Good day! Today I will write another business plan for those who want to start their own business from scratch.
I was asked to write it by subscribers of my VK group “ ” and it’s called a business plan “Holiday Organization Agency” or how to open a holiday agency
.
As usual, I went with a request for a holiday agency business plan
to the Yandex search engine. This time, my surprise knew no bounds. TOP1 was occupied by my own article, which I wrote back on my old website in 2014.
I don’t even know how to comment on this situation; the business plan for opening a holiday agency, although it was written by me, after such a long period of time, of course, has become obsolete.
It so happened that I have many acquaintances with entrepreneurs from different fields of activity, including a holiday agency (14 years in business make their presence felt).
The agency is called “Turnkey Holiday” (I recommend that you choose an interesting name for your business). The owner of this business is a girl and her name is Evgenia, she shared with me many aspects of the work of the holiday agency (for which special thanks to her).
By the way, I will say that the average income from her business is 300,000 - 400,000 rubles per month (in pure money) and this is despite the competition.
So today I am writing a business plan for a holiday agency in accordance with the emerging realities of life:
Pros and cons of a business idea
Having decided to open an agency for organizing and holding holidays, it is important to analyze the pros and cons of this project in order to correctly assess the risks and opportunities for business development.
Pros:
- High demand. Today there is a trend in the provision of such services and more and more people want to see the holiday bright and colorful. You can’t do it without the appropriate equipment, decor, and the work of leading and professional designers.
- Regular customers. Despite stiff competition, creativity and quality will help build a loyal customer base.
- High profitability. With a well-integrated marketing strategy and professional staff, you can quickly achieve payback and good profitability.
- Minimum investment. This will allow a person with minimal savings to enter the market. The biggest expense item in this business will be advertising of services.
Flaws:
The main disadvantage of such a project is high competition, which is due to wide demand.
In order to stand out from competitors, it is very important to correctly identify your target audience, recruit a staff of professional creative people and instantly monitor all fashion trends in this direction.
Main risks
Despite their love for holidays and entertainment, residents of our country are not yet accustomed to paying for the services of professional entertainment agencies. This direction is promising and soon people will trust the organization of holidays to professionals. But at the start you need to work hard to achieve success.
Competition exists, but local agencies and musicians are not your main competitors. Television shows, luxurious concerts of stars - this is what clients will compare your performances with. You can win the battle only with unique, lively and high-quality programs, ideal organization and the desire to please clients in everything.
Holidays mean an abundance of alcoholic drinks. Acute situations will arise regularly. Think over your line of behavior and under no circumstances lose your composure.
“Step-by-step instructions on how to open a holiday agency”
List of agency services
This business is associated with the provision of services for organizing various events, celebrations, and theme parties.
Depending on the chosen target group, it is important to determine the direction of the agency's work.
These could be wedding celebrations, corporate events, children's matinees, fashion shows, exhibitions, conferences, etc. You don't have to stop in one direction. To attract customers, it is better to use several options at once.
Agency services
Today, clients want to receive, so I offer organization of holidays and various events; it is very important to think through everything to the smallest detail.
How much can you earn from this business?
Organizing holidays is an exclusively seasonal type of business. The peak of orders occurs in June - September, when the wedding season is underway, as well as in December during corporate events. According to experts, it is better to plan the opening of a company in the spring in order to earn a “starting” reputation by the time weddings begin.
You need to be prepared for the fact that for the first 5-6 months of work your income will be negative. It’s good if at this time the number of orders is 2-3 per month at a price of 30-40 thousand for each. This will allow you to pay for the rent of the premises and staff salaries. Ultimately, the period for an agency to reach a constant profit depends on the efficiency of the business organization and averages 1-2 years.
Market analysis
In the business of organizing holidays, it is very important to correctly identify your target audience. The business format, channels for finding clients and promoting the studio will depend on this.
When analyzing the competitive environment, pay attention to the following points:
- children's age;
- the main activity of the studio;
- schedule;
- list of services;
- price niche.
