The work event you should start planning from January and why

The Christmas festivities are over, and we are now in the final quarter of the financial year.  After organising the work Christmas party, you were probably hoping now you could sit back and relax for a while.  But planning events takes a lot of time and attention.  There’s so much to consider and organise.  Your next big event is likely to be your end of year function.  Leaving the planning of this to the last-minute will not only cause you stress, but you could also lose out on booking your preferred venues and suppliers.  Here are four reasons why you should start planning your end of year function now.

Limited options

A lot of organisations book their events months, or even years in advance.  Leaving your event until the last-minute limits the options available for venues and suppliers.  If you want to secure a particular venue, you may find they’re already booked up or perhaps don’t have the size or times available that you need. 

The same goes for suppliers.  If you want to book a specific speaker, entertainer, event planner or decorator, they could also be booked out by the organisations that have already planned and booked their events. 

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Low attendance

If you’ve left the planning until the last-minute, the chances are you’ve also not advised your attendees of the date and may find they already have plans or personal commitments, such as childcare to consider.  This can lead to a poor turnout.  You’ll probably also be tied in on numbers at this point too so will have to pay for the delegates even if they can’t make it. 

The results – an unsuccessful event and poor return on investment.

Everything becomes more expensive

With a lot of companies and venues being booked up, it limits your options, but you’ll also find that a lot of things become more expensive nearer to the date when booking last-minute.  Suppliers tend to spread their bookings throughout the year.  They may be able to accommodate a last-minute request, however, to pull everything together at the last-minute adds extra hours and strain on them, so they will charge you for it!  This can lead to overspending of your budget or having to cut things out of your plans to accommodate the unexpected increases in costs. 

You won’t have time to think of everything

Time is a big aspect of why you shouldn’t organise an event last-minute.  If you’re rushing around, trying to pull an event together at the last-minute, it adds additional stress and strain to the organisation.  However, it can also mean that things get forgotten or missed.  You can find yourself thinking of the bigger things but then overlook the finer details.  The more time you have, the better to properly organise and plan every tiny detail of your event.

So, what do you need to be thinking about now for your year end function or next event?

When? 

Picking the date is one of the first things you should organise.  Will you hold it straight after the financial year?  Are there any other big commitments or meetings?  Does it clash with school holidays when some employees will be off?  What day of the week would work best?  During the week or weekend?  Will it be during the day or an evening?

Consider all the options before deciding on a date and it’s always a good idea to have a couple of potential dates if you can if you have a specific venue in mind.

How much?

Setting a budget is another very important aspect to planning your event.  Depending on the size of your budget, depends on the type of event you can hold, where and how many people can attend.  Speak to your finance department to gain an idea of budget or if it’s your first event, you could speak to an event organiser to ask for an approximate cost of how much should be budgeted per head.

What?

Will it be a formal cocktail celebration or a simple sit-down dinner and dance?  Would you have any team building exercises?  Are there any other meetings that need to happen around the event?

Who?

Is the event open to all employees or limited to certain departments?  Is there a rota of who attends each year?  Do you have remote or field-based staff?  How many employees will be invited?

Where?

Once you’ve decided who is going to come, it can then dictate where the event will be held.  If all employees are local and reasonably central to the offices, then picking somewhere fairly local is a good idea.  However, if you have employees who commute in from different areas or if you have field-based employees, it’s important to consider the logistics of how they would get to the event and home again after.  Would they need any overnight accommodate if travelling far?

If you’re looking for support in organising and running your next event but don’t want the stress or hassle then get in touch with VASS.  We have a team of experienced event managers who can take care of all the details, leaving you the chance to sit back, relax and enjoy!  Call us now on 020 3370 4075 to find out more.

How to stay on top of your annual budget

Budgets are more than just financial numbers in business. They are an important tool for providing information necessary to the running of your business. It allows you to clearly see what money is coming in, going out and where you can invest. Without a budget, you won’t appreciate or have a full understanding of your numbers which can be the hurdle stopping you from growing your business.

Here are our top tips on how to stay on top of your annual budget.

Plan A budget isn’t there to manage every single penny. It is designed to ensure there is always enough money for all the things we need to run our businesses effectively. It also allows us to look at future purchases and expenditure to grow and develop our businesses. Once you have created a budget, you can start to map out future purchases and forecast what sales you need to achieve to keep your budget on target.

Be realistic When creating your budget, it’s important to ensure it’s realistic. The best way to do this is by looking at past income and expenditure for the last few years. Start by analysing the results; what costs are fixed and inevitable? What things are likely to fluctuate over the years? Are there any plans for growth, ie taking on additional staff, that could impact on your budget? Using past results will help to create a realistic budget that’s easier to manage.

Know your business Do seasonal changes have a significant impact on your business? Do you find at certain times of the year things are very quiet or much busier? These are things that need to be factored into your budget. If you find the summer holiday period is quiet for new sales/leads, you could consider reducing your marketing budget for this period and investing more time and money after the period when things pick up again.

