Is It Time to Grow Your Business? How Niching Down and Preparation Lead to Sustainable Success with Wendy Dahl
Struggling to figure out when and how to grow your business? Have you ever wondered if niching down could be the key to sustainable growth? In this episode, we tackle the common challenges of business expansion, from knowing when it’s time to scale to understanding what changes are needed to support that growth.
Overview:
Wendy Dahl's story is not only about longevity in the wedding industry, but also about continuously evolving and finding new ways to serve her clients. From navigating multicultural weddings to building a business around her life, Wendy breaks down what it takes to grow successfully and sustainably. This episode covers everything from the importance of niching down to knowing when it’s time to scale your business. Wendy and Kevin also discuss how to leverage relationships, set realistic goals, and make sure you're prepared for the challenges that come with growth.
Episode Highlights:
- Wendy's path from running a DJ business to launching her own wedding planning company.
- The benefits of niching down and how Wendy focused on multicultural and destination weddings.
- Signs that it’s time to grow your business, from too much free time to turning down clients.
- The importance of preparation before scaling, including logistics and team management.
- How to identify your "golden client" and focus on building relationships with the right creative partners.
- Tips on setting both short-term and long-term revenue goals to ensure sustainable business growth.
Call to Action:
Be sure to subscribe to Mind Your Wedding Business on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube. If you enjoyed this episode, leave us a review—it helps others find the show and learn from industry experts like Wendy Dahl. Have a topic you'd like us to cover? Send your suggestions to podcast@fantasysound.com and join the conversation!
Connect with Wendy
Connect with Kevin:
Transcript
Alright folks, welcome to the next episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. I'm very excited today because I have the one and only, the Wendy Doll. When I started my WIPA career, she was one of the very first people that I met. And then when I kind of took over for her, I was texting her a lot like, how do I do this and how do I do that? So I feel like we go back a long, long time with all that aspect. So your kids were really little when I first met you. How's that?
Wendy Dahl (:Right? And my youngest one just graduated high school yesterday, so we've known each other a long time.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, I know, isn't that crazy? So, all right, so today you're here to talk about creating and managing growth. Before we do that, you wanna give us a little bit of how you got into the wedding business story?
Wendy Dahl (:Sure. So I was actually married to a DJ in my first marriage. We were married for 15 years. And when I was at home having babies, I was actually running his DJ business from the house, you know, doing all the bookings and things. And I would go out on events with them. And then I met a wedding planner who was just totally overwhelmed. And I was like, hey, do you need some help? And so I helped her once and then she was like, what are you doing for the rest of the year?
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Wendy Dahl (:And so I started working with her and kept having babies. And then I finally launched my own business as a wedding planner when my ex-husband transitioned into a corporate job. And so I've been doing weddings now for about 20 years. It's okay. I still look like I'm 20, right? Wink, wink. So.
Kevin Dennis (:Nah, you don't have to date yourself. Yeah? 100%, girl. 100%, girl.
Wendy Dahl (:But yeah, so I've been doing weddings a really long time. And from there, I got into leadership. Ironically, I'll give you a quick tip on leadership because it's also related to growth. I was so nervous to go to networking events in the beginning that I kind of like had to give myself a job so that I felt comfortable going. Because ironically, I'm an introvert. And so that kind of stuff would make me super nervous. And so I started joining boards. I actually served on two different boards over a period of a decade.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:And that's how I met Kevin and he's such a peach. I'm so glad that he's got this podcast for all of you cause he's full of good ideas and has friends all over the country. So, um, but yeah, so I've been doing weddings ever since kind of took a hiatus during COVID like most of us did. And ironically it was hired as a chief growth officer for a healthcare company. And so it's kind of cool to take like the skills from hospitality to apply to healthcare and now backwards.
where I'm taking the skills that I learned from that business and reapplying them into the wedding business.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh, well that sounds really interesting actually. So, and you and I are a lot alike because I'm very much an introvert and maybe that's why I've always been on a board or something because I'm more comfortable. Like I put me in a room, I feel like I'm going into the ocean of piranhas when I walk into a networking room. But if I'm like, when I've been present into something, I walk in, I use the microphone, I'm very comfortable because I have a job to do. So I'm right there with you. So, all right.
Wendy Dahl (:right?
Wendy Dahl (:Exactly. Smart.
Kevin Dennis (:So we're talking today about creating and managing growth. So how do you define growth in your business, Wendy?
Wendy Dahl (:For myself, it's revenue, which is actually interesting because most people, the first question they ask a planner, and I'm sure they ask DJs and everything is, well, how many weddings do you do in a year? And I'm like, I could tell you I did 10 weddings in a year and I made six figures, you know, or I can tell you I made I worked 30 events in a year and made six figures.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:I think the question is, is which one would you want to work 10 or 30? And so, I mean, for a planner, it's different, you know, because we've got different levels of service and things. But for me, when I talk about growth, I talk about revenue growth because ultimately we're all in business to generate a revenue because we all have goals that we want to achieve in life. And it takes money to do those things.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay.
