How to lose the fear of starting your event company

LEONARDO A RTIGAS | Consulting Mentoring. One of the great challenges we have as entrepreneurs, Event Organizers, Wedding Planners, Hoteliers, Event Providers, Travel Agents, Conference Organizers and the like is to learn to invest in our business, either to make it grow or to make the most of it. return on generated profits.

That means deciding how much capital to dedicate to growth, how much to distribute among shareholders, and how much to put into financial profitability.

But above all it implies overcoming certain fears, because it is the key to moving forward.

Some already know my personal history in relation to my profession as an entrepreneur. What I may not have told you is my story about investing in general. Precisely the fact of discovering my vocation has also allowed me to get to invest in my projects.

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When did I start investing in my events company
When I was employed with a large salary (and had no children to consume it), the organization of events began to attract my attention.

By chance I organized my first social event, after I started my studies I contacted many organizers, many explained to me about the area and others simply refused.

However, at the beginning, and I do not know exactly why, I did not get to do it. I think I was not able to get out of my comfort zone, even though it was a good time to start as an Event Organizer, but I thought I did not have enough knowledge.

I have a degree and I have a master’s degree in Official and Business Protocol (and currently in the process of starting another career), at that time I believed that perhaps I would feel more comfortable in another sector related to my career. For example, when I did a specialization in Event Marketing at the University of Salamanca, in 2011 it was something surprising, but still quite unknown. And I had the opportunity to buy any domain and exploit many items in events, because then they were practically all available, but I did not do it either.

Nor did I do it during the dot-com bubble. I let it pass, also for fear of losing.

At another point, they started talking to me about bitcoins , which could be bought for only $ 100, which is very affordable. But I also did not understand the point of investing in cryptocurrencies. In a short time they were already being bought at US $ 1,000, and currently a bitcoin costs US $ 11,000. But in its day, I let it pass, also out of fear.

My entire career in the investment world has shown me that I have missed many opportunities for a reason that, possibly, is also yours: fear. And this applies to both personal life and business.

Great fears when investing

1. Fear of losing what we have

That is the first question we all ask ourselves when we consider investing: what if I lose everything? It is a very common and understandable question.

However, there came a time when I understood that when I really lose money is when I do nothing with it. I mean inflation.

What is inflation? The value of money Let’s look at an example. If since 2010 you have $ 10,000 in a checking account, and you do nothing with that money, as of today, that amount would be equivalent to S 6,000. How can it be? Who has taken those 4,000 pesos from you? Inflation.

Inflation has eaten up almost 35% of your savings in 11 years, so your purchasing power today equals $ 6,000.

You only have to see it with the cost of a loaf of bread, a movie ticket, a transport pass, a coffee … For so much money, you could have twelve cappuccinos, and today, with that same money, you can only drink Eight.

Understanding that the money I had in my checking account, without doing anything, I was losing, was what changed my mentality.

In your event business, if you leave the money tied up, the same thing happens. So the only bad decision is not making any decisions about what to do with it.

2. Fear of not having enough knowledge

This fear is also very common among people who decide to invest for the first time. “I don’t know anything about the events sector, decoration, photography …”, “I should have financial knowledge, be an expert in organizing events …”. Have you ever made these same comments to yourself?

I do. And, in fact, there was a very revealing phrase from my mother. When she got her driver’s license, she told me: if there are others who do it, why shouldn’t I know how to do it too?

And that led me to look around me and see that there were people who were making money in the event sector, in party decoration …, and not all were great experts in the field.

In addition, one of the ways to overcome this fear are international certifications with university endorsement, postgraduate courses in events, decoration courses, photography, which are currently available to everyone through the Internet.

All concepts related to investing can be learned by anyone. If you want to expand your business to the sector of weddings and events, romance tourism and meeting tourism, surely you can hire an expert to advise you or take a course on it.

If you want to see how to make your assets profitable, there are also advisers for it. In general, you should look for people who have the knowledge or acquire it on your own.

In this case, we recommend that you start your incubation process in our consulting firm specialized in the events sector, romance tourism and meeting tourism.

3. Fear of not getting a good return

When you start a new line of business, or expand internationally, or bet on a financial product for your deposits, there is a risk. So first of all, I want to highlight the risk / reward ratio.

It must be clear that there is a direct relationship. The greater the risk, the greater the benefit. In the same way, the lower the risk, the lower the benefit.

If they tell me that an operation has a minimum risk, but is going to give me the maximum benefit, I am suspicious.

Let’s not confuse this with chance. For example, if you consider investing in buying decoration items and putting them up for rent, where you have greater guarantee and security of being able to rent them at a good price, the investment you have to make in the purchase of those items will also be greater.

The same is true if you buy a party room at a very low cost, for rent and in a popular area. The investment will be less, but so will the security and guarantee of renting it, as well as the rental price of the room that you mark and, therefore, the profitability that you obtain.

You have to weigh both variables very well, remembering that the greatest risk is doing nothing.

4. Fear of the crisis

At a time like the one we are currently living in, the concept of crisis is a tangible element, not only in Latin America but throughout the world.

Is an economic crisis a reason not to invest? I would say to the contrary; it is time to make the investments.

Historically, during economic crises, great fortunes have increased the most. Crises offer opportunities.

The stock market falls because someone is buying your fear. Faced with an economic crisis, people start selling out of fear and that is why the stock market falls. And there is always someone willing to buy. “A river uprooted, gain of fishermen”.

This point is related to another limiting belief. What is the best time to invest? The answer is as clear and confusing as this: either none or now.

There are always good times to invest, to find opportunities. It’s about being willing to overcome those fears and take action.

Fears paralyze

I say this from my own experience. It has been fear that has paralyzed me on many occasions, which has prevented me from making up my mind and has led me to miss great opportunities.

Therefore, the only way is to change your mind, face your fears; And if you really want your business to grow, you will have to invest in it.

From colleague to colleague I wish you success in your endeavor.

Leonardo Artigas.
Event Organizer Companies Advisor.
Wedding Organizer Companies Consultant.
Wedding Planners Advisor.
Hospitality Consulting.
Event Meeting Advisor.

Colombia, Latin America.