Business Plan and Analysis for Blissful Weddings

Business Plan and Analysis

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Executive Summary

Blissful Weddings is a wedding planning business that provides end to end wedding planning services alongside partial wedding planning and planning for only the wedding day. Committed to making couples’ dreams come true, Blissful Weddings offers luxury, destination and green weddings. Its target is to reach couples who want professional services to organize an exclusive event, meeting their expectations. Blissful Weddings’ target customers consist of wealthy couples who are willing to spend on a custom made wedding service, couples who are sensitive to the environment and those couples who are planning on having an open air wedding. This means that the business has a niche market by offering luxury planning with aspect to sustainable business and satisfying the clients. The total startup cost for the business is £20, 000 which will be used in marketing, employees and software. In the context of the current situation, the company should be able to reach the break-even point in 12 months up to 18 months and may become profitable in the Year 2. Its aims at providing memorable weddings, and its vision is to be amongst the best wedding organizations characterized by creativity and excellent customer services.

1. Company Overview

1.1 Legal Structure

Blissful Weddings being a sole trader, the flow of decision making is smooth and the company does not face much bureaucratic formalities. This structure is suitable for business, especially during its start-up times because it gives the owner full authority of all operations including finance and service delivery (Halliday, 2021). The sole trader form also allows for easy expansion of the business while costs of starting the business are low.

1.2 Business Description

Blissful Weddings offers custom wedding planning services with different levels of involvement ranging from full service to just the day of coordination, as well as those unique events such as a destination wedding. Its aim is to organize beautiful and easy weddings by booking venues and coordinating with vendors. As specialized wedding planners, Blissful Weddings guarantees that every event provides for the client’s specific needs.

1.3 Business Aims and Objectives / Funding Requirements

In the short run, Blissful Weddings envisages being well established locally with five upscale weddings within the initial year of operation. In the long term, it aims to diversify to the aspect of destination weddings and business events (Samoedra, Ekawarna, and Islami, 2021). To fund the marketing, recruitment of part-time employees and acquisition of event management software, the business needs £20,000. This funding will help support the growth and operating scale, with expected cash backs expected within the next 18 months and show profitability in year two.

2. Products and Service Offerings

2.1 Types of Product and Service Offerings

Blissful Weddings’ services cover a broad spectrum to accommodate different clients’ requirements. The full wedding planning services engage the sender of the invitation right from the idea to the wedding up to the implementation of the projects on the wedding day involving selection of a venue, sources of the suppliers, and organization. Some clients only need help in terms of parts and can organize the rest on their own, and that is why partial planning is offered. There is also option for day-of coordination whereby the business takes care of the scheduling and monitoring of events in the wedding day as well as contracts with vendors and any changes that may occur before the wedding day. Moreover, Blissful Weddings prepares lavish destination weddings and small, elegant ceremonies that it executes from planning to little details, when it organizes the event in a different or distant location.

2.2 Core USPs

It is apparent that Blissful Weddings’ service stands out because it provides tailored services to its clients. The business provides end-to-end planning services which can mean that every wedding is tailored to the couple’s desire. One of the exceptional features is the section that targets the sustainable weddings whereby the vendors are green and materials being used are also environmentally friendly. Another is to work with excellent vendors for only quality and elegance are offered at Blissful Weddings. The main promise to minimize the level of stress related to the wedding for a client along with an increased focus on sustainability makes Blissful Weddings stand out among competitors in the market.

3. Market and Competitive Analysis / Risks

3.1 Market Size

The demand for wedding planning is high as couples wish to explore professional help in making the celebration successful. It’s estimated that on average, £20,000 is spent on a UK wedding. Therefore, a lot of wedding planners are in demand by most couples because they want quality weddings without stress (Whitesell, and Faria, 2020). According to wedding planning market growth 3% annually, high demand for professional services.

3.2 Market Segmentation

Luxury, destination and eco sensitive weddings are the specialties of Blissful Weddings. The kind of person you are aiming at is 25-40, millennial or more educated, more money. They care about individualism, recyclable products and unique couple experience. Destination, mini, and non-traditional weddings are all to be expected, as are some prefer one over the other. It becomes important because environmentally conscious clients will choose wedding planners that do incorporate sustainability.

3.3 SWOT / PESTLE Analysis

• SWOT:

• Strengths: Customized and tailored services, environmental friendly approach, affiliation with select and superior suppliers.

• Weaknesses: High dependency on the vendor, relationship corporate brand recognition.

• Opportunities: There is always an opportunity to expand to destination weddings, the increasing popularity of small and sustainable weddings.

• Threats: Diminishing wedding budgets due to the economic recession, competition.

• PESTLE:

• Political: Chances of alterations in marriage laws.

• Economic: Specifically, factors influencing disposable income within the context of the economic environment attained.

• Social: Trend of the market shifting from conventional and conventional marriage ceremonies with nature-friendly themes.

• Technological: Effectiveness of development and implementation of planning software and digital progressive platforms that augment customer experience (Barakat, 2023).

• Legal: Convention with regard to events and shows the concerns for health and safety regulations at events.

