Opportunity analysis event management industry: A business plan

Abstract

The objective of this CCS project is to perform an opportunity analysis of Event Management Industry and consequently develop a business plan to capitalize on the opportunity identified. “The Dream Factory” opportunity i.e. starting our own event management company was initiated by interest in media and advertising industry, and was later understood by interacting with the professional event management companies across Bangalore. The event management industry was estimated to be around Rs 800 crores in 2006 and expected to be around 1800 crores by 2010 clocking a CAGR of 18-20%. Rising household as well as company incomes, growing number of corporate awards and conferences, television and sports events, reality shows and so on are helping this sector grow. The players typically bill their clients on a commission-based model, which varies in range of 15-17.65%. There key task is to understand and deliver the event management process comprising of event planning, marketing, production and finally evaluation. A two part qualitative research was conducted to understand the nature and matter of this industry comprising of literature review and primary interviews with experts. Some of the key findings of the research exercise were contacts are prime, everything but the idea is outsourced, seamless integration of events with marketing, need for pan India presence for growth, consolidation trends, low entry barriers and tough job profile. In terms of opportunities, it was found that educational events are the most profitable one to enter for their introductory stage and high specialization required. Hence "The Dream Factory" will be conducting educational events like Academic conferences, training sessions and leadership summits to focus upon. The business plan formed for this company takes into account the team & organization structure, target customer profile, scope of activities, financials and risk planning. It plans to break even in second year of operation, with targeted revenues of Rs 9 crores in 5th year and approx 13% profit margins. “The Dream Factory” will conduct its debut event on 9-10 December, 2009 as an Academic Conference to understand more about industry.