Corporate events are important, but they can also be pretty expensive. You would want to know how you can cut some expenses and make the corporate event more budget-friendly. Should you choose a cheaper venue or should you find more affordable tent rentals? Well, here is what to know.
Ways To Reduce The Cost Of Your Business Event
Have A Budget
This is the biggest tip you can use to stick to your limited finances and not go over the line. Having a budget will give you a guide as to how much you can spend. It’s a great way to understand what things are needed the most and what things you and your event can do without. Making a budget is also quite simple, even if it’s your first event.
You need to figure out the key things you want in an event, like guests, seating, food, etc., and then you can get a paper and pen or use a digital spreadsheet and use it to sum up all of the costs. Once that is done, you can play around with things, add and remove them as you like, until you’re happy with the summed-up figure.
Once you have a budget and a designated amount that you can spend, you will find yourself sticking to it, so it’s an important tip to follow whether you’re a first-time planner or a seasoned event host.
Negotiate
Another thing that you can do and cut costs of your corporate event, and this is something that a lot of people are afraid of doing, is to negotiate. Negotiating with vendors, venue management and other people is necessary. You can’t expect to say yes to every single price thrown at you.
Sometimes, you need to do some bargaining if you want the deal, and believe it or not, most vendors will understand and tend to be willing to meet you in the middle lane to help you get that deal. But, for that, you need to make the first move.
Keep An Eye Out For Off-Peak Seasons
Peak seasons are very expensive and they can also be pretty crowded, so events planned during this time are very haphazard and they’re not fun to attend at all. This is why, as an event executor, you need to ensure that you’re looking for days where there are fewer events taking place.
Chances are that the prices of the venues and vendors will be much less and you will be able to get better service too, since the workers won’t be burdened and they can tend to everyone attending the event. Amazing, isn’t it?
Try A Different Method Of Advertising
Traditional ways of advertising and promoting are so old and they’re really expensive too if you think about it. This is why you need to resort to digital marketing. Use social media to your advantage and promote your event there to help the news reach your target audience.
This is an effective and cost-friendly way to promote your event in the comfort of your own office and with the help of your computer and social media. There are so many platforms where you can advertise your event and it will reach a lot of people.
Go Online
To execute an event with efficiency, while reducing the costs of hiring people at the ticket booth, you can opt for online event registration and ticketing. This is such a no-fuss way of getting people to register for the event and even get tickets so that entry can be easy and smooth.
This is easy to do and all you need for it is a good and trusted ticketing website. If your business has a website, then make a registration and ticketing tab there, where people can sign up for the event.
Why Not A Brunch?
Corporate events don’t have to be dinners. They can be lunch, breakfast, or even a weekend brunch. They’re a lot more fun and you can get away with executing an event that is way less expensive than a traditional corporate dinner.
Dinners are usually quite formal and expensive, so you can opt for brunch or even lunch and have the guests attend the event at an earlier time in the day. This is going to be so much better and your stakeholders will appreciate this fact too. On top of it all, it’s really fun to host daytime events, because everyone is just so much more energetic. Make sure to not deviate from the goal. It can be business growth, improving loyalty, appreciating the team, etc.
Reuse Things
Do you have old fliers and banners lying around from previous events? Well, don’t throw them away, because you can use them for your next events. This will save you so much cost on printing and graphic design. If you have perfectly good posters that are generic, but vital for your business, then use them in this event too.
There is nothing more efficient than this and you will also be wasting less paper and supplies with this tip. It’s seriously a lifesaver if you are in a pinch and can’t get more posters printed.
Don’t Invest In Audio-Video Equipment
If you want to save money, then you need to stop investing so much in audio-visual equipment. If you want, you can rent them out from AV rentals or you can use your own, if you have some lying around in your home. These things can be very expensive and you only ever need to invest in them once.
So, it’s best that you get them on rent or just bite the bullet and get them once and use them over and over. These gadgets don’t malfunction if you take care of them, so they can be used for future events.
Is Décor Necessary?
This is another huge dilemma that event executors face. Is décor necessary for these events? Well, the answer is no. No one is going to remember the décor, the lights, or the balloons as the event is over, so make sure that you’re spending your money wisely and not wasting it over décor that looks tacky.
This is a corporate event. More than décor, you need to understand what the theme of the event is. This is important because that is what catches the attention of most people and that’s what you want as well, at the end of the day.
Find Volunteers
If you don’t want to pay people to do miscellaneous things around the event, then you can get yourself some volunteers. They are really easy to find and all you need to do for them is include some perks.
Certification, experience letters, letters of recommendation, and even special discounts are great for volunteers and people are always willing to help out at events because they want to get experience, so this is a win-win situation for both of you. So, when you need extra helping hands, get some volunteers.
Conclusion
Corporate events don’t have to be extravagant. If you have a budget and you can properly execute everything while consciously trying to stay in line with the finances, then this guide will help you out. Moreover, hire a team and event rentals Damascus MD you trust so that you know they are honestly doing their best to make the event successful without overspending.