An evaluation of the feasibility of setting up a wedding planning business in Cardiff

Abstract

The aim of the enterprise project was to evaluate the feasibility of setting up a wedding planner business in Cardiff. In order to identify the feasibility of the business a variety of research is conducted. This involved:- • Conducting a detailed search on the trends within the wedding industry through using the national statistics, questionnaires and interviews • Conducting a thorough literature review through researching academic textbooks, searching the internet, and journals. • Evaluation of competitors service and prices • Visiting wedding fairs and contacting established wedding planners • Producing a business plan including the research methods, advertising methods, producing cash flow forecasts, including cash flow forecast, profit and loss account and balance sheet. • A SWOT analysis to indentify the strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats towards the company. The company named 'Cariad Wedding Planner' aim is to provide a service for those wishing to have support and guidance throughout their wedding preparation, offering a variety of services to suit all clients. In depth research into the industry has identified a potential for a wedding planner business within Cardiff, as there are very little business's within this area offering the service. Having conducted market research the results show that there is a demand for the proposed business with 59% saying that they would use a wedding planner, with a positive price of £1,001 - £1,500 which people are willing to pay for the service. The season which the majority said they would like to get married is in the summer, however 29% said spring, 11% answered winter and 7% replied autumn, this indicates that the service will be operation throughout the year, with the spring and summer seasons being the busiest. Also the majority of those questioned plan to have their weeding in more than for years time, this highlights that Cariad Wedding Planner defiantly has potential clients as the business will be up and running ready for those customers. The author is highly confident of the success of the business and through the identification of the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats these can be look into and the weaknesses can be overcome to benefit the company. The financial statements highly back up the feasibility of the business with high profit rates and the main advantage of having no gearing resulting in the company having minimal risk and therefore the possibility for investments if need be. The profit figures for the first 3 years are as follows Year 1 £11,207, Year 2 £6,486, Year 3 £11,770