Business Plan for Event Planning Company in Sydney, Australia

This business plan outlines the opportunities, sales and marketing strategies, operational strategies, and financial strategies for Gatsby's Party, an event planning company in Sydney, Australia. The plan includes a financial forecast for the first three years of operation.

Running head: BUSINESS PLAN
Business Plan
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note

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BUSINESS PLAN
Executive Summary
The main purpose of this assignment is to develop a business plan for an event
planning company. The company will be operating in Sydney, Australia in the event
planning business. As per the management, the name of the newly established event
planning company will be Gatsby’s Party. The business will be concerning event
planning for clients for special occasions which might be wedding, birthday party,
homecoming celebrations for students. The business will be operating with a view to
provide the best services to the clients of the business. The assignment will also be
including a financial plan of the anticipated costs that the business is likely to incur and
also the revenues which can be generated by the business. The first part of the
assignment will be dealing with the business opportunities present in the event planning
market and also define the scope, objectives of the company which is proposed to be
established.

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Table of Contents
Business Opportunities......................................................................................................3
Sales and Marketing Strategies.........................................................................................4
Operational Strategies.......................................................................................................5
Financial strategies............................................................................................................6
Reference........................................................................................................................10

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BUSINESS PLAN
Business Opportunities
There are always a variety of occasions which are needed to celebrated in the
society. In such a circumstance there lies an opportunity for development of an event
planning business. As per the plan of the management, an event planning company is
to be opened in Sydney, Australia (Schaper et al., 2014). The name of the company as
decided by the management will be Gatsby’s Party. The company will be specializing in
providing services which will be making all arrangements of party, marriage, birthday, or
any other occasions. As per the business plan of the company, the business model
which Gatsby’s Party will be following relates to effective cost management and
providing the best quality services to the clients of the business.
The occasions which are celebrated by the society are constant such as
Christmas parties, marriages and birthday parties and similar occasions. If anything
such occasions and event have increased over the years so there is constant demand
in the market for party planners and the demand is only increasing (Kogan &
Papanikolaou, 2014). The need of party planners is justified as people like to take off
the burden of planning and arrangements and keep the work for professionals for
effective results and services. Therefore, there is ample opportunity in the market for
Gatsby’s Party. Moreover, a list of events such as Christmas, Annual Fest of Colleges,
Prom nights are coming and therefore it is the perfect opportunity for the establish a
business as there will plenty of demand for party planners for the events which are
coming. In addition to this, there are always regular occasions such as marriages,
reception parties, birthday parties which will be requiring planning. Most of the people in
the society do not take the stress of arranging for parties and normally employ the
services of party planners for the purpose of total arrangement of the party. The market
for event planning is competitive in nature as per the analysis but the ample demand for
the event planners in the market allows the proposed plan of establish a event planning
company to be appropriate. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics,
the profession of event planning is expected to achieve growth at the rate of 10% from
now to 2024 which is even at a faster rate than the average growth rate which is
attainable for any other profession (Bretherton, 2014). Thus, there is wide scope of

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opportunities present in the market of event planning and the business plan which is
proposed for the event planning business is the correct one.
Sales and Marketing Strategies
Gatsby’s Party which is being proposed to be established will be providing
services as a planner to the society. The business will be targeting the clients who are
within the age group of 25 years to 40 years of age. The main services which will be
offered by Gatsby’s Party are related to arrangement services for parties which will be
including the decoration of the site where the party is to be held, the arrangements
which are concerning music and dance in case of a fest or even a band performance as
the case may be (Ingram et al., 2015). In addition to this, the event planner will be
responsible for the foods which are supplied for the party. The plan of the management
of the company is to hire a catering services which can provide food for the party. In
case of an event planner business, the main requirement is to ensure that the business
has tie up with different service providers like catering service providers, Bands, hotels
or banquet halls for party in case the planner also has to select the place. The plan of
the business is to enter into a tie up agreement which involves taking services of
catering service providers and band musicians which can be made available to the
customers incase they require such services. In addition to this the company plans to
categorize the occasions on basis of occasions such as weddings, birthday parties,
fests, Christmas parties and on the basis of the occasion and the nature of services
which is employed by the customers, the fees are charged accordingly.
The marketing activities of Gatsby’s Party will be involving advertisement of the
company and also of the various services which will be provided by the business
(Armstrong et al., 2015). The advertisement activities of the business will be involving
television advertisements and social media advertisements. The company will be
collecting reviews of the clients and the members at the party as to how the
arrangements of the party. On the basis of such feedback collection, the business will
be able to advertise. However, all this depends on the quality of the services which will
be provided by Gatsby’s party. Another plan of the management of Gatsby’s Party will
be that in case of customers availing their services for the second time, discounts will be
offered in order to retain the customer and promote customer loyalty (Laroche, Habibi &

