Looking for a global event planning business plan? You're in the right place.
A firm that plans meetings and incentive trips abroad has questions to answer before a bank or an investor will listen. How much of the money that passes through the firm is actually yours? Who carries the loss if a hotel block is only half filled? How do you pay for a sales cycle that runs most of a year? A generic template doesn't show what a sensible answer looks like.
In this article we'll walk through a complete sample business plan for a meeting and incentive-travel planner in Richmond, Virginia, section by section. We'll cover the executive summary, the SWOT analysis and, in particular, all of the financials.
Here's what you'll take away:
- The executive summary: see how to put gross billings, revenue and the funding ask on one page, so a reader sees the size of the firm and not just the size of the events
- Gross billings versus net revenue: learn how to show a lender only the money that is yours, and why the gap matters
- The deposit and attrition table: find out who signs which contract, who funds which deposit and where your own exposure stops
- The sales cycle: plan the cash you need while a program signed today is still months from its event
- The first year, month by month: spot the quiet months before they arrive and size your reserve against them
- The five-year profit, cash flow and balance sheet: see how each planner you hire shows up in the numbers
- The downside case: have an answer ready for "what if the pipeline runs 20% short?", along with the steps the owner takes
If you're setting up a meeting or incentive-travel firm, read this before you write your own. The firm is fictional, so keep what fits and change the rest.
In this plan
To turn this example into your own global event planning business plan, use the global event planning business plan template.
The Plan in Brief
GlobeSpan Meeting Planners is a Richmond, Virginia firm that plans meetings and incentive trips for associations and corporations, many of them in more than one country. Its differentiator is international incentive travel, where it signs some supplier contracts as principal and funds the deposits itself until the client's money arrives. It opens on 1 January 2027. Naomi Hargrove, the founder, owns 100% of the company. The firm is paid in four ways: a management fee on each program, hotel and destination-management commissions that are disclosed to the client, a per-attendee registration and housing fee, and a day rate for on-site staff.
The firm needs $255,000: $165,000 of Naomi's savings and a $90,000 bank term loan. Of that, $153,000 is an operating reserve for a long sales cycle, $60,000 is a deposit float for contracts the firm signs as principal, $14,000 buys equipment and $28,000 pays for legal work, the license and the launch.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $441,125 | $716,468 | $1,108,002 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($52,140) | $21,185 | $72,896 |
| Closing cash | $132,311 | $111,609 | $97,108 |
| Closing cash after the $60,000 float | $72,311 | $51,609 | $37,108 |
Two numbers describe the business better than revenue does. Managed billings, the supplier spend the firm negotiates and administers for clients, are $2.73 million in Year 1 and $7.67 million in Year 3. In a full year revenue is about 14.5% of that. On association and corporate meetings the client signs the hotel contract and owes the hotel, so the supplier spend never reaches GlobeSpan's income statement. On incentive trips the firm signs as principal: Lisbon and Cancun are $900,000 of the $2.725 million in Year 1. The client prefunds those contracts, the prefunds sit in a client-funds account as a customer-deposit liability, and the model reports the firm's income net. Whether an accountant would require those trips to be reported gross is flagged in the financial section.
Year 1 loses money. Three programs are signed before opening, five more are signed during the year, and the first event is in April. Operating profit is positive in five of the twelve months. The three largest programs are 49% of Year 1 billings, so one lost program would be felt. The firm turns a profit for the first time in Year 2.
The plan tests a slow pipeline. With revenue 20% short, later hiring, lower marketing, a 20% cut to Naomi's pay, no office move and no distributions, closing cash stays positive in every year, though Year 4 cash falls below the deposit float.
The Firm and What It Sells
Legal name: GlobeSpan Meeting Planners, LLC, a Virginia limited liability company. Owner: Naomi Hargrove, 100%. Premises: 1,100 square feet of leased office space in Richmond. Stage: pre-launch. Three client agreements are signed and the lease is in draft.
Why the firm exists
An association executive with a 300-person annual meeting, or a sales vice-president with a 55-person incentive trip to Portugal, has three jobs to do at once: find and contract the venue, move money safely to suppliers in several currencies, and run the event. GlobeSpan does all three under one agreement, and states in the proposal how it is paid.