Kevin Dennis (:All right, cool. Well, tell us a little bit about the growth that you've had with Chic Productions.
Wendy Dahl (:So my growth was actually quite interesting because we niched down. I remember going to a it was a business conference for entrepreneurs. None of them in the wedding industry and they were talking about the importance of niching. And so I was like, okay, well number one, how can I design a business around my lifestyle? At the time I was a single mom, three kids at home, little and I was like, okay, I don't want to travel. So that was rule number one.
And number two was how do I go and work with people that had the budgets I wanted to work with, like automatic, where it was no question of like, oh, do you have enough money to pay for this? It was like they had it. And so I niched into the Indian wedding market and I called myself the local destination wedding expert. And those two things, I started with a local destination wedding expert.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
Wendy Dahl (:And I was attracting people from all over the country who came to Southern California and got married. And I even said, like, hey, I'm your arms and legs on the ground while you're, you know, off in med school or whatever you're doing. Yes. And so that was step one of like, how do I design my business around my life? And I attracted all kinds of people because they read that they identified with that concept of I need boots on the ground.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:wherever you are.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay.
Wendy Dahl (:where I'm getting married because I'm not there. And that makes people nervous sometimes. So I, yeah, so I answered that. And then two was, I waited for my mentor that I was working with, what I was telling you about that I helped her with her. I actually worked with her for like six years. And so, yeah, long time, cause I was having babies, you know? I mean, what else should I do? Run your ex-husband's business and have babies and work for wedding planners. So.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh, wow.
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehehe
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Wendy Dahl (:So yeah, I worked with her for a while. As soon as she retired, then I went into Indian weddings because I just felt like that was the ethical thing. And so as soon as I started talking about doing the Indian weddings, I already had experience doing them because I was doing them with her. And it was kind of funny because my last name is Doll, which is Scandinavian, but there's also the food doll. It's just the A and the H are backwards. And so, but I think there's a market there that wants like...
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:somebody that is used to doing high level weddings and understands their culture. And so from there, we kind of evolved into, I mean, we do Indian weddings all the time, but we do a lot of fusion weddings. So I started talking about the comfort that I bring to somebody's family where I'm like, look, I understand you're like, I just had one the other day. I understand the Chinese culture and I understand the Hindu culture or the Sikh culture, whatever culture it is.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:I understand all the things that you're going to be doing religiously and the things that are important to each family. And I can walk you right through the whole thing and make you feel comfortable. And it was just, I just saw that I want that. And it was, it was almost like we went from that to how much money do you want? And so I loved it and it was, it was a fun conversation. But I, and to be honest, those are our most joyful weddings are when we see two cultures embrace each other. And I, and I,
Kevin Dennis (:cultural.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehe
Kevin Dennis (:100%.
Wendy Dahl (:And I would say over the past 10 years, we're seeing more of that than we've ever seen before, where multicultural weddings are like beautiful and fun.
Kevin Dennis (:100%. Yeah, and I'm up in Northern California, you're Southern California. You could probably draw a line at Bakersfield. We're like two totally different states, but we are one.
Wendy Dahl (:Yes.
Kevin Dennis (:We are a lot alike with that, you know, because we're up here in the tech world. So there is a lot in the Bay Area here. There's a lot of fusion. It's more common that I do a fusion type wedding than I do, you know, straight Chinese or straight, you know, Filipino, whatever it is, you know, it's more, it's a lot of fusion based stuff right now, which I, it's been, I agree because I've learned so much over the last probably 10, 15 years about all these different cultures and religions and all the different things.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah, I love it.
Kevin Dennis (:much fun. I always get excited when I learn something new and different because it's like you know we think we're experts until we till we're not and then we you know we learn and we move forward so yeah that's an amazing story so all right so how does someone know it's time to grow our business like what are some of the signs that you know we can look at?
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Well, you're at the beach every day having a good time or, you know, you're just sort of hanging out. No, really, when you know it's time to grow is when it feels easy and you have a lot of time on your hands. And I save time because I know for a lot of people in the wedding industry, we're working for that sort of lifestyle business. And so where I know that there's people like us that are like, I mean, it is a lifestyle, but it's also revenue.
Kevin Dennis (:Hahaha!
Wendy Dahl (:And so where I feel like a lot of people start as a lifestyle and then they start going, okay, I really need to start making money now. And so, so that would be one of the things where you either have you're not making money or you have too much time on your hands because it's just too easy or maybe, you know, maybe because I know the people that have too much time on their hands probably enjoy that. But I think that there's some people that are the achievers that are like this is easy now what and so
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:So yeah, that's I would say those would be the indicators that you're ready to grow and or you're feeling like, okay, I so I've achieved this like for me, like I achieved my goal. And now what you know, and then I achieved that goal and then now what and so I'm constantly looking at well, how do I perfect this? So it's like when I started I was doing, you know, 30 weddings a year, but I was a local destination wedding expert and then it was like, okay, well, how do I do more of that? Less weddings.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Wendy Dahl (:more money. And so then I niched into the Indian weddings. And so, and that's where it's kind of taken me where I've kind of adjusted as I've gone, where it's like phased, where I didn't just leap from starting wedding planner, just doing, you know, weddings to like, now I'm this fusion girl that's going all over the place. Kids are grown. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, you just said, youngest just graduated yesterday. So could another sign of growth is that I'm turning down a lot of business? Could that be something? Okay.
