How to open your own wedding agency from scratch. Opening a wedding agency
Nowadays, weddings are somewhat reminiscent of the original theatrical performances. The organization of such events is rarely complete without the participation of a wedding agency. Employees of these companies help newlyweds, members of their families, and their loved ones organize a truly grandiose, long-remembered celebration.
A wedding agency to some extent helps to fulfill the secret dreams of newlyweds, and therefore they do not skimp on paying for their services. The demand for such services is high, especially if the wedding agency employs professionals who know their business. Becoming the founder and owner of a wedding agency is a promising business idea, especially if we are talking about a company located in a larger city. How to open your own wedding agency?
Business plan for organizing a wedding agency
The implementation of any commercial idea begins by drawing up a business plan from scratch, as detailed as possible, so that all the nuances of this type are taken into account entrepreneurial activity. A business plan, that is, its template, can be downloaded on the Internet, and then adjusted to suit you. Many novice entrepreneurs do this; fortunately, there is no shortage of such material on the RuNet.
The entrepreneur will have to come up with and organize a place to hold meetings with clients. For such purposes, you can rent premises in a business center, where you will be able to enter into contracts calmly and comfortably.
Personnel costs
In the process of drawing up a plan for implementing a business idea, it is definitely worth mentioning the expected labor costs a little. An entrepreneur will need a driver, a photographer, florists, and a host (toastmaster), because organizing a full-fledged wedding celebration on your own is unrealistic.
The main task of the owner of a wedding agency is to quickly open a company and coordinate the actions of his assistants and subordinates, and organize advertising for his enterprise. Typically, a wedding agency's income from a wedding, the organization of which he was entrusted with organizing, is 10-15% of the budget of the wedding itself. That is, if the wedding budget was 10 thousand dollars, then the commission of the wedding agency will be 1-1.5 thousand dollars.
Wedding organization
It makes sense to develop several scenarios for organizing a celebration ahead of time so that clients have a choice and can choose the most desirable option. Everyone has their own vision of this celebration, a significant day for the newlyweds and their loved ones. Some people prefer a classic style wedding, while others want to spend this celebration dressed as a diver under the waters of the South Sea or jump with a parachute. Many clients come to wedding agencies with their own, sometimes simply incredible in terms of implementation, scenarios.
Income
The class level of a wedding agency, its reputation, and therefore its income depend on how far it is willing to go to meet clients who ask for help in organizing their wedding. It's about about assistance in realizing “the wedding of their dreams,” that is, the most incredible, original project for holding this celebration.
The functions of a wedding agency include choosing a restaurant or cafe where the event will take place, choosing a flower shop where flowers will be purchased for the wedding, and decorating the premises. The entrepreneur must first conduct an analysis of the local market for these services. You need to choose only those establishments that value their reputation and provide quality services. After that, you can collaborate on, so to speak, an ongoing basis. It is advisable to maintain such partnerships with several similar establishments at once, so that clients have several options to choose from.
It is advisable to work on a prepayment system. Prepayment is a reliable guarantee that the clients of the wedding agency will not change their minds about violating their contractual obligations, and so on. An advance payment is also issued from the prepayment fund to the hired staff of the agency; other organizational tasks are solved with this money.
Success of a wedding agency
The success of your own wedding agency, opened from scratch, largely depends on the advertising company and how well it is organized, especially in the early stages of the enterprise’s existence. A cheap and modern option for promoting a business is to create a website, an interactive business card for a wedding agency, which contains information about the list of services, their costs, and so on.
On such a web resource you can post photographs taken at celebrations previously organized by this wedding agency, adding brief description their script. In addition to advertising on the online network, an entrepreneur can place advertisements in local city newspapers and use posting notices.
This business does not require significant financial investments or long training. An entrepreneur must not only know how to open an establishment, but also have a creative imagination, perhaps also experience in entrepreneurial activity in the entertainment sector, be sociable, and able to “hear” the client. Good luck!
Every couple planning to get married soon wants this day to be the most memorable and happy for them. And in this regard, the entire organization of the wedding ceremony and subsequent celebration plays a significant role. With the growing popularity of holding various themed weddings, the demand for wedding agencies is also growing.