• Environmental: There is increased demand for green and environmentally sensitive services.

3.4 Competitor Analysis (Porter’s Five Forces)

• Threat of New Entrants: Moderate; the wedding industry has low entry barriers, but it can be quite challenging for a new entrant to cultivate working relations with suppliers.

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: High; being that wedding planners depend on the supplies, supply chain management is essential.

• Bargaining Power of Customers: Moderate; the buying public is in abundance and very picky on the prices they are willing to pay for these products.

• Threat of Substitutes: Moderate; There are huge self-service wedding planning web-sites that can help money-smart consumers leave behind professional services.

• Industry Rivalry: High; the wedding planning industry, especially the boutique planners, is saturated.

4. Business Strategy / Marketing and Sales Plan

4.1 Marketing Mix

• Product: Blissful Weddings providers an array of packages which are Full service wedding planning, Partial service wedding planning, Coordination for the day and Destination weddings. This makes each service tailored to reflect the vision that the couple has and to provide the least stressful experience.

• Price: Blissful Weddings is a value based pricing model. Full service options cost more given that they mean close collaboration with the planner while partial planning and day of coordinator options are provided at competitive rates to attract customers with limited budgets. Paying for this products can be done in flexible installments.

• Place: Blissful Weddings can be contacted via the website for booking services while consultations can be done over the phone or through a personal appointment (Laskey, and Stirling, 2020). The franchise is currently UK based, concentrating on the more popular areas for weddings, with destination weddings being the next logical step.

• Promotion: The major communication techniques that Blissful Weddings undertakes include web-based communication, Facebook and twitter, and word-of-mouth communication. For previous work, social media like Instagram and Pinterest are used and to reach potential clients, collaborations with local suppliers and participation at wedding expos. Client satisfaction is another area that the focus should be placed depending on the fact that it is the easiest way to build credibility that is essential for the business.

4.2 Growth Strategy (Pricing Strategies Linked to Breakeven)

Value based pricing of different packages and prices, Blissful Weddings. Depending on the level of involvement, professional wedding planning costs vary from limited service with a very wide range of intervention to day of coordination with a low cost. Likely breakeven within 12 to 18 months because of the scale of complex full service efforts/ large numbers for small service events. It will open up fresh growth opportunities into the destination wedding segment and into targeting quality over quantity clients (Waheed, et. al., 2020). It will also look at whether launching eco-friendly wedding packages will generate more revenue and satisfied this eco conscious couples.

5. Operating Plan

5.1 Physical Location

Blissful Weddings will, therefore, start operating from a home-based office to minimize overhead expenses. In future, the business will adopt a remote format with the use of technology enabling communication with clients and vendors. Based on the growth of a business, a small office may be procured where there can be physical meetings with high end clients with added formality.

5.2 Physical Resources Required

For efficient functioning, Blissful Weddings will demand necessary tools, for instance, the chosen planning applications as HoneyBook or Aisle Planner for the timelines, costs, and collaborations with the suppliers. Some of the common items which will be required include Computers and printers for administrative work and other stationery (Bamzai-Dodson, 2022). Travel will be necessary for site inspections, meetings with clients and other coordination activity at several locations and will necessitate the use of an appropriate means of transport.

5.3 Supplier / Direct Materials Required

Blissful Weddings will depend on contracts with main suppliers like flower growers, catering services, photographers/ videographers, and venues. Leveraging with such premium suppliers will enable Blissful Weddings to be in a position to offer client’s more favorable prices and advertise special offers (Seelos, and Mair, 2020). Contracts will be prepared at the formal partnership level to maintain the priority bookings and quality service provision. Sourcing from eco-friendly suppliers will also help build sustainability as a part of this brand.

5.4 Breakeven Analysis

Looking at Blissful Weddings’ break even analysis, the business will need to complete 10 weddings per year to cover all costs. Each wedding makes £5,000 in revenue while having costs of £20,000 per wedding in fixed costs and £3,000 in variable costs. So, only leaving £2,000 per wedding after taking account of variable expenses. Total revenue equals total costs at 10 weddings. After this point, any bookings also have a profit, and it's essential for marketing and partnerships to secure additional weddings to secure long term growth and profitability.

6. Financial Plan

6.1 Projected Income Statement

Blissful Weddings forecasts its revenues to rise steadily year on year over the span of the first three years of its operation. In year one, business forecasts the revenues of £100,000 from 20 wedding with gross profit £60,000 and profit before taxation £21,500 (Allen, 2022). In the course of the second year the sale is expected to go up to £130,000 and net profit before tax £28000. During the third year of operation, sales are again assumed to hit £160,000 and net profit before taxes £35,500.

6.2 Projected Balance Sheet

The following balance sheets for year 1 was projected for Blissful Weddings which shows total fixed assets after depreciation £8000. Current assets should stand at £10,000 while current liabilities should total £15,500, the appending loan of £12,000 inclusive. Net assets are expected in the amount of £ 6,000, or at the end of the first year. Owners’ equity is expected to have an increase of over £10,000 in the second year and over £15,000 at the end of the third year since profits will be ploughed back into the business.

