Instructions

How to open your own wedding agency from scratch? Wedding salon from scratch: stages of the process and approximate costs Premises and staff

Wedding as a business is a relatively young trend in the service sector, but it is rapidly gaining momentum. Every year, an increasing number of marriages are registered, and each time the newlyweds want to spend less and less time organizing the celebration. To do this, they turn to specialists who are ready to take on all the troubles. The wedding business today is in high demand, despite significant competition, minimal risks and low entry costs. We will learn where to start and how to organize everything correctly from the following business plan.

Direction

Where to start a wedding business - by looking for a direction. Today, newlyweds are interested in every little detail, so it’s worth deciding what exactly the wedding agency will offer to clients.

The first option is organizing a wedding celebration and accompanying it. The tasks of such an agency include finding those who are ready to provide wedding services for newlyweds - photographers, hosts, car rental shops or hall decorations, etc.
The second option is to provide these services yourself.

From a capital intensity point of view, the least expensive option is the first option. The organizer will only need to independently search for those companies whose services meet the budget and requirements of the newlyweds. Let's consider this option in this business plan.

Registration

Like any business, an agency requires registration. It is enough to register an individual entrepreneur to save on tax reporting. This type of activity does not require licensing.

Room

The need for premises is always a question for the future organizer. On the one hand, this wins customers over and inspires trust. On the other hand, these are additional costs, because the organizer will need furniture to receive clients and a pleasant interior design. At the same time, no one forbids holding meetings with future newlyweds in a cafe.

If the entrepreneur has enough funds to rent and equip the premises, then he should look for an office in the center, in a place with good traffic. It is best to choose a location near potential partners - wedding fashion or accessories stores.

Services and partners

Clients must have a clear list of standard services:

searching for a venue for a celebration;
car rental;
selection of wedding dresses;
host and DJ services;
organization of video and photography.

Partners

It is important to find companies that provide the above services at reasonable prices, but with high quality. In the future, with constant cooperation, suppliers of goods and services will provide discounts. Good connections in the wedding business are the key to success. This will allow the organizer to work clearly and quickly.

Promotion

Non-standard design of a wedding celebration and word of mouth are the best advertising

In this business, it is important to create a reputation for yourself and gain customer support, since word of mouth is one of the most effective advertising methods for a wedding agency.

It is worth paying attention to modern technology, since today a potential bride will search for information on the Internet before deciding to go anywhere in person. Your own website or wedding portal, where over time your partners will begin to post information about themselves and their partners, is a profitable investment. In the absence of sufficient capital to organize a high-quality Internet resource, it is recommended to start disseminating information on social networks. Former clients will also contribute to this if they were satisfied with the service.

Customers will be attracted by advertising in a printed wedding catalogue, which is usually distributed to future newlyweds when submitting an application to the registry office. Placing in colored gloss is not cheap, but is guaranteed to give positive results. Mandatory costs – production of business cards.

Costs and payback

The main costs in this business:

registration of individual entrepreneurs – from 5,000 rubles;
premises rental – from 10,000 rubles;
advertising - about 30,000 rubles.

If necessary, you can avoid any costs by leaving only the legal registration. The formation of the cost of wedding agency services is calculated from the costs of the contractor’s services, plus the “cheat” of the organizer. It is worth taking into account the prices of competitors' services.

Experienced organizers advise not to advertise to the client information about discounts that contractors provide for their services. This is worth doing if the client himself asks for a reduction in costs. Thus, the organizer will make additional advertising for his services, showing himself as an experienced specialist in the field of wedding business. This will create additional trust, and the bride will definitely recommend such a specialist to her friends in the future.

Every year it becomes more and more difficult for young entrepreneurs to squeeze into any serious niche. You need to act quickly and decisively so as not to miss your chance. Especially when it comes to organizing weddings as a business. Where to start and how to succeed in this wonderful and feminine way of earning money? You will learn all the useful information after reading our article.

