Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in event planning but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Dionne Bishop, Founder of Events by Dionne Inc, located in Toronto, ON, CA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Events by Dionne Inc is a women-owned Event Planning, Production, and Design service. We serve busy CEOs and innovative CMOs who put creativity, hospitality, and diversity at the forefront of their activations. As a trained Marketing professional, I lead our event services with the user experience top of mind and help our clients get the desired results for their business growth. We are an extension of any marketing plan and design our experiences with signature touchpoints.

Tell us about yourself

I've always been in the live events field and started out as a dancer, performer, and general festival volunteer. After getting a diploma in Advertising - Business, I fell in love with Marketing and experiential marketing campaigns that advertised to an audience to help sell goods and communicate messages. I combined those experiences and took on a role in Marketing and Events of the Country's largest Entertainment & Business Events Venue for eight years as a corporate in-house coordinator. After this experience, I wanted to have a little more control over the type of work I did and the type of causes I would support. I became a freelance Event Planner/Producer. I enjoyed the various projects, but when the Pandemic hit and the industry closed, I lost all my contracts. Fortunately, I had a moment of clarity that led me to shift into the Event Agency model of Events by Dionne Inc. I began helping clients transition their events/conferences into the digital world with Virtual Event Production and began offering work to others in the industry who were also out of work due to the pandemic. I knew if I was blessed to be getting gigs during the pandemic, I could leverage that and help keep others working too. I'm motivated by my team's ability to deliver excellent work and show up for diverse communities by planning and executing events that authentically connect. We help educate, inform and inspire others to re-evaluate their programs, menu offerings, and speaker panels to create more authentically diverse experiences for wide amounts of audiences.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I'm really proud of the way I have set up my business with a strong foundation for success. As a small agency owner, it's important that I have the right processes and policies in place for Events by Dionne to be an amazing place to work and work with. We completed a full brand development process and hired an amazing company to set up our management processes and workflows. I used to think these were the boring elements that I would sweep under the rug, but when I think about hiring people for multiple events as they come in, I'm proud that they now have a smooth onboarding process and clarity in their role and how they need to show up for our clients. It's a really exciting place to be in.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Wearing all the hats and not having enough cash flow at the exact moment you need it to pay an expert to take over certain areas of the business. For me, the Administration and Operations area is so time-consuming and depletes the creative energy I need to design the event experiences (which is the core of my business.)

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Enroll in a business coaching program or Accelerator - Learn about the things you never even knew existed but will surely show up in the journey.
  2. Find a counter personality/skill set to partner with you in the development of the business - opposites are great to balance things out but ensure there is compatibility and desire for the same end goal. Don't try to do everything alone, all the time.
  3. Read the book Profit First and learn how to treat your business like a business and pay yourself and the business confidently. The difference between running a business and running a hobby is your ability to keep the business profitable.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Going Solo is never easy, but if you find yourself constantly unhappy in your employment position, depleted of energy, and not at all passionate about life, I think you need to consider what it would be like to learn how to be your own boss. With that said, Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, and before jumping off the cliff, assess your lifestyle, review your finances and discover how long you can live with reduced income. Also, give yourself the grace to figure things out in the growth of your business. No one person can know all things, be good at all things, or even like all things. It's ok to need help.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://eventsbydionne.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eventsbydionne
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eventsbydionne/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionneb/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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