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Richard, 2013). In this way as well, the company will also be able to create a brand
name and reputation in the market for providing quality services as well as looking out
for the customers as well (Sah & Fugh‐Berman, 2013). In case of any default in the
arrangements of the company, the company will bear the full costs of such a default or
refund the money of the client as per the policy of the company. The important elements
which the business will be considering for bettering the services of the company are
given below:
1. Price: The prices for the services will be depending on the nature of the party and
the services which are taken by the client which may be arrangements,
arrangements and foods services combined (Huang & Sarigöllü, 2014).
2. Place: The place where the company will be providing the services also affect the
nature of services provides. In case of wedding ceremony, the place needs to be
church and banquet hall or open garden and the arrangements need to be
changed accordingly (Khan, 2014).
3. Promotion: The management plans to promote the services which is provided by
the company in social media which will give the business a wide access and
coverage to the potential clients of the business (Andreti et al., 2013). The
business will be reducing the prices of the products in order to stay competitive in
the market.
4. People: This refers to the targeted customers of the company. As per the plan of
the company, the targeted customers will be in the age group of 25 years to 40
years. In other words, the business will be accepting will be accepting wedding
arrangements, school fests, Christmas parties.
Operational Strategies
The operational strategies of Gatsby’s Party will be focusing on the overall
management of the company. The top-level management of the company will be
comprising of the owners and the executives who are responsible for the overall
management of the company (Sroka & Hittmár, 2013). The important decisions will be
taken by the top-level management of the company regarding what are the services
which are to be provided by the company in terms for planning for occasions and from
where the services of catering, musicians and other services are to taken when the

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customers orders for the same. After the top-level of management comes the managers
who are responsible for the different areas such as decorations, hiring of catering
services, hiring of bands, miscellaneous requirements.
The managers of the company will also be responsible to look after the works of
the staff who are engaged in arrangements. They are to judge whether everything is in
order and appropriate. The next level of employees consists of the technicians who are
responsible for the lights and fireworks arrangements in case of a night party. The
lowest level forms of the staff employees who are basically support staffs (Schneider et
al., 2014). As per the plan of the management, the suppliers of the input for the
business will be from locals. In case of wedding, flowers are necessary which will be
supplied by the lower flower arrangement shops. The costs will be depending on the
type of flower used and the quantity ordered.
Financial strategies
The business as per plan will be started by an initial investment from the owners
of Gatsby’s Party. The initial capital requirement as per the estimate of the management
will be of $ 490000. In addition to this the business will be also be taking a loan of $
600000 to coverup the entire start-up costs of the business (Bender, 2013). It is the
estimate of the management that the company will not be earning decent profits in the
first year. In the third year, the sales revenue of the company will increase by around
20% as per the estimate of the management. Therefore, the profits of the business will
also be increasing in the third year as per management estimate. The statement of
profit and loss and the balance sheet of Gatsby’s Party as forecasted is given below:
(4) PROFIT AND LOSS
FORECAST
Preop
Year 2018 2019 2020
Revenue
$
5,00,000.00
$
5,50,000.00
$
6,05,000.00
Cost of sales
$
4,50,000.00
$
4,95,000.00
$
5,44,500.00