Future newlyweds turn to such agencies not only when they want to make their wedding on a certain theme, but also when they simply want to protect themselves from possible inconsistencies in organizing the event (and they often happen when the bride and groom take on this matter independently), and be confident that everything will go perfectly.
Wedding agency business plan
At the start of a business, you can invest 5-6 thousand dollars. This amount will be spent on registering a business, purchasing furniture, equipment and creating a website. It will cost about 2-3 thousand dollars a month to maintain the business - for renting office space, salaries for staff and an advertising campaign. The average profitability of such a business is 40-50%, and the payback period is about 7 months.
How to open a wedding planning agency
Services market and competition
To say that there are a lot of wedding agencies would be wrong. In large cities there are such companies, but in some small cities there may not be such companies at all. However, do not forget that there are celebration organization companies whose list of services includes organizing weddings. Such companies can also be considered competitive for a wedding agency. Some wedding salons now also provide certain services for organizing a wedding celebration.
There are not very many companies that specialize specifically in weddings and offer a full range of services, from assistance in choosing a wedding dress to booking a honeymoon. But, despite this, if you decide to enter this market, you should be armed with several 100% advantages that can set you apart from your competitors. This could be the provision of services for organizing stylized and themed weddings (there must be a significant base ready-made scripts and the possibility of developing an individual one), the ability to invite famous musical performers to the wedding as guests, and so on.
List of possible services
The attractiveness of wedding agencies for consumers lies precisely in the fact that they can organize absolutely all the preparation and holding of the celebration from “A” to “Z”. A wedding planning company can provide the following services:
2. Search and registration of the location for the outdoor ceremony.
3. Designing wedding invitations and sending them out to guests.
4. Providing a wedding bouquet, boutonniere and other accessories, the possibility of individual design development.
5. Organization of the wedding process.
6. Organization of on-site registration.
7. Providing photo and video shooting services for ceremonies and celebrations, organization wedding photo shoot newlyweds
8. Providing services of makeup artists, stylists, florists.
9. Order a wedding limousine or other car.
11. Festive decoration restaurant.
12. Organization of entertainment at the wedding.
13. Providing a professional host of the celebration.
14. Development of a wedding cake design.
15. Development of a wedding script.
16. Help in organizing a honeymoon.
Room
An office for a wedding agency is needed only to negotiate with clients, both at the initial stage and during the organization process. Since people of high income usually turn to wedding agencies, it will be more comfortable for them to be in a modern, presentable office. It is best to rent a room in a business center and equip it with the latest technology and design.
Equipment
For a wedding agency office you will need office equipment (phones, computers, scanners, printers), furniture for the main hall and waiting room, and most importantly, display equipment. You are unlikely to be able to explain with your fingers what exactly you have developed for the newlyweds and what you can offer. Therefore, you will need to show everything, and for this you cannot do without high-quality equipment for presentations.
Staff
Most often, wedding agencies have a director, an accountant and several client managers (wedding planners) on their permanent staff. Some have a full-time presenter or toastmaster. All the rest - stylists, designers, drivers, photographers - are usually hired to work at individual events. Managers must have an extensive base of such specialists, and good connections must be established with many of them.
A wedding planner is a specialist who should know a lot about this type of celebration - how to order, who to call, what to choose and how to organize. And it is these people who will determine the success or failure of your business. Most often, people who by nature are very sociable, energetic and able to come to an agreement with anyone start doing this. But even this will not be enough - so regularly send your specialists to courses to improve professionalism in the wedding business, since now you can easily find such ones.
Instructions
Contact the tax office at your place of residence, they will provide you with information about what documents are required to obtain the status of an individual entrepreneur. Once you receive your certificate, you can begin organizing your agency.
Find office space. You can use a separate non-residential building or an apartment located on the ground floor of a residential building. Renting is expensive, so it makes sense to rent square meters for a while or hold a meeting with clients.
Gather a staff of employees; usually such specialists are needed during the wedding; the rest of the time their services are not required. Therefore, enter into piecework contracts, specify in the document the terms of work, and the payment procedure. Set the amount of the reward yourself; usually it does not exceed 10% of the cost of the celebration.
Enter into agreements with hairdressers, beauty salons, flower sales, restaurants and cafes. Ask the registry office staff if they can carry out outdoor ceremonies for an additional fee. How much will it cost, ask them for details professional photographers and renters, take their coordinates.
