Sarah Fejfar 0:00
expect the unexpected. Don't lose your marbles when the unexpected comes. I'm not going to know what it is for you, I do know that the unexpected is going to come. And I always like to have a cushion of money in a budget for that.
Sarah Fejfar 0:19
How are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage? Ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create our own transformative events? So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of.
Sarah Fejfar 0:40
That's the question. And the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central.
Sarah Fejfar 0:48
If you've ever wanted a profitable live event, I need you to know that the starting line is breaking even, I've got a formula to share with you and some nuances that I think are gonna prove extremely helpful. So stay tuned. This episode is going to be all about how not to lose money on your next event. Super sexy topic. Yes. So here we go. Let's dive in. Because I get this question all the time. People want to know how not to lose money. In fact, I got on the phone or on a zoom, I guess, with a woman from lynchpin nation recently, and she wanted to hop on a call because she had an event coming up in about a month. And she's super excited about it.
Sarah Fejfar 1:44
And she'd invested probably about $50,000 into a venue with that had a contract for sleeping rooms and meeting space and food and beverage. So excited to welcome her community and has a very engaged community. And there was one snag, four weeks out, no one signed up. That is the stuff nightmares are made up. And I don't want you to ever be in that position. So today, we're gonna talk about how, how not to lose money on your next event. Three things for you today. First, I want you to follow the formula. And I put it together into a PDF for you just go to greenroom central.com and download it click the button that says how not to lose money. I have created this formula that I like to call the breakeven point formula.
Sarah Fejfar 2:52
Not the sexiest name I know. But it is the thing that when you follow it, it will ensure that you don't lose money. And that's what I want for you. Okay, it's just that events have are kind of like a runaway train. And that it is very easy to very quickly spend more than you're bringing in. I know, I have managed millions of dollars of event spend in my 20 plus years of helping to produce events on small budgets and big budgets. And so I know a thing or two about what it takes to manage a budget and also maximize a budget. Not every event has to be spending $50,000 Or a million dollars or even $5. So I want you to go grab a copy of that PDF, download it read through it, it gives you the formula or hand it to the person on your integrator on your team, that person who's detail oriented, and will ingest all of that information and integrate it into your process for your next event. Okay, it's got a simple formula, that's three steps.
Sarah Fejfar 4:21
First, I'll just give you the high level, we're not going to go in as in depth as is in that PDF. But first, it's price the event. It's get to know what it costs to put on that dream event that's on your heart. We've talked about this and all of those episodes that I did on manifesting your dream event go back in and listen because I talked about how you have to have a vision first, and then you have to appraise the vision. And so that's the first step in the formula, the break even point formula is, is pricing out all of those wishlist items. Okay. And then the second thing is monetizing it, it's figuring out, how much is it going to cost? And then how can we make money to offset those expenses and make some money, right?
Sarah Fejfar 5:25
It's easiest spoiler alert, if you're making a high ticket offer at your event, okay? So know that. Don't be scared about making a high ticket offer. All right. If you need some encouragement, drop into my DMs and I will, I will cheer you on. So we've got price. It we've got monetize it. And one more tip in that monetize it section, I want you to attempt to make money on your event, in more than one way. I was just talking to a business owner super savvy, has run lots of events and lost money on their most recent event, because they brought money they in a plan to bring in money on a VIP upsell but didn't sell.
Sarah Fejfar 6:24
And I want you to have revenue coming in from multiple streams is just like how they teach us to manage our money as entrepreneurs to have multiple streams of income, well, I want that for you inside of your event, I want you to be expecting money to come in and many different places so that all of your eggs are not in one basket. Okay? So that's monetize it. And then the final step in that three step formula, is to figure out that break even point, so that you know, okay, we once we get to this point, like, like deep breath, we can let it all out, we can let the deep breath out, and know that we have everything covered.
Sarah Fejfar 7:15
And now everything beyond this point is money in our pocket. And that feels amazing. And I want that for you. So download a copy of that guide at greenroom central.com. Give it to someone who manages all the details for you. It definitely is something for someone who's detail oriented. And you're on your way, if you need a deeper dive in that we go deep on the money stuff inside of live event Academy again, just drop it into my DMs and Instagram and I'll tell you how to get into that group coaching program.
Sarah Fejfar 7:53
Now, we've talked about the formula that's, that's number one, it really is simply awareness. It's It's knowing what's going on with the money stuff. It's it's painting that picture once of what it's going to cost. And then it's just checking in weekly, to ensure that you are aware of where you're at. Are you on track or off track? Do we need to adjust some dials, it's as easy as that. So the second thing I want to talk about is when it comes to how not to lose money on your next event is all about expecting the unexpected. Okay.
Sarah Fejfar 8:37
And we're going to talk about this because most people, this is not you. But most people won't do number one, what we talked about the whole formula business, most people aren't going to do it. And so because of that, I kind of want to talk about these next two things. So that the hope is they're just kind of nuances to the whole money piece of offense. And I want to share this with you in the hope that it sticks for you and you're one of the lucky ones who not only does step number one, which is finding your break even point but number two, you you kind of you're aware of these nuances, and it helps you even more.