Wendy Dahl (:Yes, actually, I was going to talk about that too. When you're turning down a lot of business, you can either grow in two ways, where you can grow your team and keep your prices the same, or you can increase your prices and do the same amount. So, yeah, definitely an indicator of growth would be you're turning a lot of business down.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, there was someone, I don't even remember, I can't credit the speaker, but there was someone said that after every 30 weddings, they raised their price. And I was like, that's a very interesting philosophy. And they continue to do that in every 30 weddings, and they've been around for like 10 plus years, and they continue to raise their price every 30 weddings. So anyway, yeah, kind of interesting. So how can a business owner create the opportunity for growth?
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Well, I always like to start with preparing for growth because oftentimes people just jump into those growth shoes and they're like, let's go and they're not ready. And so I think the first thing is to establish how much you can do. So based on your current team, if it's just you, if it's a few people, what can you, like what is the maximum amount you could do based on the amount of time you have and resources? And so oftentimes when people get into the growth phase, they don't really understand what's gonna happen. Like let's say,
There was someone in my market that bought Shavari chairs and caused a price war down here. And then they like they didn't have enough trucks to service all of the events that they were doing. And so it became, you know, growth actually creates more problems than you would ever expect because it's like one thing. And then all of a sudden you're busy and then you're like, OK, I need people in trucks, you know, and then COVID happens and then you don't have either. Then you're just so you're kind of like trying to jockey your way through everything. And so.
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehehe
Wendy Dahl (:First is capacity. Second is when you grow, who can help you grow? And so if you're looking at expanding your team, if you're looking at solving things like logistics, like for the chair example, renting trucks, you know, getting people that have, you know, you're going to have to increase your insurance. You're going to need to do all kinds of different things that you've never done before. And it's kind of like looking at your full circle of like, okay, well, if I do this, it's going to be an increase in
revenue, but it's also going to increase payroll, insurance and equipment costs and fuel and things like that. But sometimes you look at coaches. Like for me, I was very methodical in my growth because I was working with a coach and I was taking it one step at a time and I was following and tracking like with my life what was going on so that I wasn't in that state of like, oh my gosh, I have all these weddings and I'm totally overwhelmed.
The other thing I would say is establishing who your golden client is. The golden client is the person that you love to work with who loves to work with you. So I talk about my fusion couples where they come in and they're telling me all their tales of woe about moms and all the drama. And then I just start going down my path of they call it the Yoda. She's like Yoda. She's just this or she's all quiet. I am short. You're right. So.
Kevin Dennis (:You're about the size of Yoda. He's about right.
Wendy Dahl (:But, you know, establishing who that is because the more precise I was with who I like to work with, not only did I have more fun doing what I was doing, I was actually making more money doing it. And they liked me even more than any other type of client did. So, I think that's important if you're in the service-based side of things. If you're in, like, I think a lot about rental companies because I work with them so often when I'm doing design.
There are some rental companies that their sweet spot is actually working with planners or venues where it's not working with the, with the client directly. And then there's others that are just like, I'll talk to whoever you want me to talk to as long as they're paying the check and you know, that kind of stuff. So, um, so I would establish which side that falls on for you so that you know exactly who it is that you're going to need to talk to when you start to create growth. And then, uh, the last thing to prepare for is who are your golden creative partners?
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:So I often saw this when I was co-director. Back then it was the Association of Bridal Consultants here in Orange County. It was like the largest group in the nation where we actually had to have like three co-directors. It was a big deal. And so I remember so many people would come to the networking events and they would come once and they would give their business cards out and then they would call me and complain that they got no business.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:And it was like, well, you weren't necessarily aligned with anybody that you talked to. You just gave out your business cards. Another example is like there is the sweetest guy in my market who I think is just fun and wonderful. And I like being with him. We've got great stories all over these past couple decades of working in the same industry. But my golden client isn't his golden client.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
Wendy Dahl (:And so like I want to work with him. You know, he actually hired someone so that he could work with me more. But the person he hired wasn't someone my golden client would want. And so that whole alignment thing becomes a very incredible, it influences referrals when we start talking about creating growth. If you're looking at a referral based business, if you're not in alignment with the people that you're either partnering with or that you want to work with, like you've got to figure out like,
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Wendy Dahl (:If you're going to niche out into a certain aspect of weddings, you need to see who else is out there in that same niche. And that way you can start communicating with them, whether it's niches are all kinds of things. They could be your client. It could be a location. You know, I know some people I remember I used to have these doors at this desk that I used to sit at inside of it was like my goals and I had the goals of the venues that I wanted to work at.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Wendy Dahl (:And it was really interesting because I had like all the top resorts, you know, the five, the five star resorts and stuff on there. But what I realized was that it didn't matter the location that I was at. What mattered more to me was actually the client. And so for me, that's how it worked out where I know some people are like, I want to be referred by all the top resorts. Well,
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:that might be your road to success. And if it is, follow that and do what you need to do to get on those lists. But I found for myself, it was actually the people that I worked with that made my job a delight. And that is a big part of what drives me to stay in the hospitality industry is that I, if I'm in a surprise and delight people, I gotta be happy to do that, you know? So, so yeah, so that's preparation.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah, no, yeah. So, yeah, no. Well, yeah, well, real quick, I just, so I've thought of several businesses in my area that just jumped off the cliff.
