WEDDING, EVENT, HOSPITALITY, AND CATERING BUSINESSES ARE SUFFERING AND IT CREATES A DOMINO EFFECT
When I started my first business as a wedding planner in 2006 I worked my ass off to get up and running … I networked, advertised, cold called, met with potential clients, sent emails, ran around town like crazy for meetings … you know, the stuff you do when you are hustling to grow, earn an income, and gain a reputation as one of the best in your field.
IT TOOK TIME AND EFFORT TO GROW … AND THAT TIME AND EFFORT BUILT ON ITSELF TO CREATE A MOMENTUM TO KEEP ME IN BUSINESS AND TO KEEP ME SUCCESSFUL.
The excitement and confidence I felt after each client hired me paired with the experience and knowledge I gained during the planning journey that went until the last guest left the wedding and clean up ended after the reception created a boost to keep growing and keep conquering to be one of the very best in my local area … and overtime I did become one of the best in my area.
BEING A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER IN THE EVENT AND WEDDING INDUSTRY IS UNIQUE
I’m not saying that being a small business owner in the wedding industry is above other small business industries … all I’m saying is, events, weddings, catering, and hospitality services are LINKED to so many things!!! When events are CANCELLED, the domino effect is real ugly on how many other businesses are hit … and hit hard …
For me personally, 90% of my income comes from wedding and event industry entrepreneurs … when they stop making money, I stop making money … how many more are like me? A LOT.
Aside from that, and I’m going to say it and you can hate on me all you want:
EVENTS AND WEDDINGS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN
and if they can’t open RIGHT NOW immediately:
THEN FUNDS NEED TO BE SENT TO ALL SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS NOW TO GET THEM THROUGH
I am sick of the hold ups … I am over the excuses … I am tired of hearing from my clients who had to ‘let go’ their entire staff and are selling as much as they can to get by and pay their bills and put food on the table. I am tired of the ‘cancellation’ of business owners who feel this way … I am sick of the bullying and name calling … I am tired of hearing this:
“YOU MUST NOT CARE ABOUT PEOPLE DYING IF YOU WANT BUSINESSES TO OPEN AND KIDS TO GO TO SCHOOL”
^^ that BS needs to stop right now … politics aside, we are all people … and the people need to get back to work and running their businesses and the kids need to return to school. :
IT’S TIME TO GET LOUD.
How many more months can we get by with very little income? How many more months can we go with lost momentum for our small businesses? How many more months am I expected to teach my kids from home with remote learning and try to keep my struggling business afloat??
AND I SAY ‘WE’ BECAUSE I AM A SMALL BUSINESS OWNER WHO EARNS MY INCOME FROM OTHER SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS!
I am in this with all of us … we can’t stay silent anymore.
I’M DONE WITH ‘IT IS WHAT IT IS’
Been there … done that … I was a good sport March through August … I wore my little mask … I remote ‘taught’ my kids at home while trying to run a business at the same time during a pandemic where people weren’t making an income … I ‘made the best of it’ … but I don’t see an end in sight … DO YOU?????
I don’t see plans to reopen … in fact, I see a lot of places going backwards!! Washington state just cancelled Fall activities … they cancelled FALL!!!! If they are canceling corn mazes, hayrides, and pumpkin patches, then they certainly aren’t going to allow weddings and events anytime soon …
ARE YOU PISSED OFF YET? YOU SHOULD BE.
This is not a political post … and if you are trying to read through the lines to see if I’m a Trump supporter or a Biden supporter, I will cut to the chase real quick and save you the time and effort:
I AM FOR PEOPLE AND SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND MY CHILDREN … I AM FOR LIVING LIFE … I AM FOR KEEPING MY SMALL BUSINESS THAT I WORKED SO HARD TO BUILD OPEN
This is not political. We need to come TOGETHER and our small businesses need to open and people need to have weddings and events again. Period. End of story.
XO~ Heather
