What you need to make your business work
Defining your customer
Which customers would want our service?
· Students
· People with low income
· People from the region we specialise
· Consider a wedding FORUM with integrated services
· People looking for links and contacts
· People who possibly might need guidance and are looking for extra quality through our links
· Some people might wish to spend more
· People who need help setting a realistic budget (http://www.weddingapproved.com/help/wedding_planner.html)
· People who are too busy to plan
· People may need help negotiating with services
· Are they looking for a niche wedding?
· 51% Customers generally look to using websites and magazines instead of wedding planners
· Weddings are expensive enough without paying someone to organise it
· Couples don’t want to lose control of planning their own personal ideals and choices
· Must raise awareness of wedding planners to create a need
· Events manager G Jay believes: “……wedding planners should be viewed as 'fairy godmothers' - yes they DO charge BUT if they are professional and good at what they do the amount of money they should be able to save you with their links to suppliers should cover their costs and therefore not add anything at all to your wedding budget”.
· The industry needs to position itself far better with its target audience; they need to make it clear that whilst they charge a fee, they will in turn make savings as they negotiate with their professional contacts to get better deals for their couples; they need to demonstrate that they are there to enhance and broaden the range of ideas available to the couples, not to dictate how things should be done; finally, they need to shake the image that the Wedding Planner is somebody employed only by the rich and famous.
· Consider location
When you meet with a wedding planner to discuss your wedding day, there are some essential questions to ask yourself:
· Will this person push me into decisions I don't want/can't afford, or will they commit to my budget?
· DO they have a good rapport with the best suppliers (venues, caterers, photographers, etc.) in the area? Are they in a position to negotiate discounts on my behalf?
· Will they be there the day of the wedding, overseeing the entire event from supervising suppliers to troubleshooting emergencies?
· Does this co-coordinator seem excited about my special day, able to make educated decisions, calm under pressure?
· Does this wedding planner have insurance, both Personal Liability and Professional Indemnity?
Outlining the benefit for my customers
· Desk research
· Market research
· Published research
· Qualitative research
· Quantitative research
What is already available for my target customers?
1. Wedding planners and forums
o DIY Shop:
Dresses, health and beauty, keepsakes, lingerie, mother of the bride
Clothing, accessories, health and beauty, keepsakes, pageboys
Reception decorations
Balloons and ribbons, sashes
Table decorations
Table accessories, candles/ fragrances, disposable cameras, centrepieces
Invitations and stationary
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Cakes
Suppliers, stands, knives etc
Flowers, plant and topiaries
DIY pieces
Chocolate and confectionary
Fireworks
Wedding gifts
| | Gifts For The Bride |
| | Gifts For The Groom |
| | Gifts For The Bride & Groom |
| | Gifts For The Ladies |
| | Gifts For The Men |
| | Children’s Gifts |
| | Gifts For The Parents |
| | Personalised Gifts |
| | Novelty Gifts | |
| | Keepsakes | |
| | Gift Vouchers |
| | Hen & Stag Gifts & Accessories |
| | Ribbons & Gift Wrap |
Jewellery
Beads, crystals, DIY
Party accessories
· Venue searching, coordination and visits
· Supplier sourcing for all suppliers required, coordination and meetings
· Budget control and supplier payment reminders
· Design and style advice
· Etiquette advice
· Invitation, RSVP and Guest management
· Wedding Day scheduling
· Venue decoration on your Wedding Day
· Wedding Day “emergency kit”
· Wedding Day management, supplier and guest coordination
· Returning of hired items
· Design of a bespoke Wedding Website (if required)
· Dinner the evening before and brunch the following day (if required)
· A blog
· Direct bespoke tailored wedding service
· Wedding service picking
· Your own website
2. Photography
We have offices in Swansea and Cwmbran and can cover the whole of Wales and further afield.
We offer an all day service with Leather Album from £895!
We offer an all day service with Leather Album from £895!
Packages including:
· Gifts of leather books, DVD’s
· Pre wedding shoots i.e. engagement photo shoots
· IPhone app
· Studio shoots
· Other options i.e. events and fun
· No hidden costs
· Last minute deal
· Links to other industry services
· Undisruptive, relaxed
· Mid-week discounts
· Website password protected image viewing
3. Magazine and websites
o Free online wdding service
o Blog
o Shop
o Links
o Wedding directory
o Subscriptions
o Dress directory by designer
o Images
o Directory
o Consider supporting small businesses?