Prepare for the unknown As much as we can plan, there will always be factors of the unknown that we need to cover for. Changes in the economy, equipment failure, staff turnover; having a contingency in place for unexpected elements will reduce the impact if anything arises.

Adapt As with anything in life and business, you need to be able to adapt when needed. It’s the same with your budget. Rather than wait until the end of the year, revisit your budget regularly to review where you’re at and make any adjustments needed. You may find you need to tighten your belt or actually you have additional expenditure you can use or invest into the next financial year.

Analyse Once you have come to the end of the financial year, it’s time to carry out an analysis of your expenditure throughout the year. This will help you to develop your future budget. Are there things that you can cut out? Are there alternative options available at a reduced price? Do you need to bring in more sales? Has your turnover increased allowing you more finances to invest?

Don’t like managing the numbers? Remember you can always ask for help… It doesn’t matter whether you currently have a budget or not, if it’s in the positive/negative or you aren’t sure how to manage it effectively, here at VASS we can help. We support our clients in managing their budgets effectively, taking the stress and hassle out of worrying what money goes where and how best to keep track of your numbers.

Want to find out more? Why not arrange a free no obligation consultation by calling 020 3370 4075 and find out how we can take away the stress of managing your annual budget.

The Importance of Excellent Event Management

Planning an event can bring with it a lot of stress and strain. If you get it wrong, it can reflect badly on the company. It may seem an easy task to organise an event, but unless you are an experienced event planner, it’s very easy to overlook the simple things that are key to success. Here is what we believe are the most important things when it comes to excellent event management.

The detail It’s all the little things pulled together perfectly that makes for a successful event. Thinking about every aspect, from the little touches such as choosing a colour scheme, or even how the napkins are folded, all the way up to what venue to book and the theme. The key is in the detail and ensuring that everything is covered.

Plan early It’s never too early to start planning for an event. Even securing the date in the diary and booking out the venue will ensure the essentials are covered to start organising the rest of the event. Good venues and suppliers can be booked up far in advance, so if your mind is set on using a particular one, secure them early to avoid disappointment. As a guide, for a large event such as an awards evening, a gala or banquet, we would recommend planning at least 6 months in advance. If it’s a smaller event such as team training or a sales meeting, this can easily be achieved a month before.

Choosing the right venue The venue is one of the most important and the biggest chunks of your budget. You don’t want to just book any old venue because it looks nice, you need to think about the facilities available. How accessible is it, does it fit in with the theme of your event; ultimately can it bring your vision to life? Do you want something with character or a blank canvas to dress up?

But don’t forget about the facilities. Do they have catering on site? Will your delegates need accommodation? Does the venue have their own AV equipment or can you bring in a third party supplier? If you use the main restaurant for lunch, can they keep up with the size of your group with the rest of their expected guests? Is there ample parking available to your delegates and will this be an additional charge?

Timings and logistics The agenda will give people an idea of when things are happening, but you also need to think about all the bits going on before, in between and after the main event. What time does everything need to be set up? When does equipment and supplies need to be shipped? How long will delegates have for comfort breaks? How long before do you need to prompt speakers to be ready to take their place? What happens if someone overruns their presentation?

Timings are imperative and it’s a good idea to have a shadow agenda for the behind the scenes activities, so you know exactly what needs to happen and when. It’s also a good practice to allow for some buffer time. You don’t want the event to run behind as it puts everything else out. However, you also want to make sure you’re not too early that it affects things like when food is due to be served as the catering team might not be ready if you’re running 30 minutes ahead of schedule!

Rehearsal If you are organising a large event, it is valuable to have a run through of the event a couple of weeks before, if you can, and ideally at your chosen venue. This gives you the opportunity to physically walk through the day, from where everything is, where things need to be set up, how the day will run, if the timings you have set will work. Running through everything will highlight any issues and gives you time to correct them before the event itself.

Have a backup plan Plan for the unexpected. Things can and will happen so it’s important to be prepared with a backup plan on the chance that something might not go to plan. A speaker doesn’t turn up, a key piece of equipment goes missing. For key aspects, it’s worth assessing the risk of problems arising and how they can be tackled to reduce the impact on the event as much as possible. Is there someone else who can step in or an alternative piece of equipment that could be used, or should they be cut from the event altogether?

Hiring an event manager If this all seems a bit too much and is causing you to feel stressed and overwhelmed, then it’s worth considering hiring an events manager to deal with the logistics for you. Organising an event takes a lot of time and effort and hiring a professional event manager could be the very key to the success of your event.

Event managers have the experience and knowledge needed to get the job done. They have the attention to detail, they know what needs to happen, can easily map out what needs to be done and when, whilst juggling the twists and turns that come along the way. You may spend hours trawling through the internet for venues, caterers, performers, AV equipment, flowers, decorations etc etc, but an experienced event manager will already have the connection. They can recommend or maybe even warn you of a bad supplier or an unsuitable venue, saving you time and hassle.

No matter the size or type of your event, if you are looking for support to organise your next event, why not call us now on 020 3890 6990 and one of our experienced events managers can talk you through everything you need to get ready for your next event.