Wendy Dahl (:Do you have something to ask? And then I'll jump into the creating side.
Kevin Dennis (:and I'm going to do this or I'm starting this next part of my business and two years later it's gone. They didn't do the work to research and one of them I can identify was a couple people started a rental company here because they thought they would just take over the world and didn't think of all the aspects of picking up.
having to clean everything, and everything that goes with the rental company that it's not the pretty side. They only see the pretty side is when it's sitting on the table and doing all that kind of stuff. And then the other thing I was gonna say that you talked about too is when they were passing out business cards is I think people don't realize it takes two to three years to develop a relationship. You don't attend one meeting and you don't get something right away. So if you're looking to grow and it's not gonna happen instantly as well, so you always gotta be looking, you gotta be three or four steps ahead of yourself. But go ahead,
of the creative side.
Wendy Dahl (:All right, so on the creating side of growth, I look at two different buckets. You've got your short-term bucket and your long-term bucket. So your short-term bucket is like money in the bank today. And then your long-term bucket is, where do I want my money to come from in the future? And so I'm constantly looking at those two things as I'm evolving my business into what I want it to be and creating that growth, and for me, it's revenue growth.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh, okay.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Wendy Dahl (:I know for other people there's market share where they wanna be like the only or they wanna be like the one everybody calls. I mean, there's so many different things that people want to achieve and they use growth as the means to achieve it. But I think in general, revenue is something that drives most people in business. And so, but yeah, so you're looking at your short term and your long term game. And so obviously the first thing that most people think of is increasing bookings.
And so if you're looking for cash in the door right now, the low-hanging fruit, it's like, who do you know? Seriously, that's how it starts is who do you know? I remember we were talking about DJ Krieger before this. Do you know, he actually reached out to me when he was in my market, because he was here for a while and then he moved. And he had lunch with me. And he was like, who do I need to know?
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep.
Wendy Dahl (:And I'll tell you, that was actually a very wise thing to do because I mean, he knew I have a soft spot for DJs because he's married to one. And ironically, when I go speaking, I always have a line of DJs that are lined up and they wanna talk, it's fun. So, and I don't even talk to them specifically, it just happens. So, but I would say something wise to do would be to find like your WIPA.
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehe
Wendy Dahl (:group to go to and if there isn't one there then to go to the next closest one. I will tell you like I just booked a wedding in Phoenix, Arizona and I spoke in Phoenix, Arizona so I already am connected to people there to be able to facilitate this wedding. And so you have to look at your network like then I was looking at my network in the long game. Like where do I want my money to come from in the future? And so you have to be thinking of like okay
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:Who do you know? Who can you start connecting with? And start anywhere. I would say that when you're going through pricing, to be mindful of what is going on in the market and to be very careful that, I mean, I saw this, you have to be so careful when you're doing events because it's like a once in a lifetime thing or it's a high priority to somebody if it's not like their wedding and it's an anniversary or some other kind of party.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm.
Wendy Dahl (:And so they're not gonna be real happy with you if there's a mistake or if they decide to cancel. You really need to pay attention to your contract. I will tell you, my contract is seven pages long. Anyway, I heard it's six. Nice! Yeah, so, but there was somebody in my market who's brand new. She actually worked with me a couple times and then launched and launched too quickly.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep.
Kevin Dennis (:Ours is 6 now.
Wendy Dahl (:didn't have a contract in place, somebody decided to cancel their wedding and they sent her payment via Venmo and literally just took it back. Yeah, so yeah, oh, so lots of wrongs. And so I would say, yeah, who do you know, but start smart and start with at least something that talks about what happens when things cancel. What happens when things go wrong?
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:Lots of wrongs right there.
Wendy Dahl (:That's pretty much what you need to protect yourself from. I mean, you've designed everything that you're going to do, but what happens if there's a cancellation? What happens if, you know, we had a landslide at one of the venues down here? What happens if that happens? You know, how are you going to deal with any, any kind of rebooking and stuff? I know a lot of us during COVID had to go in and relook at our contracts and figure out like, how do we protect ourselves now? And so, yes.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, for the next COVID.
Thanks for watching.
Wendy Dahl (:So anyway, back to the short term gains, marketing is always something I recommend that people do in the very beginning. You've gotta establish yourself. I mean, even for people in the event industry, like we need to know that you're there. If we start seeing your company in places and stuff, I'll have to tell you for myself, and this is just for myself, I see a lot of people with beautiful Instagram feeds, and they've even got...
