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A Step by Step Guide To Charging For Your Event Planning Service
A Step by Step Guide To Charging For Your Event Planning Service
Do you ever wonder how much to charge clients for your event planning service?
Have you ever felt like you might be charging more/less per hour to plan an event?
How often do you say “yes” to working with a low paying client and then regret it
later?
Pricing can be a complicated thing to figure out for event planners. But it
doesn’t have to be. What you charge will vary according to the event, the
demand for your service, and your location (to name a few). My goal is to help
event planners build, launch and grow their business. I’m here to show you
exactly how to win the pricing game and finally be able to charge your clients
with confidence.
I’ll be showing you step-by-step how to determine an hourly rate for your event
planning service.
The most important thing to know when pricing, is that charging for your event
planning service is not magic, it’s math.
Also included is a handy worksheet which will help you to develop a baseline for
creating other pricing structures such as flat rate pricing and event planning
packages. Here are the exact steps to get started:
How can you confidently say you are the most reasonably priced or the best
value if you are not aware of what you’re up against? Here’s what you’ll need to
do.
Before you settle on a price for your services, call around and find out what
other event planners in your area are charging.
Once you have done your research list the three (3) most common prices
quoted by event planners in your area.
Now that you have your three (3) comparison prices, sit with these prices for a
moment and try to determine where your price should fall. Think about the
ranges above, your skills, experience, and knowledge and pick a
price.
The average event planner works 50-60 hours per week. That is equal
to approximately 3000 hours in a work year, assuming a two (2) week vacation.
You now have the formula needed to determine your rate and obtain your
ideal salary, or set your ideal work hours and use this to determine your best
rate. Now let’s adjust for costs.
STEP 4: Add in your Costs
Once you have determined how much you want to make each year, you will
have to do a little math and calculate your operating costs. Take a moment to
think about all of the costs that you will have to cover, from indirect costs such
as your Internet, website operating cost, software or programs, electricity and
phone, to
direct costs such as office supplies and event insurance (Grab this info from
your business plan!). Once you have broken down all of the costs, remember to
add those to your final rates. For example: Let’s say it costs you a total of $10
per/hr to operate your event planning business.
How does this compare to your Net Hourly Rate from STEP 4 above? If it is
fairly close your pricing guessing game is over!
If the price you believe you should be charging is significantly lower than your
Net Hourly Rate, I would like
you to explore why. Are rates in your area lower than in other cities? Are you
lacking skills or knowledge that other event planners in your area possess? What
additional value can you provide to clients that could eliminate this gap?