Directions

So, if you decide to open a wedding business, then first of all you should decide on the basic services that the so-called wedding agency will provide. The choice here is quite wide:

rental and sale of dresses;
selection of restaurant and wedding menu;
wedding decoration;
ordering and decorating a car;
registration or ordering a bouquet;
organization of an outdoor ceremony;
selection of toastmaster, DJ, artists;
printing and sending invitations;
ordering a photographer and video shooting;
fireworks, chocolate fountains and other services.

All these events together, as a rule, are called “turnkey wedding organization”, i.e. a kind of all inclusive for clients who do not have the time or desire to prepare on their own. However, most often the organization of a celebration as a business is identified with the decoration of the hall. Perhaps you need to start with this, and only then take on all the other tasks little by little.

Premises and staff

Organizing weddings is considered a business without large investments, since in essence you are an intermediary between customers and performers. In any case, you cannot do without a stylish small office of 10-20 sq.m. Clients must understand that they are dealing with a serious company. It is advisable to rent or purchase premises in the city center, in areas with high traffic. A good option would be to rent on the first floors of a large business center.

As for personnel, you will need one or two assistants in the role of account managers and a visiting accountant. You will have to collaborate with photographers, makeup artists, fashion designers, artists, florists and designers, and this is one of the most difficult moments in this business. It is necessary to develop a base of the best specialists who will set their prices for services. Your task is to agree on the amount with the wedding customer, taking into account the markup for organizing your celebration.

Of course, to open a business organizing weddings, you cannot do without registration. You can register your activities as an individual entrepreneur or LLC. Each option has its pros and cons. An individual entrepreneur is easier and cheaper to get, while an LLC enjoys greater trust among customers and performers. In addition, such registration is preferable if you cooperate with legal entities.

We count profits

How much can you earn from organizing a wedding business? First, let's calculate one-time and monthly expenses. So, you will have to spend about 150,000 rubles on the purchase of furniture and office renovation, registration and advertising (website creation, signage, business cards, etc.). These are one-time startup costs. Every month you will need to allocate funds for renting premises, staff salaries and advertising of the agency. You will allocate approximately 100,000 rubles for all this.

As for income, it should be noted that the payback of the wedding business is about 3-12 months, profitability is 50%. In this case, everything will depend on what time of year you open the business. Remember that the peak of weddings occurs in the summer - early autumn, the most unfavorable time is winter. For organizing wedding events you can claim 10% of the total amount. Let’s assume that you organize 5 weddings a month for 300,000 rubles, from these celebrations you can get 150,000 rubles. We subtract monthly expenses and get 50,000 rubles of net profit.

Wedding agency business plan you can download from our partners!

Now you know the basic information about where to start and how to succeed in organizing weddings as a business. Remember that this is an interesting, but very responsible job. Customers trust one of the most important events in their lives in your hands. Seeing gratitude in the eyes of the newlyweds is the most valuable thing, so don’t let them down!

Finally, we suggest you watch the video about the success story of a wedding planner:

Useful

How to open an online store for wedding accessories – relevance of the idea + features of business registration + 7 steps of project implementation + main points to pay attention to.

Initial investment: from 325,000 rubles
Payback period: 8-10 months

The wedding business is quite an expensive business...

Just purchasing dresses and suits is worth it.

In addition, it is only beneficial in large cities, where to achieve success you need to stand out from your competitors.

But you can take a less expensive, but still interesting route, and sell accessories, which are also an important part of such a holiday.

By opening, you will not only choose a niche worthy of doing business, but will also make the lives of future newlyweds easier, because they will be able to order the wedding attire and decor attributes they need in one place.

Also, this business option will appeal to those who create wedding accessories with their own hands, but still cannot understand how to proceed.

The relevance of the idea of opening an online store for wedding accessories

A wedding is one of the main holidays in the lives of many people...

The provision of services has long been practiced in Western countries.

In our country, this industry is just developing, but quite dynamically, and more and more couples prefer to trust professionals who take on the organization and design of the ceremony.