Find a toastmaster who will provide you with the wedding evening, you can analyze the work of several people, then make the final choice and conclude an agreement. This will guarantee the quality of services.
Purchase equipment for decorating the halls, this could be helium cylinders, flower pots, ribbons, decorations for cars. You need to find musical accompaniment. Depending on the wishes of clients, you can use musicians or use playback on a computer.
The positive qualities of such a business are the absence of certification and licensing requirements,
a simplified taxation system, a positive trend in the market (more and more people prefer to turn to professional organizers), weak competition, the opportunity to constantly increase their profits, no boundaries for prosperity and success.
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- how to organize a wedding agency
The wedding business is a complex business, but quite profitable. The specificity of the services offered does not make it possible to form a circle of regular customers. However, store owners can expand the range of products and significantly increase sales. Approach promoting your salon creatively - and success will not be long in coming.
Instructions
Offer an original assortment. Choose wedding dresses, which are in demand, but are not represented in other salons. Today, many brides are interested in unusual dresses that highlight their individuality. Expand your choice by offering current styles– for example, empire-style dresses or spectacular tight-fitting dresses with a train.
Consider a system of small bonuses for guests. Include gifts with a large purchase - small bouquets, wedding garters, a bottle of champagne. Set up a small corner for relaxation and conversation. Offer visitors coffee or tea and give them the opportunity to take photos of the selected dresses. Don't be afraid of competition and that someone might copy your ideas. By suspecting everyone who enters, you deprive yourself of trust from customers.
Don't get carried away with discounts. They bring losses, and customers will be suspicious of a product that is too cheap, expecting a hidden catch in such an offer. Focus on reasonable prices, a comprehensive offer and excellent service.
Invite wedding designers to cooperate. They can put together ready-made sets for the themed weddings that are popular today. For example, for a celebration in an antique style, the newlyweds can be provided not only with suitable outfits for the main participants of the holiday, but also table decorations, wedding arches, boutonnieres, gift bottles and other paraphernalia. Most of the assortment can be rented.
Make a list of famous wedding photographers, event agencies and hosts. Offer them mutually beneficial cooperation - a small percentage of the purchases of customers who came on their recommendation.
Cooperation with hotels can be very interesting. Wedding dinners are a significant source of their income. Consider a joint promotion - for example, a bride who buys the most expensive dress or a full set of services offered by the salon receives a certificate for a romantic weekend in one of the hotel rooms.
Tip 3: How to open your own wedding planning agency
Despite increased competition, wedding agencies, according to analysts' forecasts, will be in demand for a long time. If you really think that you can organize a great celebration, open your own business without looking back at the risks. The costs of setting up an agency are minimal, and the possible prospects cannot but inspire.
Instructions
Register agency at the tax office of your city. Pay the state fee and open a bank account. Purchase a cash register and stamp. Organizing weddings does not require any licenses, so you can start working immediately after registration.
Find office space. Of course, you can meet clients in parks, but the office will give you respectability, and clients will be won over by the cozy atmosphere. Decorate the room with wedding attributes.
Select your staff. This issue must be approached extremely carefully, since the quality organizations The reputation of the entire agency depends on the wedding. You can save on the services of a florist, hairdresser and driver by ordering these services from intermediaries at reasonable prices. But the photographer and toastmaster need to be chosen only from a list of professionals. To do accounting, it is not necessary to hire an employee; you can quite take advantage of the offer of companies that provide this service.
Discuss with the registry office the possibility of outdoor weddings for a fee. Call all the restaurants and large cafes in the city and find out the cost of renting a hall and the average bill per person.
Decide which segments of the population you are willing to work with. If you need to reach the entire audience of potential clients, hire several managers who will work in different directions. Don't trust one person to organize gorgeous wedding and an economy option, otherwise these orders will soon acquire similar features.
Create a website for your agency. Most of the audience will be able to find you thanks to the Internet. Create communities on social networks. Be clear about your capabilities and offerings. Place ads in search engines and wedding catalogues.
Create a price list for your services. The profit is 10% of the total cost of the celebration, which does not include expenses for the banquet. Specify the conditions that guarantee full execution order on your part and payment by the client. If you plan to create service packages, then determine a fixed payment for your labor. Many clients are intimidated by the expected commission fees.
