This is the Transcript of the #WeddingMarket Chat on October 1, 2014 with Susan Southerland. The answers were made on Twitter so responses will appear different.

Entrepreneur, event planner, author, business consultant, wife, and mother of four, Susan Southerland is one of the foremost experts in the event industry today. She is president of Just Events! Group, Inc., an event management company encompassing Just Marry!, Just Right! Destination Management, and Just Celebrate!, three brands that service events from intimate weddings to elaborate corporate functions. She applies her business savvy toward sharing tips and insights with new and established entrepreneurs throughout the world.

Susan’s exceptional events have been featured numerous times on The Travel Channel, Style Network, and The Learning Channel. Her cutting-edge advice has headlined national television news and radio broadcasts, and has appeared in Inc. Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, and periodicals around the world. She is also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

Her career began in weddings and has since expanded to include all types of events. The Just Marry!
division of her company is the official wedding-planning partner of Universal Orlando Resort, and Susan is the National Wedding Expert for renowned publication and online resource, Perfect Wedding Guide. Her wedding expertise is so widely recognized and loved that she was even given the prestigious recognition as one of only 30 wedding planners worldwide as an “A-List Planner” by
Destination Weddings and Honeymoons Magazine.
Learn more about Susan Southerland at www.susansoutherland.com

Q1: How did you get involved with planning weddings?

Answer
Susan Southerland : I started assisting with events at my post-college job. People started asking me where to get married. Then they started asking for help. It evolved from there.

Q2: What are the 4 things that you need to do to grow your business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You need to make your MARK. Mentally prepare. Create an Acton plan. Review & reevaluate. Know your finances.
Q3: How do you prepare for the shift from solopreneur to a president or CEO?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You will start working more on the business and less on your craft. You will have to be OK with making financial plans, marketing plans, and personnel plans and less on taking beautiful photos, and creating beautiful bouquets. You would be able to find professionals like a taxes accountant or a marketing specialist who can advise you and share the workload, but you will have to take the time to oversee and be involved in all the processes.

Q4: What happens when you prepare to grow?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You have to be prepared for some around you to start isolating you. Others may be uncomfortable with your aspirations. Some of your peers may want to undermine your confidence. Stay above the gossip fray.

Q5: How do you embrace failure?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Start looking at failure as a way to learn lessons. Don’t be embarrassed. Figure out what you did wrong and try again. You can find some inspiration in the book Business Brilliant by Lewis Schiff. My favorite quote from it: “Success brings you money, but failure makes you think.”

Q6: How do you create an action plan?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Decide how you want to grow the business, then make a step-by-step plan on how to make it happen.

Q7: What are some of the methods to grow the business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : There are four general methods, but they can be used in combinations. Franchising, Acquiring, Expanding, and Diversifying.

Q8: How do you get involved with Franchising?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Franchising has very specific legal requirements, so the prep work can be expensive. If you decide on franchising as a growth method you will need an attorney, or you can work with a company that knows how to franchise a business.

Q9: How do you use the method of acquiring to grow your business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Seek out businesses like yours in other markets and see if the owner would like to sell to you. Be sure you look into that company’s reputation & the owner’s work ethic, especially if owner will stay with company.

Q10: How do you use the method of expanding to grow your business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Look for markets where you can open a branch office of your company. Make sure you have enough staff to handle both. Start close to your home office so you can travel to the new location easily.

Q11 How do you use the method of diversifying to grown your business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : What new products & services can your current staff offer? What is the need for items closely related to what you do?

Q12: What are the negatives aspects of diversifying?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You might overextend your resources (money, staff), if your offerings are similar. You may take sales away from your exiting items & just shift them to the new items. If you have inventory, you need to learn how to manage items that sell slowly.

Q13: Why you should write a business plan?

Answer
Susan Southerland : To keep your plans on track you need a road map, & you need to anticipate pitfalls so you can navigate them more easily. It’s better to learn lessons on paper rather than wasting time and money.

Q13A: How can the #Weddingmarket obtain help in preparing their business plan?

Answer

Susan Southerland : There are paid experts who can help or you can find free help through the SBA and SCORE.

Q14: What are some of the important questions every business should ask?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You need to answer the following: Is there and what is the need for your product or service? How are you going to fulfill that need? How will you do it differently from everyone else in the marketplace? What staff do you need to make things happen? How big is your new market? Who is your target audience? How will you reach your target audience?

Q15: How do you review and reevaluate the business?

Answer
Susan Southerland : My favorite way is to survey my clients and employees. Their insights are gold.

Q16: How important is it to know your finances?

Answer
Susan Southerland : It’s critical!! Not knowing and understanding them is the quickest route to disaster.

Q17: What are the important questions you should ask concerning your finances ?

Answer
Susan Southerland : How does money come in? What does each product or service cost you? What are your other expenses? How much do I need to sell to break even?

Q18: Have you written a book?

Answer
Susan Southerland : I have! It’s The Susan Southerland Secret: Personality Marketing to Today’s Bride. It’s full of secrets about reaching Millennial brides through your sales and marketing campaigns.

Q19: Where can they purchase your book?

Answer
Susan Southerland : You can find it on my website. http://SusanSoutherland.com or Amazon and Barnes and Nobel.

Q20: Do you have any upcoming events?

Answer
Susan Southerland : I’ve been busy with clients building their businesses, but I do have three more speaking engagements this year. I will be in Denver and Nashville for Wedding Market Expo and in New Orleans for a NACE meeting. Here is the link to Wedding Market Expo: http://weddingmarketexpo.com . It’s a great group.

Q21: What did you discuss at the @weddingmba this year?

Answer

Susan Southerland : I presented on the topic we are discussing today, and I talked about using color in your branding and how to weave it through all of your marketing materials. It’s so important. We need to make a quick/lasting impression. Color is a shortcut to making that impression last.

Q22: What would you like everyone to take from this #WeddingMarket Chat?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Growing a business is not easy, but it shouldn’t be out of reach for anyone. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Find help for the weaknesses and go for it!

#WeddingMarket Questions From Twitter:

1. @heyits_tiff What’s the best advice you wish someone would have given you when you were first starting out?

Answer
Susan Southerland : Pay not attention to what anyone else thinks of you & always understand your finances…always. No exceptions!