Four ways it earns
Year 1 fee income includes $47,520 of signing installments on Year 2 programs, which lifts the fee share above its steady 52%.
| Income line | How it is priced | Year 1 share of revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Program management fee | 7.5% of managed billings, invoiced in three installments | 57% |
| Hotel and DMC commissions | About 5% gross, 3.5% retained after client credits, disclosed in every proposal | 22% |
| Registration and housing technology | $34 per attendee | 8% |
| On-site staffing | $950 per staff-day, 7.5 staff-days a program | 13% |
The Year 1 book
| Program | Signed | Event | Attendees | Managed billings | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State association annual conference | Before opening | Apr | 240 | $340,000 | $25,500 |
| Corporate sales kickoff | Before opening | May | 140 | $270,000 | $20,000 |
| Incentive trip, Lisbon | Before opening | Jun | 55 | $415,000 | $31,000 |
| Association leadership summit | Mar | Sep | 120 | $215,000 | $16,000 |
| Corporate board meeting, Toronto | Apr | Sep | 70 | $200,000 | $15,000 |
| Association national meeting | Feb | Oct | 300 | $425,000 | $32,000 |
| Incentive trip, Cancun | Apr | Nov | 80 | $485,000 | $36,500 |
| Corporate partner conference, Barcelona | May | Nov | 90 | $375,000 | $28,000 |
The eight programs total $2,725,000 of managed billings and $204,000 of management fees. Eight different client organizations hold them.
Gross billings and net revenue
The plan keeps the two apart throughout.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programs | 8 | 15 | 21 | 26 | 30 |
| Managed billings | $2,725,000 | $5,280,000 | $7,665,000 | $9,828,000 | $11,730,000 |
| Revenue | $441,125 | $716,468 | $1,108,002 | $1,420,458 | $1,695,240 |
| Revenue as share of billings | 16.2% | 13.6% | 14.5% | 14.5% | 14.5% |
| Gross profit as share of billings | 14.4% | 12.1% | 12.9% | 12.9% | 12.9% |
From Year 3 the share holds steady because the plan keeps the fee rate, commission rate and mix constant. Year 1 is higher and Year 2 lower because $47,520 of Year 2 fee installments is invoiced in Year 1. Price sensitivity is direct: a client that negotiates the fee down by one point of billings moves Year 1 revenue by about $27,000.
Rules the firm sets for itself
Virginia law and the City of Richmond set the license and registration requirements; the firm confirms the current rules with counsel and the city before opening. Some states have seller-of-travel registration or disclosure rules that can reach a firm selling incentive trips to their residents. The plan names none and treats the check as a counsel task before each incentive program is sold. Client funds are held in a segregated account, reconciled monthly and released only against supplier invoices.
The Meetings Market from Richmond
Employment in the trade
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $61,160 for meeting, convention and event planners in May 2025, 172,100 jobs in 2025 and projected employment growth of 6% from 2025 to 2035. The figures describe planners in every setting, including staff planners inside associations and hotels, and they do not size the outsourced market. GlobeSpan's coordinators start below that median and its senior managers above it.
Who else a client could hire
| Alternative | What it offers | Why a client picks it | How GlobeSpan differs by design |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large global meeting-management agencies | Full service across many countries | Scale and a presence at the destination, as such firms usually offer | Smaller team, a named senior planner on every program |
| Site-selection networks paid by hotels | Venue search, often presented as free to the client | Commission is paid by the hotel | Fee and commission disclosed in writing, with credit terms |
| Travel management companies' meetings groups | Meetings handled beside corporate travel | One supplier for travel and events | Meetings are the whole business |
| Destination management companies selling direct | Local program design and ground handling | Local knowledge | Planning across several destinations under one contract |
| In-house staff and independent planners | Direct control, or a lower price | Cost, familiarity | Contracts and payments expertise on call |
The table lists categories and ranks none of them. Fees and terms change, and each provider publishes its own.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| Sixteen years in hotel sales and corporate meetings, with a supplier network | One senior seller: Naomi runs sales and about two-thirds of a planner's delivery load in Year 1 |
| Fee, commission and credit terms disclosed in every proposal | No brand yet; every client starts from a cold introduction |
| Three agreements signed before opening | Year 1 loses money and draws on the reserve |
| Principal-signed deposits are funded from the firm's own float | Three programs make up 49% of Year 1 billings |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Associations whose meetings recur each year, which the plan expects to bring repeat business | Clients taking planning in-house after a first program |
| Clients that want fee and commission shown separately | Hotels or agencies bundling planning free of charge |
| Incentive programs that need payments handled in several currencies | Travel disruption, a supplier failing, or a client not funding a deposit |
Who Commissions a Program
The association executive
The plan's target is a state or national association running one to three meetings a year, with a membership of roughly 1,000 to 10,000 people. The executive team is small, and the board often settles the host city well ahead of the planner's appointment, which the discovery call confirms. The meeting is a revenue line for the association, so budget control matters more than novelty.