4. Wedding dresses
· Stock dresses by designers
· Bespoke designers
· Ready-to-wear designers
· Prom dresses
· Mother of the bride
· Bridesmaids
o Design filter by: venue, length, ceremony, body shape, neckline, train, silhouette, fabric, season, sleeve, waist, details added, price
5. Catering
· Dietary specialities
· Different types i.e. cheesecakes etc
· Bespoke designs
· Printed icing
· Shaped cakes
· Cupcakes
· Delivery services
· Stand and cutlery hire
· Blog
Market
Possible niches
· Bristol
· Students
· Eco-aware
· Themed i.e. Glamping, renaissance, countryside etc
· Seasonal
· Budget
· Pick n mix pieces/ services i.e. in the basket “the bridal basket”
· Princess (gypsy weddings) and fantasy fairytale
· Create magazine with episodes i.e. next week themed Greek!
· Colours
· Age
· Adventure (remember to consider venue charges i.e. parks and fields etc and hiring times)
· Hiring i.e. tents
· How big is my market
o Niche, not too big to avoid massive competition. Maybe Bristol as an example
· Realistically how many people can I get my idea in front of
o Living in Bristol is an advantage. We could advertise on a stall on Sundays or put up posters or even on radio shows. Magazine handouts samples and even make these handbag size.
· How will you engage with them
o Research who the customers are and their likes and dislikes, their preferences and style and then advertise and engage personally within these spaces. Make it personal and comfortable.
· How many will buy it
o Hopefully more than 50% of brides in Bristol. Make it couples friendly. Make a grooms edition! Less likely to buy into wedding planners, more likely to utilise DIY tools.
· Is this a big enough group to meet your income needs
o I imagine so, maybe expand into Somerset?
Is demand enough to support our income?
Consider broadening our scope?
Create a niche!
Creating a sustainable business
· A clear idea
· A demand, audience or market
· Developing a business process that allows you to sell it for more than it cost to produce
Think of the promises:
· The promise to customers that you will deliver a product or service
· The promise that this promise will be kept
· You work with others to ensure this promise is delivered
Some individuals rely on their own creativity etc to control every activity within a business however frequently this becomes too much to sustain and can also be too expensive and time consuming to acquire all these skills yourself.
Courses at A-level are around £500
Wedding planning and event management is also around £500
Roles within the business
I need to establish which roles are required within my business and which of these I will fill myself.
· Where my personal skills and interests lie
o I and my partner have skills in Fashion design, research, trends forecasting and photography. Also a brief background in art, design, graphic product, media, film, performing arts and IT.
· What I need to add to my own skills in order to create a complete set of business skills
o Marketing
o Accounting
o Business and events management
o Journalism
o Consumer research
o Multiple other services ideas.
o Website design
o Editorial skills
· Understand relationships I need to create with other people in order to make my business succeed.
o Relationships should be built with local businesses, universities, students, prints, web designers, market research companies, potential clientele
Blueprint modelling describes the processes within my business
This model helps you understand how the business will actually function from yearly to day-to-day activities.
Relationship modelling identifies roles in which you need to create relationships to support your business
These will enable your business to live beyond my direct involvement
3 main stages
· Engagement stage
o Plan who prospective clients are and to persuade them to buy products/services from you.
· Development stage
o Time it takes to develop your product or service.
· Delivery stage
o Time it takes to get your product/ service to your customer
All these take place either in front of the customer (onstage) or out of sight of the customer (offstage).
You could create different blueprints for onstage and offstage activity.
Blueprint continued:
· How do I imagine my business operating?
· How will I find and engage my customers
· How will I generate what they want?
· How will I distribute what I generate?
You need to map the entire process!
Relationships
· How do you find people to help
o Touring and advertising business around Bristol.
o We may need to engage with a print or web company just to start off and build strong bonds.
o Research smaller companies but also research into their ethics and clientele and business models to decide on compatibility.
· Why would anybody want to help you
o Bristol based means they will get more attention with less competition
o Prices are lower due to local meetings and postage etc.
o Smaller businesses and students may want co-operation to develop
· What sort of deal can you expect
o Print/ web companies will want payments
o If they are reliable I believe in strong relationships
o Commission charges?
o Advertising charges?
Generator/ idea generator: Direction, design, concept development.
Realiser: transforming idea into finished product/ service/experience, manufacture and content production. This process transforms the idea/ raw materials into finished product i.e. film script into movie.
Distributor: delivery, sales, marketing, the purchase of the product, marketing and sales,
Customer: buying, consuming, utilising product. For some people i.e. furniture design company they don’t include the customer sector as they sell their product onto a retailer who then sells on the product.
Combine the models.
Highlighting who from your relationship model has to correspond to which parts of my blueprint model.
· Who will I need to build relationships with to cover these areas?
· Who is giving and receiving money?
· Implications: How much I am charged, when I get paid?
· Is this manageable? Additional resources?
Any relationship needs to clearly define what it can and can’t do.
A critical win-win relationship is needed
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