One of the main risk factors for any entrepreneur is, of course, competition. The possibility of promoting in the market, attracting clients, etc. depends on its level. Many beginners make a serious mistake by ignoring this external factor, which is where they make a serious mistake. This does not allow you to correctly correlate the potential of a business and assess its weaknesses.
In this segment, you should immediately take into account the high competition. This is due to the demand for these services, the opportunity to earn a good income and minimal investment.
Determining the target audience
When starting a business, it is important to understand who your services will be aimed at: economy category or premium.
The number of specialists, the level of repairs, the choice of premises and service depend on the correct definition of the target audience. An analysis of the competitive environment will help determine in which price segment there is a shortage and it would be advisable to occupy this niche.
Determining direction
Conventionally, clients can be divided into three groups:
- Wealthy. For such clients, the originality of the presentation and the name of the company are very important. They are willing to pay a lot of money, which allows many ideas to be realized. By choosing this group of people as the main target audience, you can count on a good income. Just keep in mind that the amount of investment and the level of professionalism must be appropriate.
- Average income. This target audience will ensure income stability. As a rule, such clients clearly know what they want and are willing to pay for highly qualified staff and quality service.
- Economy option. This audience will not bring a lot of income and will not allow you to unleash your creative potential due to a limited budget, in fact, but the investments here can be very minimal.
Determination of pricing policy
In order to enter the market and occupy your niche, it is necessary to correctly determine the pricing policy and offer the consumer the optimal price-quality ratio. It is this criterion that the client takes into account when selecting such studios.
If your main competitor is large studios that have been operating in the market for several years, rely not on reducing prices, but on providing branded services. It is necessary to rely on creativity and quality. As a rule, large companies have a large advertising budget. As a rule, the main clients here are companies that order corporate events, so their budget is quite large.
Event Agency
If you plan to occupy an average niche in the market, and the main competitors will be small companies providing services to individuals, then you should focus on price. But it is not recommended to lower the price. By offering the lowest price on the market, you simply cannot maintain a staff of professionals. And the staff plays a big role in this business.
SWOT analysis
At the market analysis stage, it is important to perform a SWOT analysis, which takes into account external and internal factors affecting the success of the company.
SWOT analysis
Strengths
- possibility of an individual approach;
- wide range of services;
- favorable location;
- relevant and original ideas;
- excellent level of service;
- minimal investment.
Weak sides
- lack of experience in the market;
- strong competition;
- lack of regular customers.
Possibilities
- business development and opening branches;
- creating your own website;
- high profitability;
- ability to cover a large market segment;
- possible increase in overall demand;
- possibility of implementing additional services.
Threats
- price fluctuations or dumping by competitors;
- emergence of new directions among competitors.
In addition to this plan, draw up a table that will allow you to analyze and identify risks and opportunities for the project.
Study competitiveness factors using the following criteria:
- individual approach to clients;
- range of services;
- price policy;
- reputation;
- location of the studio for organizing events;
- schedule.
First steps: analysis of the target audience, assessment of the competitive environment
The first step towards the goal is an analysis of the target audience and the local market. The investor must conduct market research, assess the demand for the services of holiday agencies in the city and study their competitors.
The target audience is people with average and high incomes aged 20 to 50 years. The majority of orders (60%) are provided by families with children. Approximately 20% of the target audience are employees of various companies; they are interested in holding corporate parties. About 10% of the target audience are young couples who are going to get married. The rest of the clients are private individuals planning to cheerfully celebrate their anniversary, birthday, marriage anniversary and other significant events.
Analyzing competitors will reveal their strengths and weaknesses. It is important to find out what services the holiday agencies operating in the city provide and at what price. It is worth studying reviews about such companies. Based on the analysis, the future entrepreneur will be able to compile a list of the most popular services and determine his own pricing policy.
Organizational plan
In order to launch a project and successfully enter the market for organizing holidays, it is necessary to carry out the following points step by step:
- Register a business.
- Find a premises and sign a lease agreement.
- Purchase furniture and office equipment.
- Hire staff.
- Organization of advertising.
Business registration
To conduct business in this direction, simple registration of an individual entrepreneur will be enough. Therefore, the paperwork process will not take much time.
The business registration scheme is as follows:
- Submission of documents for opening an individual entrepreneur.