The corporate meetings buyer
A sales, marketing or operations leader at a mid-sized company, buying a kickoff, a board meeting or a partner conference. Procurement often runs a request for proposals, and a signature can take several months.
The incentive program owner
A sales vice-president or HR head rewarding top performers with a trip abroad, typically 50 to 100 people. This buyer cares about the destination, the budget in dollars and certainty that suppliers are paid on time.
What each wants to know first
Who signs the hotel contract, what happens if fewer people attend than the contract expects, and who pays if a supplier invoice arrives in euros. The proposal answers those three questions before it describes the program.
Winning a Program: the Long Sales Cycle
From request for proposals to signature
Naomi plans for a median of seven months between the first conversation and a signed agreement, and longer for associations whose boards meet quarterly. A proposal takes about 30 hours of staff time, 12 of them from Naomi. The stages: a qualification call, a site shortlist, a priced proposal, a presentation to the buying committee and a client agreement that sets out fee, commission treatment, who signs supplier contracts and the deposit schedule.
The numbers behind the book
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programs | 8 | 15 | 21 | 26 | 30 |
| Repeat programs from existing clients | 0 | 6 | 11 | 15 | 18 |
| Programs from new clients | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| Formal proposals to new clients | 22 | 36 | 40 | 44 | 48 |
Of Year 1's eight programs, three are signed before opening and five are signed in the year from 22 formal proposals, a 23% win rate. The plan holds the win rate near 25% in later years. Half of the eight Year 1 clients, four, are expected to return in Year 2 with six programs between them, and repeat programs rise to 60% of the book by Year 5. By December 2027 the firm expects to hold six signed Year 2 programs, about $2.1 million of managed billings, and the 30% signing installment on each, $47,520 in total, is in Year 1 revenue.
Where the first eight clients come from
The eight Year 1 clients are not products of the Year 1 marketing budget. Naomi starts talking to them in the second half of 2026 through contacts from her hotel-sales years, with association executives and corporate buyers who are not clients of her agency. Her agency employment terms include a 12-month non-solicit of its clients, which a lawyer has reviewed and the plan respects. The three agreements counted as signed before opening are signed after she resigns. The seven-month cycle explains why the five later signings fall in months 2 to 5.
Fees, commissions and credits
The standard proposal shows the management fee, the gross commission the firm expects from each hotel and destination partner, and the share credited to the client. Association clients usually choose fee-credit terms. Corporate clients more often take a lower fee with commissions retained.
Handling a lost bid
Naomi asks each lost bidder for a debrief. The reasons are logged against price, venue, timing and relationships, and reviewed every quarter.
Where the Marketing Money Goes
Year 1 budget
The Year 1 budget is $50,000: $16,000 of launch spend funded from start-up capital and $34,000 of running costs. That is 11.3% of Year 1 revenue, falling to 3.8% by Year 3 and 3.0% by Year 5. Year 1 spend does not produce the Year 1 book. It builds the Year 2 pipeline, and from Year 2 each new-client program costs about $4,200 of marketing (Years 2, 3 and 5 all land near that figure), about a tenth of the $40,150 of fee and commission income a program earns in Year 3.
| Channel | Year 1 spend | What it is meant to do |
|---|---|---|
| Website, brand and first hosted-buyer event (launch) | $16,000 | A site with case studies, a fee explainer and a first dinner for twelve buyers |
| Association executive conferences, exhibiting | $8,000 | Introductions to executive directors planning meetings two years out |
| Corporate meetings and procurement events | $6,000 | Access to meetings buyers who issue requests for proposals |
| Client and prospect dinners | $5,000 | Quarterly tables for existing clients and referrals |
| Proposal production and case studies | $5,000 | Layouts, destination imagery and cost tables that a buying committee can compare |
| Content and LinkedIn | $5,000 | A monthly note on contract terms, attrition and currency exposure |
| Referral partners (hotel sales teams, destination bureaus) | $3,000 | Joint site visits and introductions |
| Newsletter and client communication | $2,000 | A quarterly update that prompts repeat business |
Milestones
- January 2027: three programs signed after Naomi's resignation onboarded.
