, but a collaborative process between agency and client. He manages teams of designers and technology developers to pioneer impactful brand experiences. His diverse skillset and leadership ensure for award-winning results and memorable impressions.

In 2019, BizBash named Jack one of the top event designers in North America. SXSW awarded his work the “People’s Choice in Innovation” in 2021.

Jerome Nadel

Chief Marketing Officer

Jerome Nadel is Internationally experienced design-led marketing executive (CMO and GM) with a track record of improved market position, revenue growth, and M&A. He is an advance degreed psychologist and user experience product/service design expert, board member and advisor.

Prior to joining ProGlobalEvents |ProExhibits |XtendLive, he has had a variety of chief marketing officer and chief user experience officer roles at companies including Rambus, BrainChip, Human Factors International, SLP InfoWare, Gemplus, and Sagem. He started his career in the IBM Human Factors Labs.

He is also an avid cyclist with National and multiple California State Champion titles.

Ivan Fujihara

Chief Financial Officer

Ivan brings 25+ years in senior level management experience from a variety of technology industries.  His background includes accounting management, analytics and audit management for technology companies.  He has worked with companies such as THX, Ltd, Recruitology , Double Click, Creative Labs and more.  Ivan has also served on the board of Lincoln Families, a non-profit that supports East Bay children with the objective of disrupting the cycle of trauma and poverty.

Vice President of Sales

Matt is a marketing professional and has been managing marketing strategies, campaigns and environments for a diverse client base for over 15 years. From a service perspective, Matt and his team of Account Executives focus on fostering relationships to uphold a greater than 99% customer satisfaction rating year-over-year. Additionally, with extensive experience on the client-side of the industry, he understands that alignment between expectation and budget is paramount to a successful project. As a result, ProGlobalEvents' clients can expect a competitive advantage paired with top quality products and services. Matt is an avid fly-fisherman, enjoys most outdoor activities and is a true college football fanatic.

VP of Operations

Heading the fabrication side of ProGlobalEvents is exhibit and event industry veteran, Tom Foley. For over 35 years he has been responsible for building amazing exhibits and environments for clients. Tom started out in the production area and has broad experience in project and operations management. He currently oversees production, warehouse, graphics and project management departments. Tom studied machine tool technology and welding before entering the industry. As a true "builder" he also enjoys restoring and modifying classic American cars.

Dick Wheeler

Dick serves as President of ProGlobalEvents and President of ProExhibits and is a board member of CEMA (Corporate Event Marketing Association). At ProExhibits he has been nationally recognized as an innovator and driving force in the fast-growing trade show exhibit and event industry. Under his leadership in 1997, the firm received INC magazine’s INC 500 award as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. His informative articles on developments and innovations in the trade show exhibit and event industry have appeared in national trade publications. Dick has a B.S. degree from Wittemore School of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire and has completed the Entrepreneurial Executive Leadership Program sponsored by MIT, YEO and INC. He is actively involved in Vistage, an interactive group of over 20,000 CEO’s and presidents worldwide and is a member of CEMA and EDPA.

Chief Executive Officer

In addition to being CEO of ProGlobalEvents, Jody is also the CEO of ProExhibits. With Jody at the helm, the company has been recognized repeatedly as one of the Top 50 Women Owned Businesses in Silicon Valley. She has set the outstanding client service standards for which the firm’s account management team is noted. Jody is a recipient of the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award, the Junior League Community Volunteer Award and is listed in Who’s Who of Women in Business. Following her graduation from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Jody held various sales positions in several technology companies.

What if I can’t write my essay?

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Zelenskyy responds to Trump's 'peace plan'

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to alleged comments from Donald Trump about how to end the war in Ukraine. Moscow has accused Kyiv of attacking a nuclear plant for three days in a row. Plus, our question form is open again to submit a question for our military analysts.

Wednesday 10 April 2024 16:30, UK

• Zelenskyy responds to Trump 'peace plan'
• Sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine
• The situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
• The big picture : Everything you need to know about the war this week
• Your questions answered: Is it too late to save Ukraine?
• Live reporting by Emily Mee

Ask a question or make a comment

Our comments box is open once again for you to submit a question on the Ukraine war for Sky News military analysts or correspondents.

We'll pick the best one to answer each week.

Thanks for following along today - here is a quick reminder of what has been happening. 

We've been hearing from Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who pushed back on alleged comments from Donald Trump saying Ukraine should cede some of its occupied territory to Russia. 

