IGtv recap: The Pros & Cons of Venues Having In-house Decor
To prep for the New Year, I messaged my fellow venue managers and owners asking them what THEY wanted to learn along with what THEIR CLIENTS wanted to know. One of the venues came back with knowing the pros and cons of doing things in-house!
I have years of experience in business development which includes creating packages for event spaces. This is still one of the many things I offer within my venue consulting service. If there is one thing I know about business and can suggest to ALL businesses is that you should have an add-on service! A quick and easy "up-sale" really does add up and makes your business unique. So with all that being said, here is Part 1 of the pros and cons series; Welcome to "The Pros and Cons of Venues Having In-house Decor":
Pros -
1) It's extra income - Even if items are priced at a couple of bucks, it adds up and will eventually pay itself off.
2) It's a selling point - Some clients that tour may automatically book you because you have in-house services, especially decor! People want convenience so if you have some of the decor items that are always at an event, ready and available, that is a huge advantage for you!
3) Makes you a one-stop-shop - I kind of want to put this with #2, but for writing purposes I'll just leave this right here. People want convenience. Enough said.
Cons -
1) You need the space - You do need the room to store the decor when it's not in use. If you're building a venue and want to offer this in the future, make sure to include it into your build out. If you already have your space built and NOW want to add in-house decor, you may have to convert a space, knock down a wall to add an extra closet, etc. It can be a burden, especially when it comes to keeping it organized no matter how late it is at night when you're tearing down 😴 One rebuttal is that you can always just invest in shelving or an organizational system if you are limited on space.
2) Up-front cost - With my experience in building this type of package, we didn't purchase any decor items until it was requested. We also had to make sure it was going to be something that would keep getting requested over and over. Just know going in that this is a big ticket item that you need to invest in up-front.
A rebuttal for this one though is that even though trends come and go (which you do need to pay attention to), you can always resell it online and use the money to purchase something that's currently in-style. It can be time consuming and a pain in the butt, but someone will always be looking for that kind of decor.
3) Liability - If something gets damaged, it can not only be a pain in the butt, but it can cost you more money. I always suggest to charge a refundable deposit just for the decor in case this does happen, but there's just the issue of actually dealing with it in general.
So in my personal, and professional, opinion, I think it's smart to have in-house decor. Even if you offer the typical event decor such as votives, cylinders, etc., it's an awesome money maker and a great selling point!
To watch the episode, you can view it here
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Pros and Cons series. Till next time,
-Melissa
Photo credits: Photographer- Samantha Rule Photography, Floral- our in-house florist Lara Cornell, Decor- Style Society