Is this a good business idea?

[Rose Bomse]

I've been trying to get into designing, but I doubt that will happen any time soon, so until then, I thought I could do this: Event Planner, like weddings, birthday party's and thing like that, but also a matchmaker, I've always been good at planning events & seeing who would be good for each other. I was wondering though, is this a good idea? Is there any interest in this kind of thing? How exactly would I get started? Thank you for any input you have ^^

[Bree Giffen]

I would check to see if anyone else is doing such things in SL. If so, see if they are doing it like you would or if you can do better. I think an event planner would need to scout for locations to hold events. Maybe talk to the owners of such places. Talk to everyone you meet in SL and try to gauge the need for your services.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Not sure about match maker.  There are dating services in SL but I have no idea how they do as I've never known anyone to use them with success(that they admitted to :smileywink:).  However there is a market for event planning. 

While there are free lance event planners, generally planners either own a venue they rent out for events or work for one.  There are also jobs at larger clubs and ballrooms planning special events and arranging sponsors and prizes for contests.  SInce there is such a wide range of clubs in SL, you can probably find one to fit the style of events you like to plan the most.  Lastly, but perhaps the most difficult to obtain jobs are with RL businesses and institutions that may be holding events in world such as conventions, trade shows and sales meetings,  For this you need some RL experience, impeccable references, as well as a lot of knowledge about SL.

To be successful, you need good organizational skills and a good knowledge of quality vendors where you can purchase supplies and also places to recommend for your customers to find what they may need.  You will also need to know how to hire DJs and entertainers and need to compile a list of available ones and their charges.  Wedding parties may want personal shopper services as part of the planning.  Creativity in planning themes and decor is highly valued and good knowledge of your target markets likes and dislikes.  Hosting skills are also needed as you will probably be expected to be at the event to help direct guests.  A good head and sense of humor is needed too, as no matter how well you plan and how perfect everything is, SL generally manages to throw in a curve ball once in a while.

Owning a venue of course requires investment in land, buildings and landscaping as well as marketing money.  The more varied your facilities the more likely you are to appeal to a good range of customers. although venues that specialize in catering to a specific but popular SL culture can be successful too.  While you can get away with some prefab type buildings or gardens in the beginning, you'll want a unique place to differentiate yourself and stand out from your competition, which means custom building and landscaping. 

Free lancing without your own venue will still require some capital investment on your part for marketing and I would recommend at least an office where people can go and get 'brochures' about the services and prices.  You also need one for meetings and appointments with clients.  I'd be wary of hiring a free lancer if they didn't have an established in world presence of some sort to show stability.

Employers may require experience but some may be willing to train.  Even if you own a wedding and party venue or free lance business, you will need references and information/pictures of other events you've done.  To gain experience you could perhaps volunteer to help plan and run charity events, or events for friends.  A new club or venue may be willing to give you a chance if you are willing to work for free or a percentage of the house tips.

[Thinkerer Melville]

I know of people who work as event managers.  That is mainly for musical events at places that have such events regularly or frequently,  Here are some articles I have collected about manageing events:

 Events

http://thinkerer.org/SLintChan/SLiHoboKitonWeb.htm#Events

Promote: events, places, projects

http://thinkerer.org/SLintChan/SLiHoboKitonWeb.htm#Promote:_events,_places,_projects

TKR

[Rose Bomse]

I have heard of people doing event planning before. I've no idea how they do it though.

I'd have no problems with venues and things, I know of many venues, all different, and I either know the owner somewhat, or get involved often, there are one or two that I don't though.

[Rose Bomse]

I do already work as a hostess at a venue, and I know of many different venues & am on good terms with the community and even some owners, so I'm not worried about finding venues.

I have good oranizational skills I also know of many vendors. I'm friends with multiple Dj's and I know where to find others that would be more suited to what a costumer wants. The shopping thing I can do

I do things like that at times in RL, I took interior design in school and help friends decorate for parties and things like that. I have hosting skills, or I would of been fired by now

I have been looking into an office, I was hoping to find a building that rents out office space or something, but I couldn't find any.

That's a good idea, I'll ask around and see if anyone would like me to plan an event...

Thank you so much for your help!

[Amethyst Jetaime]

Sounds like your in a good position to make a go of this. 

For an office, you don't have to restrict yourself to an office building.  You could rent a small shop and set it up as an office. It may even be helpful to  do this in an area that sells wedding and party things or has high  traffic. Alternatively you could rent a small plot and get an office prefab or other small building you could fit out for an office.  You may even be able to find appropriate affliate vendors to have there to help offset you costs.

For office space there are a few places that rent them.  Usually you can find them in classifieds under property rentals.  here is a link to what i found when i looked: office classifieds

 

[Rose Bomse]

Good ^^ I think I'll wait until I've planned one or two events first, just so I have something to show.

I found one or two place's that are interesting, with pretty high trafic and pretty low rental cost that I should be able to fit into my budget.

Thank you SO much for the help ^^

[Erwin Solo]

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Rose Bomse wrote:

I've been trying to get into designing, but I doubt that will happen any time soon, so until then, I thought I could do this: Event Planner, like weddings, birthday party's and thing like that, but also a matchmaker, I've always been good at planning events & seeing who would be good for each other. I was wondering though, is this a good idea? Is there any interest in this kind of thing? How exactly would I get started? Thank you for any input you have ^^

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It is a very crowded field. You'll be able to find customers, but you probably won't make enough to recoup your costs.