“You have to get over these hurdles and stay positive – that’s part of setting up and running a business.”

Yvonne Bennett’s business, The Wedding Planners Guild, has recently achieved IOEE Academy status. In this, the third instalment of her blog series, she tells us how she picks herself up after setbacks.

“Last month, I had the Wedding Planners Guild open day I’d been planning for ages at the beautiful Hilton Liverpool but only two people turned up! At first I was very disappointed but in hindsight I realised there were lessons to be learnt. I’d only started advertising three weeks before and I think I may have chosen the wrong location. The Hilton is fantastic but perhaps I needed a more approachable, relaxed place to be. That’s something I would certainly give more consideration in the future. Plus, although only two people turned up, one of them has already joined the Guild so I achieved a 50% success rate! You’ve got to stay positive and despite the low turnout I broke even and really got something out of it. The two women who did come along were so lovely. I was completely thrilled by their enthusiasm for the industry. When I was talking them, I thought ‘Gosh, this is what it’s all about.’ Plus, one of them is a training professional so she’s a great contact to have for the future.

My digital presence is another reason to stay positive. Although my website has only been up and running for a month, I have already received over 2000 visitors, which is really great. The goal is to make the website a hub for all things wedding planning related! The blog on my website is now active, which gives members somewhere to write about products and share tips, ideas and predictions of future trends. It’s fab to have the newsfeed up and running, because in this industry there are so many fresh ideas coming up all the time. It helps my website to stay current in an industry that’s always changing and it’s great to hear from other people in the profession. I’ve just started two forums on the website, one is for wedding planning and the other is for suppliers to introduce themselves. So it’s about taking things further than just training and becoming a hub of information both for wedding planners and the industry more broadly.

The other day, I was chatting to Lynne Horton, who designed my website. She has her own business so she has the experience of overcoming difficulties. She said to me “Yvonne, be like a bouncy ball. When you get thrown at the ground, bounce back harder and more motivated.” I think that’s a fantastic way to look at it. When you’re establishing a business, you can’t let setbacks stop you – instead you should give yourself time, reflect on them objectively, learn and move on.”