Can I do it?

Confession 3

So I really admire anyone that is able to keep positive 100% of the time, I know I can't. Yes, I'm ambitious and have the determination to try and make things work out but there are times when I think "can I really do this?".

Ever since I can remember I've done dance clubs, acting clubs and I'd pretty much have a go at any club that was going. I quit most of them within weeks because it turned our to be just a phase.

I do worry that this "bee in the bonnet" idea is just another phase, that as soon as I start it I'll realise that I don't want to do it anymore. But I've wanted to do this since I was 13 and if I don't do it now I'll always wish that I had, you have to give everything a try.

I know that I am only 16 which is a pretty young age to manage any sort of business and people may be shocked by my age when they meet me as they expect me to be older. Luckily, I'm not at all alone with this. My mum is going to help me with all aspects of the business as she is also passionate about event planning. My Dad, as ever, is also incredibly supportive and has always supported me with every idea I've had and trust me, there's been a lot.

I've given up and walked away from things in the past as I knew they were never meant to be but this is something I am not prepared to walk away from.

x~Jess~x

Social network pages

Confession 2 

So yesterday I spent most of the night looking into the business and also setting up a Facebook and Twitter page for the business. 

I believe it is so important to use these tools as these websites are used by millions of people on a daily basis and is a great way of advertising the business, the best bit is obviously that it's completely free of charge to set up. 

I'm hoping to update the pages regularly and also look into further promotion for the business beyond the internet. I will be looking into creating a website pretty soon as I belive that is also one of the most important features. 

I may place small adverts in local magazines and newspapers but this would depend on how much it would cost. I wouldn't get leaflets produced and deliver them through letter boxes as I think a lot of people would ignore them. In addition to this the area I live in is mostly made up of elderly people and so I doubt they will want an event organising. 

We've had some attention from the pages and hopefully that will continue to grow! I'll also be advertising in local Facebook groups soon too.

Being provided with the opportunity to do this is really amazing for me and something I want to make work.

x~Jess~x

It all starts with an idea

Confession 1

From an early age I've been passionate about events. I've planned several events for charity, the first being at the age of 12 where I did a charity fun day which consisted of several craft stalls (found from Facebook), an ice cream van (which parked outside my school) and an appearance form Peppa Pig which a local company helped with! There was also a large raffle where local companies donated prizes towards that. A lot of people came to support the day and commented on how well it went. 

I then went on to do a sponsored swim. Now, I'm not a sporty person as anyone that knows me will understand but it was something different and a good way of raising money for a charity that I had set up myself. 

This got the attention of the local newspaper who were interested in what I was doing and thought it was great I was doing it at such a young age.

Most recently I've done a charity ball which although took longer to organise than previous events, was the best and most successful one that I've done. Over 100 people bought a ticket, there was an excellent band who offered to play at the ball free of charge and a photographer who had travelled a long way as a member of his family suffered the same condition as me so he wanted to help. He came and took amazing photos free of charge. I also did a raffle and auction and had an auctioneer who volunteered to donate his services for free. There was a lot of generous companies that donated to the raffle and auction and we raised around £2000 from that night which was an amazing success.

It was just after the sponsored swim that someone said to me "you'll be an event planner one day" and until then I'd never even realised that this could be a possible career for me. The more I researched the industry the more I knew I wanted to do this. I was passionate about events and was willing to do everything I could to make this dream possible.

I want to share with you my journey through this and hopefully help all budding event planners get into what is a hard industry to set foot in. 

x~Jess~x