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You can start a wedding business with a small investment. With maximum effort, the project can turn out to be quite profitable, despite the high competition in the wedding industry. The salon for newlyweds traditionally provides services for organizing, conducting and supporting weddings. To become noticeable already at the initial stage of starting your own business, you need to plan everything carefully.
Instructions
Drawing up a competent business plan will help you work out all the details and little things even before opening a business. If you have enough experience, try to think through the project yourself, but if you don’t have experience, contact design bureaus where you can buy a ready-made scheme for the economic development of production in the wedding industry. The degree of success of such a project is, in principle, assessed as high, since the number of clients of wedding salons increases from year to year, but adjusted for seasonality.
Decide on the organizational and legal form - individual entrepreneur or joint stock company. At the initial stage, preference should be given to the first option, since this will significantly simplify accounting and allow you to save a lot on taxes. Moreover, the clients of wedding firms are mainly individuals, and therefore there is no need to complicate the form of legal relationships.
Write a description of the future enterprise. The wedding industry is quite vast. For example, you intend to open to provide services to individuals for organizing and accompanying weddings with everything necessary, from A to Z. Or your idea is to organize a rental studio wedding dresses for the bride and groom. In the latter case, you will have to focus on this narrow direction. In the chosen area, analyze the market for wedding services in your locality, giving it a complete and objective description. Evaluate all the pros and cons of your competitors in order to be able to copy the best from them and take into account and not repeat the shortcomings of their work.
The next step will be finding and organizing the premises. The best option is to purchase ownership or long-term lease of non-residential premises in a crowded area. If you are going to open a wedding salon with a full range of services, including selling an outfit, organizing a banquet, renting a car, photo and video shooting, toastmaster work, services of florists and stylists, etc., choose a room with an area of at least 100 square meters. This will allow all required services to be located in one place, will be convenient for clients, and will add weight in the eyes of potential consumers. Take care of the repair and decoration of the room, divide it into zones. The interior decoration of a wedding salon should be elegant and express the direction of the establishment.
Think carefully about the service structure of your wedding venue. Consider as primary and secondary services:
Sale of clothes for newlyweds,
- sale of basic wedding accessories,
- selection and design of banquet premises,
- provision of wedding scripts and toastmaster selection services,
- transport rental,
- provision of photo and video services.
You can provide all types of services on your own, or become an intermediary for the final performers. In the latter case, you will work for a commission. Start looking for reliable suppliers and performers, enter into written agreements with them, in which you will stipulate all the nuances and features of cooperation.
Hire staff. The staff of a wedding salon will require one or two salespeople, an accountant and someone else, depending on the narrow specialization of your business (for example, a full-time operator-editor for providing video support services for weddings or a hairdresser and makeup artist). As practice shows and according to the estimates of entrepreneurs who have been working in the wedding industry for a long time, as well as on the basis of financial calculations, we can conclude: the payback period for a wedding business is on average 2-5 years.
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- Step-by-step opening plan
- What documents are needed to open a wedding agency?
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Today, the holiday services market is increasingly attracting budding entrepreneurs. This is explained by the stable demand for such services and the low entrance ticket to business. You can open a wedding agency for just a few thousand dollars. The average profitability of a wedding agency is estimated at 50%.
The main services provided by wedding agencies:
- Rental and sale of wedding dresses;
- Decoration of the banquet hall;
- Photo and video shooting;
- Horse carriage rental;
- Pigeons;
- Fireworks and fire show;
- Chocolate and wine fountains;
- Car rental, including retro;
- Car decoration;
- Outdoor weddings;
- Toastmasters and DJs;
- Bridal makeup artist;
- Rental men's suits and tuxedos;
- Wedding Cakes;
- Wedding bouquet;
- Themed bride price, etc.
As we see, the number of services that a wedding agency can provide is truly impressive. We should also highlight the popularity of destination wedding services. Today, more than half of couples prefer to get engaged in a more unique setting (a motor ship, a forested area), with the involvement of actors and directors.
How much money is needed to open a wedding agency?
To open an agency it is not necessary to make large investments. Today, salons start “small”. For example, they rent wedding dresses, sell wedding paraphernalia, and decorate the hall for celebrations. Usually, only $5,000 - $6,000 is enough to start such a business. As the agency's income and popularity grow, expensive services such as car rental can be included.
