Planning a Profitable Workshop

Using the Workshop Budget Planner

SWCS Chapter Development Workshop July 22. 2006

By Steve Kadas

Planning for a Profitable Workshop

Overview

• Planning for Profit

• Initial Planning

• Expenses

• Incomes

• Putting It All Together

• Final Report

Planning for Profit

Why plan for profit?

• You need the money

• To build the chapter

• Your workshop is valuable

• You earned it

Worksheet Overview

Initial PlanningStep 1

• Early Registration Numbers:

These are paying registrants only. If you are not charging speakers, guests or workers, do not include them here. They will be covered in fixed expenses.

Step 2• Early Registration Fee:

This is what you plan to charge for early registration. A reduced early fee encourages lots of registration well before the workshop. This get cash flow started early and helps with meal planning.

Initial PlanningStep 3

Late Registration Numbers:

This is what you expect after early registration ends plus, what you will get at the door. Late registration is usually about 20% to 35% of your total registration.

Step 4

Late Registration Fee:

This fee should be 20% to 50% higher than the early fee to motivate early registration.

ExpensesThere are two kinds of expenses, fixed and

variable:

1. Variable expenses are those that change with number of paying registrants. Examples: meals and refreshments.

2. Fixed expenses are those that stay fixed no matter how many people attend. Examples are: meeting room fees, advertisement, speaker fees.

ExpensesStep 5

Variable Expenses: • Enter the unit cost into the “planned unit

expense” column. • The “planned units” column is automatically

filled-in.

Step 6Fixed Expenses: • Enter the number units needed in the “planned

unit”column. Example, enter the number of flyers here.

• Next, in the planned unit cost column, enter the cost per unit. Example: This is where the cost for each flyer printed goes.

Income

The types of income are:

• Variable income from registration

• Sponsorships

• Commercial exhibitors

• Grants.

IncomesStep 7

The variable income is automatically calculated for you. It is based on the numbers and amounts entered in top section. Your registration fees are likely to be the only kind of variable expenses you will encounter.

IncomesStep 8

Enter the grant name and the amount in the “planned unit income”. Grants can be obtained from organizations wanting to promote training and education activities.

Step 9Enter the sponsors name and donation. Many organizations will donate funds so that they can gain recognition. Examples: Government agencies, organizations and, local banks and businesses.

Step 10Enter the exhibitor name and fee. Commercial Exhibitors are usually business that want to take advantage of the workshop buy making contact with new customers.

Putting It All TogetherThe top section shows of all your expenses, income

and profit.

• The breakeven point is a powerful tool that will help you make decisions for success.

• Though the income from grants, sponsors and exhibitors don’t effect the breakeven point, it is figured into your profit.

Step 11

• The information can now be modified to get the results you want and need. Play around with different registration fees and numbers to get different results. Add or subtract expenses until you get your desired profit.

Final ReportStep 12

The “Actual” column is where you record your actual income and expenses.

As registration payments are received simply type in the number received and the worksheet will track the amounts.

With expense entered you can follow how close you are to your budget and adjust as needed.

At the end of your workshop you will have an overview and final report.