- Choosing a form of taxation.
Paperwork
An application, a passport and payment of a fee of 800 rubles are required.
As for the form of taxation, experts recommend choosing a simplified one.
Next, in order to open a studio for organizing holidays, you will need to collect the following package of documents:
- passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation;
- individual entrepreneur registration certificate;
- a document confirming tax registration;
- premises rental agreement;
- medical records of employees (if you hire staff);
- permission from the fire service and sanitary and epidemiological station.
Search for premises
The premises in this business play a role more from the standpoint of demonstrating one’s status rather than serving to attract customers. As a rule, clients contact such studios by telephone, via the Internet, etc.
Despite the fact that you will receive most orders over the phone, the lack of an office may cause the client serious concerns about your reliability and competence. It is very difficult to interest a client during on-site negotiations. It is difficult to take all the catalogs with you, show examples of work, etc.
Selecting office space
When a client comes to an office meeting, he should see a style and interior renovation that matches the price range that you charge for your services.
An excellent option would be to choose an office in the city center. You should not rent a room on the upper floors; it will be difficult for visitors to find you and reach you.
It is necessary to purchase high-quality good furniture for staff and clients, office equipment, printers, and a copier. If you plan to show presentations of your services to clients, then consider options for its implementation. This could be a large TV screen or a projector.
Focus on a bright and original sign that will not only attract the attention of clients, but also demonstrate the level of creativity and quality of your studio.
When selecting premises, you need to pay attention to the following factors:
- rental price;
- long-term lease;
- Are utilities included in the rent?
- permission to place external advertising.
The premises must be located in an area with good transport accessibility. If you decide to save on rent and rent a room in a residential or industrial area, this will not have the best effect on the company’s reputation.
Personnel search
The studio’s party organization staff is a key success factor, so be very careful in selecting specialists. The company's profit depends on how creatively and harmoniously they can cope with projects.
In organizing such a business, corporate identity plays a very important role, which is expressed in small details. In order to give the center a general style direction, it would be wise to order T-shirts for all the staff involved in organizing the holidays. This serves as additional advertising for the company and allows guests to quickly find their way around the event where the studio employees are located.
Personnel search
In addition to a creative approach to completing tasks, employees must have a good understanding of the client’s psychology. After all, in this business the most important thing is to correctly understand in what style the client wants to see his holiday.
Also, the staff must have a pleasant appearance and excellent communication skills. This will allow them to quickly establish contacts with customers by identifying the need.
A qualified advertising agency employee must meet the following parameters:
- creativity of thinking;
- communication skills;
- ability to understand people;
- stress resistance.
In addition to these personal qualities, of course, experience in this field and professionalism are required. In accordance with the selected range of services that you plan to implement in your project, you will determine a list of professional skills that the employee must have. These include the ability to work in graphic editors, the ability to compose advertising texts and slogans, work with promotion on social networks, etc.
To start a business, it will be enough to hire several managers who will supervise projects. Narrow specialists can be hired from outside. This will allow you to reduce salary costs and gradually develop a base of professionals with whom you are comfortable collaborating. Subsequently, as the business expands, it will be possible to invite these specialists to your staff.
Equipment purchase
In addition to the equipment and furniture that are necessary to organize the office, you will need to buy equipment for holding events.
This list clearly depends on the selected event. For example, if your main specialization is weddings, then you will need:
- flower arch for a wedding ceremony;
- photo zone equipment;
- artificial flowers;
- mat for the “young”;
- attributes for an outdoor ceremony;
- musical equipment, microphones, etc.
If you want to focus your attention on children's parties, then you will need bright costumes, toys, and stationery for the events.
Attributes for work
It is very important to constantly monitor fashion trends and purchase appropriate equipment and costumes in order to offer clients a truly high-quality and relevant service.
Advertising is the engine of progress
You can search for main orders through the Internet and word of mouth (tips and recommendations from clients). The World Wide Web provides many opportunities for the development of a company. With the advent of decent income, you should definitely create your own website. A considerable share of orders in large cities comes precisely after viewing the agency’s website. The page should contain bright photographs, videos from holidays, information about the work of the company and personnel, information about awards and achievements. It is important to maintain a separate category with reviews. Sometimes you can ask clients to write a positive impression about the services provided.
