If you're planning an event on a small budget, you can still create a successful event, but it may just take some more careful planning! Here are our tips on organising a small business event on a tight budget:

• Make sure you know what the goal of the event is.
  You need to know what will make your event a success - is it being held for lead generation, team building, sales, brand awareness? If you don't know how you measure success, how can you tell if the event was a success?
• Ensure you manage your time effectively - time as they say is money, and if you don't have money, then you need to make sure that the time you have is used as effectively as possible.
  Make sure no costly mistakes are made, ensure that people know where they need to be and what they're doing.
  
• Make a thorough plan, and constantly update and review it
• Shop around for the best value - you can often find items much cheaper online, and even online the price can vary massively!
• Make sure you maintain great communication between all those involved
• Keep an eye on the budget at all times
• Find cheap ways of catering for your delegates/staff.
  You can negotiate with a local pizza place to provide pizza's for all, and supplemented this with salad and side dishes bought that morning from a supermarket
• Keep any themes simple - supported with basic fancy dress props for staff
• Create a list of any lessons learnt that can be used for next time
• On the day, make sure everyone knows exactly what they are doing and where they need to be
• Follow up with everyone who attended the event - what was good, was wasn't so good? If your event is for lead generation the follow up is the most important part.
  Make sure all leads are followed up immediately!

Planning events can be stressful and very time consuming.
But ensuring that you plan effectively and monitor your budget, you can still hold fantastic events on a shoestring budget.