What are we talking about?

Moreover, nowadays a lot of attention is paid to organizing weddings, and a lot of money is spent on it.

And regardless of whether future spouses involve specialists or not, they will have to take into account such an important expense item as the purchase of accessories. Not a single love holiday would be complete without them, because these small details create a certain atmosphere and set the mood for the holiday.

Customers who will shop in your online store for wedding accessories are unlikely to become regulars, but it is a fact that the number of couples who have decided to legalize their relationship is constantly increasing.

By choosing the path of online sales, you get a chance to expand your sales market and work not only in your city.

Weddings take place not only in big cities, but small and medium-sized cities lack a choice of accessories, so an online store is a way out for them.

Another important detail is that you do not have to rent retail space for a store somewhere in the city center, make repairs to it and purchase commercial equipment.

The main expenses will be the purchase of goods, creation of a website and its promotion.

1) How to register your online wedding accessories store?

The first step when starting any business (after writing detailed information) is to register it. This procedure will be similar to opening a stationary store, because you do not need to obtain any additional permits or licenses.

So, before opening an online store for wedding accessories, you must decide on the form of ownership - individual entrepreneur or LLC.

To do this, we invite you to familiarize yourself with the following registration features that will help you decide:

2) Assortment of online store for wedding accessories.

Only newlyweds and those who sell wedding accessories understand their importance and can appreciate how vast this category of goods is.

And it is important for the client that they are all collected in one place, so that nothing is forgotten in the pre-holiday bustle.

So, wedding accessories can be divided into the following categories:

Accessories for the bride and groom:

bijouterie;
handbags;
garters;
tiaras;
headbands;
boutonnieres;
cufflinks

Banquet hall decor:
- glasses;
- champagne bottle decorations;
- Garlands;
- Balloons;
- seating cards;
- candles;
- boxes for money.
Car decorations:
- ribbons;
- magnets;
- stickers.
Other accessories:
- invitations for guests;
- towels;
- locks of love.

As you may have noticed, the number of product categories is quite large, and in your online store you should offer a wide selection of accessories so that future clients can find something that suits their wedding style.

3) Renting a warehouse and searching for suppliers for a wedding accessories store.

Many people want to open an online store because they do not need to rent a separate premises. But if you look forward, having your own separate warehouse is not only practical, but also convenient.

Firstly, you are unlikely to want to store goods at home, and secondly, in addition to delivery throughout the city and regions, you can organize pickup.

In this case, look for suitable premises in populated areas, near metro stations or near landmarks familiar to all residents of the locality.

Do you need a separate office? No, in the rented premises you can organize a special room for operators who will receive and send orders.

The next step is to find suppliers. Modern conditions offer several options for how this can be done:

Internet;
specialized exhibitions;
thematic forums;
newspapers.

For the first case, just type in “wholesale wedding accessories” in the search. Review several options, paying special attention to prices, delivery methods, and the ability to preview products.

But at various exhibitions we can find those who sell handmade wedding accessories.

It would be nice to collaborate with them and make a separate section for their products marked “hand-made”.

4) Creation of a website for an online store of wedding accessories.

So, you have decided on the assortment, found suppliers, equipped a warehouse, this means that it is time to create the wedding accessories itself.

You can take the easiest path - register an account on a social network (VKontakte, Instagram) and start online sales there. They also have their place, but today we are talking about creating a full-fledged website.

It’s up to you to decide whether to turn to specialists or use your own strength, armed with textbooks on web mastering. But we still recommend trusting professionals whose work will be noticeable even to the clients of your online store.