- June 2027: Lisbon incentive trip delivered, the first principal-signed contract closed out.
- October 2027: association national meeting delivered, 300 attendees.
- December 2027: eight programs delivered, six Year 2 programs signed.
How a Program Is Run and Paid For
The Richmond office
1,100 square feet at about $24.50 a square foot a year ($27,000 in Year 1), with six desks, on a three-year lease with a personal guarantee. The firm moves to about 1,500 square feet at $27 when the lease renews at the start of Year 4. The $14,000 equipment and build-out budget covers the fit. Program work is mostly done by phone, shared documents and site visits, so the office is a meeting room and a desk bank.
Program lifecycle
Signing, then a site visit, contract negotiation, a registration site and housing block, supplier payments on a schedule, a final reconciliation and a post-event report. A coordinator keeps the contract calendar for every program: attrition dates, deposit dates, cutoff dates and final guarantees.
Programs per planner
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Programs | 8 | 15 | 21 | 26 | 30 |
| Delivery planners (full-time equivalents) | 1.65 | 2.75 | 4.15 | 4.77 | 5.30 |
| Programs per delivery planner | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 5.7 |
Coordinators count as delivery planners. The founder counts as 65% of one in Year 1 and 30% in Year 5. The contracts and payments manager and the business development director are not counted. A senior planner with a coordinator behind them carries 7 or 8 programs. The lower figure here comes from counting coordinators as delivery planners. The plan hires when the rate approaches six programs per delivery planner.
Deposit and attrition exposure
| Program type | Who signs supplier contracts | Deposits | Attrition | Firm's exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association meeting | The client, with the firm negotiating | Paid by the client to the hotel | Floor negotiated at 80% of the room block, with cumulative reductions | Fee installments only |
| Corporate meeting | The client | Paid by the client | As above | Fee installments only |
| Incentive trip | The firm, as principal | Client prefunds 50% at signing and each supplier payment 14 days before it is due | Group-size reduction negotiated in the supplier contract | Unfunded supplier payments, capped at $60,000 at any time |
Attrition clauses and cancellation schedules vary by hotel and country, and the firm has them reviewed by counsel for each program. The $60,000 float sits inside the cash balance and the model never draws it. Principal contracts are limited to three a year and two open at once, so exposure follows that count and not total billings, and the cap stays at $60,000 as billings grow. If a client's prefund arrives late the firm may pay a supplier first, and it stops signing new principal contracts when exposure approaches the cap. Client prefunds are held as customer deposits with matching restricted cash in the client-funds account, outside the tables in the financial section. Where the supplier or the client will not accept that structure, the firm declines to sign as principal and the client signs.
Currency and payments
The firm quotes and invoices in dollars. Suppliers abroad may bill in euros, Canadian dollars or pesos. Where a supplier offers a dollar contract the firm takes it; otherwise the client approves a forward rate when it signs. The firm does not earn a currency margin, and its own cost is the $4,500 of wire, exchange and card fees in Year 1 (rising to $15,000 in Year 5). Payments run through bank wires with two-person approval: until the coordinator joins in month 4 the second approver is the outside bookkeeper, and the Lisbon deposit is paid only after both have signed off.
Insurance and safeguards
Professional liability, general liability, cyber, crime cover for handling client funds, workers' compensation and key-person cover on Naomi, budgeted at $18,000 in Year 1. Professional fees of $24,000 include counsel review of supplier contracts and attrition clauses, an outside bookkeeper and an accountant. Cancellation insurance for each program is arranged through the client's own policy where possible and billed through as a supplier cost.
Risks a lender will ask about
Concentration: the three largest programs are 49% of Year 1 billings, and the largest client is 18%. Supplier failure: airline, destination-company or hotel insolvency is a risk to client money, so the firm pays suppliers no earlier than the contract requires and uses cards where the supplier accepts them. Force majeure and cancellation clauses are reviewed by counsel for every program, and cancellation insurance sits with the client's policy. Collateral and covenants: personal guarantee, a lien on equipment and receivables, quarterly accounts and minimum equity of $25,000.
