A Day In The Life Of A Plan Ahead Events Franchisee

Posted on March 13, 2009 by Jon Clem

The Situation
Imagine the Director of Development for a mid-sized corporation. One day, after a regular monthly meeting, the Executive Director approaches him with an idea for throwing an appreciation dinner for the company’s clientele. At first it sounds to the Development Director like a great idea that he’s capable of tending to. However, after a few weeks of really looking at everything it will entail to find a location, plan the evening’s events, hire some kind of entertainer, develop an advertising strategy, and cater for 300 clients (all while attending to his regular job) he realizes that although the event sounds like a brilliant business move, he has neither the time nor the resources to make it all happen. The only way out of the mess is to call an event planner.

This is the standard scenario that Plan Ahead Events franchisees find themselves cast into every day. However, unlike the company executive who has neither the time nor the previous experience to adequately prepare his event; regardless of what the client needs done, what kind of event needs to be planned, or how big the night is supposed to be, the Plan Ahead Events people make it happen.

The Industry
In recent years, professional event planning has become a far more prominent business than it ever was before. Particularly in a wealthy country like the United States, the need for businesses, organizations, and clubs to throw well-planned and entertaining events that wow current and potential members and clients is becoming a very important part of success. In fact, high quality parties have become so prevalent that today event planning as an industry grosses $500bil worldwide. Clearly, the opportunities for anyone who can orchestrate a large-scale event are rampant.

The Franchise Opportunity
Of course, the ready entrepreneur always has the choice to break into a market by simple force of will, starting up a brand new business. However, considering how many more franchises survive the first few years of operation, as opposed to their independent business counterparts, joining an existing event planning organization as a franchisee is definitely a better way to go.

One of the few franchised business opportunities in this particular field is Plan Ahead Events, who have successfully established a completely turnkey operation that gets entrepreneurs into the market for themselves for far less of an investment than one might expect. For only $26-$33,000 up front, a wise businessperson can purchase a tried and true home based business that comes with all the necessary tools; two weeks of training; the wisdom that comes with 15 years of experience in the industry; and most importantly, a name that people recognize and associate with successful events.

The Daily Experience
Meetings, conventions, trade shows, corporate parties, conferences, grand openings, event galas, and a wide variety of other events all become possible sources of work and income for Plan Ahead Events franchisees. Depending on the specific franchisee’s methods of advertising and networking, even personal events like birthdays and weddings are accessible business routes as well.

No matter what the event or who the client, these work from home franchisees can count on the work being fairly similar from day to day. The majority of which is advertising to potential clients, building business relationships with other companies that work in various fields related to event organization, and planning client events. Whether event planning veterans or newcomers to the market, Plan Ahead Events ensures that all franchisees are given extensive training in every aspect of the business, including initial training prior to the franchise launch and ongoing support whenever the franchisee has questions or concerns. This ensures that the new business owner comes to each project with the necessary character and skills to build any kind of party from the ground up.

A better franchise opportunity for a natural manager than for someone who likes to get his hands dirty doing the work, this franchise is all about delegating responsibility and managing a half-dozen subcontractors who are each responsible for a specific facet of the night’s events. Entertainers, caterers, venues, and advertisers with whom the Plan Ahead Events franchisee has built standing relationships with are all called upon as events necessitate. This dispersion of responsibilities to trusted business partners allows the franchisee to quickly and effectively get every aspect of the event in the works simultaneously and eventually pull them all together for a beautifully memorable evening.

According to one Plan Ahead Events franchisee, it’s actually that aspect of the work that may be the hardest. Tampa, Florida franchise owner Thelma Ramsey says, "learning to delegate and testing your mettle" is the most challenging part of the business. But in many fields it proves true that the most essential work can often also be the most trying. In the case of an event planner, it’s only when the event has grown too big for whoever was responsible for it that it gets passed on, and that is where the planner is expected to give his best performance to make up the difference.

The Bottom Line
Regardless of difficulty, though, party planning with Plan Ahead Events is designed to be put in the hands of people who love the thrill of having their management mettle tested. These people want bigger, better, more intricate jobs, and every time the ante is upped, they rise to the occasion. If that sounds like you, take a closer look at Plan Ahead Events: they’ll be more than willing to challenge your mettle as well.