In any case, the list of actions will be as follows:

Website creation
There are three ways:
- develop it yourself
- rent a ready-made online store. Costs in this case will be about 10,000 rubles per month.
- contact web studio specialists. Their work will cost from 10,000 to 60,000 rubles. The cost of the work will depend on the complexity of the design.
Site content
So, all goods are in your warehouse.
First of all, you need to take high-quality photographs. After all, wedding accessories perform a decorative function, so you need to be able to present them to customers.
In order not to transport goods back and forth, you can invite a photographer who will shoot all the material right in the warehouse.
Each wedding accessory must have a brief description.
It would also be a good idea to create some kind of greeting on the site to familiarize customers with the assortment of your online store.
Connecting payment systems
We will devote the next section of our article to this issue.
But in any case, you must give your customers a choice to pay for their order.
Here you need to resort to various methods, again we’ll talk about them a little later.

5) Website promotion.

Clients are purposefully looking for an online store for wedding accessories. But this does not mean that you should not do anything to promote your site.

To get started, contact specialists who will help you get promoted, and for this the following methods are used:

Specialists will be able to fine-tune the settings so that the targeted customers click on the advertisement.

It would be nice to have your own pages on .

Most often, unmarried girls aged 20 years and older search for them.

SEO optimization

Thanks to key queries, you can promote your online store of wedding accessories to the first 10 or 20 in the search.

6) Personnel search.

In order for the online wedding accessories store to function smoothly, you will need to select the following personnel:

At first, the responsibilities of a manager, accountant and purchasing manager can be assumed by the owner of an online store for wedding accessories.

By independently monitoring these processes, you can know for sure how things are going and immediately identify weaknesses in the business on the spot.

7) Selecting a payment and delivery system for orders.

Let's find out how the population of our country prefers to pay when ordering goods on the Internet:

Even though the number of bank card holders is constantly increasing, it is still more convenient for our consumers to pay in cash.

Even with such a dynamic development of online shopping, many customers still do not trust online stores.

In any case, for the convenience of customers, you need to provide several payment methods:

Payment method	Description
Required payment methods
Cash upon receipt	The courier delivers the goods to the buyer, who inspects it and pays. If the courier is “your own”, then a cash register is required. If you use the services of third-party courier services, then you do not need a cash register.
C.O.D	If you plan to deliver wedding accessories outside your city, then you cannot do without cash on delivery. Its meaning is that the client receives the parcel at the post office and pays for it there. Of course, the money will take a long time to come to you, but without this method you may lose potential buyers.
Using a bank card (acquiring)	The most profitable option for receiving payment for the seller. The money goes straight into his bank account. The only drawback of this method is the commission that you need to pay to the bank.
Desired payment methods
Electronic money	To do this, you need to register corporate e-wallets, and also not work on free hosting. The main advantage of this payment method is the instantaneous receipt of funds.
Bank transfer	Not the most popular method, but especially distrustful buyers will still prefer it to paying with a bank card. You will simply be required to issue an invoice to the client, who must pay at the nearest bank branch, after which the funds will be credited to your account.

When it comes to delivering packages with wedding accessories to clients, it all depends on your ambitions.

If you want to work “on site”, then you can hire your own courier or use the services of courier services.

Again, you can organize pickup in your city. The client makes a pre-order, you, in turn, provide him with information about the availability of the goods he is interested in, he comes to your office and picks up his order.

But if you want to get customers throughout the country or some regions, then you will have to cooperate with the post office. Naturally, delivery costs will fall on the shoulders of customers of the online wedding accessories store.

When an online wedding accessories store starts operating, testing the waters can only be done at the local level.

Firstly, this will allow you to avoid making too large batches of purchases, and secondly, you will carefully study the demand and seasonality of the business.

What wedding accessories can be sold in an online store?

They talk in detail about the necessary things at the seminar for brides!

How much does it cost to open an online wedding accessories store?

Now let's move on to the burning issue regarding the financial component of the business.

The most significant cost items when opening an online store for wedding accessories are the services of a web studio and the purchase of the first batch of goods. So get ready to have $5,000 - $6,000 available.

Also have a reserve in reserve for unforeseen situations.

