Your home party and event planning business, planned from the first party.

1. The business

Plan, set up and run parties and events for people near you — any event someone wants to pay for. Write the plan and timeline, choose the theme and decor, book and manage the vendors, set up before guests arrive, run the day and tear down afterward. You don’t cook, pour or perform; you find and manage the licensed people who do. Begin part-time, on weekends, in your own town.

Positioning: Calm, organized and on time. Hosts hire a planner so they can enjoy their own party. Validate willingness to pay by quoting real events before buying more supplies.

2. What it takes to start

Use what you already own. Rent large items — tents, tables, chairs, linens in bulk — per event and pass the cost to the client until repeat work shows you should own them.

Excluded: A vehicle, a phone or computer, large rental inventory, financing costs, owner living expenses, and Annie’s setup or subscription fees. Add actual amounts before deciding how much funding is needed. The $600 reserve is part of startup cash, not a monthly expense.

3. Prices that pay for your time

Test offer, subject to local validation: $349.95 for a standard party package — planning meeting, theme and decor, vendor booking, setup, up to four hours of day-of coordination and teardown. Vendor costs are separate. Quote weddings, reunions and office parties by the hour after the first meeting.

Replace these allowances with your measured costs, actual processing fees and what you really pay a helper. Vendor costs — cake, food, rentals, entertainment — pass through to the client and are not in this table.

Break-even: Assume $250 in monthly fixed costs — $100 insurance, $75 phone, software and bookkeeping, $75 ongoing marketing. Covering that takes about 2 standard events a month. If each event takes 8 owner hours — meeting, shopping, setup, the day and teardown — and you value your own time at $20 an hour plus 8 hours a month of admin, covering everything takes about 9 standard events a month — roughly two a week. These figures exclude taxes and the startup investment, and they are not a prediction of how many events you will book.

Pricing rule: Set the fee to cover direct costs, a share of fixed costs, all of your time and a margin for the event that runs long. Quote your fee and the vendor costs as separate lines, take a deposit to hold the date, and put cancellation and date-change terms in writing. If clients will not pay that price, change the package or stop before spending more.

Your numbers

• Standard package price: ____________________
• Owner hours per event, measured: ____________________
• Costs per event, measured: ____________________
• Monthly fixed costs (actual quotes): ____________________

4. A repeatable event day

1. Confirm: Call every vendor the week before and again the day before. Confirm the time, the address and who to ask for.
2. Pack: Load from a written checklist — decor, tools, tape, scissors, extension cords, trash bags, a first-aid kit and water.
3. Set up: Arrive with time to spare. Set the room in the order of the plan and photograph it before guests arrive.
4. Run the day: Keep the timeline, meet each vendor, and handle problems quietly so the host doesn’t have to.
5. Tear down: Pack your kit, bag the trash, return rentals and leave the room the way you found it.
6. Close out: Send a thank-you, settle the final balance, log your costs and hours, and restock the kit.

Weather: For every outdoor event, agree on a rain plan in writing before you book it.

Written client terms: Cover what’s included, the planner’s fee, which vendors the client pays directly, the deposit, the payment schedule, and the cancellation and date-change terms. Don’t promise perfect weather or that every guest has a good time.

Before taking paid work: Register the business the way your state requires and confirm your tax obligations — sales tax on decor or rentals you resell differs from state to state. Ask an insurer about general liability and about using your vehicle for work. Book licensed vendors for alcohol service and catering. Rent bounce houses and other inflatables only from companies that meet your state’s rules — many states inspect them. Check with the venue or the city for permits for parks, large tents, fireworks and open flame.

Backup plan: Keep a second contact for every vendor type. If a vendor cancels, call the backup that day and tell the client.

5. Plan for the season

Parties follow the calendar. Decide now what the slow weeks look like.

6. Find and keep your first customers

• Plan one event for friends or family at cost and photograph it, with permission, for your portfolio.
• Leave cards with the venues, bakeries, rental shops and photographers you work with — they meet your next clients first.
• Give clients a simple page with the events you plan, the towns you serve, how pricing works and how to reach you.
• Ask satisfied clients for an honest review and permission to use it.
• Note each client’s birthdays and anniversaries and check in a month ahead.
• Track inquiries, quotes, booked events and money spent to find each paying client.

Start with a $100 launch marketing allowance. At five acquired paying clients, that would equal $20 per client; track actual results before increasing spend.

7. A 90-day launch plan

Growth gate: Aim for at least $20 per active owner hour after operating costs, and events delivered on plan, before buying bigger inventory or hiring regular help. These are proposed decision criteria, not predicted outcomes.

8. Build the plan with Annie’s

The local owner plans the events, owns the supplies and handles the clients. Discuss whether Annie’s will provide a business website, inquiry forms, local listings, marketing materials and setup guidance. When you start, your website is built around your own state’s rules. Exact deliverables, fees and ongoing support must be agreed in writing; this plan does not establish a package or franchise offer.

Fill these in before launch

• Owner / business name: ____________________
• Towns and neighborhoods you’ll serve: ____________________
• Kinds of events you’ll start with: ____________________
• Standard package and price: ____________________
• Your five vendors and their backups: ____________________
• Who helps on bigger events: ____________________
• Annie’s setup fee and monthly fee: ____________________
• Registration, insurance and tax setup confirmed: ____________________