Starting a small business is tough and the hardest part for most entrepreneurs is managing their cash flow. One thing I’ve learned in starting my own event management company is that when it comes to cash flow you need cash, without it there’s no flow. I’m hilarious. The trick is getting paid! If you’re not a small business owner you might not find that statement all that profound but for those of us who “live the dream” and are making a living one contract at a time it’s epic.

Here’s some advice with respect to getting paid:

Don’t work for free. Don’t do it. Ever. FREE is a four letter word that should be removed from your vocabulary. What you do is valuable. I’m convinced that the most offensive word in small business is “FREE”, especially to those in the creative sector. Unless you’re new to capitalism, I think you’d agree that the word “free,” more often than not, communicates a lack of value. Whether or not you can manage with a non-billable project is beside the point. When no monetary value is associated with work effort it creates an unstable environment for the sole proprietor, and client alike. Money is the single most commonly used method of assigning commitment and when it’s relinquished it makes for a strained relationship because it lowers everyone’s expectations. If you’re trying to grow your business then charge something, something is better than nothing. The growth potential of your career will depend on your reputation and if your reputation is that you work for free then you’re not building on a very good foundation.

I realize why sole proprietors work for free, they do it for practice, to build their resumes, and they believe it helps them get their foot in the door. The first two reasons make sense but I think that honing your skills and developing report is better served by doing personal or independent projects. However, in the attempt to score a new client you offer your services for free then their first impression of working with you is that you’re free: Client “1”, small business owner “0”. If you’re working for someone else then they’re a client and they should ante up, period. The exchange of money helps communicate a professional level of commitment and you need that.

When it comes to budget constraints, if a potential client says they have no budget know this: They’re wrong. Everyone has some budget. It may be only a few dollars but it’s something. If you’re in the creative industries, your creative and technical contribution should always be associated with monetary value. At minimum make sure that if you’re working for free that it’s truly just your time that is free and that you have zero expenses (gas, parking, meals, rentals, phone calls, whatever).

Don’t be so quick to discount. Discounts are dangerous business. I understand that fear, that some money is better than no money and in order secure a gig you feel you have to provide a discount on your services. Well, first of all, I’m assuming that you’ve appropriate priced your services – discounts on over inflated rates will only work for so long, eventually the bubble will burst. Secondly, if a discount is the only way you’ll be able to land a shoot then try this, request non-financial benefits. If it’s for a charity, request sponsor recognition. If it’s for a business, ask to receive a gift card towards their products. If it’s a service company ask to be added to their marketing material as a preferred supplier.

If you’re looking for some inspiration as to how to set your prices and understand your value I’d recommend Alan Weiss’s Value-Based Fees: How to Charge and Get What You’re Worth. It’s an intense book and I guarantee it will push your paradigm with respect to earning money but sometimes it takes an extreme perspective to get things on the right track.

Bill on time. This is the important business building strategy: bill on time. First of all I have to say that too many small business owners don’t send bills, I don’t get that. I’m a huge fan of sending bills. When you send bills you get paid. If you’ve already received your payment then sending a bill after the fact shows your professionalism. Always send a bill, even if it’s for $1. And send it before you do the work, or as early as possible in the project. It’s a great way to make sure they take you seriously and the quicker you invoice the quicker you get paid.

Helpful Tip: Use FreshBooks. Why you ask? Because its users get paid on average 14 days faster; my business is living proof of that fact. It’s a secure, online service that is free to use if you have three clients or less (if you have more clients there’s a nominal monthly fee). It does more than just make you look organized, you ARE organized. Invoices can be sent by email (links to a PDF, or you can have FreshBooks send them via regular mail). At your discretion your clients can have online access to their invoices and account history – very cool. You can generate invoices based on time, expenses, and fixed cost services/items or any combination thereof. And, they’ve got a great desktop widget and iPhone app.

If you want to try it out for free click the affiliate link below and we’ll both get some love.
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Posted by Corwin Hiebert

There’s not a lot of event people talking, sharing, helping other event planners. Julius Solaris is the main man at EventManagersBlog and whenever I spend time on his site I feel he’s making a big effort to lend a helping hand. What I particularly like about the blog is that he’s got a team of contributors that also jump in (here they are, twitter links and all): Julius Solaris, Anne Thornley-Brown, Kena Siu, Jeff Hurt, Greg Ruby, and Brett Petersel. There’s a good cross-section of perspectives, interests, and experience represented by this group of collaborators and their posts compliment one another.

My 3 favourite posts on their site are:

1. Event Management Toolkit v.2
2. 15 Free Ebooks about Event Planning
3. 10 Alternative Business Models for Events

My bias here might just be because Julius calls himself an Event Geek and based on my propensity to preach about techy things (online event registration, e-mail/sms marketing, authentic viral marketing, and such) I figure we must be cut from the same cloth.

Now, let’s not leave it at that. If you know of a great event industry blog, one that is helpful to vocational event planners and managers, please let us know by leaving a comment below (or tweetit) – I’m @corwinhiebert.

Posted by: Corwin Hiebert

When meeting other event professionals I’ve come across many different titles but the most common seem to be:

1. Coordinator
2. Planner
3. Manager
4. Producer

I’ve ranked them according to levels of responsibility – at least how I see them. I realize that most people in the event industry wear multiple hats; of course that could be said of most careers these days. However, I’ve been encouraging students of the event industry to be sure they know which type of role they’re looking to fill. To focus on ones’ strengths is huge when involved in bringing an event project to a successful conclusion.

Now, I’m not saying that we should heap new demands on a dying descriptors but I do feel like it’s important to say that roles and title do come into play from time to time. When considering the list above I see too many event planners call themselves event planners when in fact they’re taking on the responsibility and liability which I feel constitutes the title of producer. It’s not that I want to have a fight about semantics but the event biz would benefit from working with consistent terminology. These titles do carry some weight, some level of ranking, that would suit our business well if we operated under uniform definitions. In my view there’s a pecking order when it comes to roles and their are benefit of clarifying the position one carries. There are different levels of leadership (and ownership) with respect to an event project. Here’s how I would describe these roles:

1. Coordinator – tasks are assigned to them, check-list oriented work, heavy on the logistics and event-day operations
2. Planner – facilitating tasks and people, delegating, some decision making power
3. Manager – developing project strategy and direction, leading key elements like goal planning and marketing
4. Producer – the boss, idea maker, initiator, content planning, the final authority (aka Jesus Jr.)

The normal chaos of events can be significantly limited when the event professional(s) know their role. I’ve used these titles as the starting point for an event team (paid or volunteer) for nearly three years now and I’m glad I have.

Sure, there’s some great options out there and I realize that sometimes it’s worth sticking with the suppliers that you know and trust, but for me – I’ve seen to much and been left wanting to often. Getting up and running with GiftTool was fast and unbelievably easy. I’ve moved ALL my clients onto GiftTool (I started with the Camp Moomba Yogathon in March 2007 – using their super-cool pledgeathon system) and I’ve never looked back. To-date I have processed over half a million dollars in transactions using GiftTool and I’m confident that each purchase, donation, and sponsorship was managed perfectly.

I’ve been actively involved with event registration systems since 2004, from both the architect and management  level – both proprietary applications and international enterprise-level systems (impressive in their own right), and as a result I have e a very discerning eye. I’m not an expert but I’m picky. Truth be told, I am very proud of the work GiftTool does and am so glad they take their job as seriously as I do. They make me look good – and in this very difficult business I feel like it’s like a free gift.

My gift to you is this: email Ashely Anderson, tell him Corwin Hiebert sent you, and ask for a quote – you’ll feel like it’s your birthday (and your clients will love you).