Maximizing Your Bottom Line [Doing it for the money] Is it worth it?

Maximizing Your Bottom Line

Let's be real for a moment, everyone wants to make the most amount of money for the least amount of effort,  right? I am going to share my top tips of how I was able to maximize my bottom line, by taking less business and working smarter not harder. 

Taking Whatever Money Comes In

I think it is natural in any new business to just take whatever business comes our way. After all, we are in business to make money, so, when it comes our way, we are excited to take it. When a client books us it gives us a feeling of excitement, it is a compliment and a confirmation that we are worth the investment.  It is a really good feeling.

While we are in the process of building our business, we can get stuck by trying to perfect our marketing strategy and focus on getting business that we just get in a cycle of taking whatever comes our way.  This is where the problem comes in because we aren't choosy enough and take events that stress us out and make us want to get out of the business, take less, or have different types of clients. 

I wish I could tell you which clients to take and which to turn down, but for each Planner/Coordinator, what comes easier for one, maybe hard for another.  While I have no problem taking multiple consecutive day corporate events, multiple consecutive day weddings are another story. I just don't have the energy to keep up with the emotions of the weddings. I love taking lower to mid-range budget weddings, but don't love big-budget weddings. They really are not challenging enough for me.  I can see how many other Planners/Coordinators would love to take the events I would turn down and I think that is awesome, there are plenty of events for everyone to go around and each of us can choose what suits us best.

Although in the beginning of my career the scope of events I took was very broad because I really didn't know what I would love and what I didn't care for as much. So, over the years I needed to narrow the scope of the type of events I take.  Each season it seems I make that gap a little smaller. I tend to say, that client or event just wasn't worth the money knowing the work and time commitment it will take to satisfy the client and produce a great event.  Knowing what events or type of client to decline has come with typically painful, exhausting, or costly experiences that I want to limit in my future. 

Having A Choice

On the flip side, I have heard many Planners/Coordinators say, they never turn down money.  Hearing that really makes me think, it possibly might be because they don't have the option to turn it down. They need to take it because they don't have the ability to turn it away. What a terribly sad position to be in. 

I have been blessed to have the ability to choose from literally hundreds of potential clients each year. [If you are a member of our program, you have access to our marketing tips that will bring you the same results.] Having the ability to choose the clients I think I can service best allows me to maximize my bottom line.  It ensures I can choose the clients that I will enjoy planning their events, I am happy to invest my time, and will enjoy the process as well as the outcome.  

So, you may be wondering, how this helps me maximize my bottom line.  I will tell you a story that makes me chuckle every time I think about it. I went to a conference once with multiple speakers and there was a Planner that was speaking about how she manages 27 events each year.  When I heard her speak, I thought to myself, if I took 27 events each year, it would seem like I was on vacation. 

You see, at the time, I was planning around 100 events every year.  I didn't even realize it was a lot. Why? I loved every one of them.  Okay, true confession, I am sure there were 1 or 2 sprinkled in there that I didn't love, but  I really was enjoying them all.  If I took 25 events each year that were stressful or a struggle in any way, well, I certainly wouldn't take as many. So, it definitely affects your bottom line when you chose events or clients you love vs. just taking whatever comes your way.

 Conclusion

I have 2 main take-aways that I really want to emphasize.  #1 is when you come across difficult people or events, don't give up and throw in the towel, instead, analyze it to the point that you can recognize what you didn't like about it and avoid it in the future.  #2 If you take the events you don't want, it will stress you out and take up room in your schedule so, when your perfect event comes up, you may be booked.