Many people who love to entertain might be surprised to know a lot of money can be made using their unique talents. The wedding services industry alone generates more than $70 billion a year, and that’s just a small segment of the types of events that go on every day in our country. But even if weddings aren’t your thing, you can find many more ways to make money partying. Here are just a few.
Event planning
Event planning can include weddings, but you can specialize in any type of event you want to. In fact, it’s a good idea to narrow down your niche so that you can establish yourself as an expert in your field. The best way to do this is to choose something you love attending yourself, or that you’re extremely knowledgeable about. For example, some executives end up leaving their stuffy office jobs to plan corporate events. They’ve usually experienced first hand what it takes to make one a success, and they have all the connections to make it work. That doesn’t, however, mean that you can’t be a corporate event planner if you’ve never been in that world. It just means you have a head start.
The other factor to consider when choosing your niche is your location. If you live in a small area, the demand for corporate event planners may not be large enough to support your business. Some other specializations within the event planning industry are birthdays, children’s parties, anniversaries, trade shows, conventions, showers, and fundraisers.
Rent-a-party
This idea isn’t new, but it’s also not widely heard of. A rent-a-party, or party in a box, is basically a service where you would provide everything someone needs to throw a party. However, instead of organizing the event and setting up everything, the customer usually comes to you and picks it up. Or you might simply deliver the supplies to their doorstep and pick them up after an agreed-upon amount of time. Occasionally, you might find that they need an extra item or service for their party that’s too big for you to keep in stock yourself. In these cases, you might arrange rentals for them to complete their event. For example, they might request an inflatable bouncy house or mechanical bull rental.
The most popular specialty for this type of business is children’s parties because of the wide range of decor you can put together. The popularity of the themes will vary from year to year, but common kits include princess parties, complete with dress-up items and popular themed paper goods; pirate parties with treasure chests and chocolate coins; and mermaid parties for events by the pool.
Host a party
Back in the ’30s and ’40s, Harlem locals used to throw “rent parties” to help them pay their unfairly high monthly expenses. These parties would be held in their own homes and be complete with music, dancing, and drinks. Believe it or not, the concept isn’t dead today. Many people still host parties for profit, and they might use their own home or rent out a space. In some cases, they might even use a friend’s or family member’s home and split the profit.
This is a venture you can do on the side once in a while to make a few extra bucks. Or you can choose to make it a full-time gig, hosting parties every weekend. If you do decide to do something like this, however, you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant with your local laws and ordinances. Talk to a lawyer or your city or local offices to find out what you need to do. It’s also best, no matter how you choose to operate your business, to have an outsourced finance department. They can keep you out of trouble with the IRS and manage your books to determine profitability.