As I have grown my event planning business over the years, I have figured out what works best to be successful (my version of success), make enough money, and how to avoid burnout.

When I started, I thought I had to follow all the rules of business such as doing as many events as possible, booking as many clients as I could, and working every weekend in the summer when weddings take place in my area. I thought that good customer service meant responding immediately to all client emails even if it was in the evening or on a weekend. I also assumed that potential clients preferred to hire me over anyone else in my company.

There are many event planners who follow these rules and have their version of success which is absolutely fine. For me, my version of success includes:

• Working with a great team of associate planners who I can lead but don’t need to manage. I am not a good manager but I can be a good leader.

• Making enough money to cover my desired salary, business expenses, and savings.

• Working only with clients who appreciate and value what we do and who are nice and respectful.
• Setting client boundaries so that I have plenty of time for myself, family, hobbies, and travel. This means having most evenings and some weekends off in the summer.

Five rule breakers in my own business so that I can have my version of success:

1) We don’t work more than three weekends in a row.

We can’t be on our “A” game for the eleventh wedding weekend if we just worked the past ten weekends in a row.  Plus we want to enjoy at least a few summer weekends.

2) I am not the “boss”.

This term is so foreign to me. My event planning company has a team of event planners who work for my planning business but I don’t “manage” them. Mainly because they don’t need to be managed and also because I just can’t see myself that way. We have become great friends, work extremely well together, support each other, and help each other. I just happen to own the company and can be a resource more often since I have the most experience.

If I had to manage day-to-day tasks and tell someone when and how to work, I would not have any other planners working for my business. I trust them and know that they are just as good (or better) at planning, design, and working with clients as I am. Since they are independent contractors, I am careful to have a solid independent contractor agreement in place with each of them.

3) Our goal is to do better events, not more events.

If we offered event day coordination or partial event planning, we could book ourselves silly. But that isn’t the goal for my event planning business. We do our best work when we are involved throughout the whole planning process (full service) and can recommend the team of vendors who fit best with each client. We are all strong in design and it’s important to use our creativity with each event.

4) We refer out more business than we take and I am totally fine with that.

Sounds counter-intuitive right? We do not offer partial planning or just event day management but still receive a lot of leads and inquiries for these services. I have no problem referring them out to other event planners who offer this level of service.

It’s important that each potential client has the help they need whether it is with my event planning business or with someone else. Our event planner friends often refer business to us for full-service planning.

Helpful post: Services Offered By Wedding Planners

5) Customer service is based on the expectations we set.

I don’t typically respond to client emails in the evenings or on weekends. When I started, I had no idea that my clients would be just fine if I set boundaries such as office hours and took most weekends off from client work. Once I set these rules for myself and set the expectation with new clients, it has never been an issue.

During my first four years in business, I worked ALL the time because I just loved it. While I still love it, I am a better planner and live a more balanced life when I have time off for myself and to spend with family, friends, and to do some traveling.

It has taken me a long time, lots of experience, and hiring a coach to implement these rules and live my version of success. Sometimes we make exceptions to the rules if it makes sense for us but never because we feel pressured. Overall, the biggest lesson I learned is that I can break the standard “business” rules to be happier and have a sustainable business while having time to enjoy life and still make a living doing work that I love.

Do you have any standard rules that you break in your business? Please share them in the comments.

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