Some part of the budget can be spent on contextual advertising in Yandex Direct or Google Adwords. It will be very effective. As evidence, it's worth looking at the number of search queries. For October 2020 the phrase “birthday entertainers” was tried to be found about 19 thousand times through Yandex alone (across Russia). In Moscow, such a request was searched 5,539 times, in St. Petersburg 1,732 times, in Rostov-on-Don – 663 times:
If, according to search results, your site appears in the TOP-3, calls and orders will certainly come, you just need to create a high-quality resource.
Marketing plan
Considering the high competition in this segment, advertising needs to play a large role.
To attract customers, standard methods are suitable:
- creation and promotion of your own website;
- promotion of the center through social networks;
- partnership programs (kindergartens and schools, photo studios, children's stores);
- advertising on radio and TV;
- outdoor advertising.
A powerful marketing strategy will quickly build trust and increase awareness.
You should not rely on the effect of “word of mouth” in the first year of work. To develop a base of regular customers, you will need at least one year.
Agency services
As practice shows, the most difficult aspect is maintaining interest rather than attracting it.
Pay great attention to bright and creative signage. Remember that creativity is the key to success in your business. Therefore, the sign itself should already speak about the level of the agency and its potential capabilities.
In order to enter the market, you may have to hire an experienced specialist in the field of service promotion, who will engage in advertising through social networks, organize an advertising campaign through outdoor billboards, advertisements in transport, etc.
Video. Startup agency for organizing events
Holiday agency staff
Again, personnel must be selected based on the services provided.
And so, let’s look at the staff of the holiday agency:
- Host of the holiday
. Here, of course, you need to have a good voice, a sharp mind and creative thinking; - DJ
. Selects and coordinates with the host the musical accompaniment of the holiday; - Animators
. At least 3 people must be sociable young people; - Specialists in modeling various figures from balloons
- 2 people; - Photographer
. A professional photographer who knows how to work with programs such as Photoshop. And maybe make a wedding album or group photos at matinees; - Videographer
. It is he who is responsible for creating high-quality videos, who knows how to edit videos and prepare holiday videos.
Some equipment and people may not be taken at the initial stage - this is a photographer and video operator (including equipment). Such people can be hired for one-time work with their own equipment.
Just charge each person 10% of the order for the work provided.
Financial plan
This part of the document is compiled last, after the business format has been determined, the market has been researched and a SWOT analysis has been carried out.
All this data allows you to clearly draw up cost estimates and decide how much equipment and material you need to purchase to implement your business idea.
Business organization
This section should contain the following items:
- description of funding sources;
- profitability calculation;
- cash flow forecast;
- identification of risks.
We plan investments and expenses
In order to open an agency for organizing holidays in a metropolis, you will need at least 500 thousand rubles.
The cost estimate can be presented as follows:
- registration of an enterprise - 5,000 rubles;
- rental of premises - 300,000-400,000 rubles per year;
- repairs - 50,000-60,000 rubles;
- utilities - 1800-2000 rubles monthly;
- office equipment - 60,000 rubles;
- equipment - 100,000-200,000 rubles;
- advertising – 100 thousand rubles.
Income
If everything is clear with the expense item, then the part with calculating income causes certain difficulties for many beginning entrepreneurs.
It is important to correctly assess the price of the service provided in order to maintain competitive positions, not reduce profitability, and at the same time attract customers.
Take into account some seasonality of this business, which can significantly affect the agency’s profitability. Seasonality allows you to vary the price tag.
So, during the New Year holidays, wedding season, March 8, the price for services can be twice as high as during the rest of the period.
Be sure to develop a loyalty program that will allow you to develop a base of regular customers. This is especially true with large customers who contact the agency to order corporate events, organize conferences, etc.
A discount can also be provided to clients who order the service 3-4 months before the appointed date. This will allow you to correctly schedule your work and prepare for the event.
Holiday Studio
In the first few months, the agency will carry out no more than 3-4 orders.
The average bill for 1 order is 30-50 thousand rubles.