Mr Zelenskyy said this was a "primitive" suggestion, but added he would be willing to listen to Mr Trump's ideas if he had "strong arguments". 

He was not the only prominent politician to criticise the former US president's alleged remarks. 

Lord Cameron, the UK foreign secretary, said peace in Ukraine could only come from backing Kyiv, rather than through "appeasement" of Russia. 

Elsewhere, a top US general warned Ukraine will run out of air defences "in fairly short order". 

General Christopher Cavoli said the "stakes are very high" for Ukraine. 

• The UN recorded a sharp increase in civilian casualties in Ukraine in March 
• A child was killed in Kharkiv after Russia launched an attack using guided aerial bombs 
• Switzerland will host a high level Ukraine peace conference in June. 

Members of the Siberian Battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' International Legion have been pictured taking part in military exercises at an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region today.

A top US general has warned Ukraine will run out of artillery shells and air defence interceptors "in fairly short order" without further American support. 

They told Congress the "stakes are very high" for Ukraine. 

The comments echo those by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who warned over the weekend that Ukraine could run out of air defence missiles if Russia keeps up its intense bombardment campaign. 

"If they keep hitting [Ukraine] every day the way they have for the last month, we might run out of missiles, and the partners know it," he said.

In an update to our last post, the regional governor of Ukraine's Kharkiv region has said this afternoon's airstrike in the village of Lyptsi killed three people.

In a post on Telegram, Oleh Synehubov said that as well as the 14-year-old girl's death we reported earlier, two women were killed in the attack.

Two more people were injured, and rescuers continue searching through the rubble for victims.

Local authorities are reporting a child has been killed and at least three others injured in an attack on the Kharkiv region. 

Russian guided aerial bombs struck the Lyptsi, Mala Danylivka, and Vovchansk settlements, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. 

The governor said the local shop and pharmacy caught fire during the attacks. 

A 14-year-old girl was killed and at least two people - a 33-year-old female pharmacy worker and a 16-year-old boy - were injured in Lyptsi. 

In Vovchansk, a 34-year-old man was taken to hospital with a shrapnel wound. 

Mr Syniehubov said the local health centre was destroyed. 

The Swiss government has said it will host a high-level Ukraine peace conference in June.

It said that the conference's aim is to create a concrete roadmap for Russia's participation in the peace process. 

But Russia has made clear it will not take part in the initiative. 

The conference will take place on 15 and 16 June outside the city of Lucerne. 

A G7 summit is taking place in neighbouring Italy between 13 and 15 June.

Switzerland had said in January it would host a peace summit at the request of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and has since held talks with the EU, G7 member states and countries such as China and India to garner their support. 

"There is currently sufficient international support for a high-level conference to launch the peace process," the Federal Council said in a statement. 

It acknowledged "some unknowns" leading up to the conference, "but in view of Switzerland's long-standing diplomatic tradition and the encouraging feedback received during the exploratory phase, it considers it its responsibility to contribute to the peace process in Ukraine."

The UK foreign secretary has said peace in Ukraine can only come from backing Kyiv, rather than through "appeasement" of Russia. 

His comments appear to be a rebuttal of alleged remarks from Donald Trump that Ukraine should give up some of its occupied territory to end the war. 

Lord Cameron told CNN: "Without saying what I spoke [about] with Donald Trump, fundamentally, this year - and you heard from Zelenskyy this morning - there's a risk that Ukraine will lose more ground to [Vladimir] Putin.

"No one wants to be in a situation in November where we could have acted, we could have helped, we could have beaten back Putin, we could have started the process of getting a Ukraine win and getting a just peace but we failed to do that."

Asked about Mr Trump's alleged comments, he said everyone wants to see an end to the war "but you only get that by backing Ukraine, by showing strength". 

"Peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness," he said. 

Over the past week we've been asking for your questions on the war for our military analysts and international correspondents.

Every week we're picking one or two to answer - starting with this...

With the (lack of) speed of Western policies being implemented and the speed of Russian military production increasing, isn't it already too late to save Ukraine even if European countries agreed on a huge increase in military spending? Andy

Military analyst Sean Bell answers this one...

Thank you, Andy, for this very topical question. 

Wars at scale involve the consumption of huge amounts of weapons, ammunition and military equipment - far beyond the scale that can be held in peacetime stockpiles, and also beyond the capacity of a peacetime defence industrial base. To meet the demands of a modern battlefield, political masters need to make swift decisions about where to invest and what existing production capability can be paused to create capacity to surge military production.