Software
A customer relationship system, a registration and housing platform, a sourcing tool, project software and an expense system: $20,000 in Year 1 and $44,000 by Year 5.
Naomi Hargrove and the Team
Naomi Hargrove, founder and managing director
Naomi spent nine years in hotel sales, ending as a director of national accounts, and seven years at a corporate meetings agency running programs for associations and pharmaceutical-distribution clients. Her $165,000 investment is savings. She is leaving the agency to run a smaller firm where she does the planning herself.
What Naomi has not done before
Naomi has not run a payroll, been the sole guarantor of a bank loan or built payment controls from scratch. The plan covers these with an outside bookkeeper on retainer in Year 1, a contracts and payments manager from month 20 and two-person approval on every supplier wire. Her own year is stretched: about 13% of her Year 1 time goes to the 22 proposals (264 hours), 65% to delivery and the rest to sales calls and running the firm.
If Naomi is unavailable
A senior program manager joins in month 10 and can run any program. Until then a former colleague, a freelance planner, is on call at a day rate. That cost sits in the on-site staffing line, and the key-person cover is in the $18,000 insurance budget.
Outside help
A lawyer reviews supplier contracts and the client agreement on call. An accountant reviews the first-year figures quarterly.
Ownership and the bank
Naomi owns 100% of GlobeSpan Meeting Planners, LLC and gives the bank a personal guarantee. The loan carries a lien on equipment and receivables, quarterly accounts and a minimum-equity covenant of $25,000. If Naomi elects S corporation status, the firm's profit is taxed on her personal return, so her distributions would need to cover that tax.
Fees, Float and the Five-Year Numbers
The tables run monthly through the first year and annually after that. They show GlobeSpan's own income and costs on a net basis. Client money sent on to hotels, destination management companies and airlines moves through a separate client-funds account. Client prefunds for the firm's principal-signed incentive contracts would sit there as a customer-deposit liability matched by restricted cash. Neither appears in the tables below. If the firm's accountant concludes that principal-signed trips must be reported gross, revenue and supplier costs would both rise by the supplier spend on those trips ($900,000 in Year 1) and profit would not change.
Opening capital and the deposit float
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Laptops, monitors, phones and office build-out | $14,000 |
| City business license, state registration, bonding | $3,000 |
| Legal: entity, client and supplier contract templates | $9,000 |
| Launch: website, brand, first hosted-buyer event | $16,000 |
| Deposit float for principal-signed incentive contracts | $60,000 |
| Operating reserve for the long sales cycle | $153,000 |
| Total uses | $255,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Naomi Hargrove's savings | $165,000 |
| Bank term loan | $90,000 |
| Total sources | $255,000 |
Naomi Hargrove puts in $165,000 of savings, 65% of the total, and the bank lends $90,000 over seven years at 10.5%, interest-only for the first six months. The rate illustrates this example and is not a quoted lending rate. The bank takes Naomi's personal guarantee and a lien on the firm's equipment and receivables. Covenants: quarterly accounts and minimum equity of $25,000, tested each quarter. Of the $255,000, $28,000 is start-up cost expensed in Year 1 (license, legal and the launch), $14,000 is equipment, $60,000 is the deposit float and $153,000 is the operating reserve. The float covers principal-signed incentive trips, where a supplier deposit can fall due before the client's prefund arrives. It stays at $60,000 because exposure follows the number of open principal contracts, which is capped, and not total billings. The reserve carries the firm through a sales cycle in which a program signed today holds its event, and most of its income, up to a year later. Cash falls to about $96,000 at the lowest month-end in Year 1, so free cash after the float is about $36,000.
Planning figures behind the forecast
- The firm manages about $2.73 million of supplier spend in Year 1 across 8 programs, an average of $340,625 each, rising to about $11.7 million across 30 programs in Year 5. Supplier payments are not revenue. Revenue is the firm's own take: fees, retained commissions, registration and housing technology fees, and on-site staffing.
- The management fee is 7.5% of managed billings, invoiced 30% at signing, 40% three months before the event and 30% the month after it. The model books each installment when it is invoiced, not over the months of work, so a strict accountant would defer part of it. Year 1 revenue includes $47,520 of signing installments on six Year 2 programs signed from July to December, and Year 2 revenue leaves the same amount out.
