Here we are, friends! The beginning of a new year, a new DECADE, and a new season of planning events for some of the sweetest clients!

We said it in our last post, that 2019 was one of the best years for us as a business. Our team grew, we’re booking more of our ‘dream’ clientele and overall taking on less weddings than years before! The difference this year was they were more fulfilling. As amazing as the year was, we also had moments of, ‘Wow, we need to be doing ____ differently’! Or, ‘Why in the world did we do it that way?’! 2020 marks a sweet five years in business, but we still consider ourselves new to this line of work. We are always learning and refining the ways we work and serve our clients – and ourselves.

So, mistakes were made, ideal situations were lost or less than ideal, but that’s owning your own business! We are always learning as we go. I really hope our team never loses the urge to keep educating ourselves and striving to be the best. So let’s name ’em, our 2020 Goals!

Continue to be Educated and Inspired

As small business owners who are working 60+ hour weeks, it can be really easy to feel burnt out. We put the most important day of couples’ lives on the forefront, planning every single detail! We manage every vendor and design every aspect of the day entirely. However rewarding and fun it is for us, there are times where it feels just like any other job. We do this because it is rewarding to know we’re making these days the BEST for our clients. We also know we do it better than most, and are proud of it! In 2020, we want to strive to educate ourselves, learn from the best in our industry and be inspired.

How are we doing this?

Some of the tangible ways we’ve been doing this are listening to podcasts from some industry BOSSES! Right now, The Wedding Biz is our favorite! We’re also taking online courses (we’re currently learning from Sinclair & Moore with his If I Made course) and also taking steps to make sure we’re not getting burnt out on design and feeling inspired. There are lots of ways I personally do this: browsing Pinterest for fashion and architectural inspiration is my favorite. We also enjoy perusing some of our favorite publications for Real Weddings or Shoots is another (helloooooo, Martha Stewart Weddings!). I have a feeling 2020 is going to be a great year of growth for us and excited to watch it happen!

Better Time Management

Is this ever NOT a goal for a small business owner (or anyone in life), really? I’ll admit, I’m actually really great at multitasking and getting things done. Most of the time, however, I have to put my phone away to do it. No, I will never reveal my screen time, I am forever ashamed.

At times, I’m almost too much of a multitasker – anyone else? I’ll work on one vendor recommendation for a client, while then jumping to answering an inquiry, to texting back a friend, to warming up my coffee for the thousandth time, to updating my blog calendar, to putting that other thing or this other thing on my to-do list, to jumping back to that vendor recommendation/email. Seriously. That’s the way my mind works, a million miles a minute on about a million different things! It’s what makes us great Planners, being able to do a lot and remember a lot all at once! I also know that at times I need to focus on one thing at a time and really kill that to-do list… because I loveeeeee crossing things off lists.

Balancing owning a business, managing employees and assistants, client work, working out, reading, running, family life (with a new babe on the way!) is going to be quite an adjustment. But, coming up with a system now will pay off in the long run!

Grow our Team

2019 brought a new AMAZING brand and website for us, and we’re excited to keep that momentum going! With a new meaning and beautiful site, we’re booking more events and with that, growing our team. I’m excited as our company grows to be more of an Owner, stepping a little away from planning. I’m excited to focus more on the business side of things! This includes hiring more assistants and growing them into Lead Planners and Coordinators!

No, I’m not stepping away completely, but with a babe on the way I’m excited for this slight change! I’m pumped to focus more energy on this part of our business! Plus, putting more attention on all the other parts that sometimes get overshadowed when managing so many clients! Things like: blogging, website updates, keeping up with our Pinterest, managing our finances, setting processes in stone that will set us up for success, education for both clients and fellow event professionals in Columbus, networking and so much more often gets put on the back burner during our heavy wedding seasons. Interested in our team? Keep an eye out because we’ll be putting out a call for applicants soon!

Design Intentionally

I know, it’s so broad. So many of these goals are not super clear, step-by-step ways to make them happen. Truth is, we do have some more business minded goals with more detail, and personal goals, too. The ones here are the ones I really wanted to share with you.

While booking more weddings that align with our brand, we’re taking on less clientele per year. We do this to give each couple the focus they deserve! We’re also spending more time getting to know them and who they are as a couple. We get to envision their day as a whole without feeling so drained! Designing an event is so much more than picking a theme and colors! It’s communicating who the couple is to their guests through the ambiance, food, drink, paper goods, floral design, music, all of it. We’re excited to take more time with each of our Full Service couples to create an event that they’ll look back on in fifty years and say, “that was every bit of us.”

Be OK with Saying ‘No’

Let’s give it up for boundaries, shall we?! Even if you’re not a small business owner, saying ‘No’ can be one of the most uncomfortable part of working with your clients. Ok, managing finances and doing taxes might be the actual worst, but that’s why you hire a CPA 😉

Learning to say No in the beginning stages of owning a business can be uncomfortable in so many different ways. Whether it be: Declining to take an event because you truly don’t believe you’re a good fit, not doing a service that’s not in your scope of work, sticking to healthy working and office hours, or even refusing to be treated poorly by a manipulative client or family member (or vendor!).

2019 was a big year of growth for me and EHD, where I feel like I learned a lot of these things. I learned to say No to events I didn’t think would be good for my business or personal health. I said No to vendors who saw us merely as a referral or way to make money. And I said No to things that pushed the boundaries of my personal life. I want our team, friends and people we love to be ok with caring for themselves and their well being. And that’s even if that means setting up some walls. You’ll thank yourself for it later! In 2020 we plan on continuing the practice of sticking to our office hours, charging appropriately for work we’re doing, speaking up when we see someone being mistreated and ultimately, protecting our business as a whole to flourish.

There you have it, friends – some 2020 goals, some vague in nature, but that have been on my heart for the last couple of months. Hooray for being able to delete these thoughts off my Notes app in my phone finally, and for starting the new year with some aspirations so that EHD kicks. Some. Butt. Cheers!