How to Start a Decorating Business from Scratch

Decoration is an art. It is not just about putting up a few balloons and tables. The decorating business is all about making the event more beautiful. Moreover, it is about giving an unforgettable experience to the client.

 

If you are looking to start your own decoration business in India, here are the right steps to follow: -

 

Steps to Start a Decorating Business

 

Step 1 - Choose your Business Model

 

When you start a new business, it is important to choose an appropriate business model.

 

Many factors should be considered before deciding on the right business model for your event decorating business in India. 

 

• The first thing to consider is the capital investment required for starting an event decorating company. 

• The second factor that needs to be considered is the type of service you would like to offer your customers and how much time you want to invest in this venture. 

• The third factor that should be considered is how you are going to connect with your prospect customers.

 

With this in mind, here are a few business models for event decorating business you can consider:

 

1. Event Decorator: This is the most common model in India. They provide event decorating services to clients and charge them a fee for their service.

 

2. Event Decorator Agency: This model is similar to the first one, but it has a tiered pricing structure and provides services to other event decorators as well as corporate clients.

 

3. Corporate Event Decorator: This model is used by companies that want to provide event decorating services for their own events, conferences or exhibitions in-house without hiring an external agency or an external decorator.

 

4. Consultancy Firm: It provides advisory services on how to plan events and how to execute them successfully with the help of professionals who are experts in this field like interior designers and event managers.

 

5. Home Decoration in Metro Cities : This type of model is on the rise owing to the increasing number of live-in relationships and married couples. It is quite popular in Metro cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore etc.

 

Step 2 - Create a Business Plan

 

A business plan helps you determine the feasibility of your idea, the resources needed for your business, and the various costs that you need to cover.

 

It also helps you get a clear idea of what your plans are and how you can achieve them.

 

A business plan typically includes the following sections:

 

1. Executive Summary

2. Company Description

3. Market Analysis

4. Product/Service Description

5. Marketing Strategy

6. Implementation Plan

7. Financial Data and Forecasts

 

Initially, you can make it informally for yourself. Later it will help you with investment as well as other business purposes.

 

Choose your Specialization

 

You can either specialize in a specific type of event, or you can be a generalist and offer services to all types of events.

 

There are many factors that you need to take into consideration before deciding on what type of specialization you will offer and these include the following:

 

• What are your interests ?
• What skills do you have ?
• How much time do you have ?
• What is the scope of the market in India ?
• What are your financial goals ?

 

A few common niches for event decorators are: 

• Weddings Decorator 
• Corporate Event Decorator 
• Birthday Party Decorator
• Festive Decorators
• Baby Shower and Gender Reveal Decorators
• Surprise Party Decorators
• Theme Based Decorators
• Small Event Decorators
• Religious Event Decorators

 

Step 3 - Decide on the Money Matters (Investment and Pricing)

 

The decision to start a decorating business in India is not an easy one. 

 

The market is highly competitive and it is not easy to stand out from the crowd. 

 

Accordingly, here are the factors you need to consider before you decide on the investment and pricing for your event decorating business.

 

1. Firstly, consider the initial and operating investment required for the business. So, if a business does not have enough funds, it can look for investors or partners to get funding.
2. Secondly, review the pricing of the decorating services. The price of the services should be fair and competitive to attract customers from other businesses as well. Also, consider the type of event, size of the venue, number of guests, time and location of the event and budget to set the prices.
3. Thirdly, know the estimate of time needed to complete the project. If there are too many events happening simultaneously, then it might be difficult for a company to complete all of them within a set deadline.

 

Where to look for investments?

 

The event decorating industry is a lucrative one and many investors are willing to invest in it. 

 

But first, you can start by considering the following:

 

• What kind of funding do you need?
• What is your purpose?
• How much money are you looking for?
• When do you need it?
• Who is the lender and what is their lending rate?
• What are the terms and conditions of the loan?

 

Accordingly, here are some places where you can get investment for your event decorating business in India:

 

• Family members
• Friends
• Bank loans
• Private investors
• Angel investors
• Private Money Lenders
• Crowdfunding
• Partnership Capital
• Self-funding

 

Step 4 - Register your Business

 

The registration process to start a decorating business in India is not as complicated as it would seem.

 

So, before you start selling services of your own, you need to make sure that you are compliant with the law and that you have all the required licenses and certifications.

 

For this purpose, register your decorating business as any of the following legal structures:

 

• Private Limited Company Registration
• One Person Company
• Limited Liability Partnership 

 

Initially, you can go for a Sole Proprietorship or Partnership structure. But, once you have got a grip on the work, register it as the recommended structures.

 

It will help you in getting the investments easily and establishing a brand identity.

 

Step 5 - Buy your Decorative Stuff and Tie up with Vendors

 

Event decoration is one of the most crucial parts of any event. 

 

It is not only about the decoration but also about the ambience that it creates. 

 

Event decoration can make or break an event which is why it should be done with utmost care.

 

Accordingly, source the right quality materials to make your event successful.

 

There are many ways in which you can buy decorative stuff for your event decorating business in India. 

 

For example, you can find them at some stores, order them online or you can even tie up with vendors for getting your required products at a cheaper rate.

 

The best way to find stuff is either you can search online or ask around people in the industry for vendors who sell all these items at competitive prices.

 

You can also consider Indiamart and Tradeindia.

 

Decorations are not just about flowers, balloons and banners, but also about other things like furniture, tableware, confectionery items etc. 

 

Therefore, you need to have a clear idea of what you are going to offer your customers.

 

Step 6 - Make a Website and Use Social Media for Marketing

 

You can create your own website or you can purchase a domain name and hosting package from a business service provider or hire a developer.

 

We recommend hiring someone who has experience in setting up websites because this is not something that you want to do yourself, especially if you are new to the field.

 

The second step is making sure that your website has all the necessary pages, such as:

 

• An about page
• Contact page
• Blog page
• Service list page with prices

 

It will help people find out more about your company and also provide them with information on how they can get in touch with you if they have any questions or need the assistance of some kind.

 

It is important to have an online presence because people are always looking for event decorators on the internet.

 

To use social media for marketing, you should create accounts on all of the social networks that are relevant to your niche. 

 

For example, if you specialize in weddings, then create accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

 

Consider the demography of your audience so that you can target specific demographics with social media marketing.