Expense item	Amount, rub.
Total:	from 325,000 rub.
Business registration	up to 10,000
Web studio services for website creation	from 10,000 to 60,000
Domain and hosting for a year	2 000
Warehouse rent for the first month	20 000
Office setup	50 000
Purchase of the first batch of goods	from 80 000
Photographers Service	up to 8,000
Filling the site with content	from 3,000 to 6,000
Advertising	from 30 000
Payment of the first salary to staff	95 000
Internet and telephone connection	7 000
other expenses	10 000

As for the payback of an online store for wedding accessories, the average markup on goods is 80-100%. Therefore, with a successful start, the business will be able to pay for itself in 8-10 months.

Finally, I would like to say about the following details:

Do not use borrowed texts to fill the site; control the uniqueness of the written product descriptions.
When deciding to hire your own courier or accept cash during self-pickup, make sure you have a cash register.
Along with the sent parcel, the seller is obliged to send a document containing information about the product, the timing of its return and the client’s rights.

Having opened your online store for wedding accessories, develop it, work on the quality of service and pay due attention to advertising, because you will be constantly looking for new clients.

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Opening your own business always involves certain risks. Therefore, novice entrepreneurs try to carefully choose an idea for creating their own company.

Currently, such a trend as launching your own wedding salon is becoming increasingly popular.

Opening a salon is a profitable business idea, since a wedding is one of the main holidays in life for most people. Accordingly, people are ready to spend a large amount of money on its organization.

The relevance of the opening of the establishment is explained by the fact that the bride’s dress is one of the central accents of such a large-scale event. Buying a dress is often the most expensive investment. The advantages also include:

High profit from the sale of one dress.
Stable demand, not so dependent on seasonality.
Relatively short payback period.
A large number of clients.
Despite the high competition in this market, it will not seriously affect the organization of the business, since brides prefer to go to several salons and ultimately choose the most suitable dress (and not the most beautiful or popular store).
Small investment in starting a business.

Among the disadvantages, one can highlight the riskiness of organizing such an enterprise, since in the absence of a competent approach (especially in choosing dresses), you may never achieve payback. At the same time, the risks can be compensated by gradually developing the salon into an agency that will not only help the bride choose a dress, but also organize the entire wedding.

An interesting interview with the owner of such an establishment can be seen in the video:

Salon formats and services provided

In fact, the formats of such establishments differ in price category. So, there are 3 main types:

A store selling exclusive outfits at high prices.
Salon of dresses sold at an average price.
A store that sells the cheapest options.

In addition, salons are divided into those that only sell dresses, and those that are ready to provide additional services. Typical services include the following:

Sale of wedding and evening dresses (including for children).
Rental of outfits.
Sale of accessories to complete the look.
Hall decoration services.
Creating hair and makeup for the bride.
Conducting pre-wedding manicure and pedicure sessions.
Ironing men's suits.
Selection of a photographer for the celebration.
Organization of wedding video shooting.
Additionally, salons can provide any services related to organizing a celebration - from thinking through the theme and preparing invitations to discussing the menu and organizing a wedding tour.

It is important to understand that initially it is more profitable for an establishment to attract its first clients and then expand the range of services offered, otherwise it may turn out that a novice entrepreneur will invest a large amount of money, which will pay off for a long time.

Registration of an enterprise

In order for the salon to begin functioning, it is necessary to register the company and prepare all the necessary documents. So, there are two suitable forms of organization - an individual entrepreneur and a limited liability company.

To create an establishment you need the following documentation:

Constituent documents.
Statutory documents.
Registration certificate.
Certificate from the tax office of registration.
If you rent a premises, you will need certificates from the sanitary-epidemiological station, documents related to the fire department, and certificates from utility services.
Finally, in some cases, permits are required for the use of certain types of advertising.

Choosing a location and decorating the premises

Location is one of the key factors in how many customers a company will have. The room must have a fairly large area, because wedding dresses are large in size and take up a large amount of space. The following factors are no less important:

It should be possible to hang dresses in the room in such a way as to give the client a comfortable view.
There should be a comfortable fitting room with large mirrors.
The total area should be at least 40-50 square meters.
It is possible to have a separate room for storing dresses.
It is important to pay attention to the interior - it should be light, unobtrusive and inviting to purchase.