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:you know, reviews and stuff on Yelp. I always am very careful because I've worked with a lot of people that have those things and they're terrible. And so when you're doing your marketing, you need to come at it from a place of gosh, what's the word I would it's kind of like humility, but also like you just need to be real instead of it being like, oh, you know, I'm just starting like tell people you're just starting.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah?
Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:If you're just starting and your price a little bit lower than everybody else in the market, you're gonna get people that sign up with you because they're gonna be like, okay, my budget isn't somebody that's been in the industry for 20 years. My budget is somebody who's under five. But be real with them. Don't come in and be like, oh yeah, I totally know what I'm doing because it's obvious to everybody, particularly the planners when you don't. And so yeah, you know that too.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, yeah, or they're their weekend warriors and they have their corporate job during the week and then they you know, they do the weekends or the weddings on the weekends and but they have you know They they're the ones showing up with out a hand truck or a cart to move their flowers or they're the ones that show up with out tape to tape down their cords or maybe not even have an extension cord or You know, you know the everything they need to do their job. So Yeah
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Truly. And then also, we'll touch on that real quick. It is very wise to be self-contained. Yes. And I think that should be the expectation in the industry for each individual person that's coming to a wedding to be prepared. Like you were saying, I've been asked for extension cords and all kinds of like, do you have this in your kit? And I'm like, no, I don't come with that in my kit. You know, and so.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay. 100%
Kevin Dennis (:Safety pins you got, but not, you know, yeah. Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah, save things. Yes, and needle and thread. But I will tell you, and we'll touch on it real quick, as far as keeping your business going and your growth going, that will be your golden ticket, is to ensure that you are self-contained and that you are not causing an issue for the venue or any of the other vendors who are there that day, in particular the wedding planner. I don't know if most areas have this,
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:wedding planner group here in Southern California and they all talk. And so if something happens, everybody knows that somebody like they'll say, hey, have you ever heard about this company? Have you ever worked with them? And if somebody says, oh yeah, they came and they were late and you know, they give us all the story about what happened. It's problematic. And so when you're creating the growth and you're doing your job, make sure that you do it well and communicate.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:You know, I see, it's funny, sometimes I even see vendors. There's this other group that I'm part of on Facebook where somebody was complaining about planners. And they were like, oh yeah, the planners never do this. And I was like, all I did in the comment was, well, have you ever told the planner before the wedding that that's not what you want? And then the whole post disappeared. And so I was just, yeah. And so I, you know, those are the kinds of things where you have to think like how.
Kevin Dennis (:Hehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe
Kevin Dennis (:Oh!
Wendy Dahl (:What's gonna make me stick is making everybody else's day easier. And so and I'm you know, that's actually one of the things that the hotels know me for and they always give me the difficult wedding. So I always say, okay for every difficult wedding, you have to give me two nice ones. Like we have to make these deals right because these difficult ones are awful. But but yeah, being able to make the day easy for everybody will help you stick around a lot longer.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, that too, and just like even like I've helped a photographer move bags before because the family was causing problems during the family pictures and she was running behind and she needed, you know, like I've, what can I, how can I help you? Where I've helped the, you know, the venue move chairs because they, you know, they were moving them from ceremony to reception during cocktail, you know. I'm doing nothing. Why not grab four chairs and help, you know, and everyone around
Kevin Dennis (:a long way. I think you need to insert yourself when needed, but not overly insert yourself. Because I've also seen that where it's like people at one point get a little too needy. How can I help? What's next? Where they want the attention, but it's not needed at the time.
Wendy Dahl (:Right. Well, and to carry your own weight, you know, for a planner, it's actually quite important for all of the vendors to bring the timeline. The same timeline. Yes. No, I'll tell you that I've seen timelines where I've sent out the timeline and timelines are different or people don't bring them. It's interesting. So when my daughter started working with me, she's 23 now, she started working with me when she was 16. She could tell.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Well, yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:when a photographer didn't or DJ or whoever it was, didn't have a timeline because they kept asking us, what's next? All day. And so I, as soon as, and I, we call it the what, the what's next buddy. And so she had to stay with them all day to walk them through whatever it was until it was time, you know, to be all together where I could take over. But it's just silly or, you know, we bring extra copies of timelines and stuff. Anyway.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:That's the stickiness of making sure that once you create this growth, that you're going to stay around for.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, and you're not user friendly when you're doing that as well. So, yeah. 100%.
Wendy Dahl (:Right, or a team player, which is incredibly important. The other things that people do are add complimentary services, where let's say you do one thing and then you want to expand. We have a lot of florists that have expanded into having a rental collection because they know that, well, if I'm doing flowers, generally people are gonna want chairs and linens possibly and other things too, or chandeliers or something that's specific.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:So thinking about what other things that you can do that are complimentary. I think it's interesting when there's like a DJ company that offers videography, cause that's unrelated. I think for the right type of client, it makes sense because they're just looking like, hey, make my life easy. If I can call one place and get everything, I'm doing that. But.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:Not all clients are like that. So like my clients would never look at a DJ go. Yeah, I'll hire your videographer from a DJ like they just wouldn't. But there are certain markets that are so just knowing like if you're going to go into because that's not necessarily complimentary. It's sort of like jumping make sure that you're serving that clientele that would actually see that jump as a convenience and be like, yes, I will do that.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:But also know that if you're in that category, but you also want to work with planners that it kind of rubs planners the wrong way when you're trying to do all the booking without the planner. So it's like you kind of have to evaluate that just like you do like adding the chairs as a rental thing and the trucking and everything. It's the same thing when you're starting to add these other services of well, how is that going to take away from the people I want to work with? And so, you know, we see it all the time whenever the economy changes.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm. Yep.
