How Does a Party-Planning Business Work?

Get Clients

A party-planning business is only successful if it gets a good number of clients. This is done through mainly through contacts already in the party planning industry, such as venue managers and banquet operators. But party planner may also advertise in newspapers, hand out flyers or place an ad in the phone book's yellow pages. A party planning business does not require an office as the party planner will most likely make appointments and meet at the client's location. Once the party planning business gets some good customers and does a good job, they will begin to get customers almost exclusively via word of mouth.

Meet With the Client

The first part of a party planning business is to meet with the client and discuss their wants as well as their budget. Party planners need to be able to come up with some possible themes to suggest to the client as well as work with any themes that the client may have. The amount of decorations and types of foods will depend on the budget that the client is willing to spend.

Plan Out the Party

The party planner must then become creative and plan all aspects of the party. They will then take their plans back to the client for approval. Once the client has given approval, the party planner prints out and sends off the party invitations. The decorations are then bought and the food service and location are secured. If DJs, bar attendants, photographers or videographers are in the budget, they should be booked as far in advance as possible. Any special requests the clients has are then carried out. Everything on the list is checked and doubled checked before the day of the party.

Billing

Some party planners choose to bill the clients for all of the supplies and services of others (the DJ, photographer, florist and others) ahead of time. This ensures that if the client doesn't pay, that the party planner isn't stuck with the bills. The party planner may then submit a bill for their services after the party has been successfully completed. Other party planners want the total costs paid up front. Party planners can choose to take a percentage of the total cost as their fee or just work for an hourly fee. Create a contract ahead of time with the payment schedule specified. Then the final paperwork can be completed after the party is over and any left over fees collected.