Regarding location, the following factors must be considered:

The place should be crowded and visited (as an option, it is possible to organize a salon in a shopping complex).
In a small town, it is best to ensure a location on a fairly crowded main street.
When opening, you need to focus on the rental cost (at least at the initial stage).
It is imperative that the premises have convenient access for cars.
It is advisable to have parking.

The range of dresses is a key factor for achieving success and attracting customers. So, in order to gain the trust of customers:

All outfits must be of good quality.
Dresses should be presented in different styles to suit different tastes.
The supplier company should have a fairly long period of work on the market, since this allows it to better navigate the models that are in greatest demand.
It is advisable to clearly define the countries that produce the dresses, since they all differ in cost, quality and other parameters. The choice is made based on the positioning of the salon.
It is necessary to study the policies of competitors in the market and identify their shortcomings.
Compare working conditions with different suppliers.
Determine the minimum quantity that can be ordered.
It is advisable to pay attention to the frequency of collection updates from suppliers.

In total, to start, it will be enough to purchase from 20 to 30 dresses, the price of each of which ranges from 5 to 8 thousand rubles. Accordingly, it will be necessary invest from 100 to 240 thousand rubles on the purchase of wedding dresses.

Ways to attract clients

To quickly achieve payback, the owner of the establishment needs to take care of its advertising. Only then will it be possible to attract potential clients.

First of all, a new company needs to create a high-quality own website. If in some cases independent development is acceptable, then in the case of a wedding salon it is better to turn to specialists. At the same time, you need to carefully think through the content of the site. It is desirable that it contains not only a description of the range of services provided, prices and a photo gallery, but also useful articles related to organizing weddings or grooming the bride during the pre-wedding period.
Can be used for advertising services of specialized wedding portals, which post information about new agencies. Since the vast majority of couples begin to prepare for their wedding in advance, the Internet is the main channel for finding clients.
The registry office often distributes specialized publications, which are aimed at such target audience as brides and grooms. Accordingly, this channel for attracting customers is also effective and not too expensive. When choosing a publication for publication, it is important to understand what circulation and how often it is published, its popularity and lifespan, as well as how many and which salons place their advertisements in it.
Finally, since, according to statistics, the majority of couples getting married are under 30-35 years of age, a channel for attracting clients can be social media. It is necessary to create establishment groups in various networks and competently fill and promote them. It is advisable to organize competitions and promotions from time to time.

Profit level, total costs and payback period

The main cost item is renting premises and carrying out its renovation. In most cases, rent must be paid several months in advance.

Moreover, depending on the region of location, it can cost 30-70 thousand rubles per month.

Other expenses include the following:

Repair of the premises - about 50-100 thousand rubles (depending on its condition).
Purchase of necessary equipment and furniture – 60-80 thousand rubles.
Implementation of advertising campaigns – 10-20 thousand rubles per month.
Purchase of outfits - from 100 to 240 thousand rubles for the first batch.
The salary for the salesperson and administrator is about 90-100 thousand rubles.
Payment for additional services of hired specialists (they appear as the salon develops) - from 50 thousand rubles per month.

You can see that start-up costs are significantly lower than in other areas of business. At the same time, you can make money by selling dresses and renting them out up to 250 thousand per month, and another 100-150 thousand on additional services. If the salon dares to expand the range of services and take responsibility for the full organization of the wedding, the level of income will increase even more.

At the very beginning of operation, the profit will be somewhat less, since the establishment must be promoted. Accordingly, the payback period will be about 1.5-2 years.

Thus, organizing a bridal salon is a profitable business that is best suited for a girl entrepreneur. If you have taste and a certain acumen, the establishment will be able to quickly gain a reputation and gradually increase prices for its services, expanding their range. This will distribute risks and significantly increase profitability.