6.3 Projected Cash flow Statement

For the first year of operations, Blissful Weddings expects to end the year with cash balance of £21,000 thereby earning a total income of £100,000 from the wedding planning services offered while having operational cost of £79,000. The business anticipates declared net income and positive operating cash flow the first third year, and adequately buffers the growth (Singh, et. al., 2022).

6.4 Ratio Analysis

• Gross Profit Margin: 60% in year one, direct cost has been managed appropriately.

• Net Profit Margin: 17% by year one and up to 22% by year 3.

• Current Ratio: 2.86 in year one, this clearly showing that the company has good liquidity.

• Return on Capital Employed (ROCE): 35.83% in the first year and the findings also confirm that the firm received a high return on the invested capital and efficient utilization of resources.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Blissful Weddings currently presents prospects of success because of the unique services, the potential clients’ base, and feasibility of financial planning. It has specialized services like the green and destination weddings; therefore, the company is set to meet any market looking for unique services. Based on its financial projections it shows clean profits and good solvency; this makes it sustainable in the long-run.

Assess Critically / Risk Assessment

But the following risks are likely to affect Blissful Weddings: Some of the financial risks are costs that vary with the quantity of financial resources in offering its products and services including revenue, the price risk, which refers to the price change of inventory and the risk of costs that exceed what was forecasted such as the cost of vendors. For these risks, Blissful Weddings will engage in cost-budgeting and work on creating rainy day funds to cover for these surprises. Another operational risk that was highlighted included vendor unavailability will be addressed by employing more than one vendor to offer service delivery. Industry wise, the competition consists in other professional Wedding planners who are already in operation. However, presented below are some recommendations through which Blissful Weddings can continue to sustain such a competitive advantage: presents a detailed explanation to the above statement of the following analytics: This strategy relates to good financial ratios such as ROCE and net profit margin to show the viability and effective utilization of resources.

Recommendations for Growth and Sustainability

From strategy two, Blissful Weddings should extend its operations and services to events other than weddings such as birthdays, anniversaries and corporate events, as a way of embracing and achieving long-run growth. Also, new segments including luxury destination weddings will improve revenues. There are additional factors that influence the success – strategic cooperation with high-quality and desirable suppliers and the concentration of efforts on the digital promotion as the primary effective ways to pursue long-term objectives and guarantee the firm’s place on the market.

References

Allen, K., 2022. Entrepreneurship for dummies. John Wiley & Sons. https://thuvienso.hoasen.edu.vn/bitstream/handle/123456789/13190/Contents.pdf?sequence=1

Bamzai-Dodson, A., 2022. Engaging with stakeholders to produce actionable science: Moving from theory to practice. https://shareok.org/bitstream/handle/11244/335567/2022_BamzaiDodson_Aparna_Dissertation.pdf?sequence=7

Barakat, R., 2023. The Big Day: Wedding planner (Doctoral dissertation, AN-NAJAH NATIONAL UNIVERSITY). https://repository.najah.edu/bitstreams/121dcd52-6e96-481b-8c5c-940fb2d5ed5a/download

Halliday, D., 2021. Positional Consumption and the Wedding Industry. Social Theory and Practice, 47(4), pp.747-764. https://www.academia.edu/download/65473677/Weddings_final_version_For_Upload.pdf

Laskey, B. and Stirling, L., 2020. The dress: theme and self-presentation in online Australian wedding planning fora. Convergence, 26(1), pp.55-81. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1354856517721800

Samoedra, A.D., Ekawarna, M.F. and Islami, T., 2021. Consumer decision to organize weddings in pandemic period based on price, service quality, and public relations offered by wedding organizer. Psychology and Education Journal, 58(3), pp.579-585. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Artarina_Samoedra/publication/356748061_Consumer_Decision_to_Organize_Weddings_in_Pandemic_Period_Based_on_Price_Service_Quality_and_Public_Relations_Offered_by_Wedding_Organizer/links/61a9a1a4092e735ae2d800ab/Consumer-Decision-to-Organize-Weddings-in-Pandemic-Period-Based-on-Price-Service-Quality-and-Public-Relations-Offered-by-Wedding-Organizer.pdf

Seelos, C. and Mair, J., 2020. Innovation and scaling for impact: How effective social enterprises do it. Stanford university press. http://www.christianseelos.com/Seelos_Innovation%20and%20Scaling%20for%20Impact_2016.pdf

Singh, R.K., Kumar Mangla, S., Bhatia, M.S. and Luthra, S., 2022. Integration of green and lean practices for sustainable business management. Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), pp.353-370. https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/files/77551995/Post-Print.pdf

Waheed, A., Zhang, Q., Rashid, Y. and Zaman Khan, S., 2020. The impact of corporate social responsibility on buying tendencies from the perspective of stakeholder theory and practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(3), pp.1307-1315. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BlbOnCSStYmtRmhXZO2q_5ibt5r2pvB5/view

Whitesell, D.K. and Faria, C.V., 2020. Gowns, globalization, and “global intimate mapping”: Geovisualizing Uganda’s wedding industry. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 38(7-8), pp.1275-1290. https://par.nsf.gov/servlets/purl/10130007