Naive about own business

[Ribrabrob]

I want to set up my own business. There's not much I enjoy doing but I do like being organised and event planning (specifically weddings) really appeals to me. It's something I'd love to do.

However, I have absolutely no experience and would just 'learn on the job'. I've already started setting up a website and have ideas of what I want to do, plus I've checked and there is little competition in my location.

Butttttt.... I have absolutely no experience of owning my own business or even event planning (apart from the odd party or a quiz at my old workplace). So my question - am I unreasonable? And do I sound stupid and naive?! (Happy to be told yes!)

I think it'd be a bit out of order to sell yourself as an event planner for a wedding, say, and accept payment etc until you actually know if you can do it. I have a friend in events and she gets some absolutely batty requests- she works for a large company so can deliver where possible but can also restrain someone with unrealistic ideas without coming across badly and if things go wrong at the last minute she can usually source some sort of replacement because she has contacts/ contacts of contacts who know she can be lucrative so will do what they can for her. I think I'd be furious if I used an event planner for my wedding (and I wouldn't but the people who would would expect to have no worries on the lead up or day) who it turned out was just giving an idea a go to see if they could do it. I think you'd need some sort of experience to even know what sort of obstacles could come up or what customers would expect. Even if you'd offered your service for free or a small fee for weddings or large events for friends and family a few times first you'd be in a better position to see if you could provide the service customers would expect. Not to say you can't, you may be fantastic at it and it's your true calling but if it isn't you could end up out of the game at the first hurdle, with someone's wedding potentially far more stressful than it needed to be.

I can really see your point. Have started a survey money to get people's views so will send it to some people I know getting married.

Thanks for your input

Survey Monkey that should say

Yes it's ridiculous. Should I set myself up as a builder giving people extensions with no experience? No, that would be a horrible thing to do.
Even if you intern at a wedding planners for a month or so or ask for work experience somewhere, work in events for a year. Then you can try. Or, you can sell your services very cheaply for a while with the disclaimer that you have low experience.

Don't fuck someone's day up.

Get yourself a job as a junior events planner first. There are a lot about (ppl move around a lot in events). Learn the ropes, build your contacts, and take it from there. You absolutely can not announce that you are a wedding planner with no contacts or experience, then take people's money off them. It will not end well.

Events are great and a really great career imo. Weddings less so (bridezillas don't make for fun clients) but it's all about connections, contacts and subsequent discounts.

Its not a terrible idea to aim for, but ypu need more experience before you rely on it for an income and start taking large payments and full responsibility for weddings.

I'd offer to organise any events i could sniff out gor family and friends 'on the side' for a while.

I'd volunteer to run some events free of charge in my community or for charity fundraisers to get some event skills.
Then I'd offer to do a couple of weddings free or at a really low cost to get some testimonials.
With no experience you need to be learning as much as you can and finding out whether you are actually suited or not...

A lot of experience is required before you go it alone. You can do short or long courses but there is no much on the job knowledge that you pick up along the way that is essential. Event planning has been part of my role for over 10 years and I'm only now feeling confident enough to handle all the curveballs thrown at me in the lead up to and during events without losing my shit.

It's a stressful faced paced environment and I would start with very small projects like pre wedding events (showers, hens etc) and assist other wedding planners for quite some time before going anywhere being the lead on a wedding.

I work in event planning. It is EXTREMELY stressful. I recently read an article that suggested it's the 5th most stressful job after life/death jobs (firefighter / surgeon).
Do you have a main job or are you planning to give up employment to pursue this?
What insurances do you hold?
What are your contingency plans should you be let down by suppliers/go sick?
Who are your key suppliers? Are they reliable and of high quality?
How thick is your skin? How well so you cope with people being EXTREMELY difficult?
Can you perform in a stressful environment while looking like you're having fun?
Are you a quick problem solver?
Who do you have in your work network who could help you?
How will you account for your time?
I agree with the other posters. You need proven experience. Start by volunteering, hire places yourself (village hall) for events (sales/discos etc) and see how you best make money (tip: be prepared to lose money).