Sometimes being a business owner is just no fun.
It’s so easy to plan tablescapes and peruse Pinterest for the next creative wedding idea, but to have a successful wedding planning business, you actually have to be invested in the day-to-day operations of your business. This goes beyond just helping a client plan their wedding. For most of us creative types, owing a business can be a real chore. We don’t like to talk structure or long-term strategy. We want the freedom to let our creative juices guide us. Most of us become wedding planners because we want to be in the driver’s seat of our own career. But the sad reality is that not only are we becoming a wedding planner, we are becoming a business owner. Business owner first, wedding planner second.
Wedding Planning Companies Must-Dos
Ugh, no fun at all. I find that wedding planners struggle with this concept not because they don’t want to be a business owner, but because they don’t know how to do it. It’s just not instinctual; it’s something that has to be worked at. To be a sound business we need to take a 360-degree approach at growing our wedding planning business. This means we need to look at both the past and present of our business’s metrics. The end of the month is a great time to reflect on the health of our business. It’s also the perfect time to set goals and get everything nice and tidy for the month ahead. Today I’m going over my top 7 must-dos that every wedding planning company should do at the end of every month.
1. Bookkeeping
The number one thing I do at the end of each and every month is my bookkeeping, and I highly recommend that you do this as well. Keeping your books healthy and in order will save you so much trouble when tax season comes. You should be looking at your profit-and-loss sheet every month. I like to use Wave to help me keep track of my transactions. It’s a free accounting software program that is connected to my business banking account so I can go through the month’s expenses and categorize them to make sure everything is balanced. At the end of the year, I’ll print out a profit-and-loss sheet and hand it to my accountant.
2. Track Your Metrics
You should be tracking your business metrics as well. Make it a point to record all your numbers at the end of the month. This includes things like your website stats, your social media stats, and your booking stats. The things that are important to you, you should be tracking and evaluating at the end of the month. Google Analytics is a great tool every wedding planner should be utilizing in their business. The best part? It is totally free to use!
3. Set Targets & Goals for Next Month
So not only is it important for you to look at where you’ve been and what you’ve done, you also need to look forward to the next month and set goals. If you are wanting to update your website or launch your website, you want to set goals for these things. Need help with this? Check out our Wedding Business Goals Workbook. Goal-setting is an integral part of any business strategy.
4. Follow-Ups
Next, make sure you follow up with everyone you need to follow up with. Networking is a huge part of starting a wedding planning business. So you might want to follow up with vendors that maybe fell through or follow up with past clients—not necessarily getting clients and booking clients, but maybe clients that decided not to book with you. Maybe you want to take this time and ask them why.
5. Planning Next Month’s Social Media
All wedding planning companies should have a plan for the following month’s social media posts. I’m a huge advocate for batching, and the end of the month is a great time to plan out your social media content for the month ahead. I always think that blogs are a great place to start, because you can break those blogs up into little posts for Facebook or Instagram. To create a blog plan, maybe look at questions you’ve been asked by your current brides and write articles on those topics. Look at fun dates like National Pie Day or Donut Day for content ideas that might also bring in some engagement.
6. Automate or Delegate
Let’s make your life simpler and more streamlined by creating a workflow. The end of the month is the perfect time to think about things you could automate. Maybe you find yourself writing the same email over and over. That would make a great email template for setting up in your CRM system. Or maybe you can delegate a certain job to a VA. A job that you find grueling or tedious and sucks up your precious time. Delegating to a VA can help you free up your time so you can work “on” your business and not “in” your business. At the end of the month, reflect on what you can automate and/or delegate.
7. Celebrating Milestones of the Month
The last thing I want to talk about is to make it a point to celebrate all of your milestones that you hit this month. All wedding planning companies should do this. It’s really easy to get down on ourselves for not hitting certain goals, but I am confident that there has been at least one thing you’ve done this month that deserves to be acknowledged. Let’s celebrate that accomplishment by taking yourself out to lunch, buying that pair of shoes you’ve been eyeing up, or maybe even treating yourself to a spa day (if it was a goal-breaking accomplishment, why not!). Being a business owner is challenging, and you deserve something nice for being here and doing the work!
Last Words for Wedding Planning Companies
When a wedding business fails it’s often because the wedding planner didn’t quite grasp the daily obstacles of business ownership. Make no mistake, a failing business does not mean you are a bad wedding planner. You can be an amazing wedding planner who just doesn’t understand business operations. Make it a point to reflect on your business each and every month so you can start getting intimate with it. Even if you’re not understanding your business clearly right now, keeping an eye on the health of your business will help you create a strategy to improve any shortcomings later down the road. The Wedding Business Goals Workbook can help make sure your goals are intentional and achievable. This workbook is designed specifically for wedding planners. Get your copy today and get started setting those goals!