With a well-developed marketing strategy and high professionalism of employees, the studio’s workload with orders in 6-8 months can increase 4-5 times.
Therefore, by the end of the year, the agency will be able to achieve an income of 800-900 thousand rubles per month.
With a planned income of 1 million rubles, the average payback of the project is 6-8 months.
The advantage of this business is the absence of profit margins, which is why the agency is characterized by high profitability - about 65%.
Over time, you can expand your staff, explore new areas and introduce new types of services. At the same time, there will be no need to expand the office, purchase new equipment, etc.
Holiday agency equipment
When we were considering renting an office, I listed everything that was needed for the office; there were little things left, such as office supplies, equipment for cleaning the premises.
Also in the office, in addition to the landline phone, there should be 2 more cell phones (the cheapest), which you will promote while doing holiday business.
Now let’s look at what equipment is needed to operate the holiday agency itself:
- Costumes
. All kinds of costumes, from musketeer to gangster; - Puppets
. Life-size puppets of well-known cartoon characters are also needed; - Professional musical equipment
. Starting from high-quality speakers and ending with a microphone; - Professional camera
. Cost more than 100,000 rubles. (honestly, I didn’t even know that such cameras existed); - Professional video camera
. It is also necessary and more expensive than a camera; - Helium cylinders
. For inflating balloons; - Balloons
. Just in huge quantities, both simple round and in the shape of sausages for modeling various figures (it’s better to buy in bulk via the Internet, minimum batch is 10,000 pieces); - Car
. Preferably a gazelle or a large jeep so that the equipment can fit. Here, of course, you can use hired vehicles.
This is the most basic thing, of course you can also use various ribbons, wedding rings for a car, white doves, a helicopter, etc.
It all depends on the services provided. But as Evgenia advised me, it’s easier to break into this market if you provide all types of services listed.
Office rental
For the office of a young holiday agency, you can rent one or two rooms in a business center with a total area of up to 30 square meters.
The main task of the office is to impress potential clients, so it should be decorated accordingly .
Photos from events, customer reviews, colorful booklets with examples of organization and party plans - all this must be on display .
Part of the office space can be adapted for storing props, and the original design of the improvised “warehouse” can also be used as advertising.
How to register a holiday agency correctly
Any activity begins with registration, which ensures functioning in the legal framework of the Russian Federation and the absence of questions from the tax police and other authorities.
When opening an event agency, you have the opportunity to choose the type of registration of activities. Individual entrepreneur or limited liability company. These two types are the most common among beginning businessmen.
It is absolutely simple to register an individual entrepreneur. In this case, the entrepreneur is the full owner and manager of his business.
If several individuals want to open such a business at once and they will be full partners who have contributed a certain share to the fund of the future enterprise, then it is necessary to register an LLC.
To register an LLC, you need a package of documents, which are submitted to the self-government body that carries out the registration of the future enterprise. It consists:
· From the statutory documentation of a limited liability organization;
· From basic data about the founders of the enterprise;
· Original minutes of the first meeting of the founders of the LLC;
· A written request to register a company;
A more simplified package of documents when registering as an individual entrepreneur. In this case, only personal information and a statement are needed. For registration, a state fee and a receipt are collected, the payment of which is attached to the package of documents.
For the normal functioning of an enterprise, a stamp and seal are needed. And all financial issues are resolved through bank accounts. All these problems can be solved only if you have documents indicating registration with the tax office, the social insurance fund, and also with the compulsory health insurance fund.
For our example, consider the registration of a limited liability company. The cost of registration will be 10,000 rubles.
Business Features
The main myth about organizing children's parties from scratch is that this requires an office. As a rule, clients agree on everything over the phone or on social networks, but if they want to meet in person, such a meeting can easily be held in a cafe. Therefore, an office is only needed if you are planning a large business with a whole staff of employees. In other cases, it can easily be replaced by a website or groups on social networks.
Important! Publish only original photographs on your resources. You should not post images taken from the Internet.
Today it is difficult to surprise children and their parents with anything, so we need to take the development of programs for children seriously. A good way to organize a children's birthday would be programs with animals, soap bubble shows, and scientific experiments. Animators should have costumes of popular cartoon characters.
