What a Wedding Franchise Should Aspire For A wedding franchise is a company and needs to function like one, branding itself well to create a unique identity
By Zuzer Lucknowala •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
The Indian wedding has reached the proportions of an industry. With almost $40 billion being spent annually on weddings, and an estimated 20% year-on-year growth, weddings are big business in India.
Families typically spend about 30% of their life savings on weddings — this is a big responsibility and they prefer to entrust the entire process to a wedding planner to ensure that the nuptials and all the allied activities go off without a hitch. To make a name for themselves and get a piece of that huge wedding pie, wedding planners need to be on top of their game.
Branding
A wedding franchise is a company and needs to function like one — this also means branding itself well to create a unique identity. Wedding planners could also target niche segments in the wedding market like specializing in "destination weddings' whether in India or abroad.
Teamwork
A wedding is an amalgamation of several services and requires an entire team to pull it off. Wedding planners need to have trusted vendors, who can deliver quality service and products on time and are open to innovation as every bride wants her wedding to not just be perfect but unique.
Caterer, florist, designer, music, location, priest, lighting, licenses;…the list is never-ending and needs a large team of people to work with, besides soothing the egos of both marriage parties.
Year Round Business
While typically October to March is considered the "wedding season' in India, weddings are now being planned all year round. A successful wedding-planner should be able to accommodate and create magical wedding experiences no matter what the weather. Having a solid work portfolio, with satisfied customers in Indian summer, monsoon or winter, will stand you in good stead as a wedding planner who can take on any situation.
Innovative thought
Anyone can book a hall and get in a caterer, a successful wedding franchise is one that goes beyond the basics and provides not just the food and flowers but puts it all together in awe- inspiring splendor. It is the most important day in a couple's life and as most people don't stint on a wedding, allowing the couple to live out their dream wedding is the main priority for a wedding planner.
When there are huge Indian families involved, hitches are going to present themselves. Wedding planners have to always have a "Plan B' to take care of unexpected contingencies.
Soothing pre-weeding jitters, coping with warring in-laws and ensuring the bride doesn't turn into "bride-zilla' are all part and parcel of the wedding jamboree.
Only the strong survive, but then the rewards are immense. With India poised to become one of the countries with the youngest population by 2020 and with most of the youth being of marriageable age, there is no dearth of business for the well-prepared and efficient wedding planner. After all, the wedding industry in India is one of the few that is immune from the vagaries of recession, demonetization or taxation!
