Do you have a space that you want to utilise as a business? Why not start a party venue in South Africa? With many individuals looking for a space outside of home to celebrate their milestones, this is the ideal time to invest in your party locale.
It has been noted that consumers enjoy convenience, expertise and unique celebration. Recent data has shown that the global celebration arrangement or “party planning” industry will reach $1 552,90 billion by 2028. This is one large pie that venue owners can grab a slice from!
Sweet and Salty Benefits and Disadvantages
There are many reasons to open a space to host parties. One of the benefits of starting your own venue is that there is a high demand for these spaces. On average, it is estimated that profit margins range from 10% to 20%, but with unique offerings, almost 60% can be achieved.
Other benefits of starting a party venue are that you get to work with diverse clients and can exercise endless creativity. Among the different clients, you meet individuals, businesses and other groups that have their own visions. But this enables you to work with various themes, diverse decor and place a unique mark on each event while expanding your network.
As a venue operator, you also reap the benefits of collaborating with various other vendors. This includes working closely with photographers, event planners, florists, caterers and DJs.
Lastly, operating a party venue helps develop the owner personally and professionally. You are afforded the opportunity to learn new skills, understand negotiation and budgeting in a better way, and expand your knowledge daily.
Yet, the industry is not without its challenges.
One of the challenges includes time management. With multiple parties being hosted in close succession, you will need to juggle the projects without missing deadlines. You will also experience managing vendors, ensuring that you arrange with them when and where to arrive once a party is booked. Further issues may also include maintenance of your facility, equipment to have available or even furniture.
Evaluate the Full Potential of the Venue Space
The potential your party venue has will be determined by the following factors:
- Indoor and outdoor: If your space is mainly outdoor, indoors, or both will impact what type of client is interested in your venue.
- Location: The accessibility of your venue close to cities or densely populated areas will mean a larger market.
- Size and capacity: The number of people that your venue will accommodate also determines how likely a customer is to book.
- Type of events: Your party venue can specialise in particular types of events, such as a wedding venue, children’s birthday parties or even corporate events.
- Amenities: Amenities may include on-site catering, audiovisual equipment, playgrounds, dressing rooms, kitchens, and safe parking.
Starting Your Party Venue Business
Research
Before you start any type of business, you need to research what the demand is for that in your area. This will guide you in where the best location, what unique offering you bring above your competition and what the gaps in the market are.
Create a Business Plan
A comprehensive business plan acts like a recipe to help you reach your goals. It helps you plan, allowing you to gather all the necessary resources like ingredients, which will come together to make your party venue a success. Write down your business goals, unique selling proposition, target market, marketing strategies, operating plan, startup costs, revenue model, and financial projections.
Register Your Business
Once you have your business plan, you need to complete your business structure. You must know what type of business structure you will work in, as well as what the name, corporate details, and identity are for your business.
Secure Funding
Funding doesn’t always look the same to all people; in fact, some businesses require more than others, whereas some businesses require a different type of funding.
Obtain Licenses and Permits
Depending on the type of venue that you start, you will need different licenses. One of these will be a license from the fire department that shows you are compliant with safety regulations, and another is a liquor license if you are selling alcoholic beverages.
Create your Online Presence
There are multiple ways to create an online presence. The most well-known is to create your own business website where you list your location, offering and contact details. The second is to add your business name to popular directories. \
Create the Environment
Once you have your location and you know what type of business you want to run, you can start turning it into your dream space. This might be to install certain amenities or improve the space by enlarging the bathroom, kitchen or parking. You might also need to purchase furniture, upgrade lights and fixtures, look into audiovisual equipment and any other changes.
Hire the Right People
If you need employees to run your party venue, you must hire the right people. These may include cooks, servers, cleaners, administrators or other non-client-facing individuals like accountants and digital marketers. If you hire managers, you must be sure that they work well with your other employees.
Have a Good Pricing Strategy
Your pricing should be competitive to similar businesses in your area, but still offer value for what you are offering.
Market Your Business
Your venue will be marketed to a wide range of potential customers unless you are specialising in something specific. Use all the channels at your disposal to market to clients: social media, digital advertising, business directories, and your website.
Grow Your Network
Attend industry events and reach out to vendors to grow your network.
Host an Inaugural Event at Your Party Venue
After giving your new venue so much attention, it’s time to celebrate its birth with a huge announcement. This is is the ideal time to showcase what your venue has to offer.
Obtain Client Feedback
The last step in the “starting process” is always to gather client feedback. Based on what the clients say, you know what your strengths and weaknesses are. Your strengths will be elements you can highlight in marketing materials, whereas your weaknesses can be addressed and rectified.