Organizing a children's party is work that requires imagination to write interesting scenarios, organizational skills to hire the necessary staff and select props, marketing skills to attract clients and a negotiator to resolve all issues with them regarding the celebration. Business won't work if you make mediocre, boring productions.
It is also important to be able to find a common language with children. Professional skills in applying makeup will not hurt. For a business to become successful, you need to approach the organization of each children's birthday with all your heart, and not just earn money. This is exactly the case when you can make your favorite thing your profession and source of income.
In this niche, you can count not only on organizing birthdays for children, but also other events: for example, graduations.
Expenses and income
Here we will look at the cost picture that is required to actively start a project, and also tabulate monthly expenses. Let's calculate the potential profit for the 4th month, which will become our sales plan. Based on income and expenses, we will determine tax deductions, profitability and payback period of the business.
Start-up costs
| Expense item | Amount, rub. |
| Rent of premises for 2 months | 40 000 |
| Purchasing office equipment | 50 000 |
| Purchase of materials and equipment for events | 150 000 |
| 50 000 | |
| Total | 300 000 |
Monthly expenses
| Expense item | Amount, rub. |
| Renting premises | 20 000 |
| Salary Fund | 80 000 |
| Communal payments | 5 000 |
| 30 000 | |
| Total | 135 000 |
Income
It will take 1-2 months to start a business. During this period, the main base of scenarios will be formed, advertising will work, and a customer base will be formed. By the third or fourth month, a steadily growing flow of customers is expected.
| Name | price, rub. | Quantity | Amount, rub. |
| The Fixies Show, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 | 5 | 20 000 |
| Show “Masha and the Bear”, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 | 5 | 20 000 |
| Show “Kung Fu Panda”, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 | 5 | 20 000 |
| Disney show, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 | 3 | 12 000 |
| Tesla show | 4 500 | 5 | 22 500 |
| Soap bubbles show | 4 000 | 5 | 20 000 |
| Young chemist | 4 500 | 3 | 13 500 |
| Nitrogen show | 4 500 | 3 | 13 500 |
| Crazy Ice show | 3 000 | 3 | 9 000 |
| Foam show | 3 000 | 4 | 12 000 |
| Organization of a birthday party (several scenarios) | 10 000 | 5 | 50 000 |
| Total | 212 500 |
Next, we will calculate the project’s profitability indicator and payback period.
We determine the share of tax deductions:
212,500 x 0.06 = 12,750 rubles.
We determine income:
212,500 – 135,000 – 12,750 = 65,250 rubles per month.
Based on the data, we determine the profitability of monthly expenses:
(65,250 / 135,000) x 100 = 48.7%.
Given the competitive environment, this profitability is good.
We determine the payback period for the initial investment:
300,000 / 65,250 = 5 months.
Script development and props purchasing
To take your place in a niche, gain a share of customers and be able to fight with competitors, you need to develop your own event scenarios. The range should include both regular themed parties with animators, as well as creative, scientific and educational events for children of different ages.
Our organization will initially have the following scenarios:
| Name | price, rub. |
| The Fixies Show, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 |
| Show “Masha and the Bear”, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 |
| Show “Kung Fu Panda”, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 |
| Disney show, 1.5 hours. | 4 000 |
| Tesla show | 4 500 |
| Soap bubbles show | 4 000 |
| Young chemist | 4 500 |
| Nitrogen show | 4 500 |
| Crazy Ice show | 3 000 |
| Foam show | 3 000 |
| Organization of a birthday party (several scenarios) | 10 000 |
To implement all of the above scenarios, you will need a lot of materials, costumes, music, lighting and other equipment.
Estimate in the table:
| Name | Amount, rub. |
| Suits | 30 000 |
| Materials for the show | 20 000 |
| Musical technology | 80 000 |
| Equipment for the show | 20 000 |
| Total | 150 000 |
In addition, you will need a car to transport the animators and the event organizer. We have our own car, that's enough for now. However, larger vehicles may soon be needed. We will allocate an average of 5 thousand rubles per month for fuel and lubricants.
