Party Planning Setbacks: Worst Case Money Scenarios
When a party entrepreneur is involved in a party, so many ‘worst case scenarios’ come up: deliveries are not on time, food isn’t halfway ready and it’s hours before the party, the bride isn’t made up yet, the groom’s mom keeps following you around with a calculator, etc. So many little things that add to the stress of smiling all the time and making sure the guests feel welcome. With things this bad, it couldn’t get much worse right?
From an objective point of view, these aren’t bad situations at all. While you want to rip your hair out with all the frustration of people not following your directions faithfully, the fact is you ARE having a party, and cash will soon follow. My view of the worst things that could happen to a party planner includes…
Not having clients. Bills need to get paid, as you are just human, not a party planning genius robot who walks around all day doing preparations for others’ parties. Having one client each week pays for the bills for next month. This is how we live.
A party planner’s lifestyle is high maintenance (i.e. new clothes, new working capital each time, funds for further education on how to create a better party… etc), but a steady flow of clients and good word of mouth about you will pay for everything and more. But what if there’s drought in the party biz, and everyone’s hustling to get a slice of the pie that is your community’s social scene? How do you get the money during drought season?
There are more than a few party entrepreneurs who get trapped in the debt scene. Besides the high end lifestyle that is mandatory for success (“look like one to be one”), entrepreneurs rely on loans to get their businesses off the ground. It is recommended, though, that a party planner who managed to get over the cash trap explore the option to hire a debt consolidator to manage her debt while she work her butt off getting those parties done.
One other option is do-it-yourself credit consolidation. Sit down with your finances, and just sort through everything that is related to money in your home office. Which expenses need to go? Which luxuries can be pushed down the list? What are your spending priorities? When you have all these checked, you can start assessing how you can practice debt consolidation on your own. Being realistic about your debt:income ratio is the best way to start obtaining your financial goals.