Wendy Dahl (:everybody starts to become a generalist, where planners become florists and, you know, DJs and all this other stuff. And then during good times of economy, everybody becomes total specialists. And so, you know, it's like the swing that goes back and forth. And we've seen it happen a few times. And so just be aware of what you're doing, that if you're going to step on people's toes in the short game, that they remember. They do. I mean, all the wedding planners from the 29, 2010.
Kevin Dennis (:I'm going to go to bed.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:economic downturn, remember all of the people that started to become planners too. And it's kind of sad. Happen.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Yeah, no, yeah, it's kind of crazy how you can think back, you know, the economy boom, you know, like the 9-11, you know, we have COVID, you name it, you know, the Gulf War and whatever else that has happened in our country where it's caused, you know, big change. I mean, I don't think we'll ever experience, hopefully we'll never in our lifetime experience what we just went through with COVID. Yeah, because that was...
Wendy Dahl (:Yes.
Yes.
Wendy Dahl (:change.
Wendy Dahl (:I agree.
Kevin Dennis (:That was something that will, you know.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah, I have one more thing on creating growth. It's actually adding a higher level of service. So the done for you kind of thing when people don't have time, like I work with a lot of people who are in med school or taking the bar and they literally do not have time. And so when I show them the, I don't have time package, they're just like, when let's go. So, and they know that, you know, they're part of it,
Kevin Dennis (:All right, you go girl.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Sign me up.
Wendy Dahl (:I mean, I think for planners, that's a big deal. But then I think about some of the things I've seen DJs do where they actually do a pre-recorded first dance where they have like the bride and groom tell their love story and they play it over the music. So, I mean, there's things that you could do to create little pockets of revenue that increase your value, whether it's the same day edit or giving somebody within 24 hours a 10 second clip.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh, it's cute.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:so that they can put it on their Instagram or 10 pictures, whatever, just looking for how can I increase my service level? Like what do they want and then literally design it and give it to them? They will pay you for it. In fact, one of my daughters has a friend who's she floats. We call it floating through weddings. My daughter does this. She takes her cell phone and she floats through weddings and takes videos and pictures and stuff. And it's everything for social media. So if you ever see anything on our on our accounts, it's her.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:And so she has a friend who does the same thing where she she's actually a social media person that will post on their on their whatever social media feed that they want posts on all throughout their events. So she's gone to Italy with people. I mean, she's got all over the world documenting their weddings, but putting it on like the bride and groom's social feeds.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh wow.
Kevin Dennis (:And all happens from her iPhone. So it's not like she needs special equipment or anything to do it. Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:No, yeah, he just logs in to their accounts and then records it. Right.
Kevin Dennis (:That's amazing. Yeah, that's a, who would, that's the first I've ever heard of that, but it's genius now that you say it. And especially in today's world, that's something that's probably needed, so. Anyway, you were talking real quick, I wanted to touch on it, because you were talking about short-term goals and long-term goals. Can you define a short-term goal and what's a long-term goal, like, as far as time-wise?
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Yes. And so I set monthly revenue goals for myself. And so I used to call it in the beginning, I remember it was book two, service two. That was all I needed to hit my revenue goal. And so I just looked at it like, how can I reach my goal this month to make all the money that I need to do everything I need to do? And so in that case, it was book two, service two.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay, okay.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:Okay.
Wendy Dahl (:And then your long-term goal would be like for the year, what do I wanna make? And so, there's a bunch of different ways to look at it, like based on the products and services that you offer to determine, if I wanna make six figures, let's just say 200K just to be fun, cause I know a lot of people are reaching for the 100. I think it's easier than you think. But reaching for that...
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm. Oh, way easier.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah, yeah, but reaching for that 200, then you're like, okay, so if I reach for the 200, how many of each things that I offer do I need to do? And then I do like a big circle around the one I want to do most and I put it up on my little board and I, you know, look at it. I'm like, okay, that's the new goal.
Kevin Dennis (:So, and then you talked about it with growth, like how often do we need to revisit, you know, like what we're trying to accomplish?
Wendy Dahl (:Well, I look at it, I mean, if you're doing a monthly thing, you're looking at it every month. If you're looking for a big time strategy change, it generally kind of creeps up on you in one of two ways. Either you have a choking cash problem where you don't have enough money coming in and you're looking at your reserves thinking, okay, what's left? How long can I go if nothing comes in and then everybody starts to panic? You know, I have had more people call me this year about this year's
Kevin Dennis (:Okay.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Wendy Dahl (:wedding season being low, then most any other time they're like, oh my gosh, what are you seeing? What are you hearing?