- Hotels and destination management companies pay gross commission averaging 5% of managed billings. About 30% of that is credited back to clients that choose fee-credit terms, so the firm keeps 3.5%. Every proposal lists the commission and the credit. The line is booked in the month of the event and collected about 45 days later.
- Registration and housing fees are $34 per attendee in Year 1, rising $1 a year, on about 137 to 146 attendees a program. The platform license and card costs take 38% of the fee.
- On-site staffing bills $950 per staff-day in Year 1 (rising to $1,060), at 7.5 staff-days a program. Contract staff are paid 60% of the billed rate and are not on the payroll table.
- Capacity is about 5 programs per delivery planner a year, and coordinators count as delivery planners. A senior planner carries roughly 7 or 8 programs with a coordinator behind them. The founder counts as 65% of a delivery planner in Year 1, falling to 30% by Year 5. The contracts and payments manager and the business development director do not count.
- Receivables average 45 days: fee installments are invoiced net 30, commissions arrive 45 to 60 days after the event. Bad debt and client disputes cost 0.8% of revenue in Year 1 and 0.6% by Year 5.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, workers' compensation and a retirement match. Wages in the personnel table are launch rates, and pay raises of 3% a year are charged as a separate line from Year 2.
- Rent is 1,100 square feet in Richmond at about $24.50 a square foot a year ($27,000 in Year 1), then about 1,500 square feet at $27 from Year 4, when the three-year lease renews. These are planning figures for this example. Professional fees of $24,000 in Year 1 cover counsel review of supplier contracts and attrition clauses, an outside bookkeeper and an accountant. Insurance of $18,000 includes key-person cover on the founder.
- Tax is charged at the federal corporate rate of 21% and the Virginia corporate rate of 6%, with the Year 1 loss carried forward. A firm this size would often elect S corporation status, which moves the tax to the owner's personal return. Distributions would then also need to cover her personal tax on profits she has not drawn, so the model's distributions of $30,000, $40,000 and $60,000 in Years 3 to 5 would rise. Corporate rates are used here as the cautious case.
Net revenue by income line
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Program management fees | $251,520 | $348,480 | $574,875 | $737,100 | $879,750 |
| Hotel and DMC commissions (disclosed) | $95,375 | $184,800 | $268,275 | $343,980 | $410,550 |
| Registration and housing technology fees | $37,230 | $73,500 | $107,352 | $138,528 | $166,440 |
| On-site staffing | $57,000 | $109,688 | $157,500 | $200,850 | $238,500 |
| Total revenue | $441,125 | $716,468 | $1,108,002 | $1,420,458 | $1,695,240 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 62% | 55% | 28% | 19% |
Management fees are the base at 57% of Year 1 revenue and 52% of Year 5, the Year 1 share lifted by the signing installments on Year 2 programs. Commissions are 22% in Year 1 and 24% in Year 5. Technology fees and on-site staffing make up the rest, and they carry the direct costs: gross margin is 89.0% in both Year 1 and Year 5. Year 2 grows 62% on a full year of programs and a second planner, and growth slows to 19% by Year 5 because capacity sets the pace.
Year 1 by month, following the event dates
| Month | Program management fees | Hotel and DMC commissions (disclosed) | Registration and housing technology fees | On-site staffing | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $33,150 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $33,150 | ($4,214) |
| Feb 2027 | $17,600 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $17,600 | ($18,060) |
| Mar 2027 | $17,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $17,200 | ($18,416) |
| Apr 2027 | $15,450 | $11,900 | $8,160 | $7,125 | $42,635 | $4,231 |
| May 2027 | $16,050 | $9,450 | $4,760 | $7,125 | $37,385 | ($444) |
| Jun 2027 | $18,400 | $14,525 | $1,870 | $7,125 | $41,920 | $3,594 |
| Jul 2027 | $30,020 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $30,020 | ($7,001) |
| Aug 2027 | $33,720 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $33,720 | ($3,707) |
| Sep 2027 | $7,920 | $14,525 | $6,460 | $14,250 | $43,155 | $4,694 |
| Oct 2027 | $17,220 | $14,875 | $10,200 | $7,125 | $49,420 | $10,272 |
| Nov 2027 | $17,520 | $30,100 | $5,780 | $14,250 | $67,650 | $26,504 |
| Dec 2027 | $27,270 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $27,270 | ($9,450) |
Income follows contracts and event dates, so months are uneven by design. The pre-opening programs bill their first installments in January, March is the thinnest month at $17,200, and the commissions and on-site fees from eight events land in April to June and September to November. Operating profit is positive in April, June, September, October and November and negative in the other seven months. The lowest month-end cash is in Nov, at about $96,000 once the 45-day collection lag is counted.