Russia recognised early that it would be involved in a long-term military campaign, and has surged its defence industrial base by at least three times its pre-war size. In addition, Russian oil revenues are funding vast imports of ammunition and missiles from North Korea and Iran.  

In contrast, Ukraine's own defence industrial base remains vulnerable to Russian attack, and it remains increasingly dependent on Western military support to survive. 

Although Western industrial capacity is an order of magnitude greater than Russia's, Russia is ramping up production where the West has been slow to respond.

Western nations now recognise the wider threat that Russia poses to European security, and defence budgets are rising accordingly.  But this represents long-term investment in domestic security, rather than providing a near-term supply of weapons for Ukraine.  

The only credible solution in the near-term - the coming year - is for the US to approve the $60bn military aid package which would enable the rapid deployment of off-the-shelf weapons and ammunition. If that is not forthcoming, the coming summer could prove very difficult for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, continues to argue the West should not rule out putting "boots on the ground" - a view supported by former UK defence secretary Ben Wallace.  Although this would be a significant escalation, it would enable the West to deploy modern weapons from its inventory which - to date - have not been sent to Ukraine for fear of them ending up on the black market.

The West could also implement a no-fly zone over all or part of Ukraine. Given the poor performance of the Russian air force, this would almost certainly turn the tide of the war in Ukraine's favour.  

But is there the political appetite to take such a step - even if it would almost certainly halt Vladimir Putin's brutal war in Ukraine?

The two countries have signed a framework agreement to cooperate in the defence and arms production sectors, officials in Kyiv have said. 

The document was signed at a military industry conference in the Ukrainian capital that was attended by about 30 British defence companies. 

British firms were there to discuss potential joint ventures with Ukrainian weapons and defence producers.

The UK's minister for trade policy Greg Hands said he hoped the agreement would bring gains for Ukraine on the battlefield and also help its economy in the longer term. 

Ukraine has been ramping up efforts to produce its own weaponry as it appears outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield. 

It is hoping also to lure major Western producers to set up repair and production facilities in Ukraine, despite the threat of Russian bombardment. 

British defence company BAE Systems, one of the first Western producers to set up a local entity in Ukraine, signed an agreement with the UK's defence ministry to conduct maintenance, repair and overhaul of light guns on the ground in Ukraine. 

Officials also said they hoped for more projects this year in the drone production sector. 

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to alleged comments from Donald Trump about how to end the war in Ukraine. 

The former US president, who wants to make it into the White House again in November, reportedly said privately that both Ukraine and Russia "want to save face, they want a way out".

Mr Trump allegedly added that Ukraine should cede part of its occupied territories to Moscow, claiming Ukrainians there would not object to being part of Russia, according to the Washington Post.

His adviser later denied these claims in a comment for the New York Post, calling the article "fake news". 

Mr Zelenskyy said in an interview with Bild that he is sceptical of this reported peace plan. 

"If the deal and the idea is simply to give our territories, then it is very primitive," Mr Zelenskyy said. 

The Ukrainian president said he was willing to listen to Mr Trump's ideas for ending the war if he had "strong arguments". 

"We don't need a fantastic idea, but a real one. This is about human lives; we cannot make jokes, and we cannot take risks," he said. 

He also pointed out Kyiv had invited Mr Trump to Ukraine, publicly and non-publicly, to see the situation with his own eyes. 

The US politician has not accepted the invitation so far. 

Be the first to get Breaking News

Install the Sky News app for free

Definitely! It's not a matter of "yes you can", but a matter of "yes, you should". Chatting with professional paper writers through a one-on-one encrypted chat allows them to express their views on how the assignment should turn out and share their feedback. Be on the same page with your writer!

If you can’t write your essay, then the best solution is to hire an essay helper. Since you need a 100% original paper to hand in without a hitch, then a copy-pasted stuff from the internet won’t cut it. To get a top score and avoid trouble, it’s necessary to submit a fully authentic essay. Can you do it on your own? No, I don’t have time and intention to write my essay now! In such a case, step on a straight road of becoming a customer of our academic helping platform where every student can count on efficient, timely, and cheap assistance with your research papers, namely the essays.

What if I’m unsatisfied with an essay your paper service delivers?

Customer Reviews

• Wednesday, April 10, 2024

© 2023 - Businessday NG. All Rights Reserved.