Day 2

Revenue is vanity. Profit is sanity. Yesterday you mapped your revenue. Today you expose your true costs.

The Hidden Cost Structure of Event Venues

Most venue operators underestimate costs because they only count obvious expenses. The true cost structure runs deeper.

Direct Costs (Per Event):

• Venue staff wages (event manager, bartenders, servers, cleanup)
• Food and beverage costs
• Linens, tableware, and rental items
• Floral and decor (if included)
• DJ or entertainment (if in-house)
• Overtime pay for long events

Overhead Allocation (Per Event):

• Property mortgage or rent allocation
• Insurance (liability, property, liquor)
• Utilities (electric, water, gas, HVAC)
• Marketing and advertising spend
• Sales team compensation
• General maintenance and repairs
• Administrative staff salaries

Your Action Step: Calculate Cost Per Event

Using your data from the last 12 months:

1. Total your direct costs across all events
2. Total your overhead costs for the year
3. Divide overhead by number of events for overhead per event
4. Add direct cost per event plus overhead per event equals true cost per event

The Profit-Per-Event Ranking

Rank your event types from highest profit per event to lowest. Most venues discover that weddings generate the highest profit, while small social events often barely break even after allocating overhead.

The Hard Truth

If social events rank at the bottom with minimal profit, you face a choice: raise prices dramatically, eliminate the category, or redesign the offering to reduce cost.

Today's Deliverable

Complete your profit-per-event ranking. Identify your top two and bottom two event types by profitability.