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Gross profit
$
50,000.00
$
55,000.00
$
60,500.00
Gross Margin 10% 10% 10%
Expenses/overheads
Salaries of Staff
$
5,000.00
$
5,000.00
$
5,000.00
Depreciation of Furniture
$
10,000.00
$
10,000.00
$
10,000.00
Supervisor's Salary
$
6,000.00
$
6,000.00
$
6,000.00
Rent of the Premises
$
15,000.00
$
15,000.00
$
15,000.00
Electricity
$
3,000.00
$
3,000.00
$
3,000.00
Interest on loans
$
2,000.00
$
2,000.00
$
2,000.00
Marketing and Sales cost
$
4,000.00
$
2,000.00
$
2,000.00
Total expenses/overheads
$
45,000.00
$
43,000.00
$
41,000.00
Profit before tax
$
5,000.00
$
12,000.00
$
19,500.00
Tax @ 20%
$
1,000.00
$
2,400.00
$
3,900.00
Profit after tax
$
4,000.00
$
9,600.00
$
15,600.00
Transfer to reserves
$
4,000.00
$
9,600.00
$
15,600.00
Balance Sheet
Assets 2018 2019 2020
Current Assets
Cash $ 5,00,000.00 $ 5,50,000.00 $ 6,00,000.00
Accounts receivable $ 4,00,000.00 $ 3,40,000.00 $ 4,60,000.00
Total current assets $ 9,00,000.00 $ 8,90,000.00 $ 10,60,000.00

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Fixed (Long-Term) Assets
Furniture $ 4,00,000.00 $ 4,00,000.00 $ 5,00,000.00
Equipments $ 3,00,000.00 $ 3,00,000.00 $ 3,00,000.00
Computer and appliances $ 2,00,000.00 $ 2,00,000.00 $ 2,00,000.00
(Less accumulated depreciation) $ -3,00,000.00 $ -3,50,000.00 $ -4,00,000.00
Total fixed assets $ 6,00,000.00 $ 5,50,000.00 $ 6,00,000.00
Total Assets $ 15,00,000.00 $ 14,40,000.00 $ 16,60,000.00
Liabilities and Owner's Equity
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable $ 2,00,000.00 $ 3,00,000.00 $ 3,50,000.00
Accrued Rent $ 50,000.00 $ 1,00,000.00 $ 1,50,000.00
Bank Charges Payable $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00 $ 40,000.00
Income taxes payable $ 60,000.00 $ 60,000.00 $ 60,000.00
Accrued salaries and wages $ 20,000.00 $ 20,000.00 $ 20,000.00
General Expenses $ 30,000.00 $ 30,000.00 $ 30,000.00
Total current liabilities $ 4,00,000.00 $ 5,50,000.00 $ 6,50,000.00
Long-Term Liabilities
Long-term debt $ 6,00,000.00 $ 6,00,000.00 $ 5,00,000.00
Less: Loan Repayment $ -1,00,000.00 $ -2,00,000.00
Total long-term liabilities $ 6,00,000.00 $ 5,00,000.00 $ 3,00,000.00
Owner's Equity
Owner's investment $ 4,90,000.00 $ 3,75,000.00 $ 6,90,000.00
Net Profits $ 4,000.00 $ 9,600.00 $ 15,600.00
Reserve and Surplus $ 2,800.00 $ 3,800.00 $ 4,400.00
Total owner's equity $ 4,96,800.00 $ 3,88,400.00 $ 7,10,000.00
Total Liabilities and Owner's Equity $ 14,96,800.00 $ 14,38,400.00 $ 16,60,000.00
Start Up Expenses for 2018
Start-up Expenses
Fixed Costs Particulars Amount
License cost $ 5,000.00
Rent of premises $ 15,000.00
Electricity $ 3,000.00
Salaries of Staff $ 5,000.00
Marketing and sales cost $ 18,900.00

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Office equipment $ 3,500.00
Total Fixed Costs $ 50,400.00
Average Monthly Costs
Rent $ -
Interest on loan $ 2,000.00
Total Average Monthly Costs $ 2,000.00
x Number of Months: $ 12.00
Total Monthly Costs $ 24,000.00
Total Startup Expenses $ 74,400.00
Start-up Assets
Sources of funds
Owners Fund $ 4,90,000.00
Total Owner Funding $ 4,90,000.00
Loans
Bank Loan $ 6,00,000.00
Other
Total Loans $ 6,00,000.00
Total Startup Funds $ 10,90,000.00
Assets
Furniture $ 4,00,000.00
Equipment $ 3,00,000.00
Computer and appliances $ 2,00,000.00
Total Fixed Assets $ 9,00,000.00
Total Start-up Assets $ 19,90,000.00

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