How to choose staff for a wedding agency
Wedding agencies, as a rule, do not have a large staff. The main employees are the administrator (director), customer service managers and accountant. The entire range of performers, including photographers, makeup artists, screenwriters, etc. they simply cooperate with the agency and provide the newlyweds with appropriate services. Developing a base of highly qualified specialists (musicians, florists, photographers, etc.) is the most important stage in creating a wedding agency. You need to be able to not only find good performers, it is also important to agree on an acceptable price that will suit all parties to the contract.
How much can you earn by starting this business?
The income of a wedding agency is not difficult to calculate. So, to organize one “average” wedding, funds from 50 thousand rubles and more are spent, not counting the banquet. The main wedding season starts from May and ends in October. As a rule, at this time the services of a wedding agency are booked several months in advance. Of course, it still takes time to promote the business, since the new agency must prove itself in the market.
Most effective methods advertising of a wedding agency, along with banners, flyers, booklets and radio, still remains word of mouth. And such advertising, as a rule, works great depending on the quality of services provided by the agency.
Speaking of competition, despite the large number of companies providing services to newlyweds, there is still enough work for everyone. The holiday services market is still ready to accept new players due to stable demand for such services. Moreover, experts say that this market is very promising and the demand for more expensive celebrations is expected to increase in the near future.
Do I need permission to open a wedding agency?
For the legal functioning of a wedding agency, it is necessary to register individual entrepreneurship(IP) or limited liability company(OOO). Registering an individual entrepreneur is much simpler and cheaper than opening an LLC, but legal entities have more opportunities. In general, each OPF has its pros and cons.
Which tax system to choose for this business
As tax systems you can choose between UTII and simplified tax system (6% of revenue or 15% of profit). It is necessary to make a preliminary calculation of the potential revenue and profit of your agency in order to understand which system is more profitable to use. The size of UTII depends on the region of business, since local authorities can set the “mitigating” coefficient k2 at their discretion.
To meet with clients you will have to rent a small office, from 10 m2. Also, as a business card, you need to have a website and a group on social media. networks.
Step-by-step opening plan
To open a wedding agency, you will need to register as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity. The main disadvantage of an individual entrepreneur is that he is prohibited from working with legal entities. Next we need:
- rent or purchase premises;
- Based on the scope of service provision, you will need to purchase the necessary equipment and related inventory;
- conduct an advertising campaign to attract customers.
What equipment to choose for a wedding agency
The choice of equipment for a wedding salon directly depends on the services it will provide to its clients. In particular, you will need to purchase:
- necessary attributes for decorating vehicles and wedding hall;
- material for making wedding invitations and necessary equipment;
- photo and video equipment;
- if the services include the services of makeup artists, hairdressers, stylists, then the necessary equipment for their work will be required;
- office furniture and technical equipment (computer, printer, scanner, copier, etc.);
- demonstration equipment (display boards, projector...), etc.
Which OKVED code should I indicate when registering a wedding salon?
When registering a wedding agency, you will need to indicate several codes in accordance with OKVED:
- other entertainment and entertainment activities - code No. 92.3;
- other activities related to the organization of entertainment and recreation - code No92.7;
- activities in the field of photography, which includes its implementation at weddings - code No. 74.81;
- provision of other services - code No. 74.84;
- provision of other individual services - code No. 93.05.
A wedding is one of the most touching events in life. Girls from early childhood dream of wearing luxurious dress and say the cherished “yes”. Newlyweds strive to make their special day unique and memorable. Therefore, many couples preparing for the celebration turn to a wedding agency. A wedding is also one of the most expensive events. Many entrepreneurs are faced with the question of how to open a wedding agency from scratch. Despite the beauty of such a process, this business is not much different from others; it requires careful planning and organization.
It’s worth starting with a list of services that clients who contact such an agency expect to receive.
- Creating a wedding concept (theme).
- Careful planning and calculation of the wedding budget.
- Selection of necessary performers and options for providing wedding services:
- location for an outdoor ceremony;
- banquet venue;
- photo and video shooting;
- decor, floristry and wedding printing;
- host, show program and musical arrangement of the celebration;
- transport.
- Wedding day coordination.
