Define your proposition and objectives
Having a clear proposition and objectives for your new event or community make it a business project rather than a fun hobby. There’s nothing wrong with arranging a social gathering to hang out with other people who share an interest or hobby, but it’s less likely to benefit your business. And you can quickly alienate everyone by trying to switch focus at a later date.
Your proposition is a clear and unique selling point which can explain the main reason anyone would be interested in your conference or group. It’s one or two sentences which will serve as your elevator pitch, and can be quickly and easily understood or shared by members and attendees to recruit more people in the future.
Setting objectives and targets is important to understand whether your efforts are working, or if you need to change tactics. Any good business plan will evolve over time, but you need something to aim for and measure against. Not only will they help you to know if you’re getting the results you hoped for, but growth or engagement objectives can also prevent things becoming repetitive and stale.
Having measurement and analytics in place will also give you a warning if things are starting to drop off. The majority of people will simply stop turning up, rather than telling you that they’re unhappy. And many events and communities can slowly fade away if you don’t realise that numbers have started to fall, without any opportunity to change things.
It also informs your business structure, if you decide your new venture should be separate from your existing companies. Especially if you’re considering setting it up as a non-profit or charity.
Get people involved, and delegate when possible
Establishing any new event or community can become a huge amount of work, especially for a single person. The sooner you can get more people involved and start to delegate some tasks, the more opportunities you’ll have to grow.
Unless you’re investing significant amounts of money, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to pay staff. But with clear objectives and benefits, you’re much more likely to be able to find volunteers and people within your community who are willing to help out.
Be prepared to invest time upfront to ensure that anyone getting involved is onboard with your vision, and well-supported in dealing with tasks, attendees, or community members. That effort will make it much more likely that they’ll continue to volunteer. Especially if you continue to show you value their contributions and maintain their morale over time.
Along with recognition, you can also provide opportunities for volunteers to develop new skills, take on leadership roles which will benefit their careers and add to their CVs, or look for other benefits and discounts which can reward them.
In addition to reducing your workload, having more people involved means more sources of ideas and suggestions for the future. Those contributions may not be the right fit, or achievable immediately, but they’re an important part ensuring volunteers feel part of your organisation, so make sure that you value them. Sometimes they can take your event or group to new heights.
Don’t panic if it’s not perfect
It’s natural to worry when events or communities encounter issues, but don’t let perfection become the enemy of good. Especially when attendees and members may not even notice problems which could induce panic for any organiser.
Back-up plans are always a good idea as computers will fail, speakers might not turn up, and the tools you use to manage groups can change or fail overnight. But staying calm while you find a solution helps to reassure everything that things are under control.
Sometimes a minor mishap can result in a better event when speakers are forced to improvise, or result in better community management or tools being used in the future.
And don’t let your ideal vision prevent you from starting a new local business event or community. If you can’t afford a big venue, many local pubs, cafes, and other venues are perfectly serviceable. A marketing budget might be a dream, but just putting out something on your personal social media profiles can kickstart things. If just a couple of people turn up, that’s something you can build from rather than a failure.
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