Who is on payroll, and when
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founder and managing director | $120,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Program coordinator | $56,000 | Month 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Senior program manager | $82,000 | Month 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Contracts and payments manager | $74,000 | Month 20 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second program coordinator | $56,000 | Month 22 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Program manager | $78,000 | Month 28 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Business development director | $95,000 | Month 34 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second senior program manager | $85,000 | Month 44 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $231,775 | $384,598 | $597,218 | $757,449 | $820,420 |
Naomi is alone for the first three months. A coordinator joins in month 4, ahead of the first spring event, and a senior program manager in month 10 to take the autumn load. The contracts and payments manager arrives in month 20, once supplier contracts and payment schedules outgrow what the founder can check herself, a second coordinator in month 22, a program manager in month 28, a business development director in month 34 and a second senior program manager in month 44. Each hire waits for the revenue that pays for it. The wage shown for Naomi is already in the costs, so profit here is what is left after she is paid.
Profit and loss
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $441,125 | $716,468 | $1,108,002 | $1,420,458 | $1,695,240 |
| Direct costs (contract on-site staff, registration platform) | ($48,347) | ($78,525) | ($121,437) | ($155,683) | ($185,799) |
| Gross profit | $392,778 | $637,943 | $986,565 | $1,264,775 | $1,509,441 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($231,775) | ($384,598) | ($597,217) | ($757,449) | ($820,420) |
| Rent | ($27,000) | ($27,800) | ($28,600) | ($40,500) | ($41,700) |
| Utilities | ($3,000) | ($3,100) | ($3,200) | ($3,900) | ($4,000) |
| Marketing | ($34,000) | ($38,000) | ($42,000) | ($46,000) | ($50,000) |
| Insurance | ($18,000) | ($20,500) | ($23,000) | ($26,000) | ($28,500) |
| Professional fees | ($24,000) | ($18,000) | ($20,000) | ($22,000) | ($24,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($20,000) | ($26,000) | ($32,000) | ($38,000) | ($44,000) |
| Site inspections, trade-show and client-visit travel | ($34,000) | ($52,000) | ($68,000) | ($80,000) | ($90,000) |
| Professional dues, certification and industry events | ($5,000) | ($6,500) | ($8,000) | ($9,500) | ($10,500) |
| Bank wire, foreign-exchange and card-processing fees | ($4,500) | ($7,500) | ($10,500) | ($13,000) | ($15,000) |
| Equipment replacement and new-hire kit | $0 | ($4,500) | ($3,000) | ($6,500) | ($4,000) |
| Bad debt and client-dispute allowance | ($3,500) | ($5,500) | ($7,500) | ($9,500) | ($11,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($11,538) | ($36,371) | ($70,236) | ($102,970) |
| EBITDA | ($11,997) | $32,407 | $107,176 | $142,190 | $263,351 |
| Depreciation | ($2,800) | ($2,800) | ($2,800) | ($2,800) | ($2,800) |
| Interest | ($9,343) | ($8,422) | ($7,238) | ($5,924) | ($4,465) |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | ($24,243) | ($34,354) | ($65,917) |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($24,140) | $21,185 | $72,896 | $99,112 | $190,170 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch marketing) | ($28,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($52,140) | $21,185 | $72,896 | $99,112 | $190,170 |
Year 1 loses $24,140 before start-up costs and $52,140 after them. The firm turns a profit for the first time in Year 2, and income tax is zero that year because the Year 1 loss is carried forward. EBITDA margin sits near 10% in Years 3 and 4 because hires land in months 28, 34 and 44, then reaches 15.5% in Year 5 with no new hire. Pay raises add $102,970 to Year 5 costs.
