How to Successfully Plan Taproom Events (Part 3)

The second N represents the numbers.

One of the mistakes that I often see with event planning is a failure to set a financial budget, or a goal for the expected outcome. 

It’s easy to get excited about the event: All the folks that will show up, and the fun everyone will have. But, it’s a lot less fun when you put in all that effort only to realize afterwards that you lost money. 

Setting a financial plan for your events is straightforward, but requires a little bit of work upfront.

To begin, make a listing of all the things you’ll need to buy for the event. This might include supplies, decorations, and outside vendors.

Next, make an estimate of how much time you’ll spend on the event.

List out the people who will be involved in setting up and working the event. Think about  how many hours each person will put in, and calculate a rough estimate of labor costs. 

After estimating the expenses, project out the expected sales from the event.

How many people will attend? How much will they spend? Will there be pre-sold tickets? Will you have special merchandise that supports the event?  

Lastly, look back on past events and figure out if you missed anything.

Were there expenses that you forgot about, like that tent rental, or the cost of the special permit from the town? How about sales estimates? Were you too conservative in making your projections? 

Doing a little bit of work upfront in setting a financial plan can go a long way towards making sure your event is not only a lot of fun, but profitable as well.