Kevin Dennis (:I'm experiencing the same thing.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah, well, I have theories. Okay, so I actually did, back in 2010, I did a talk at the special event called Who Moved My Brides. Remember that TV show? Gosh, I can't remember it. It was Who Moved My Cheese, the book. I said, who moved my brides? And so I correlated the spending patterns of weddings to, it's actually the,
Kevin Dennis (:Me too, but I would love to hear your theories.
Kevin Dennis (:Yep. Yeah, yeah, yep, yep.
Wendy Dahl (:consumer confidence index. There's multiple lines to follow in the consumer confidence index, but one of them is like the projected. It's like what do consumers think is going to happen because they spend on what they think is going to happen for weddings because their wedding is in the future. And so I was looking at this year's trend lines to 2010 trend lines and they're identical. Oh my gosh, it's nuts. And so I was like, okay, so...
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:So the state of what's happening is different, but the trend lines are the same. And so I think that is something that's impacted it. But I also have seen, and this is just speaking for my market, where the venues increased their rates, and a lot of vendors and everybody did too, because last year was nuts. I mean, the year after COVID, we could have all like multiplied ourselves into 10 and still had more. It was so busy. And so...
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:And still not, yeah, exactly.
Wendy Dahl (:I think we were all looking at that thinking, okay, going forward, it's just going to stay like that. And so everybody increased their rates and then all of a sudden the consumer is like, but I'm not real confident that I want to spend that kind of money. There's a group of people, generally my golden clients are not in that category and they're just lucky like that because they've been real smart. And I think it's generational wealth too. So if that's your golden client, probably not going to be impacted.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:pretty much everybody else is thinking the same thing where they're just like, then why don't we look at 2024? So I'm sure your bookings are pretty solid for 2024 or starting to get there. Yes, right.
Kevin Dennis (:They're picking up. Yeah, we get a lot of inquiries a lot of stuff We actually got one for 20 25 the other day and I'm like, whoa, I'm like that's Well, that's what I said. I'm like that's a little far out We don't even know what our prices are gonna be for 20 25 yet. So anyway, but
Wendy Dahl (:Nice! That's only time to work with somebody.
Wendy Dahl (:Right. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:So we're close on the theory, except for the Coon and Sumer Index, I didn't even thought about that. But at one point, we did 47 days in a row that we had at least one wedding in 2021. And then we go into 2022, and we're in the wedding boom. They said there was going to be 2.5 million weddings in the US that year. So we're crunched a bunch of 2020 weddings and moved some 2021 weddings into all 2020.
into: Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:That's normal. Ha ha ha.
Kevin Dennis (:Well, yeah, but with that said, we are doing next...
Wendy Dahl (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:The next Tuesday coming up will be our sixth Tuesday wedding that we've had so far this year. And then when we did our first Tuesday wedding, then we officially have done a wedding on every day of the week. Because we've been doing some Wednesday weddings and lots of Monday weddings. So I also think people are getting a little bit more open to having weddings and off time. And I think COVID helped with that. Because people were going to weddings because they had no choice to have a
Wendy Dahl (:Right?
Wendy Dahl (:I lose it.
Kevin Dennis (:Tuesday wedding or a Wednesday wedding, Monday wedding, or whatever it was because it was supply and demand. You know, they had, you know, and you know, when we were doing those 47 weddings, we were like, you know, 20 something days into it, and I just feel like it was next. All right, next. You know, like, who's next? You know, like, it just it didn't feel it felt weird. It was just a weird
I guess what it's like when you own a wedding chapel in Las Vegas, where it's just like you do 15 weddings in a day and you run them through. All right. Lots of great things to think about. Anything you want to leave us with.
Wendy Dahl (:really.
Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Um, I think that the biggest drop of wisdom is actually when you're growing be ready for the growth You know that whole preparation side of looking at okay, so if I do this then what? That's really important because you don't want to find yourself selling stuff and then not being able to service it because then you're just toast
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and I think that's when I see a lot of people in my market that don't, that fail. So, you know, or create a Shavari price war or whatever. Was it Shavari chairs you said? Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Yes, it was. It brought the prices down. I think they were like 12 something down to $4.99 or $5.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, yeah. We had someone do something similar to that, but she was a bride here in my market. But she's still going to this day. So, and she only owns, yeah, she started out with the color of the Shavari chair she wanted for her wedding, and then she added the other color. She only has two, and she's still, they live in a truck, and they come in, she only owns 250, and if you don't fit her mold, she doesn't do it for you, so. Yeah, but it works for her. So, all right.
Wendy Dahl (:Ah, can't see that.
Wendy Dahl (:Interesting.
Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:So thank you so much. Before you go, I have a couple of questions I like to ask all the guests here. So what is your favorite part of the wedding day?