Sarah Fejfar 9:22
So expect the unexpected. I want you to expect that hosting your own event will bring up so many things you did not expect. And I I'm laughing because I remembering standing in line at this buffet and I was getting dinner. It was just this magical warm evening in Florida, I think early on and an event that I was producing and the president of the company was Next to me and I at the time was planning my wedding, and also planning this event. And I think I made some sort of comment that I want it to go perfectly. And he said something along the lines of that's not a thing. Like stuff will go wrong.
Sarah Fejfar 10:20
And that was above the fold front page news to me, as a welder besides planning my wedding, I was gonna give you my age at the time. Doing the math here, I didn't know what was I like 25 ish. So as a 20, something young woman It was above the fold the front page news, that stuff doesn't go perfectly. And that's my message for you here with Expect the unexpected expect that you're going to have less guests than you planned expect that you are going to have more guests than you planned. Expect that there are going to be some expenses that you had not planned up did not even have it on your radar that it was a thing to spend money on that. Expect the unexpected.
Sarah Fejfar 11:15
Don't lose your marbles. When the unexpected comes, I'm not going to know what it is for you, I do know that the unexpected is going to come. And I always like to have a cushion of money in a budget for that. Just that very thing. Be unexpected. And I encourage you to have money set aside as well for that unexpected, something special something shiny object that comes your way. So expect the unexpected follow a formula. Third thing to talk about, while we're on this conversation of how not to lose money on your next event is I want you to be flexible, be flexible. Back to my wedding. I did not have the budget to plan the wedding of my dreams. But I knew my non negotiables I knew that I could pick one thing that was so special to me and invest money in that.
Sarah Fejfar 12:29
And then just let go of needing to spend money or wanting to spend money on on a whole bunch of other stuff. And so what mattered most to me was that our guests had a really wonderful, magical experience at our wedding. And so what I we invested in was a big band. We had like a I don't know 16 fees, big band with a couple of singers like how crazy is that? And we played big band music and it was magical. And definitely unexpected for our guests and we had so much fun. And I can't wait Sunday to go do it again and have throw like another wedding for myself. And where we do some sort of like vow renewal and throw another big band wedding. It would be so fun.
Sarah Fejfar 13:31
But this time a destination Yeah, I was watching the Superbowl. And I got I got some it was on inst I was on Instagram and during the Superbowl and I think it's the the quarterback of the team that won the chiefs. The Green Bay Packers weren't playing so that it was lost on me who was competing. But anyways, I think it was the quarterback of the team one and I got a post in my feed that day of from I think it was the videographer from that person's wedding. And the footage stunning of this spot on Maui, which happens to be where I took my honeymoon. And oh my gosh, the venue looked spectacular, so elegant.
Sarah Fejfar 14:31
And it renewed my excitement for a destination bow renewals second wedding, Big Band scenario. I can picture it is gonna be so fun. Okay, tangent. Let's go back. We're talking about being flexible and knowing your non negotiables and then being flexible with the rest, right? So know what matters to you. For me, it was the big band. And we invested heavily in that. And then the rest of the stuff like I didn't get to rent the fancy chairs and fancy linens and have the obnoxiously amazing flower arrangements of my dreams, I didn't get to have all those things, because there wasn't money for everything. And so I want and I just did the best of what I had, for those those pieces, and it was lovely.
Sarah Fejfar 15:31
And I want you to be flexible too. And know that it might not be it might not happen on this event. But it might be able to happen on the next event. So be flexible and don't do stuff. Like, for example, host an event at a hotel where they're going to charge you a ton of fees, where they're going to make you sign a contract for maybe a room block. In addition to the meeting space rental and a food and beverage minimum, don't lock yourself into something like that, when maybe this is your first time and you haven't proven out what amount of guests you can bring in and what amount of revenue, what your you can bring, you can generate as a result of the event what your conversion ratios look like, for not only registering but showing up and also converting at the event. All right.
Sarah Fejfar 16:36
So just like Hold your horses, and be flexible and know that it might not be this event, but it could be the next one. Okay. So that is my message on being flexible, know what matters to you, and then just let go of the rest. All right, choose something meaningful that you want to invest in, and then go ahead and let go of your attachment on the rest. I'm hoping this is helpful today, I'm hoping that you will promise me that you'll go ahead and you'll download that guide at greenroom central.com.
Sarah Fejfar 17:20
You'll hand it to someone on your team who manages details for you. You'll you follow that formula so that you're aware of the money stuff. You'll Expect the unexpected, and you'll be flexible. Okay. Promise me? You'll do that. Because on my watch, I did not want you losing money on your next event. And if you've got a question that's like, Gosh, I wonder what would happen if I feel like I have a special situation here. Just drop that question into my DMs and I can help you out. Okay. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I appreciate you making an outstanding rest of the day. Take care.
Sarah Fejfar 18:08
Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram. And be sure to tag at Sarah Fejfar. And let me know why you liked it and what you'd like to hear or who you'd like to hear from the future. That'll help me know what to create for you. Also, if it's on your heart to host your first or next event in 2023 and you need a jumpstart. Then let's connect for a strategy session. Just go to green room central.com. In a two hour intensive, private session, I can help you pivot scale or start your event vision from scratch. Together we are going to build an actionable plans that you can feel confident and clear on your next steps. Go to green room central.com Right now, to sign up.
Sarah Fejfar 18:57
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going, keep learning. If you want more, head over to green room central.com For show notes, and all the links from today's episode.
