If this is you then let s get down to business and swat some buzz words.

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1 Motivate 2018 Wedding Business Top Tips Thank you for taking a minute to download this handy ebook, I hope you will find it useful in your Wedding or small business and if you think you need any additional help in any of the areas mentioned or with something that hasn t been covered the drop me a line to book your As a professional business development consultant working for over 20 years, it is great that we are seeing a dramatic increase in recognising the need to improve professional skills from UK Small wedding business owners. Out of this recognition some fantastic things have happened but also no small amount of confusion, with seemingly everyone jumping on the expert band wagon it s become way too easy for a small business owner to follow the wrong people and potentially wrong advice. For the most part the concepts are there but just totally misunderstood which can leave you asking why you ve followed everything the Expert told you but nothings really changing? If this is you then let s get down to business and swat some buzz words. Motivate Wedding Business Top Tips Business Model What is a business model and do I need one? OK so you are a photographer, Videographer, Cake Maker, Planner or Venue Owner You know what you do? But do you know how to do it for a living? Sounds like a cheeky question but let s rewind that back to some basics that will help you define your model 1. What do you do 2. How do you do it 3. What is your time worth 4. How much does it cost you to run your business To say I m a wedding photographer is a great start, but to say I m a wedding photographer, I do wedding per year, I cover the whole of the UK and my standard of photography along with my pricing and branding place me in the middle to higher end of the wedding market. I understand my place in the market and understand that many photographers may wish to do a higher quantity of weddings but my clients choose me as an individual and perceive my brand as being desirable, most of my work comes from word of mouth and recommendation along with my photography being featured in many high quality, high value published photo shoots.. is much better isn t it

2 Ideal Client Now this is one of the biggest buzzwords of the wedding industry in 2018, if you haven t had at least one person ask you if you know whom your ideal client is then you are probably hiding under a rock. Now the reality is that 99% of the time everybody stops at step one and pats themselves on the back satisfied in knowing that you now your ideal client so here s a summary of all the steps to the ideal client concept 1. Identify who your ideal client is, forget needing to ask 50 questions, needing to know the colour of her socks or what cookery book she reads most but do focus on straightforward demographic profiling. How much do they earn, where do they shop, are they luxury brand focussed or value focussed, where do they live etc. 2. So now we have that information how do we use it, well we can make assumptions, carry out research or seek professional advice, but in essence we need to ensure our message is in the right place and appeals. University Educated Molly whom grew up in rural Suffolk, now works in London for Este Lauder is not going to be found on FB searching for Wedding Cakes under 100 but a well-placed elegant and stylish Pin or Insta Post or even an exceptionally styled photo shoot featured in a high profile blog will attract Molly s attention if the supplier brand match s the message. 3. So now you know who Molly is, we have even managed to get our product on to a highly sought after blog but here s the big thing. Branding and product are all important, if our branding doesn t appeal to Molly and our product is frankly not of the standard she is looking for then you are in trouble In short we kind of have ideal client backwards in the wedding industry, we start and finish at knowing the client, when in reality that is just the start of the branding process that ensures our business, our brand and our message are on que and that our product match s the expectation

3 Know your numbers do you know your Gross Profit from your Net Profit, your Direct costs from your Indirect Costs and what about your operating costs versus production costs? While definitely the least exciting part of being in the wedding industry, ultimately you mortgage company don t take passion as payment and therefore you need to know where you are at with this. You can start with a basic business plan, please stop running, a business plan needn t be scary, start off working out what you need to earn as a salary from the business each year, then add up all your annual business costs such as insurance and equipment. Look at what you offer and your price point for that offer. Divide the total of all your expenses and salary by the number of jobs you did last year. a. The answer is more or less than you are charging now well done all you need to do is ensure you get at least that many jobs next year b. Alternatively the answer is more than you charge now, That s bad news, you are effectively running at a loss, you need either more jobs or a higher average invoice value per job WELL DONE You ve just completed your first and most basic business plan

4 Micro- Mastery Is the ability of and the requirement for every small business owner to become an expert in all aspects of running their business, sounds daunting then Micro Mastery is for you. It s a method of learning multiple and different skills by undergoing a method of learning that sees you mastering new skills without even knowing it. With Micro Mastery you break up larger skills in to smaller chunks like pieces of a jigsaw until you have all the pieces and can see the bigger picture. One day you are setting up your first Instagram account but you hate this social media stuff, a month later you are in to a daily routine of posting. Then we discover the power of hashtags and how best to use them before getting to grips with insights and finally bringing all the pieces together to make you an Instagram master

5 The Dreaded Photo Shoot 2018 has seen a massive rise in the number of photo shoots being organised with some exceptional results. With Photo Shoots being primarily an opportunity to get your creative juices flowing, what can a business consultant have to offer in terms of advice, well actually I d like to think a fair bit. Photo Shoots tend to go one of 3 ways. 1. Someone has the idea to have a photo shoot, puts a shout out for volunteers and sets a date, everyone rocks up with their own ideas and concepts, there can be such a variation in the style and level of the shoot that some contributors come away from a disorganised day feeling despondent and with no intention or ability to share the end product as it wasn t on brand for them 2. Someone has the idea, the shout goes out and by some miracle of mishap and collaboration everybody gets a few great shots 3. In steps the Pro, it starts with an idea, mood boards are created, a theme is well defined, suppliers are carefully selected and approached that not only match the theme but that all work on a similar level, everything is geared towards the target media be it a specific blog or magazine. Work flows and production management come in to play, a schedule is created and everyone knows exactly what, where, when and how they are contributing to the styling. Which one would you rather be on? Don t jump just to be on a shoot, any shoot at any cost, if you value or are building your brand seek out those photo shoot opportunities that closely align to you and your market. SWOT Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats analysis Not sure where you are in your business journey? Start with a SWOT..! think about and list the following then create an action plan to deal with it. 1. Strengths What are the specific strengths of your business, this could be your branding, your business may be cash rich and ready to invest, you may have a product nobody else offers, it may simply be location? 2. Weaknesses location can be an obvious one, but what else, do you face logistical challenges, is managing time a problem for you? 3. Opportunities this could be a new venue on your doorstep, a new networking group or even a competitor going under 4. Threats what will get in your way, is your tax bill up to date, is a venue closing, is a national chain opening up near you? 5. Create an action plan

6 Thank you for reading this small selection of tips and advice, I hope you have found it useful and informative, if you would like to speak to me in more detail on any of the above or other aspects of your wedding business please feel free to drop me a line Copyright 2018 Motivate Business Development NOT for Redistribution Available for free download at All Rights Reserved