Have you ever tried planning any kind of function after setting up a budget and you find that your event budget is actually doing the planning for you?
When planning a corporate event in Uganda, it is exceedingly important that you aren’t overly pressured by a budget that takes your attention away from the event quality. But then again, you don’t want to be setting budgets that are hard to fund.
The only reason you’re here is because you already-or will soon-have an upcoming event that you’re beginning to plan for.
As mentioned in our Ultimate Guide To Corporate Event Planning, your event budget is one of the key steps when planning a professional function.
So today I’ll take you through the 5 steps to doing it the right way.
Here we go!
1. Max it Out!
Yes! Max it out completely. Drain your entire account and go bankrupt!
No, I’m only joking. By max-out I mean write down the absolute maximum you would be willing to spend on the event.
The key to getting this step right is to be really honest. Don’t pick an amount that wouldn’t make you feel anything if it suddenly *poofed* out of your bank account. At the same time, don’t think you’re Jeff Bezos-the richest man on Earth.
A helpful tip is to look at your previous expenditures on recent similar events, your max usually falls near these.
Be honest with yourself and pick your absolute maximum. Once done, we can hop on.
2. What Do You Need?
Ever made a shopping list? This is exactly like that.
Use your imagination to put yourself at the event and think of exactly how you’d want it to be then write down each and every resource you’d need to bring it to life.
The Venue, the lighting, the sound system, the catering, the decor-write it all down. This is what we’ll use to check that everything is properly accounted for.
Before you forget, make sure you include all the before-event and after-event requirements as well such as marketing costs and feedback collection.
3. Do Your Homework
Time to go back to school. Don’t worry though, this school is a six letter word that starts with a “G”, has two “O”s and ends with “LE”.
Google. Go ahead and start researching current market trends for all the things you plan to have at your event.
Find out how much florists charge to beautify your function, find out the catering charges, find out how much the venue would cost to hire.
Get all your homework done properly, and the rest of this process is easy-peasy!
4. Math Time
Having done the research, you’re now ready to do the math.
Exciting? Or were you never a math person in school? Regardless, it has to be done. So pick all the special service providers that have caught your eye, and start reaching out.
Aim to reach out to at least 2 different service providers per service. So if you’re looking for catering, reach out to two different catering companies and then pick the best one depending on cost, their experience, and quality.
Once you’ve chosen all your service providers and have all the costs, put it all into a calculator and there’s your budget.
Just make sure not to miss out on anything-even the smallest of services.
If it is below your maximum expenditure set in the first step, well done you can go on to the next. But if it exceeds your maximum budget, you need to reconsider your choices of services and providers to find cheaper alternatives.
But don’t confine yourself too much. If it’s only a little over your maximum, try to make do with it instead of downgrading services.
5. Bring In The Cash
Before you start throwing money around, you need to set a clear schedule so that you know when payments need to be made.
As you begin to fund your function, take time to set aside a small emergency fund. I recommend that you add about 5% more to your total budget under the title “Emergency Fund”. It could come in quite handy in the case of any last minute expenses.
Once all these are taken into consideration, you can start sourcing the funds and piling them up as you wait for the Big Day.
Some establishments like venues may require you to make a deposit beforehand but you’ll have all that in check if you’ve done your research well.
All Set!
There you have it-the 5 steps to creating an effective corporate event budget.
Follow through each step and you’re sure to have minimal hiccups as you put your corporate function’s budget together.
But hiccups almost always come when you do it alone.
That’s why some top brands in Uganda have chosen to invest in Tellit Events’ professional corporate event planning and management services every time that they have an event in mind.
See at Tellit Events, we prioritize execution with excellence and so you can rest assured that your plans are in perfectly capable hands, allowing you to sit back while we plan, arrange, set up, and manage your event.
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