Wendy Dahl (:So my favorite part of the wedding day is when the bride is walking down the aisle. And let me tell you the first, so I was in corporate events and because I worked in an ad agency when I was younger and I was in charge of their corporate events, but I did one wedding and I was with the daughter. I'll never forget with the daughter and her dad and that moment where they look at each other and they're trying not to cry. I'm like, this is this is why I'm here. Like this feeling is why I'm here.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Wendy Dahl (:Then COVID happens and it was literally like we shut down on what a Tuesday or a Wednesday and I had a wedding that Saturday and it was gonna be an off the charts wedding. It was gonna be so incredible. Everything just fell apart. The bride about died and I just hung in there with her. I actually was her officiant and so watching her after all those years of being behind the bride and not seeing their faces.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
Wendy Dahl (:When she walked toward me, I was trying to do everything I could not to cry because I was like, oh my gosh, this is even more special than I thought from the front. So yes, so that is my favorite moment.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
That's a good one. You're the second person to tell me that. So, I think it's always interesting for we all have a different part of the wedding that means something to us. And I also think it changes throughout the years as something happened. Like for me it was kids that made it change for me. So, anyway. Alright, so everyone knows I'm a little bit of an appy tech nerd. So, what's your favorite app or something that you're using in your business right now that's helping you?
Wendy Dahl (:Yes.
Wendy Dahl (:Oh, in my business? That's funny. I was gonna say, let me just tell you, the Calm app is my thing. It's called the Calm app. And Calm, okay, and do you know they have AI inside of that Calm app that has like some, there's actually, it's called Infinite Flow. And it's, they took a song and it changes all the time.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, or per- it could be personal.
Kevin Dennis (:What's that?
Oh, oh, combat. Okay.
Wendy Dahl (:but it's like the same kind of sound. And so when I'm working and focusing during the day, I've got that flow song going, and there's a few others that are like the infinite songs, and I never get bored of listening to that. And so, you know, music has always been my thing, interestingly enough, even though I'm no longer married to a DJ, but yeah, I actually like the call map. But as far as productivity goes, I mean, I would say my notes.
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:I tend to use my notes for a lot of things and they're so well, like right now, all my notes for this podcast are right there in my notes on my screen. So yeah, I'm kind of simple.
Kevin Dennis (:I just recently, you're an Apple girl, right? Yeah, I just, I've had Evernote forever, like for 11 years, and I literally yesterday broke up with them. So it was a long time.
Wendy Dahl (:Yes.
Wendy Dahl (:They're pretty complicated.
Kevin Dennis (:At the time they were more robust when they came out than Apple Notes was. And I'm very loyal to my brands. I stick to, you know, if I buy something I'm going to buy it till I die kind of thing. You know, like I'll ride or die with Southwest Airlines and Apple and all these other things that I'm getting known for. But they recently knew owners and they doubled their price.
Wendy Dahl (:Uh huh.
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:out of the blue just doubled their price and I was like and I was happy paying it even though I knew I could do it like I knew Apple Notes came a long way but once they doubled their price I'm like well and it's not it's 60 dollars for a year which is not a lot of money but it was like I was like
This is bullshit. You know, I was like... You know, anyway, so that was my... And I've absolutely fell in love with Apple Notes because I've been using it now for the last couple weeks because I had to get everything transferred over and I fell in love with it. So anyway, I was a huge... I even... They sent me a shirt that said Evernote on it. I had an Evernote...
Wendy Dahl (:Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:Hurry up.
Wendy Dahl (:Wow! VIP? Woo! I love it!
Kevin Dennis (:I had an Evernote scanner in my office that was, yeah, I was very fancy with Evernote. So I hope I'm in their computer system and they're gonna be like, oh, when I broke up. Yeah, I know, you never know, so.
Wendy Dahl (:What happened to Kevin?
Kevin Dennis (:Alright girl, I can't thank you enough for being here today. It's been a... I feel like we've touched on like three other topics part way through that we could go and do a whole topic on just attending a networking event. Like we were talking about people passing out business cards. I am not allowed to say what I used to call it, but anyway, I get in trouble. It's not PC anymore, what I used to call it. Yeah.
Wendy Dahl (:My pleasure.
Wendy Dahl (:Sure.
oh yeah, i'll come back anytime
Wendy Dahl (:Oh yeah? Well, I called it pray and spray. You know?
Kevin Dennis (:Oh, okay, I called it spray and pray and they get in trouble for that. So yeah It's not it is socially acceptable anymore. So well you but you Yeah So when I speak now when I speak I just say oh the people that walk around the room and pass out their business cards And expect to get business the very I have to explain it a little bit more Because people always got a good chuckle when you said, you know pray and spray to see Yeah. Yeah
Wendy Dahl (:You do? Why?
Wendy Dahl (:I hadn't heard that. Well, I apologize. Anybody? Yes.
Wendy Dahl (:Well, it's a great visual. Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Because I because we've all seen it happen so many times at a networking event you can't literally we're at a networking event You're like watch this. Okay, there you go They're gonna go to the next group and boom and there are you know And it's like you could literally so see someone work the entire room doing that so All right girl. So now that we're in trouble with whoever the PC the PC police so anyway, all right, Wendy, thank you so much for being here All right. Bye
Wendy Dahl (:Yes, we apologize. Yes.
My pleasure. Bye.