- Assisting the bride throughout the entire preparation period. From help in choosing a dress to psychological support.
Client
The first step towards the successful implementation of the idea of how to open a wedding bureau will be identifying the target audience. The buyers of such services will be couples who want to save their time, money and nerves in the long process of planning and preparing for the celebration. Clients can be grouped by the amount of expenses for the celebration:
Economy – weddings with a budget up to $3000:
- Pros: such couples do not immediately recognize a novice organizer. An office, hired personnel, and an officially registered business will not be required.
- Cons: Couples in this category turn out to be the most demanding clients. They will control every step of the organizer and save on the most necessary things.
Medium – weddings with costs from $3,000–$10,000:
- Pros: good income, not too demanding attitude towards the organizer, opportunity to show your taste and creativity.
- Cons: in most cases, you will need an office, assistants, a portfolio or the gift of persuasion.
Premium – celebrations with expenses from $10,000:
- Pros: high income, opportunity to create an excellent portfolio and receive recommendations for future orders.
- Cons: ready-made portfolio, good office, hired staff, officially registered business, recommendations required.
First steps
Starting a wedding business from scratch requires good preparation and thorough market research. Collect information about your competitors, which can be found on websites, magazines, city information or wedding portals. Experienced players in the relevant market advise personally visiting several ceremonial bureaus, familiarizing yourself with the method of customer service and presentation of information in already established companies.
The next step will be getting to know the contractors. By taking the time to study locations, restaurants, the work of photographers, decorators, florists and other performers, you can be one step ahead of the bride who is just starting to prepare for the wedding. A personal acquaintance will be useful for a novice organizer and will allow him to collect the necessary demonstration material. After analyzing the data, it is worth developing a commercial proposal that should fully disclose the essence, quantity and quality of the services provided.
Having collected information about wedding fashion trends and sketched out a catalog with concepts, you can go in search of clients.
Marketing and promotion
When searching for clients, it is important to properly manage your advertising campaign budget. The wedding business carries a whole baggage of traditional promotion methods.
- Internet advertising. You should start by creating a branded website that will introduce the client to the services of this agency, give an idea of upcoming expenses, and tell you what organizing and planning a wedding day is. A business card website with search engine optimization will cost $500. It is necessary to create pages for the wedding organization on social networks, offering promotions and discounts to future newlyweds. Posting on specialized Internet portals of the city will be useful.
- Printing. Distributing leaflets and business cards near registry offices has become a traditional method to promote the wedding business. Young couples who have just submitted an application, upon leaving the “wedding palace”, receive full information about the wedding services of the city.
- Advertising in specialized print media. A high-quality article in a wedding magazine will help you gain a foothold in the market and interest potential customers.
- Wedding exhibitions are a great place to present your business, identify competitors, meet contractors, and find clients.
Documents
The wedding business is simple in paperwork. It is enough to register an individual entrepreneur and obtain a tax payer certificate.
Office and equipment
The room for meetings with clients will become the calling card of the wedding establishment. The office can be small, 30–40 square meters, but should be located in the city center. The bright interior design and comfortable atmosphere will be a plus. For furniture, you will need 2-3 tables with chairs for employees, a sofa for clients, and a wardrobe. To set up workplaces, you need to purchase computers, a printer, and telephones.
Staff
For the successful functioning of a wedding business, you will need 2-3 managers, whose responsibilities include conducting and organizing negotiations with clients, searching for contractors, developing a wedding concept, maintaining pages on social networks, planning and coordinating the special day. Maintaining documentation and submitting reports should be outsourced to an accountant.
Profitability
To calculate the return on investment and payback of the project, it is necessary to summarize the starting investments and operating costs:
- individual entrepreneur registration – $50;
- website – $300;
- office furniture – $500;
- office equipment – $1200.
Total: $2050.
- staff salary – $600;
- office rent and utilities – $400;
- advertising – $300;
- communication services – $50.
Total: $1350.
The income of the wedding organization is 10% of the celebration budget. The average wedding is for 50 people and costs $3,500. Therefore, the break-even point is reached when serving 4 weddings per month. Experienced organizers claim that the average load in the first year of operation is 6 celebrations per month. With such a volume, the payback of the project is achieved in 3 months, but given the seasonality of this business, it can be increased to six months.