Cash movements
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($103,725) | ($9,961) | $27,424 | $63,390 | $159,093 |
| Equipment and build-out | ($14,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $255,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | ($4,964) | ($10,741) | ($11,925) | ($13,239) | ($14,698) |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | ($30,000) | ($40,000) | ($60,000) |
| Net change in cash | $132,311 | ($20,702) | ($14,501) | $10,151 | $84,395 |
| Closing cash | $132,311 | $111,609 | $97,108 | $107,259 | $191,654 |
Closing cash stays positive in every year, but it includes the $60,000 float. Free cash after the float is $72,311 at the end of Year 1, $51,609 at the end of Year 2 and $37,108 at the end of Year 3, the lowest year-end figure and the first year of owner distributions. The float is committed only when a principal-signed supplier deposit falls due before the client's prefund arrives, and the model never draws it.
Balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $132,311 | $111,609 | $97,108 | $107,259 | $191,654 |
| Accounts receivable | $54,385 | $88,332 | $136,603 | $175,125 | $209,002 |
| Equipment and build-out (net) | $11,200 | $8,400 | $5,600 | $2,800 | $0 |
| Total assets | $197,896 | $208,340 | $239,311 | $285,184 | $400,656 |
| Bank loan | $85,036 | $74,295 | $62,370 | $49,131 | $34,434 |
| Paid-in capital | $165,000 | $165,000 | $165,000 | $165,000 | $165,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($52,140) | ($30,955) | $11,941 | $71,053 | $201,223 |
| Total liabilities and equity | $197,896 | $208,340 | $239,311 | $285,184 | $400,656 |
Break-even and coverage
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -2.7% | 4.5% | 9.7% | 10.0% | 15.5% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -5.5% | 3.0% | 6.6% | 7.0% | 11.2% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 53% | 55% | 57% | 58% | 54% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $147,042 | $143,294 | $158,286 | $177,557 | $211,905 |
| Average monthly revenue | $36,760 | $59,706 | $92,334 | $118,372 | $141,270 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $37,883 | $56,673 | $82,303 | $105,064 | $116,623 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | -0.8x | 1.7x | 5.6x | 7.4x | 13.7x |
In Year 1 average monthly revenue of $36,760 is under the $37,883 the cost base needs, so the year loses money. Year 2 averages $59,706 against $56,673 needed, and the margin of safety widens each year to Year 5. Debt service cover is negative in Year 1 and at least 1.7x from Year 2.
When the pipeline runs 20% short
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $352,900 | $573,174 | $886,402 | $1,136,366 | $1,356,192 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($65,415) | ($8,762) | $52,280 | $16,169 | $99,023 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($93,415) | ($8,762) | $52,280 | $16,169 | $99,023 |
| Closing cash | $101,913 | $58,052 | $62,590 | $37,502 | $97,525 |
Every revenue line is cut by 20% in every year, which in practice means fewer or smaller programs. The response: every hire from month 13 starts six months later, the second senior program manager is dropped, marketing is cut by 20%, Naomi takes a 20% pay cut, the firm stays in its first office and no distributions are paid. The month 4 coordinator and the month 10 senior program manager stay, because the first programs cannot run without them. On those terms year-end cash never falls below $37,502 (Year 4), Year 2 is a small loss and the firm is profitable from Year 3. Year 4 profit is lower than Year 3 although revenue rises, because the six-month hiring deferral means hires that were on payroll for part of Year 3 are paid for twelve months in Year 4, and pay raises accumulate. Equity ends Year 1 at $71,585, well above the $25,000 covenant minimum. Year 4 cash is below the $60,000 float, so in this case the firm signs a principal contract only when the client prefunds 100% at signing.
Sources
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Meeting, convention, and event planners, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 wage data and 2025 to 2035 projection.
- Virginia Department of Taxation, Corporation income tax: 6% of Virginia taxable income.
- Federal corporate rate of 21%: 26 U.S.C. section 11.
Create a plan as complete as this one
Pick the amount of help you want.
Do it yourself
$197 Toolkit, 12 months
Build your plan with the AI Wizard and every tool you need, at your own pace.
Start my plan →Done with you
$497 Toolkit Plus, 12 months
Our AI builds the plan with you, section by section, from your answers.
Want a person too? Upgrade to a consultation with an MBA graduate.
See Toolkit Plus →Done for you
From $1,997 written for you
We research and write the whole plan, and you review the finished draft.
See the writing service →Still searching for a global event planning business plan template? Build yours here.