8 Reasons Why Event & Catering Business Owners Fail

“Working yourself to an early grave pushing hors d’oeuvres is no way to live.”

You can have a wildly successful event business – or you can have a money-sucking nightmare. The choice is yours.

Whether you are just starting a catering business or event company, or you’re an old pro and you’re not having any fun (or enough income) this article will show you 8 ways to not grow your business – and some tips to help you achieve the success you want.

Here’s my take on why so many in the live event business work long, crazy hours and have little to show for it (and that include you … caterers, event planners, wedding planners, photographers, designers, decorators, entertainment, event services … did I miss one?).

• Not Thinking Right

The number one reason why event people fail at business is that they think of themselves as “wedding planners,” “event planners,” “party planners” or “caterers” but not business people. Thinking this way limits your ability to grow your company. If marketing, sales and money management are not your first priority your business will struggle. You’ll lose business to your business-minded competition.

Your top priority must be building a business. If you lack the skills needed to promote and manage a growing company – you can either develop these skills or collaborate with someone who has them.

• Stuck in a Rut

Are you a hack? I see too many event people who get out of the gate strong with bold and creative ideas and a few years later stall out. They’re happy with just rehashing old and boring ideas.

Innovation is one the core qualities of a successful event business owner. Don’t be content with the ideas that worked five years ago. Always look for the bigger, better idea.

How do you find exciting new ideas that will thrill your clients and build your reputation? The very best in the event and catering business are active members of trade associations and attend trade shows and conferences.

ISES (International Special Events Society) and ICA (International Caterers Association) are two outstanding groups to consider joining. However, don’t just join – be an active participant and leader.

Attend trade shows like those sponsored by BizBash, Catersource / Event Solutions. Subscribe to outstanding publications like BizBash, Special Events, Events Online, Catersource and Event Solutions.

• No Systems

It’s so easy to spend your entire day handling urgent tasks – at the expense of important ones. Yes, balancing your checkbook, ordering supplies, inspecting event sites – these are urgent tasks that must be done. Just don’t let them steal all your time away from growing your business.

Building a steady stream of new leads and creating a client base is more important than ordering new linens for that party next week – but marketing tasks don’t seem as urgent. In addition, if you’re more comfortable ordering supplies than picking up the phone to cultivate a new lead … well, that’s just what you’re likely to do.

Realize that your primary mission as business owner (remember – stop thinking like an event planner or caterer) is to create new clients. To do that efficiently you need systems. Systems to attract new clients, systems to make existing clients happy and systems to make sure all the nitty-gritty details get done.

• Marketing

When you turn on the lights in the morning and discover your to-do list is twice as big as it was yesterday – you tend to work on the easiest or the most time-sensitive things first. Marketing and selling event services is neither easy or time-sensitive. Many event people hate selling and are clueless about marketing. Therefore, they put it off.

It’s not that they’re lazy. Caterers work crazy long days and event planners tackle impossible challenges every day (and nights and weekends). It’s just so easy to get caught up in the day to day stuff.

Here’s another smart thing to do. Learn how to use free online tools to market your business. Download your copy of my free e-book,  More Clients Now.

Schedule one hour a week to think about your marketing and don’t let anything stop you from keeping that scheduled appointment. Use that hour to develop your marketing plan and task lists. Make those task the first thing you do everyday and soon business will pick up.

Be careful what you wish for – you may just get it.

• Poorly Defined Goals

I know a caterer who achieved her goal of “make more money,” and she’s miserable for it. She works 12 hours a day, seven days a week. She’s overweight, grouchy and heading for a divorce. By accomplishing a shallow and ill-defined goal, she got what she wanted – but whole bunch more she didn’t want.

An intelligent goal is essential to the success of your marketing plan, and more importantly your life. A better goal would be, “make more money by creating business systems that allow me to delegate and outsource so I can work 4 days a week … have a 3 week vacation … and have the option to sell my catering company for $2 million in 5 years.” Yes, it’s a more ambitious goal – but one many event people would love to achieve.

• No Strategy

What is your marketing strategy? When I ask my workshop clients this question, they’ll list off the things they do; advertise, yellow page ad, ad in the local paper, post-card mailers and so on. These are tactics, not a strategy. What’s the difference? I’ll let Seth Godin tell you;

Here’s the difference: The right strategy makes any tactic work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on executing your tactics perfectly.

Here’s the obligatory January skiing analogy: Carving your turns better is a tactic. Choosing the right ski area in the first place is a strategy. Everyone skis better in Utah, it turns out.

If you are tired of hammering your head against the wall, if it feels like you never are good enough, or that you’re working way too hard, it doesn’t mean you’re a loser. It means you’ve got the wrong strategy.

It takes real guts to abandon a strategy, especially if you’ve gotten super good at the tactics. That’s precisely the reason that switching strategies is often such a good idea. Because your competition is afraid to.

I help my clients develop marketing plans by helping them create and articulate marketing strategies. I don’t believe you should rely on a consultant to hand you a marketing plan – your business is too personal and important to use a fill in the blanks plan.

It’s important for you to identify your worthy and meaningful short-term and long-term goals. Figure out the “why.” Why you are in the (event, hospitality, wedding, event, catering) business. Then build a plan that fulfills that bigger vision.

• Selling Skills

Do you hate selling? Do you dread the idea of picking up the phone to try to talk a stranger into booking an event? How about schmoozing with knuckleheads at networking and business card exchanges? Do you enjoy putting on a phony smile and hard-selling people into handing over a large deposit for a party?

I hope you hate doing those things – and I hope you don’t do them! What I described above is not professional selling – but sadly so many new event people think it’s the way to do it. The day I stopped trying to sell the old way and discovered how to help people buy was a happy one. But, it wasn’t until I learned how to market that business became fun. When you market right, you don’t waste anytime talking to people who aren’t already “sold” on you. Learn how to sell and market the right way.

• Financial Controls

The event and catering industry attracts many “non-financial” and “non-analytical” types of people. The industry tends to draw in creative and social personalities – but only those who have or develop analytical and executive skills survive as business owners.

If you hate doing the books and can’t stand the operational side of the business, find others who can do it for you. Partner, outsource and delegate – but never abdicate your financial controls

• Employee Management

You probably know one or two business owners who pay and treat their employees poorly. They don’t like or trust their own employees and the feeling is mutual. The workers only do what they’re told to do and only if their activity is closely monitored. Turnover is high and clients don’t stay for long either. When the boss isn’t around, nothing good gets done.

A toxic employee-employer relationship can make the event business a drudge instead of a joy.

Remember, your employees are more important to your long-term success than any client is. Hire the best, take care of them and they’ll treat your clients like gold.

Don’t be greedy. Pay your team well and you’ll grow faster and bigger. Moreover, you’ll enjoy what you do.

• Burnout

Burnout is a very big cause for failure in any business – and very easy to do in the catering / event business.

Take care of yourself. Stop trying to do everything yourself. Instead, create systems that allow you to delegate and outsource or simply do things more efficiently.

Set realistic goals that include all aspects of your life. Working yourself to an early grave pushing hors d’oeuvres is no way to live. Make sure your business plan includes your vision of a good life.

Did I miss any of the causes for a business to flop? Have you made any of these mistakes? I’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment!

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