This plan is designed as I did it as an at home business. I did consider opening a physical location, but decided against the burden of significant overhead. Should you already have a location in place, this would be a much different calculation. One of the things that I found to be so special about these parties is that it was hosted in their own home. Grandparents, parents, friends and siblings could all be a part of the party. It is so special to see a dining room table set with fine china and beautiful little girls behaving so well dressed in all the finery. I would give them a short etiquette lesson, they would eat and have the birthday cake. We would then do the fashion show. All of the guests would clap and every camera in the room would be marking the moments.


There should be a very small start up period since each and every day mothers are searching for parties. They do not discriminate how long you have been in business, your website will show them the quality of your product and you will be booked. When I was working this business I spent quite a bit on advertising in the Parents Magazine which is distributed in local grocery stores etc, Now, much of the advertising would be via Facebook, Google Search optimization of your website, and virtual instead of print ads in magazines.  There will still need to be a budget for advertising, but everything that you give as favors have your company name and phone number.  Each girl that went to the party decorated a cardboard frame with acrylic jewels and we took polaroid pictures. These would have my name and number imprinted on the back and I would get calls years later from mothers for these parties, just from the little girl treasuring the picture and frame.


There were several levels of parties that I would do.  I would offer the parties for customer pick-up, a party without food provided and a party with food provided. I would recommend pricing this party higher than others in your area. There are NO other parties of this caliber. Period. You want to be known for the highest quality of goods and services and you want your clientele to understand and appreciate what you have to offer.  I would be the hostess at many of the parties and if there was over 10 girls, I would take another hostess with me.  Your hostesses must be completely reliable, speak perfect English, enjoy the company of little girls, be respectful of the beautiful homes you will visit and most of all enjoy themselves as well. Fun is contagious.


The average cost for a party of 8 is $350 in the Atlanta market. That was the minimum I charged for these parties 12 years ago for a party of 8. There were almost always 10-15 guests at a cost of $15 per additional guest. So the numbers I will present below are based on the $400 per party price, just to be conservative.


I would generally have at least one party picked up, two parties on Saturdays and two on Sundays. There were also the Friday night parties for those girls having slumber parties. But I will average the weekends to 5 parties.


Income

5 parties at $400 = $2,000 per weekend

4 hostesses @ $100 per party = $400 (I paid them well so I could get the best talent possible)

Gross Profit for the weekend = $1,600

Annual Gross Profit = $83,200


Cost of Supplies

  • Frames, jewels and glue sticks for the picture, photo paper - .50 per guest
  • Party Favors - I included favors in my packages, but would recommend having different options to choose from and charge separately. I spent a lot of time sourcing and preparing the favors. For the tea parties I would buy little ceramic teapots and fill them with candy and wrap with cellophane and a ribbon. Of course, business name on a sticker on the bottom. The Spa Parties, I would get hand held mirrors and narrow boas for them to glue to the mirror. I also had little purses that were embroidered with metallic thread and filled with candy. Each favor would cost me about $1 to $1.50, but the time to find, buy and prepare was significant. Another favor that I did was to give them a music cd with a custom label from the birthday girl. This music would have been the dance songs from the party.
  • Shoes, jewelry, tiaras, boas, make-up, face mask, nail polish. You don't need to buy these things very often but there are times to stock up.
  • Invitations - I also included invitations in my packages, but would recommend charging separately for them. They take a lot of time to do. I would perhaps offer the preprinted ones included but would charge for the nice ones. Customers would email me their list and I would custom print the invitations and envelopes. I would then drop the entire batch in the mail to the customer for them to deliver or mail - that way I was never blamed for invitations not going out. I would definitely charge a premium for this service, it takes hours to prepare them.
  • Flowers and Foods - I always had fresh flowers on the dining room table for the tea parties. I have little glass vases for them and it really helps to make the table beautiful. I would use three vases per table. Small cost, but nice touch.
  • Place cards - I would have each little girls name on a plate for the tea parties. If I had the guest list, I would prepare beforehand- otherwise, I would do it on site. I would have the birthday girl set the place cards where she wanted her guests to sit, that was there weren't issues with who sits where. I would use heavy grade paper, cut with a big paper cutter and snip the ends with die cut. Very nice touch and very inexpensive as well.
  • Dance party decorations. I used blow up instruments and microphones for the girls to use as props for pictures. Cheap, fun and re-useable. You will need dance music and know how to dance so you can show the girls the moves. We did the Macarena, the Electric Slide, The Chicken Dance and so on. You have to get the party started! Lots of moms like to join in this part. Once the girls get going, they have a blast.
  • Food - I would prepare food for one of the Tea Parties (called it "The Elegant Tea"). I would make ham and cheese sandwiches and PB&J. I would use cookie cutter to make flowers. I would serve fresh fruit and Lorna Doone shortbread cookies. Be sure to charge enough to cover the food and your time, as it will take about two hours to have everything ready.
  • Cake - I did start making cakes as well. I made 3D Teapots, teacups, Barbi Doll Cakes, cakes shaped like shoes and so on. This was not a money maker for me, but I enjoyed learning how to do it.  I eventually paid a pro to do them for me.  She would deliver them to me and I would just add about $10 to the cost.
  • Repairs and Maintenance of the dresses. If you can sew and are equipped with the basics, the cost will be very low. The dresses are still in excellent condition years later. You will need to fix ties, elastic, and hems. I do not know what a seamstress would charge, but minor repairs should not be significant.
  • You will need new heads for the mannequins, spray paint for the stands. No significant cost.



Cost of Business

  • Website - you will need to develop or have one developed. Before you can publish the site you will need to have at least one party of each type so that pictures can be made. The monthly cost to have the site hosted shouldn't be more than $25. A good site is critical as it is the publics initial impression of your business. You will want to make sure it is optimized so that when someone does a web search for parties in your area, your company comes up.
  • Phone - I thought that I needed a business line and wasted money on that. Use your cell phone as your business - or add a land line to your home phone.
  • Advertising - I would recommend advertising in the local parent magazine in the party section. 


Precious ParTeas Selling Price - $25,000